Note: UEC grants cannot be charged to p-cards, but faculty who receive UEC grants will receive information in their grant award letter about the possibility of an advance.

Deadline: March 1

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Description

Funds are provided for the purpose of enhancing faculty professional expertise in one's field and to enrich the academic environment.

These funds of up to $3,000 are meant to support research-related activities. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: travel; per diem for living expenses while away from the university and engaged in research; supplies and equipment; copying; interlibrary loan and library electronic document delivery services; payment, when necessary, to secure human subjects; publication costs; and student assistants.

Faculty engaged in projects that involve travel outside the United States will need to register their travel at least four weeks prior to departure. Information on how to register travel and request approval for travel to high-risk areas is available on the University’s Travel Advisory site. University funding for projects that involve international travel will not be released until the travel is registered.

Publication costs include page charges, required open access costs, image licensing fees, etc. Please note that Collins Memorial Library has resources available to help evaluate open access journal options, and subject librarians are also able to offer assistance. The committee will consider funding journal publication fees if all of the following requirements are met:

  • The journal is peer-reviewed;
  • The publication charge is required to publish the work in the chosen journal;
  • The applicant has attempted to have the publication fees reduced or waived;
  • The applicant shows evidence of pursuing other funding sources to cover this cost;
  • The applicant makes a strong case in their narrative that this particular publication venue is necessary (e.g., for open access journals, the journal is listed in the Directory of Open Access Journals).

These funds are not intended for course development or sabbatical-related expenses. Burlington Northern funds may be sought for curriculum development support and faculty should apply for sabbatical research and travel funding at the same time as they apply for sabbatical.

Additional items not funded include completion of degree work, salary for the researcher, curriculum development unless that development is an integral part of the research problem, or payment to book publishers that routinely require subsidies from authors as a condition of publication.

Eligibility

Research funds are intended for the use of full-time, ongoing faculty members and artists-in-residence. Up to ten percent of the research funds may be awarded to faculty at the rank of Instructor and visiting faculty who have been in full-time service at the university for at least three years. Instructors with less than three years of service at the university and non-tenure-line, short-term replacements of tenure-line faculty will not be funded.

An application from a faculty member in the last year of service to the university will not normally be considered for a grant unless the project is to be completed by the end of his or her final contract year.

Proposals relating to a faculty member's professional discipline are eligible for funding, and the research should be clearly related to enhancing the faculty member's professional expertise. Basic and applied research in any field and performances and exhibitions in the arts are given equal consideration where performance or exhibitions would serve the same purpose as basic research and are developed for the first time.

Eligible faculty in the early stages of a project are especially encouraged to apply. The committee will not normally consider new proposals from faculty members who have not closed out and completed the reporting requirements for previous University Enrichment grants.

Application

Application for this grant should be made to the University Enrichment Committee through the online form. The application should include:

  1. Project proposal (1,000 words maximum).
    1. Background information and specific objectives of the proposed project.
    2. Methods by which project objectives are to be attained with appropriate references.
    3. Timeline of work to be completed.
  2. An itemized budget, including brief explanations for expenses.
  3. For projects that involve the use of human participants or animals, please be aware that appropriate approval must be obtained before grant funds will be released. Please consult IRB and/or IACUC approval processes information on the university’s website for detail.

Evaluation Guidelines

  1. Proposals should outline the likelihood of the project leading to scholarly publication, performance, or exhibition.
  2. The research plan and/or proposed process for the project should be clearly stated in the proposal.
  3. Proposals should clearly indicate the timeline for completion of work by August 31 of the year following the year of your application for research funding.
  4. The required itemized budget should be clear, appropriate, and well justified.
  5. A faculty member's past record of awards will be considered in the evaluation process.

Deadline

Proposals are due by March 1.

Budget

The limit for each grant requested is $3,000. Within any grant, no more than $600 will be allocated for expenses related to conducting research in a different geographic area for an extended period of time. The use of a student assistant, up to 100 hours, may be requested. Students are paid an hourly rate in accordance with standard student employment policies and procedures.

Any deviation in expenditures from the approved budget must receive the approval of the University Enrichment Committee; requests must be submitted to enrichment@pugetsound.edu in advance of the grant end date. Unapproved cost overruns are the responsibility of the grantee. Costs in need of careful monitoring by the grantee include expenses for equipment and interlibrary loan charges. Grantee is responsible for all receipts and expense tracking required for reimbursement. (Note: these grants are for reimbursement only; grantees may not use university p-cards for expenses, but if reimbursement would be a hardship, grantees are encouraged to request an advance using the Advance Processing Form at https://www.pugetsound.edu/office-finance/forms.)

Reporting

Faculty receiving research awards shall provide a written report containing: (1) a detailed report of work accomplished in terms of achieving the goals and objectives outlined in the original proposal, including copies or descriptions of any publications or other written materials that were produced, and (2) a description of the benefits of the experience in relation to teaching and professional development. The report should be sent to enrichment@pugetsound.edu by August 31 of the year in which award is granted. If the research is not completed by August of the year in which the award was granted, a progress report should be submitted, followed by a final report by August 31 of the second year of the grant period.

Other Details

  1. Student assistance authorized by a research grant must be processed through the Director of Student Employment before any work is done.
  2. Administrative support, beyond normal duties by university administrative coordinator, must be authorized by the Director of Human Resources before any work is done.
  3. Equipment, books, slides, music, or other such non-expendable materials purchased with research funds become part of the resources of the department or the university upon completion of the project.

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