Student-Faculty Research Grants

GRANT APPLICATION PROCEDURE
STUDENT-FACULTY RESEARCH GRANTS

From the original proposal to the Lilly Endowment:

We propose funding faculty-student research grants entitled “Research as Vocation.” These grants would be based on an “action-reflection model,” in which students and faculty would consider the wider significance of their projects in terms of vocation. In addition to outlining a research project in any field, successful faculty applicants will indicate how they will build in periods of “reflection” to make students aware of broader issues of vocation implicit in the research undertaken. . . . Presenting an account of this research experience to the relevant department would form the conclusion of this collaborative enterprise.

Also from the proposal:

The college [also] proposes funding student-faculty research into the issue of vocation itself. Such research, entitled “Research on Vocation,” will be aimed at contributing new scholarly understanding of the relation of vocation and the wider world. Here, too, the research would be concluded by a presentation, such as a departmental colloquium open to the wider campus.

The CrossRoads Project invites applications from Hope faculty to support student-faculty collaborate research that meet the above criteria. Such applications should be submitted to the Director of the project. The deadline is Monday, November 10, 2008.

Grants are intended to support cooperative research involving students in significant research with a faculty member, leading to publication or other dissemination of the results of the research. Graduating senior students are ineligible; students are expected to give a presentation of their research during the following academic year (details on this appear below), and to contribute during the academic year to sustaining a research environment.

Grants may include funding for partial underwriting of travel to a conference to present the results of the research. In some instances, the faculty member’s Dean may be willing to supplement this funding to enable both you and your student to attend a conference to present a paper.

Each application should be in the following format:

1. Indicate your name, your academic title, and the name of the Hope College student(s) who will be working with you.

2. Provide a one-paragraph narrative describing (a) the development of your interest in the academic research that the grant would underwrite, and (b) the development of the student’s interest in the research.

3. Provide a brief (1000 words or fewer) description of the proposed research project. This account is meant to offer a description of the work to be done, as well as its goals and objectives; it should also indicate how the work is to be evaluated. This section should not, however, include an argument for funding, which is addressed in section 6, below.

4. Construct a timeline for the implementation of the research project, including any background work that will need to be done in advance, a timetable for student involvement, the dates of the actual research project, and all necessary follow-up processes.

5. Provide a basic line-item budget estimate, indicating the amount of money requested in specific categories and providing, where necessary, an explanation of any unusual expenses. Small details are not needed, and all numbers are assumed to be rough estimates. Money can always be transferred to a different category, if necessary, in the actual implementation of the grant; the evaluators request this information only to have a sense of how the money is expected to be spent. The maximum grant is $7,200, of which a maximum of $3,600 may be a faculty stipend and a maximum of $2,800 may be a student stipend. (Student stipends: At the maximum award amount of $2,800, the stipend will be spread out for no longer than 8 weeks based on a 40-hour work week. Students will not be able to work at another on-campus job during the time period that they are receiving this full-time stipend due to over-time regulations. Taxes will be withheld from the total award amount.)

6. Offer a brief (750 words or fewer) argument in favor of the proposal. Indicate the benefits to be gained, for the faculty member’s professional development, the student(s), and the College as a whole. Because this funding will come from a program focused on the theological exploration of vocation, your argument should indicate, as concretely as possible, how the proposed research will encourage such exploration to take place.

7. Your student must write an essay of 300 to 500 words indicating how s/he would participate in and benefit from the project. This may be submitted as an appendix to your proposal or inserted into the text, but it must be authored by the student and signed by him or her.

8. Dissemination and Final Report: Faculty/student teams receiving funding are expected to present their findings at the annual Hope College research symposium and at NCUR, a national PTEV conference, or an appropriate disciplinary conference. After the research is concluded, the faculty member should submit to the CrossRoads Project a report on how the objectives have been met (copied to the Office of the Provost and to the faculty member’s Academic Dean). The student should also submit a one- to two-page report, summarizing the project and its contributions to his/her professional development. These reports are due on September 16, 2009.

9. Applications should be countersigned by the Department Chair and the Divisional Dean. This does not indicate “approval” of the proposed research so much as a willingness to support the faculty member’s travel and time commitments toward the program. If the proposed research will be related to or dependent upon some other already-established campus program, please include a letter from the Director of that program indicating support for the proposal.

Please submit:

1. One paper-clipped & signed copy of your application, no later than 5pm Monday, November 10, 2008 via campus mail to David Cunningham - CrossRoads Project -or- drop off at Van Zoeren 182.
2. One electronic version of the application for our files; send as an attatchement via e-mail to crossroads@hope.edu with 'Grant Proposal' in the subject line.

Decisions are expected in early December, allowing time for non-funded applicants to apply through the College’s standard Faculty Development grants.