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
Funding Opportunities
We far exceeded this objective. This year we finished the creation of a database of all faculty and their research interests. We assigned two staff members to track funding opportunities and when requests for proposals (rfps) were identified that matched faculty interests, the rfps were forwarded to the faculty member. To facilitate this process, we subscribed to two databases, one to track rfps from all federal, state, and private sources that pertain to academia and another to serve a similar function for foundations. We also subscribed to Community of Scholars Funding Opportunities (COS) that allows any University employee to conduct searches for funding opportunities and set up funding alerts that will deliver new rfps via e-mail. We held several training sessions for faculty to familiarize them with COS.
Criterion
Track Results Of Forwarded Funding Opportunities
Submission of proposals will be compared to funding opportunities that are sent to faculty.
Finding
Increase Research Activities
With the addition of our new subscription database that can be accessed directly by faculty, it became impossible to track the exact number of proposals submitted compared to alerts that were accessed. The data that we do have shows that we have not increased the number of proposals submitted. Our conclusion is that faculty who want to submit proposals are getting the information needed under both our previous and current method of sending funding alerts. The advantage of our new system is primarily that it makes it less labor intensive for the ORSP staff and as a result we are now using one less staff person in the office and we can focus on other duties since funding alerts are no longer as labor intensive. Additionally, we did follow through on the rest of our specified action from last year and continued to offer workshops to identify funding opportunities. Our subscription to the COS funding database was accompanied by several open workshops for faculty to learn the program.
Action
Provide More Research Funding Information
ORSP will facilitate the identification of funding opportunities using the same successful program we used this year. We will also hold workshops or meet individually with new faculty to introduce them to the opportunities we provide for identifying funding opportunities.
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
Increase External Funding
We conducted seven workshops this year, four during fall semester and three during spring semester. Workshops topics included grant budgets and intellectual property, grants with the National Science Foundation, grants with the National Institutes of Health, and working with foundations. We also arranged for an on-campus workshop presented by a Program Director from the National Science Foundation and facilitated several faculty going to a similar workshop held at Texas State University, San Marcos. Additionally, we hosted a former Program Director from the National Science Foundation who met with several faculty to help them with their proposals. We documented feedback from these efforts and all were deemed to be helpful in the grant writing process.
Action
Increase External Funding
We will provide workshops and opportunities for faculty to learn more about the grant writing process and better prepare them for writing successful proposals. We have been taking suggestions for workshops that are needed and will develop new workshops as they are identified and needed.
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 funding in their pursuit of scholarly activities that could lead to external funding
Finding
Increase Scholarly Activities
We did not specifically meet this objective; however, we did contribute significantly to efforts that increased scholarly activities. We sponsored eight faculty members in attending a meeting at Texas State University to attend a workshop and meet with Program Directors from the National Science Foundation. We also contributed funding to help with research equipment to members in the Chemistry Department, Department of Biological Sciences, and Department of Sociology.
Action
Increase Scholarly Activities
We will provide many forms of support to faculty members’ scholarly activities. We have begun assessing the success of these efforts. As stated in our actions for this goal last year, we will diversify the methods of support given to increase scholarly activities.
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 and submissions of these grants will be tracked.
Finding
Increase Research Opportunities For Students
We have exceeded this goal by two methods. First, we have identified several programs each month that include students. An example is one of our recent successful grant applications that is specifically oriented to student research and we have encouraged four other proposals that are in the NSF program Research Experience for Undergraduates. Besides these submissions there have been numerous submissions that have included funding for student research. Second, we have now achieved the classification by NSF as an Undergraduate Research Institute, and that designation has benefits for researchers to include students in their research proposals. Thus, more proposals have focused on providing research opportunities for students. This designation will continue in the upcoming years.
Action
Increase Research Opportunities For Students
We will stress the incorporation of students in research at SHSU. We will make faculty aware of our RUI designation and its advantage for our researchers who involve students. Additionally, we plan to work with the Office of Graduate Studies to make more opportunities for undergraduate and graduate research. We are making it a priority of our internal grants program to fund faculty who include students.