Faculty Research Fellowship Guidelines
Purpose and Nature of the Award
Timeline
Proposal Elements
Evaluation Criteria
Allowable Items
Non-Allowable Items
Additional Restrictions
Requirements of Award Recipients
Purpose and Nature of the Award
Timeline
Proposal Elements
Evaluation Criteria
Allowable Items
Non-Allowable Items
Additional Restrictions
Requirements of Award Recipients
I. Release FRF
Purpose and Nature of the Award
The Release FRF is intended to encourage and support the research, creative, artistic, and scholarly endeavors of full-time tenured or tenure-track EMU faculty by providing spring-summer salary, and/or released-time awards for outstanding proposals. Spring-Summer Research Awards are funded at a maximum of 20% of base salary (no spring/summer teaching allowed) or 10% (awardee may teach one course).¹ Released-time awards may be in increments of 25%, 50%, 75%, or 100% per semester. Cash of up to $3,000 can be requested as part of an award to cover supplies, services and materials (SS&M) and travel expenses related to the release.²
Timeline
Applicants must adhere to internal deadlines and screening/rating/ranking procedures established by departments, schools, and colleges, as faculty replacement requires advance planning. Proposals require signature approval by the department head or school director and the college dean. After submission to a reviewing body, proposals may not be altered in any way. Deadlines for submission to department/schools are October 3 and February 1, to college dean October 17 and February 9, and to Associate Provost/AVP for Research November 8 and March 15.
Proposal Elements
Proposals must be double-spaced on numbered pages (one side only) in 12-pt. font with one-inch margins. They must contain the following elements:
- Application form (clipped to proposal – not stapled)
- Title page (include project title; name, rank, and home department of applicant(s); brief one-paragraph abstract; and the precise award requested)
- Project narrative (5-10 pages,³ excluding appendices): goals and objectives; need/significance; outcomes assessment; work plan and timeline showing major milestones; justified line-item budget (if appropriate)
- Short (2-5 pp.) CV emphasizing the applicant’s most recent five years of scholarly activity, as well as a separate page attached to the CV listing internal/external awards pending or secured during the last five years.
- Appendices as appropriate (may include contracts, letters of permission/ access, tables of contents, survey instruments, etc.). Note that reviewers are not obliged to read appended material
Evaluation Criteria
- Need/significance within the discipline
- Worthwhile, clearly stated, feasible goals/objectives
- Well-conceived work plan, methodology and timeline
- Applicant capability: adequate preparation and resources; evidence of a coherent, ongoing scholarly/creative agenda
- Overall benefit to the applicant, to students, to the discipline, to EMU, and to the community
Allowable Items
Although a wide range of proposals is sought, the following items and activities (in no particular order) are allowable and consistent with the goals of the award program.
- Preliminary data collection or initial, experimental stages of research that is likely to result in proposals for external funding
- Time to initiate or complete a major scholarly or creative work
- Interdisciplinary faculty teams to write major (>$1 million) institutional or interdisciplinary proposals
- Faculty with external grants that require effort not supported by their grant budget
Non-Allowable Items
- Travel to professional meetings or conferences
- Purchase of computers
- Predominantly commercial ventures
- Institutionally directed research (“work for hire”)
- Faculty development
- Service projects
- Curriculum/course development
- Reimbursement for expenses already incurred
Additional Restrictions
- Applicants for released time in winter 2012 must apply no later than the October 3, 2011 deadline. Applicants for released time in fall 2012 and for spring-summer salary awards for 2012 should apply no later than the February 1, 2012 deadline. Applicants for released time for winter 2013 are encouraged to apply by the February 1, 2012 deadline, and can apply no later than the October 1, 2012 deadline.
- Released time may be requested for no more than two consecutive semesters.
- Unfunded proposals may be revised and resubmitted for consideration in a future funding cycle.
- Recipients remain eligible for other awards in the same year. However, duplicate funding from any source for the same scope of work or for supplies, services, or materials is not permitted.
- A person may not be awarded FRF released time and a Sabbatical Leave Award during the same academic year (September through April). Faculty who apply for both and are successful must choose to receive only one award.
- Only one FRF is normally allowed during two consecutive fiscal years.
Requirements of Award Recipients
- Any revision or alteration of an awarded proposal (including the budget) requires prior written approval by the Associate Provost/AVP for Research.
- Any nonexpendable materials acquired with funds provided under this program become the property of Eastern Michigan University, and are subject to property-control procedures.
- In accepting funding for a proposal, the recipient agrees to submit (within 30 days following conclusion of the award period) a final report (maximum two pages) to the Associate Provost/AVP for Research with copies to the awardee’s department head and dean. Faculty with overdue reports are ineligible for internal funding.
II. FRF Cash Only Award
Purpose and Nature of the Award
Cash Awards in support of small SS&M needs are intended to encourage and support the research, creative, artistic, and scholarly endeavors of EMU faculty. The range of the award is $300 - $3,000 to support outstanding projects. Travel support is limited to $500.
Timeline
Proposals may be submitted at any time to the Associate Provost/AVP for Research (106 Welch Hall) and will be date-stamped on receipt. Proposals require signature approval by the department head or school director. Proposals received in any month will constitute a competitive pool for one award cycle. Awards are normally announced within two weeks of the end of the month.
Proposal Elements
Complete and submit the application form along with an attachment providing a short description (one page only) of the project. Include timeline, project goals, and funds needed, and how the funding will enable these goals. Attach CV, or list of scholarly/creative activities for the last five years. If Human Subjects approval is needed and has been granted, please submit copy of acceptance (a copy of approval must be submitted to the Office of Research Development before funds can be released).
Evaluation Criteria
- Well-conceived research plan & feasible goal
- Funding needed for project completion
- Project will lead to proposal development
- Project will result in a scholarly publication
- Project involves students
- Overall benefit to the applicant and to EMU
Allowable Items
Although a wide range of proposals is sought, the following items and activities (in no particular order) are allowable and consistent with the goals of the award program:
- Travel to archives and research sites 4 when the data collection is likely to result in scholarly publications or grant proposals
- Costs associated with survey research (e.g., copying, postage, data transcription, conversion, analysis)
- Specialized software not conveniently available elsewhere
- Page charges, reprints, exhibit costs, performance / production costs, poster costs
- Purchase of scientific equipment or instrumentation (requires 50% match)
- Data collection, experiments or other forms of scholarly/creative activity likely to result in grant proposals
- Supplies and materials needed for specialized research and/or student research
Non-Allowable Items
- Travel to professional meetings or conferences
- Purchase of computers
- Predominantly commercial ventures
- Institutionally directed research (“work for hire”)
- Faculty development
- Service projects
- Curriculum/course development
- Reimbursement for expenses already incurred
- Production of textbooks
- Professional development or retraining
- Replacement of matching fund support
- Keyboarding or editing research already completed
- Release from teaching
- Supplementary salary
Additional Restrictions
- Unfunded proposals may not be resubmitted in future funding cycles.
- A faculty member shall be funded no more than once per fiscal year under the program.
- Cash awards within the FRF research support process are considered “minor” awards; thus, recipients remain eligible for major awards (sabbatical leave, faculty release fellowship, spring-summer award) in the same year.
Requirements of Award Recipients
- Any revision or alteration of an awarded proposal (including the budget) requires prior written approval by the Associate Provost /AVP for Research.
- Any nonexpendable materials acquired with funds provided under this program become the property of Eastern Michigan University, and are subject to property-control procedures.
- In accepting funding for a proposal, the recipient agrees to submit a final report (maximum two pages) to the Associate Provost/AVP for Research. The deadline for receipt of these reports is September 15 following the award year. Faculty with overdue reports are ineligible for internal funding.
Rev 08/2011
Footnotes
1Funding for spring-summer proposals is extremely limited. To be successful, such proposals must have an exceptionally compelling rationale.
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2Such cash requests should be included as a justified line-item budget within the FRF proposal. A separate “Cash Award” application form is not required.
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3Page length should be in proportion to the complexity of the proposal.
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4Travel support is limited to $500.
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