OATdb Archive - Sam Houston State University

OATdb Archive

2014 - 2015

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

KPI

Distribute Funding Information To All Depts And Colleges

ORSP distributes funding opportunities alerts to all depts and colleges

Result

Distribution Of Funding Information

The Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP) surveyed each College Dean to determine the types of funding alerts that should be sent to them and their faculty. With these results, the staff at ORSP divided the Colleges and organized efforts to identify and forward solicitations that matched criteria from the Deans. This new method of distribution did not exclude previous methods for researchers to search for their own funding opportunities with resources provided by ORSP. ORSP still maintains access to two databases that provided searches for funding opportunities. We managed the Community of Scholars program COS/PIVOT and Foundation Search. One staff member was appointed as the liaison for the faculty, and she conducted training on these programs with any interested faculty and helped researchers enroll and use the program.

Action

Finding And Disseminating Funding Opportunities

The COS/PIVOT database provided by ORSP appear to be less used than in previous years but may still be valuable tools. During the past year, we discontinued Foundation Search because its usage had declined to the point that it was not cost effective. ORSP will continue to monitor usage of COS/PIVOT this year and determine if this remains a cost effective tool for faculty use. Should we decide not to use these databases, the staff at ORSP will provide searches for any faculty wishing to find funding opportunities. ORSP will also look for funding opportunities for faculty based upon a database we maintain on faculty research expertise. If a funding opportunity is found that matches a faculty member’s expertise, the information will be sent to the faculty member. ORSP will utilize the following sources to search for funding opportunities:

ORSP will evaluate COS/PIVOT and determine if the database is a useful tool for researchers at SHSU looking for funding opportunities.
ORSP will track funding opportunities in high priority areas, as identified by Faculty and Deans, and forward any new opportunities.
ORSP will match funding solicitations with faculty expertise and forward any pertinent opportunities to the appropriate researcher.
ORSP will continue to engage the TSUS funded government affairs resource, The Normandy Group, who will inform us of Federal trends in grant opportunities. The Normandy Group will also provide weekly reports on new funding opportunities.

ORSP will assign staff members specific Colleges for whom they will work and find important funding opportunities. By matching an ORSP staff member with a specific College, we feel that we can better understand the expertise and needs of the researchers and provide effective searches for 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

KPI

Conduct Grant Writing Workshops

Provide assistance to faculty through topic specific grantwriting workshops

Result

Grant Writing Workshops

ORSP sponsored three workshops this year that included two workshops on Basics of Grant Writing and another workshop on Budget Preparation. We had intended to conduct at least six workshops but due to lack of participation, three were cancelled. Thus, our intended number of workshops were reduced.

Action

Providing Grant Writing Expertise

With the most recent decreased demand for grant writing workshops, we have re-evaluated our plan of offering at least six workshops. Since SHSU has a relatively small turnover of faculty, our efforts of the past years has likely provided most existing faculty with the general grant writing knowledge that they want. We will continue to offer workshops, especially to provide these services to new faculty, but we will reduce the offerings to a single Grant Writing Basics Workshop and a Budget Workshop. For additional assistance, the grant specialists on our staff will met individually with any researchers who need help in the process.

Goal

Increase Scholarly Activities

Increase creative and scholarly achievements

Objective

Assist Faculty To Develop More Scholarly Activities

Support faculty with scholarly endeavors

KPI

Assist Faculty Achieve More Scholarly Activities

Sponsor travel and/or activities related to scholarly achievement

Result

Funding Assistance For Scholarly Activities

Through internal grants and other financial assistance, ORSP provided financial support for research to 32 researchers and helped purchase research equipment for the Forensic Science Department. Results of the internal grans program are maintained in bound copies at ORSP and the Newton Gresham Library. Total funding directed to researchers and to Forensic Science from ORSP, both internal grants and other support, totaled $246,000.

Action

Support For Scholarly Activities

ORSP will manage a competitive internal grant program that will fund approximately ten researchers at a $15,000 level and ten researchers at a $5,000 level during the coming year. ORSP will also strategically use limited funds to support up to researchers in their effort to acquire external funding for their research.

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

KPI

Identify Research Opportunities For Students

Identify grants that sponsor research projects involving students

Result

Assisting In Research Opportunities For Students

ORSP continues to work with EUREKA to coordinate undergraduate research at SHSU. Our office helped to manage the student grants program and provided some administrative assistance to the relatively new undergraduate research program. Two grant opportunities for external funding were identified for future support for EUREKA.

Action

Support For Undergraduate Research

ORSP will continue to support undergraduate research opportunities at SHSU. We will support EUREKA financially and with admistrative support if needed. ORSP will also look for external funding opportunities that might aid EUREKA in increasing undergraduate research opportunities at SHSU.

Update to previous cycle's plan for continuous improvement

ORSP continued to provide databases for funding opportunities but began to reassess the need for these databases in light of the usage. We continue to have three ORSP staff involved in the process of coordinating funding searches and strategizing on grant applications. We offer services to anyone interested in finding funding opportunities. Additionally we monitor funding opportunities where we have identified interests on campus and forward results to researchers.

During the year, ORSP offered three workshops to support grant writing and the budgeting process. We also provided assistance and expertise to researchers for every aspect of the grant writing process.

ORSP managed the internal faculty grant program and gave additional financial faculty assistance to researchers on a competitive basis. This year we funded 32 researchers with a cumulative total of $246,000 for FY 2015.

ORSP continues to support undergraduate research and the EUREKA center. ORSP will continue to provide administrative and financial support to EUREKA but we assumed the role of supporting instead of managing the program.

Plan for continuous improvement ORSP will switch from providing expensive databases of funding opportunities that are getting limited use to conducting individual searches for faculty seeking research opportunities. ORSP staff will monitor Federal, State and private funding sources and forward any results to faculty members. Opportunities will be sought for researchers looking for funding opportunities and to those whose profile matches grant opportunities from a database of faculty expertise that is maintained by ORSP. A minimum of three ORSP staff members will have this service as part of their normal work responsibilities.

ORSP will conduct a basics of grant writing workshop and a budget workshop for any interested faculty. We will provide help to faculty in organizing grant submissions by assisting with budgeting, compliance, and in some cases help in the grant writing process.

ORSP will manage an internal grant program to fund at least 20 SHSU researchers in projects that can be used to begin research activities to generate preliminary data that could be used for seeking external funding. We will also provide funding for a select group of faculty who are determined to be close to getting external funding with the hope that our support will help insure their success.

ORSP will support EUREKA, the undergraduate research center at SHSU, by providing funding for undergraduate research teams and giving help to identify sources of funding to support the new center. Additionally, ORSP will provide any administrative assistance needed by EUREKA.