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Guidelines for New Research Collaborations

 

Overview

FaCE II identifies four areas for Collaborative Research. While these research activities may involve collaborations with students and faculty across disciplines on a single campus, these grants will be focused especially on promoting collaboration across campuses and disciplines.

Typically, awards will range up to $3,000 each; it is possible that outstanding proposals to develop international courses or programs (Area C) could be funded at a higher level. Funding will be available for those resources necessary to conduct the research, such as supplies, travel, necessary accommodation for students during summer collaborations, etc. Funding cannot be provided for student or faculty stipends or institutional overhead. Campuses can submit two proposals for research collaborations each year of the grant.

A. Innovative faculty/student research collaborations that have the potential to demonstrate the effectiveness of new approaches. These proposals should be able to make a case for innovative models of faculty-student research collaborations that can be sustained beyond the grant. Examples might include projects that explore ways to export traditional scientific models of faculty-student research to other academic areas or that model ways to conduct experiential, project-based work with students. Proposals that bring together students and faculty from different campuses and disciplines are especially welcome.

B. Research projects by several faculty that

  • Include either collaboration across colleges or collaboration across disciplines and
  • Have potential for continuation after grant. These projects can include a variety of disciplinary and interdisciplinary research initiatives. While worthy projects may involve work on just one campus, FaCE Phase II seeks to promote collaborations that strengthen our consortial ties and build models that can be sustained. These collaborations may well arise out of Collaborative Events (Area II) and will, ideally, lead to new programs, new and ongoing research projects, or new knowledge that highlights liberal arts education.
 

C. Research collaborations that facilitate innovative on- or off-campus courses or programs with a multi-cultural or international focus that have the potential to become new models for the ACM. These collaborations, like those in Area B, will ideally connect colleagues from different institutions in the exploration of new models. One possible example: colleagues from three different institutions interested in issues of global warming develop a model for a research and travel course with interdisciplinary instruction and changing locations. Since this area may involve international travel, awards can range up to $5000 or more.

D. Projects addressing the scholarship of teaching and learning at residential liberal arts colleges that have the potential for allowing liberal arts colleges to create more effective and substantial learning for their students. Many of these projects may arise out of other areas of FaCE Phase II. For instance, a project creating a new model of faculty-student research may provide an excellent platform for a scholarly project assessing student learning in that format. Grants in this area will be especially focused on creating knowledge about effective learning in the liberal arts college-knowledge that can enrich the larger higher education community.

Eligibility

Grant requesters must be faculty at an ACM college. Projects may also involve participants beyond the consortium but should show how this advances collaboration for member institutions within the ACM. Typically, for multi-campus collaborations, one campus should be designated the lead institution. Preference will be given to proposals that foster innovative collaboration between a) faculty and staff at different member colleges, b) faculty and students; c) faculty in different departments.

Elements of a Proposal

The proposal document must include all the following elements:

1. Goals and Scope: Please describe the nature of this research collaboration, the goals for the project, and the scope of the collaboration, addressing these issues:

  • What is the substantive focus of the project?
  • Referring to the relevant literature and to past projects related to this topic, why would this particular project be timely now?
  • What are the key elements of collaboration? How would the project foster innovation?
  • What is the most important outcome you anticipate from the project?

2. Logistics:

  • Who are the research collaborators and what are their roles? (Please attach a CV for each of the project leaders.) Which is the lead campus?
  • Who else would be involved in the collaboration and what specific responsibilities would they have?
  • What is the schedule for the activities you propose?
  • How do each of these activities relate to the project's core goals?

3. Budget: Please attach an itemized budget as well as a budget justification to answer the following questions:

  • What are the major expenses you anticipate for this project (e.g., travel, lodging, meals, materials, honoraria, administration, location fees, book editing)?
  • For each category, how would these funds allow you to carry out the general goals of the project and its specific objectives?
  • What is the total cost you expect for this project? How much support do you seek from the ACM FaCE project? How much support do you anticipate from other sources?

4. Assessment and sustainability: All proposals for FaCE Phase II should include plans for sharing the work with a wider audience and for sustaining the work.

  • How will you determine the extent to which the event attains its goals?
  • What audiences do you hope to reach through this project and how do you plan to reach them?
  • What specific plans do you have for publishing or sharing the work of this event with a wider audience (eg, through web pages, repositories, other publications)?
  • How could the work or ideas developed in this project be sustained in the future? For instance, might it result in "best practice" resources or innovation templates that could be adopted more widely in post-secondary education? Are there funding sources that could be interested in this work, or are there models that ACM and its member colleges might adopt?
 

Reporting

Within a year of the award, participants will send a final project report to the ACM Office. This report should include:

  • A 2-3 page narrative about the project, its accomplishments and challenges;
  • An account of the steps taken to promote dissemination and assessment (see #4 above);
  • An expense report that documents expenditure of all funds (any unused grant funds must be returned to ACM).

Guidelines

Proposals for Collaborative Research will be reviewed twice each year and will be due in the ACM Office on March 15 and November 15. Each campus sets its own internal deadlines for review and nomination prior to the Committee's meeting; please consult your FaCE liaison for details.

  • Faculty who plan to submit a proposal should contact their FaCE liaison on campus or ACM Vice President John Ottenhoff to discuss the project's goals and details of the proposed overall budget and logistics, to test out the idea, and receive helpful advice.
  • Each campus may submit up to two proposals as lead institution in each year of the grant.
  • Proposals should be submitted to the Academic Dean, who will forward them with accompanying endorsement (and, if necessary, ranking).
  • For multi-campus projects, the proposal should be presented to the Dean of the lead faculty member, who will forward it to the ACM; copies should be shared as information with Academic Deans from each campus represented in the project.
  • Awards will be made on the quality of the proposal, the soundness of the proposed plan, and the impact that these funds will have on promoting collaboration within the consortium and making an impact on the larger higher education community.
  • In addition to the assessment and sustainability work described above, grant recipients will submit a final report to ACM.

Oversight and Evaluation

For the first year of Phase II, the current FaCE Steering Committee will also serve as the Evaluation Committee for proposals. The members are:

  • Jane Jakoubek (VPAA and Dean of the Faculty, Monmouth)
  • Jerry Seaman (VP and Dean of the Faculty, Ripon)
  • Eva Posfay (Associate Dean, Carleton), and
  • Stephen Bailey (Associate Dean, Knox).
 

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updated 4/23/08