Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity (RSCA)

Call for Proposals

Application Submission Deadline: Friday, February 14, 2025, 11:59pm PST

RSCA Application Workshop: Friday, January 31, Noon-1pm, via Zoom)

The primary purpose of this grant is to provide support for research, scholarship, and creative activities (including pedagogical research) to all faculty. Faculty members at all ranks (part-time and full time), librarians, SSP-ARs, and faculty defined as Unit 3 members (including coaches) are eligible to apply for RSCA funding.

RSCA grants support faculty activities which may include funds to pay undergraduate and graduate students to work as research assistants, to pay for publication costs, for research materials, or for travel associated with research and/or creative activities. Funds for a course release may be requested for scholarly purposes (e.g., to undertake a research project leading to publication, or to complete publication of already completed research and/or creative activity), and for other activities that may advance career progression, including preparing to teach a greater variety of courses. For budget purposes, the cost of a course release for 2025-26 is $2,500 per unit. (Course releases may be requested for Fall 2025 or Spring 2026). Given budget constraints, course releases will be awarded on a very limited basis.

RSCA awards may be granted up to $7,500, or up to 3 WTUs. Last year, we received 46 proposals and fully or partially funded 34% of them. This was a total of $98,435 in awards with Chancellor’s Office funding and supplemental internal funding, with an average award amount of $6,358.49. This year, �� has received $77,696.22 from the Chancellor’s Office for RSCA for 25-26FY, with no additional funding sources to distribute additional awards. For this reason, the number of awards given this year will likely be reduced from previous years, despite numerous worthy applications.

How to Apply

Visit the Office of Graduate Studies & Research Faculty Grants webpage and click Apply to be taken to the submission portal on InfoReady. Complete the Application and upload your vitae and supporting materials (if any).

The application process opens on Friday, December 20^th, 2024. This electronic application package must be submitted by 11:59pm PST on Friday, Feb.14, 2025. The application package will be made available to the Dean’s Office for review. Incomplete or late applications will not be considered.

Tips for Completing the Application

Please consider the following in preparing the proposal:

Please review the scoring rubric for criteria that the committee uses to evaluate and rank proposals during the review process.
This description should be written for a general faculty audience, not specialists in your specific field (please avoid jargon), and should include a description of the relevance to the field.
The description must explain how the project will enhance the applicant’s professional growth, for example highlighting activities toward meeting the qualifications for tenure, promotion, or professional development.
The methodology to be used in any research project should be clearly and explicitly defined. Again, please remember you are writing for a general faculty audience.
Proposals that involve students are encouraged and welcomed. That said, it is not necessary to include students. If students are involved in the project, the proposal should indicate the nature of student involvement and how this involvement will promote your professional development. Specifically, your role as primary investigator (PI) should be clearly detailed as these funds are not intended to solely support a student’s research.
If the proposal requests funding for a course release, it should clearly explain how the course release is necessary to facilitate completion of the project by fully accounting for the release time. Importantly, the proposal should provide a strong justification for additional WTUs beyond those already included in the faculty member's contractual assignment. Given the high cost of a course release, it is crucial that a request for a course release be well justified in the proposal.
For collaborative projects:

If an individual faculty member submits a proposal for a collaborative project jointly with other �� faculty, the proposal must clearly delineate the distinct and unique contribution to the project of each faculty member.
If �� collaborators individually submit proposals on a single collaborative project they are working on together, their proposals should make clear the collaborative nature of the project as well as each member’s role and contributions to the project.

Describe the specific time frame for the proposed activities. Only activities undertaken from July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026 will be funded. Please keep this in mind if you are requesting funds for travel, as the award cannot be used for travel taking place prior to July 1, 2025.
When requesting funding for several related activities clearly indicate their interrelationship or dependence on the successful completion of the project. Please indicate which expenses are crucial for the completion of the project (and which ones are less crucial).
The budget must itemize all anticipated expenses. The more detailed and justified the information the better the committee will be able to evaluate the quality of the proposal. Use �� reimbursement rates for travel expenses (e.g., per diem, mileage). This is critical for funding recommendations. Please be as reasonable and accurate as possible and upload any supporting documentation that shows quotes, if applicable.
The application must indicate the availability of resources, either applied for or awarded, that may be available for the same project.
Year-end reports from RSCA grants (if you were a recipient) must be submitted in InfoReady to be eligible to receive RSCA awards. Before submitting for the current RSCA call, please ensure that your RSCA progress report(s) are up-to-date and on file if you have been awarded prior to the 24-25 award year, otherwise your application will not be considered. If you have not received a RSCA award before, this is not required.

The Review Process

Each proposal is first reviewed by the Faculty Grants Committee (FGC) using a scoring rubric available on the Office of Graduate Studies and Research web site. FGC makes recommendations for funding to the Dean of Graduate Studies and Research, and to the Provost, who makes the final funding decisions. While FGC encourages applications from all faculty, in cases of equivalent merit those proposals from new faculty and Assistant Professors will be prioritized. All faculty members who submit proposals will be notified of the decision on their proposal before the end of the spring semester.

Limitations

Proposed activities fully funded by other sources cannot be dual funded through the RSCA mechanism. Applicants should state clearly that the proposed activities are not being funded or are fundable by another grant or source of funds such as startup funding.
Proposals may be only partially funded (or not funded at all). For example, a proposal requesting funding for a course release, student assistants, and equipment, might be funded for all, some, or none of the activities depending on the quality and nature of the proposal and the total amount of funding available.
RSCA awards are contingent upon availability of funding. For that reason, awardees should be aware that they will be held responsible for any expenses incurred, in the event that the funds are not ultimately allocated for this program. Awardees should check with their budget managers prior to incurring expenses if they have any questions about the funding status of their awards.
RSCA proposals are not awarded to support grant writing. Refer to the Grant Proposal Seed Money website.
RSCA committee members are not eligible for funding to avoid the appearance of conflicts of interest.
Due to limited funding available and to encourage new research directions, funding priority will be given to projects proposing new research. Continuation of projects previously funded by RSCA will receive secondary priority.
Lecturers cannot receive a RSCA award for course releases.
If your research involves human subject research, you are required to obtain IRB approval prior to spending your RSCA award. Additionally, if you are using your award to fund participant incentives, the amount allocated in your RSCA application must match what the IRB approves, and must comply with Fundable/Not Fundable Activities as stated below.

Fundable Activities

Data collection (field work, etc.)
Completing data collection and analysis
Disseminating the results of research and/or creative activity (e.g., publication costs, conference registration)
Faculty travel to present papers at professional meetings including:
- Meals, lodging, airfare, mileage (only if Defensive Driving class is completed), shuttles/car rentals, and registration fees per �� Travel Guidelines .
Purchase of minor equipment and supplies specific and unique to this project
Hire student assistants (e.g., research assistant, preparing manuscripts and proposals)
Up to three units of assigned time in the fall or spring semester only.
Participant Incentives (e.g., cash or gift card reimbursement for participant time in research studies) when paid as payment for services, SS# or ID# must be provided, and may be taxable. Consult with the �� Accounting Dept. before submitting your proposal, to ensure stateside budget guidelines are being followed.

Not Fundable

Awards, cash or gift cards for honorarium and/or recognition
Food, with the exception of conference travel
Student travel
Faculty stipends (e.g. summer or overload salary)
Memberships and subscriptions
Warranties and maintenance plans
Computers, equipment and books that can be obtained through IITS, media services, or the library etc. Check first with those departments

Report

If an award is made, a progress report is due to the Chancellor’s Office, describing how the grant money was spent and outcomes or progress made on the proposal objectives during the period of the grant. Progress reports are due at the 12-month mark.

Report links will be sent to all awardees via InfoReady notifications. Reports are no longer managed by the Office of Graduate Studies and Research and go directly to the Chancellor’s Office via InfoReady.

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Call for Proposals