Faculty Research Grant Program Guidelines

Introduction. The purpose of the Faculty Research Grant Program is to provide financial support for faculty research projects, scholarly activities, papers for publication, and creative works. These funds are intended to be exclusive of curriculum development and instructional improvement grants.  Funded grants should culminate in some "resulting product" -- a publication, a paper submitted for publication, a manuscript, a model, a creation for display, an original musical composition, a play, a piece of sculpture, etc.  Funding of faculty grants will be based upon the overall completeness of the proposal, the merit and creativity of the project, the soundness of the research design or methodology, the value and relationship of the project to department and University goals and the soundness of the budget justification.  Click here to view sample proposals.

Eligibility.  All full-time AAUP and NMUFA faculty members are eligible for Faculty Research Grants.  A faculty member may be funded for only one (1) proposal per year, and not more than three (3) within any five-year (5) period.  The applicant must agree to return to the University for one (1) full academic year immediately following the award of the grant or repay in full all compensation paid by the University.  Persons failing to file Annual or Final reports are ineligible for grants in subsequent granting cycles.

Deadlines.

Award Parameters.  The maximum award for Faculty Research Grants is $7,000.  The project can begin upon notification of the award.  Projects must be completed and funds encumbered within a 24 month funding period.  Extensions for projects may be granted at the discretion of the Dean of Graduate Studies and Research. 

How to Apply.  The application consists of a cover sheet that will be generated online, a project abstract (250 words or less), a narrative that includes responses to the questions listed in the Narrative Body (below), and applicable appendices. The abstract, narrative, and appendices should be combined into a single pdf document and then uploaded via the Grants & Research Office's online proposal submission portal by 5:00 p.m. November 1. (Click here for suggestions on how to print to pdf and combine pdf documents.) Once you submit your proposal document, you will be given a link to the online cover sheet. You cannot save the information in the cover sheet so you may to want to gather the needed information before you begin. A sample cover sheet can be downloaded here. If you have any questions about the online submission process, please call Andrew Smentkowski at 227-2456.

• Narrative Format. The narrative is limited to ten, double-spaced pages. Any spacing less than double is not allowed. Proposals must have one-inch margins and be printed in Times New Roman, 12 point font size, and the ten-page narrative must be paginated.  For faculty with visual impairments, please contact the Grants & Research Office for alternative formatting guidelines.
  
• Narrative Audience.  To be appropriately evaluated, it is important that grants be written with the intended audience in mind. That is, grant writers should consider the grant review committee to be a group of educated lay persons. One cannot assume that committee members have knowledge of technical procedures, jargon, or important concepts in specific fields.
  
• Narrative Body:
  
  A. Significance
      1.  What will you do?
              --What are the specific goals of the grant?
              --If this is a continuation of a previously funded project, discuss that project, its results, and show how the proposed project will be related to it.
              --Provide sufficient literature review so the committee can understand how the project fits into the scholarship of your academic specialty.
              --Has any preliminary work been initiated?
      2.  What will you produce?
              --What substantive product will result from this project?
      3.  Why should it be done?
              --Why is this project important to your field of study?
              --Why is this project important to your department and college?
              --Why is this project important to you and your professional development?

  B. Methods
      1.  How will you conduct the project?
              --Provide sufficient detail so that it is clear how the project will be conducted and that there is a reasonable probability that it is “doable”.
              --What facilities/equipment are required? Are they available?
              --Where appropriate, describe what arrangements have been made or are expected to be made for the use of facilities/equipment at NMU or elsewhere.
              --Provide a timetable for various stages of the project.
              --If the research will use animal or human subjects, applications to the IACUC or IRB (whichever is appropriate) must have been submitted prior to the submission of the Faculty Grant Proposal, and a copy of the IACUC or IRB application must be attached to this Faculty Grant Proposal. Approvals for the use of human or vertebrate animal subjects must be received from the appropriate university committee before a project can receive funding. If work is to be conducted on public lands or involves wild animals and endangered plants, appropriate permits must be obtained. Contact the Dean of Graduate Studies and Research for assistance in complying with State and Federal regulations.

  C. Other Supporting Information
      1.  Why are you qualified to conduct this project?
              --Do you have training and experience in necessary techniques?
              --Do you know the field?
              --Discuss your qualifications and those of people working on the project to undertake and complete the proposed project. A complete curriculum vitae for each major participant must be included in the appendices.
      2.  How will you use the money?  Provide a detailed budget and budget justification. An itemized budget of all anticipated expenditures must be included under the following categories:
              --faculty salary and fringe benefits;
              --student assistance and fringe benefits;
              --supplies and contractual services;
              --travel;
              --equipment;
              --miscellaneous;
              --For additional explanation of these categories, see the section titled “Budget Categories” below.
              --Major items ($200.00 and over) require a statement clearly justifying the requested funds indicating why they are essential for completion of the proposed project.
              --If your project requires more than the maximum Faculty Grant award of $7000 to complete, please indicate how you intend to secure additional funding. Also, clearly explain the part of your project that can be completed if you fail to secure additional funding.

  D. Appendices
      1.  List of references cited.
      2.  Curriculum Vitae: Include for each major participant (limit to four pages per CV).
      3.  Results of Prior Funding: Explain what was accomplished as a result of your most recent Faculty Research Grant funding. Include a copy of your last Final Project Report or provide a status report for current funding.
      4.  Additional Documentation (e.g., Dean/Dept.Head letter of approval for reassigned time, documentation for budget, IRB Application, IACUC Application, Other Permits that may be required such as those issued by the National Park Service, City of Marquette, etc.)

Budget Categories. Below are references to the most common categories.  Specific questions regarding your budgets should be directed to the Grants Accountant (Kathy Frazier) at 227-1076.

• Salary: Remuneration for faculty time may be requested. Applicants may request up a maximum of four credits of reassigned time per semester, throughout the time period of the grant activities. Reassigned time during the fall or winter semester is calculated as the cost needed to hire an adjunct to replace the faculty member for the appropriate number of credit hours. Proposals planned for fall or winter semesters must contain a detailed description of how any request for reassigned time will be handled within the department. The department head and appropriate dean must approve requests (letter must be attached to proposal) for reassigned time when the proposal is submitted to the Grants and Research Office.
  Remuneration requested during the summer session must not exceed the maximum amount per the AAUP master agreement exclusive of fringe benefits. Remuneration should be justified based on the estimated effort to be spent on the project.  Fringe benefits must be listed at the current blended fringe rate (click here for additional budget info).
• Student Research Assistants Salary: Students not enrolled must be paid fringe benefits at temporary labor rates. Fringe benefits should be included in requests for student assistants where appropriate. Payment to graduate and undergraduate research assistants should be based on the current pay rates as defined in the Student Employment Handbook.
• Supplies and Services: Reasonable supplies and contractual services may be included. Office & lab supplies, postage, educational supplies, rentals, printing and duplicating, telephone, and professional services should be itemized. These are expenses over and above normal departmental support of the faculty member.
• Travel and Living Expenses: Travel and living expenses are allowable, but cannot exceed current University established rates. They must be itemized.
• Equipment: Each grant should justify the need for and cost of equipment relative to the project's objective and methodology.  Any equipment purchased through a Faculty Grant is the property of the University and must be registered with the Inventory Control Department.

Proposal Evaluation.  The evaluation rubric used by the Faculty Grants Committee can be downloaded here.

• Evaluation Criteria:  Proposals from eligible applicants will be evaluated on the following criteria: a) scholarly/creative significance, b) soundness of the project plan, c) qualifications of the investigator and staff, d) strength of the budget and budget justification, and e) adherence to format and content requirements. 
  
• Procedures: Committee members will read each proposal, but one committee member will act as the lead reviewer for each.  The lead reviewer will give the proposal an especially thorough reading, and will present a short summary of the proposal to the full committee, along with the lead reviewer's analysis of strengths and weaknesses of the proposal.  Discussion of the proposal will follow.  Committee members will come to the grant review session with preliminary ratings of proposals, but may modify these based on committee discussions.

  When all proposals have been presented and discussed as detailed above, the committee will begin a two-stage ranking process.  Any proposal that fails to adequately address one or more of the grant requirements (as determined by a majority of the committee) will not be ranked.  Some examples of reasons for not ranking a proposal include lack of an identifiable scholarly product, an ineligible faculty member applying for a grant, failure to include a copy of the most recent final report, failure to obtain letters of support from Dean and Department Head to reassign course time during the Fall or Winter term, lack of a CV, and gross violations of the formatting guidelines. All other proposals will be ranked by each committee member, with the highest being "1" and successive ratings receiving 2” and "3”.  The total of all committee members’ rankings for each proposal will be used to determine a final ranking.

  Rankings and recommendations of the committee will be forwarded to the Academic Senate, with notation made of first-time applicants.  Notes concerning perceived strengths and weaknesses of each proposal will be kept by the lead reviewer during discussion of each grant.  The lead reviewer will forward a summary review to each grant writer after the Academic Senate has acted on the committee's recommendations.

• Voting Policy:  Each proposal must be read and evaluated by a minimum of five (5) voting members of the Faculty Grants Committee. In the event that less than five committee members are available for grant assessment, alternate committee members will be called upon to fill in. Committee members who have a grant under consideration will be excluded from any deliberations concerning the Faculty Grant Program.  Alternates will take the place of these members.  Ex officio committee members may contribute to discussions, but will not take part in the actual ranking of proposals.

Patents and Copyrights.  The University recognizes that certain discoveries may result from the primary business of the University.  These inventions and materials may be eligible for copyright or patent protection.  All NMU employees are responsible for following the current Intellectual Property Policy of Northern Michigan University.

Optional Pre-submission Compliance Review.  The Grants & Research Office offers an optional review of proposals for compliance with the required document format.  Proposals must be submitted no later than Oct. 21 in order to participate in this review.  The Compliance Checklist is included with the cover page.

Reporting. 

• Annual Progress Report:   An Annual Progress Report must be filed with the Grants & Research Office (grants@nmu.edu) by November 1 on all projects unless the project has been completed and the Final Project Report has been submitted.  The Annual Progress Report must describe the project activities and actual budget expenditures to date and should indicate an expected project completion date.  Persons failing to file Annual reports are ineligible for grants in subsequent granting cycles.
• Project Report:  The recipient of a grant must file a Final Project Report within one month after the end date of the project.  The Final Project Report guidelines and submission instructions can be found here, as well as sample reports.  If a grant recipient fails to submit a final report within 30 days after completion of the project, s/he may not apply for a new grant for at least one year from the submission date of the belated final report, and a final report must be submitted to all necessary offices and individuals prior to filing a new grant application.