2006 Undergraduate Research and Engagement Grant Awardees

Submission and Selection Criteria for Undergraduate
Collaborative Scholarship Grants
And
Proposal Cover Sheet

Background and General Information

The Associated Colleges of the South and the Undergraduate Research & Engagement Task Force invite departments and/or divisions from all sixteen ACS member institutions to submit proposals for grants made possible by funding from the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation. The purpose of these grants is to encourage the design, evaluation, redesign, and implementation of student/faculty collaborative scholarship opportunities and the dissemination of its results.

Asking faculty/staff members within a department/division to work together to create a departmental or division proposal is an intentional decision by the Undergraduate Research & Engagement Task Force. Since one aspect of the original proposal that was funded by the Woodruff Foundation was about creating new models of collaborative scholarship/research, the Task Force decided that it needed to look beyond the traditional model of awarding individual mini-grants if it truly wanted to impact campus culture and support the kind of dialogue that would yield new models and more opportunities for collaborative scholarship/research.

While collaborative scholarship/research is a model that may be more familiar within the natural sciences, it is a model that is viable in any discipline, not just the sciences, and has tremendous benefits for both students and faculty. As with any model, each campus and discipline will need to tweak the collaborative scholarship/research components to derive the most benefits.

All departments/divisions are invited to apply for these grants, but we especially invite proposals from departments/divisions that are not actively offering collaborative scholarship/research opportunities. Grants may be used as a planning grant or for the design, redesign, implementation, or assessment of collaborative scholarship/research opportunities, including community-related research.

Please note the following definition of collaborative scholarship that will guide the awarding of these grants.

For the purposes of these grants, collaborative scholarship is defined as any original scholarly endeavor involving faculty and students acting as colleagues. The scholarship must be on a level commensurate with the standards of the international scholarly community to which the work relates, and the expected result of the work should be a peer-reviewed publication, performance, public exhibition, or presentation at a professional meeting. Within this definition it is assumed that the student is a genuine collaborator and not merely an assistant, and that the level of participation of the student is such that both the student and faculty member are recognized as coauthors of the final work.

I. UNDERGRADUATE COLLABORATIVE SCHOLARSHIP PROJECTS

Disciplinary, multidisciplinary, or interdisciplinary efforts may be proposed that result in a faculty-student coauthored peer-reviewed publication, public performance, public exhibition, or presentation at a professional meeting.

Whether the proposal addresses an opportunity offered in the summer or during the academic year, a research project, a performance, an exhibition, a presentation, a co-authored publication, an assessment mechanism, or other learning/teaching opportunity, the resulting experience should provide:

• Collaborative/mentoring relationships between/among students and faculty that involve discovery and development.
• Active student engagement (hands-on learning) with ideas and concepts that open doors to inquiry and creativity.
• Exposure to the culture, methodology, and issues of disciplinary related collaborative scholarship/research, including exploring ethical issues; thinking like a professional; managing time well; planning and data gathering in a suitable manner; developing ideas, problems, and lines of inquiry appropriately; supporting arguments or testing hypotheses; drawing reasonable conclusions; improving writing and presentation skills; and learning how to question what is read/heard/seen on the basis of evidence or research.
• Development of critical and logical thinking skills.
• Opportunities for faculty to enhance their teaching and contributions to their discipline and to society by remaining active in and involving undergraduates in collaborative scholarship activities.

II. Availability of Grants

These grants are made possible through a grant from the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation, Atlanta, GA, and will be awarded in March 2006 and October 2006.
A total of $125,000 is earmarked for these grants. An amount up to $25,000 may be awarded for each funded proposal

III. Acceptance Guidelines

A. For a proposal to be accepted for consideration, it must:

• directly provide original, collaborative scholarship opportunities where students and faculty work together as colleagues.
• address the mission, purposes, and objectives of this initiative;
• e able to be completed within 11 months of the award date and contain all of the proposal elements listed below.
• include evidence of institutional support for the mini-grant proposal, in the form of a letter of support from the Department/Division Chair. The chief academic officer also must sign the required proposal cover sheet.

B. Proposal Elements

Proposals should be prepared in 12 point double-spaced type with 1 inch margins and conform to the page limit recommendations listed below. Sections 2-4 may not exceed ten pages. A completed full proposal consists of a single hard copy and a copy submitted via email, and must include the following:

1. Standard Cover Sheet (print)

• Title of Project.
• Name(s) of the department/division chair submitting the request.
• stitution and mailing address.
• Phone, Fax, and e-mail information.
• Date of submission and date of proposed period of grant.
• Signatures of department chair(s) and chief academic officer(s).

2. Summary recommended not to exceed one page:

• Issue, topic, problem, or process addressed by the proposal.
• Goals and objectives of the collaborative scholarship.
• Description of how the goals and objectives will be accomplished.
• Anticipated outcomes and benefits.
• Description of collaborative relationships.

3. Project Description recommended not to exceed six pages that describes:

• Goals and objectives.
• Background and campus context.
• Detailed collaborative scholarship plan [for opportunities other than planning grants], demonstrating adequate planning and preparation for student/faculty collaboration .
• Prior activities or research related to proposal.
• Projected timetable.
• Requested budget, with justification for each line item: reassigned time, equipment, supplies, travel, etc. Faculty stipends for summer work may be included. Indirect costs, including any employment benefits or taxes, are NOT permitted.
• Context of collaborative scholarship in curriculum and /or faculty’s research agenda.
• Anticipated impact on the discipline and on the institution.
• Evidence of institutional support.

4. Evaluation, Dissemination, and Continued Support recommended not to exceed three pages including:

• A description of evaluation/assessment process. How will success be measured?
• Plans for dissemination of results. Include a plan to showcase the results of the project. For example, presentation of results at ACS and other conferences and workshops; publications in appropriate journals.
• Personal/Departmental/Institutional plans for continued support of this scholarship [beyond this proposal].

5. Literature Cited

List all references cited in the proposal. Each reference must include the title, names of all authors, book or journal, volume number, page numbers, and year of publication.

6. C.V. of Department/Division Chair(s)

Maximum of two pages. If multiple departments within one institution or multiple institutions are involved, include a c.v. for each of the principle department/division chairs involved in the proposal.

7. Disclosure Statement

Please list other on-going grant activities or activities that will coincide with the
submitted proposal. Each applicant is further requested to include current and pending
funding information relevant to these activities.

C. Interim Progress Report

Unless otherwise specified when the grant is awarded, an Interim Progress Report will be expected about mid-way between the receipt of the mini-grant and the due date for the final report. A due date for the Interim Report will be included with the award notification. Guidelines for the Interim Report will be posted on the ACS Undergraduate Research & Engagement website and will be sent to the grant recipients as part of the award/acknowledgement/acceptance confirmation.

D Final Report

It is expected that a detailed written report will be submitted within 30 days of the end of
funding time frame, addressing activities, outcomes, lessons learned, finances, and any follow-up plans. Final Report Guidelines will be posted on the ACS Undergraduate & Engagement website and will be sent to the grant recipients as part of the award and acknowledgement confirmation.

For grants awarded in March 2006, the final report will be due no later than March 25, 2007. For grants awarded in October 2006, the final report will be due no later than October 8, 2007

IV. Proposal Deadlines and Submission Schedule

The deadlines for proposal submissions are
March 7, 2006
October 3, 2006

Submit an electronic copy by the proposal deadline to Thom Moore, tmoore@rollins.edu, chair of the Grant Review Committee, AND a single hard copy (by mail, UPS, FEDEX, etc.), postmarked by the submission deadline, to:

Dr. Thomas Moore
Department of Physics
Rollins College
1000 Holt Avenue
Winter Park, FL 32789
(407) 646-2349

Proposals will be reviewed by a sub-committee of the Undergraduate Research & Engagement Task Force. Awards will be announced by the end of March 2006 and October 2006.

V. Project Evaluation Criteria

• Does the project address the ACS goals as outlined in item I of this document?
• Does the proposal meet the submission guidelines and provide the requested information?
• Is the approach or design of the project appropriate to the goals and feasible?
• Is the project innovative and a potential model for adaptation?
• Are there adequate plans for evaluation and dissemination?
• What is the context of the activity within the curriculum?
• What is the impact of the proposal on the discipline and on the institution?

VI. Committee Review Process

Proposals will be read and discussed by a review committee of 3 [three] members of the Undergraduate Research & Engagement Task Force. The following guidelines will be used to ensure that the review and selection process is fair and unbiased:

• Review committee members who are directly or closely involved in any project must remove themselves from participation in the review process to avoid a conflict of interest
• Campaigning on behalf of any one project by members of the larger planning committee or the review committee is discouraged.
• The designated ACS staff person will coordinate/facilitate the submission and review process.
• The review process will be confidential.
• Feedback will be provided to the applicants.

VII. Questions

If at any time there is a question related to the preparation of the proposal, please contact the chair of the Grant Review Committee, Thom Moore, tmoore@rollins.edu, (407) 646-2349.