CHSU Policy for Faculty Research and Scholarship Fund

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I. Policy Statement

This policy defines the CHSU Research and Scholarship Fund (RSF) and the process for university faculty to request funding for scholarly activities.

II. Research and Scholarship Fund 

The purpose of the RSF is to provide resources annually (on a competitive basis) to support scholarly activities that can generate new knowledge, lead to scholarly publications and presentations, and/or produce preliminary data that can lead to more substantial external funding.

All full-time CHSU faculty are eligible to submit applications to the RSF. Multidisciplinary proposals and collaborations are encouraged.

The RSF will be administered on a fiscal year basis, procedures for timing of proposal submissions, review and recommendations for funding must be made such that projects can commence on July 1. The amount of funding available may vary depending on the University’s needs and priorities.

Awards are on a one-year basis (July 1 – June 30). There is no minimum request, but maximum requests are $15,000. Guidelines for proposal submission and review are established by the Research and Scholarship Committee (RSC).

III. Budget Requests

  1. Original Requests:
    Funding requests from the RSF are to be submitted as part of the normal University budget process. There is no predetermined budget for RSF. Instead, such requests will be considered in the context of overall University priorities.
    RSF requests are initiated at the department level. Each University department shall consider and request RSF funding as it prepares its annual budget on a timetable established by University administration. If a department has multiple RSF request, they should be rank-ordered in terms of priority. Each RSF request should include a justification and a listing of investigators whose research will benefit from the funding. Requests that will benefit multiple investigators should be given priority. A faculty member cannot be the Principal investigator (PI) on more than one active RSF grant at a time.
    The Dean of each University college shall submit the recommended RSF portion of their budget request to the University RSC. The RSC will consider all RSF requests and propose a final rank order of all requests. In their ranking, the RSC is encouraged to give preference to collaborations across disciplines, departments and colleges. The RSC’s recommendations will then constitute the final RSF budget request to University administration through the normal budget process on the timetable established by the University.
    Departments requesting RSF grants will be notified as soon as practical if their requests have been approved as a part of the University’s fiscal year budget. Once notification of approval has been received, departments may proceed to process RSF expense requests following prescribed University procedures for the fiscal year of approval.
  2. Carry Over:
    Any funds not expended during the period of the award may be “carried over” for a period of up to 6-months in order to bring the project to completion. Requests for carry-over of funds must be made and approved by the RSC. Carry-over requests should be made timely to ensure the annual budget timetable established by the University is followed. Requests for projects that aren’t made timely will be considered complete and any unexpended funds will be forfeited.
  3. Renewals:
    Approved proposals can be “renewed” for up to one fiscal year, based on a competitive proposal submission. The same budget request guidelines (i.e. maximum $15,000) apply asin the original application. The primary criteria for approving renewal applications shall be submission of a detailed progress report showing substantial results and solid prospects for the renewal leading to publications and external funding. Projects that have expended less than 75% of the funds originally awarded are not eligible for renewal. Any successfully renewed project shall not be eligible to carry over any unexpended funds at the conclusion of the renewal period. Renewal applications shall be evaluated for funding along with all other applications for that grant period pursuant to funding availability. Requests for renewal of funds must be made and approved by the RSC. Renewal requests should be made timely to ensure the annual budget timetable established by the University is followed. Requests for projects that aren’t made timely will be considered complete and any unexpended funds will be forfeited.
  4. Future Funding:
    Investigators receiving funds from the RSF (including those who have received renewals)are not eligible to apply to the RSF for a period of two (2) fiscal years following the end date of the grant period. Faculty submitting new RSF proposals after the two (2) fiscal years waiting period will be expected to demonstrate productive use of past awards in their new application.