OATdb Archive

2009 - 2010

Research And Special Programs, Associate Vice President

Goal
Increase Research Activities
Increase research activities on campus for all areas

Objective
Provide More Research Funding Information
Inform new and senior faculty of research opportunities

Indicator
Distribute Funding Information To All Depts And Colleges
ORSP distributes funding opportunities alerts to all depts and colleges

Criterion
Distribute 15 Funding Opportunities Per Month To Depts And Colleges
Funding opportunities are distributed by email to each college and dept for distribution to faculty

Finding
Distribute 15 Funding Opportunities Per Month To Depts And Colleges
We far exceded meeting this objective.  The Office of Research designated one staff person to take charge of this action and we aided the effort by subscribing to and monitoring several databases to filter out appropriate funding opportunities that match the expertise of our faculty.  When these opportunities are found they are immediately forwarded to the appropriate researcher, of if they are more general they are sent to the Department or College.  We created a database of faculty expertise and interests to aid the matching of these opportunities.  The actual number being sent out is variable but more than doubles our criterion level.

Action
Distribute Funding Information To All Depts And Colleges
ORSP will continue the proceedure that was used in this fiscal year and we will enhance our efforts with the addition of purchasing a subscription to a new and more powerful funding database.  We are now in the process of subscribing to Community of Scholars (COS) Funding Opportunities.  Additionally, we will add monitoring funding opportunities of more Foundations.


Goal
Increase External Funding
Increase sponsored research for all areas

Objective
Increase Number Of Faculty Pursuing Sponsored Research
Increase number of Faculty submitting grants to NSF, NIH, Dept. of Education, and other agencies

Indicator
Conduct Grantwriting Workshops
Provide assistance to faculty through topic specific grantwriting workshops

Criterion
Conduct 3 Workshops Per Semester
Each of the 3 workshops will be related to a topic pertinent to grantwriting

Finding
Conduct 3 Workshops Per Semester
We conducted eight workshops this year, four during fall semester and four during spring semester.  Workshops offered this year were New Faculty Workshop, Social Sciences Workshop, Sciences Workshop, Education College Workshop, Foundation Funding Workshop, Graduate Fellowships Workshop, Foundation Search Workshop, and a second Graduate Fellowships Workshop.  Begining in spring semester we also began suveys at the end of each workshop to give feedback to our effectiveness.  Feedback was both positive and helpful in designing future workshops.

Action
Conduct Grantwriting Workshops
We will continue our efforts to provide workshops to aid faculty in finding grant opportunities and to write successful grants.  We also will continue the surveys we instituted to evaluate the value of the workshops to participants.  Furthermore, we plan to begin monitoring grants submitted and success rate or the participants in our workshops and to compare these with faculty who do not attend.

Goal
Increase Scholarly Activities
Increase creative and scholarly achievements

Objective
Assist Faculty To Develop More Scholarly Activities
Support faculty with scholarly endeavors

Indicator
Assist Faculty Achieve More Scholarly Activities
Sponsor travel and/or activities related to scholarly achievement

Criterion
Sponsor Travel For Faculty In Pursuit Of Scholarly Activities
Sponsor 10 faculty per academic year with travel in their pursuit of scholarly activities

Finding
Sponsor Travel For Faculty In Pursuit Of Scholarly Activities
We did not specifically meet this objective.  We did directly sponsor eight faculty in travel for their scholarly activity and we additionally aided twelve faculty with support for equipment and materials.  Thus while not specifically providing travel support to ten faculty we did aid twice that number in their scholarly activities.  The emphasis on supplying this support was that it would be for activities that could lead to addtional external funding.

Action
Assist Faculty To Develop More Scholarly Activities
We will continue to provide support to faculty in their scholarly activities, especially to those that are using this support to get preliminary data for external funding.  To assess the effectiveness of ORSP providing this support, we will start monitoring the success that funded faculty have in obtaining external funding.  However, our emphasis may change from using the criterion of sonsoring travel to a more broadly form of faculty financial support for any research activity that could lead to external funding.

Goal
Increase Research Opportunities For Students
Increase students' knowledge through more research opportunities

Objective
Assist Faculty Identify Research Opportunities Involving Students
Identify sponsored research programs aimed at exposing students to research

Indicator
Identify Research Opportunities For Students
Identify grants that sponsor research projects involving students

Criterion
Identify 1 Grant Per Month Involving Research Opportunities For Students
Grants sponsoring research opportunities for students will be identified by ORSP

Finding
Identify 1 Grant Per Month Involving Research Opportunities For Students
We have far exceded this objective.  There have been many opportunities that were sent out to faculty and several of these have resulted in proposals sent to federal agencies.  For example, in  three months (April-June) there have been three proposals sent by faculty in the Math Department to the Natiional Science Foundation for projects that would involve student research.  These resulted from three of six funding opportunities sent by ORSP to Math faculty.  While the Math Department has been a leader in this category, there are similar efforts across the campus.

Action
Assist Faculty Identify Research Opportunities Involving Students
We will continue to work on this objective.  In addition, we will begin to monitor our efforts to better evaluate our effectiveness.  We will track this type of funding opportunity sent to faculty and compare this with the number of proposals that result and the success of those proposals.  We will then be able to evaluate these results to produce a plan to enhance our efforts.

Goal
Increase External Grant Submissions
Increase the number of external grants submitted by SHSU faculty and staff

Objective
Increase The Number Of External Grant Submissions
To facilitate research we will facilitate the submission of external grant opportunities.

Indicator
Number Of External Funding Proposals Submitted
We will guage our level of external grant participation by the number of proposals submitted by faculty and staff.

Criterion
Process And Submit 140 External Grant Applications
We will monitor the number of grant applications submitted on behalf of SHSU faculty and staff and monitor the number that are awarded.

Finding
Number Of External Grants Submitted
As of June 30, 2010 we have submitted 125 grant proposals with 13 more in the process.  These findings will be updated after this fiscal year is completed.  Thus far, 40 proposals have been successful.


Action
Submission Of External Grant Proposals
We will continue to document the number of externally submitted and funded proposals.  Additonally, we will evaluate reasons for success and failure of the submitted proposals and report any factors that may help in future submissions.


Update to previous cycle's plan for continuous improvement

Plan for continuous improvement Research Funding Information: ORSP will continue the proceedure that was used in this fiscal year and we will enhance our efforts with the addition of purchasing a subscription to a new and more powerful funding database.  We are now in the process of subscribing to Community of Scholars (COS) Funding Opportunities.  Additionally, we will add monitoring funding opportunities of more Foundations.

Grant Workshops: We will continue our efforts to provide workshops to aid faculty in finding grant opportunities and to write successful grants.  We also will continue the surveys we instituted to evaluate the value of the workshops to participants.  Furthermore, we plan to begin monitoring grants submitted and success rate or the participants in our workshops and to compare these with faculty who do not attend.

External Grants: We will continue to document the number of externally submitted and funded proposals.  Additonally, we will evaluate reasons for success and failure of the submitted proposals and report any factors that may help in future submissions. We will continue to provide support to faculty in their scholarly activities, especially to those that are using this support to get preliminary data for external funding.  To assess the effectiveness of ORSP providing this support, we will start monitoring the success that funded faculty have in obtaining external funding.  However, our emphasis may change from using the criterion of sonsoring travel to a more broadly form of faculty financial support for any research activity that could lead to external funding.

Research Oppotunities for Students: We will continue to work on this objective.  In addition, we will begin to monitor our efforts to better evaluate our effectiveness.  We will track this type of funding opportunity sent to faculty and compare this with the number of proposals that result and the success of those proposals.  We will then be able to evaluate these results to produce a plan to enhance our efforts.