CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT GRANT GUIDELINES

A. Curriculum Development Grants were established to support development of new courses or significant revisions to existing IUSB courses, which cannot be funded from existing divisional or departmental budgets. This grant may not be used for professional development or operating expenses of existing courses.

B. Grants: Up to $3,000 for one project requesting any combination of summer salary and expenses. The Committee must balance the demands of a large number of meritorious proposals against a rather limited amount of available funds.

C. Eligibility: Tenure or tenure-track faculty and appointed lecturers. Associate faculty may be participants in project but must have an eligible faculty member as project director. No proposal will be accepted from investigators who have an open R&D Grant (Faculty Research, Curriculum, Research Project Initiation, Regional Research, or Seed Grant) at the time of application.

D. Deadlines: There will be only two rounds for funding. Proposals are due at the Office of Research, Academic Affairs (sbres@iusb.edu) by 4:30 p.m. on 9 November 2007 and 7 March 2008.

E. How to Apply: A complete application will include:

1. Completed and signed Proposal Route Sheet

2. Proposal narrative answering the following questions:

a. What is the project intended to accomplish (objectives, significance)?

b. What activities/methods are planned to obtain the project's objective?

c. What qualifications do you bring to the position as grant director?

d. What previous IUSB grants have you received, what resulted from those projects?

e. What efforts are underway to obtain additional funding for this project?

3. Detailed budget and budget justification. Include all items necessary to complete the project, including but not limited to summer salary, audio/visual materials, equipment, and personnel assistance. Indicate budget costs supported by department/division or other sources. Travel rates and other items for budget consideration can be found online at http://www.iusb.edu/~sbres/research/Budget.html. Summer salary requests should be based on the salary rate in place at the time the proposal is submitted, and shall not exceed two months over the period of the grant. Include Fringe Benefits (20% of salary request) as a budget line item.

4. If your research involves human subjects you must include a copy of your IRB approval letter.

5. Two letters of support addressed to the Contracts & Grants Coordinator. Both letters may be from internal sources. One letter must be from the unit's director, dean, or chair indicating support and addressing the impact of the project on the unit's curriculum structure. Letters of support do not require original signatures but should be sent from the author's e-mail account.

6. Current curriculum vitae (electronic version preferred).

F. Format:

1. Electronic proposal submission is required (except for signed route sheet). Staff of the Office of Research (4181) are available to assist in proposal preparation.

2. Minimum 12pt type, 1 inch margins, and page numbers are required.

3. It is recommended that the Project Narrative not exceed 5 pages.

4. It is recommended that the Curriculum Vitae not exceed 10 pages.

G. Decision Guidelines: Decisions by the Research & Development Committee will be made on consideration of the following:

1. Strength of applicant's proposal. Keep in mind that the committee is made up faculty members from different disciplines. You should write your proposal so that it can be understood by someone outside of your discipline.

a. Project's objectives are clearly articulated

b. Significance of project's objectives/research question is clearly and convincingly articulated in the context of extant research/work in the area.

c. Method that will be used to address the objectives/research question is clearly and convincingly articulated

d. Evidence that work is above and beyond normal course prep expected in your academic unit.

2. Strength of supporting letters of recommendation. The committee attaches special importance to the letter from unit director, dean, or chair.

3. Faculty member's prior record of accomplishment.

4. Faculty member's efforts to seek external support.

5. Amount of recent internal support. No proposal will be accepted from investigators who have an open Curriculum Development Grant at the time of application.

H. Restrictions/Conditions:

1. Curriculum Development grants may be used to support the development of a new course or a major revision to an existing course. Proposed work is expected to be above and beyond normal course prep and provide resources not normally available through department/division.

2. Any equipment requested must be specifically for course development, not course implementation or general use. Equipment purchased with grant funds becomes the property of IUSB.

3. Faculty must not hold any teaching or other service-rendering appointments during a period for which they request summer salary support.

4. Faculty who receive summer support must continue at IUSB through the academic year following the summer of the grant. If the recipient does not remain at IUSB, the amount of the grant must be repaid.

5. Grants will not ordinarily be made to fund attendance at professional conferences, unless the proposal demonstrates the conference's relevance to the curriculum development project. When requesting travel money, the applicant should clearly indicate that departmental and divisional resources have been pursued and are either not available or being used to partially fund the project.

6. When funding is obtained from other sources for projects also supported by these IUSB funds, the Curriculum Development grant may be reduced by an amount equal to the other funds provided, unless the application makes clear that different costs within the same project are involved.

7. Because some projects may yield royalties or other income to recipients of these grants, each applicant agrees, as a condition of the grant he or she may receive, to repay the University from such personal income whenever it exceeds $100 in any year. Each year that such income exceeds $100, the recipient is obligated to repay to the University one-half of the amount in excess of $100 until the grant is repaid.

8. Acknowledgment of the source of support should be included in any publication resulting from a project supported by these grants. Grant recipients are requested to provide the Office of Research with copies of publications or announcements of presentations or performances resulting from this grant.

9. Grant recipients are required to submit a report to the Office of Research at the end of the project. Failure to address all the application materials and questions (see below) may result in the proposal being rejected.

I. Notification of Action and Handling of the Grant Account:

1. Applicants will be notified by the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs of the status of their proposal approximately three weeks after the deadline.

2. A grant must be expended within one year unless an extension is requested and approved by the Research & Development Committee or its designee.

3. Significant changes in project objectives, procedures, or budget cannot be undertaken without the approval of the Research & Development Committee or its designee.

4. A closing report must be sent to the Office of Research within one month of the account expiration date. Individuals who have not submitted a report on previous grants will not be eligible for future grants.

5. After the specified deadline unused funds will revert to a campus account.

6. These grants will normally terminate when their recipients' appointment at IUSB comes to an end.

Sample CDG proposals available at http://www.iusb.edu/~sbres/randd/samples.html

URL: http://www.iusb.edu/~sbres/randd/CDP.html
Comments: research@mail.iusb.edu
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