The Faculty Development Fund provides modest support for focused faculty development research projects, "seed money" for new research initiatives to help obtain results or confirm ideas that can become part of a research proposal to an outside granting agency, and for creative endeavors. This fund is restricted to faculty holding regular (tenured or tenure track) appointments. An amount of approximately $10,000 is available for each academic year.
The typical award is expected not to exceed $1,500. However, proposals for modestly larger amounts will be considered. Applications should be brief (limit: 3 typed pages) and should include:
• a description of the proposed activity,
• its significance in terms of faculty development or planned grant proposals,
• its benefit to the faculty member’s individual development, the department, and the university.
• an itemized budget
The description of the proposed project should be written in plain language, free of jargon (or clearly explained when it is necessary to use specialized terminology). It is highly likely that the proposal will be reviewed by individuals who have no specialized knowledge of an applicant's area of study. Applicants are expected to, and will be evaluated on, their ability to describe the significance of the project in non-technical, non discipline-specific terms. Put another way, the proposal should be written for an educated audience of non-specialist peers. Applicants are strongly urged to obtain comments from colleagues outside their disciplines before submission.
Evaluation criteria include:
• Capacity of the project to generate additional resources through subsequent external funding.
• Logical role of the project in individual faculty development.
• Contribution of the project to departmental and university goals.
• Capacity of the project to support links between student development and faculty scholarship.
The application must be accompanied by a properly endorsed Notice of Submission Form (copy attached). If the proposal for development involves an institution outside the University a supporting letter must be obtained from the outside institution. Funds in this program will not be available for salary supplementation but can be used to support research assistants under certain circumstances. If graduate student support or undergraduate support during the summer is requested, fringe benefits must be included in the budget request. For any equipment purchased with Faculty Development funds, the title to the equipment vests with the University, and equipment no longer being utilized for the awarded project will be available for use by others.
Please submit your proposal and the signed submission form via email to FacultyDevelopmentFunds@clarku.edu . If scanning is not possible then email your proposal and send the submission form via snail mail to: Faculty Development Funds, c/o Diana Hennessy-Curran, Academic Affairs, Geography Building. The applications will be reviewed by the Dean of Research and the Research Board. The application deadline is January 14th, 2013 at 4 p.m. Decisions will be announced by late February.
When a project is completed, or at the end of the academic year in which the award is made, a report must be submitted to the Dean of Research describing accomplishments and listing any publications or other creative works which may have resulted from this award. A summary of expenditures must also be included. Any deviation from the approved budget must be authorized by the Dean of Research.