Office of Sponsored Research

As provided for in Faculty Legislation, the College makes available, through a competitive application process, grants and fellowships to support faculty research. This document describes: the availability and types of these grants and fellowships; who is eligible to apply for these grants and fellowships; how to apply for these grants and fellowships (including links to application forms); and how proposals are evaluated. Faculty grants and fellowships support faculty research, and in some cases joint research projects of faculty and students. These grants and fellowships do not normally support student independent research.

Eligibility -- The Faculty Grants Committee is charged with the responsibility of awarding funds to support research and other creative activities undertaken by the faculty of Mount Holyoke College. Permanent teaching faculty of all ranks and from all departments may submit proposals for all types of awards. Visiting faculty are eligible for Faculty Grants, Reese Grants, and Research Assistance Grants, but not for Faculty Fellowships. Applicants are expected to seek financial support from sources outside the College when applying for fellowships and grants.

For 2007-2008, the Faculty Grants Committee consists of: Steven Dunn, Ombretta Frau, Harriet Pollatsek, Patricia Schneider, and Don O'Shea.

Types of Awards -- The Faculty Grants Committee administers four types of awards:

Please note that Faculty Fellowship proposals are only considered in the fall; proposals for Reese Grants are only considered in the spring; and proposals for Faculty Grants and Research Assistance are considered in both the fall and spring. All proposals should be submitted to the Dean of Faculty Office.

Please note that the application forms are designed to assist the Faculty Grants Committee in their deliberations as well as help faculty members present proposals as clearly and concisely as possible. Submissions may be made on paper or online.

In order to encourage excellence in scholarship and creative work, the College annually awards prize fellowships. The value of the fellowships is equal to ten percent of the average salary of the Mount Holyoke College teaching faculty (as most recently reported to the AAUP, rounded to the nearest hundred dollars). In 2006-2007, a one-semester faculty fellowship was $9,300. Fellowships are paid as salary, through payroll. The good news is that they are benefits eligible; the bad news is that income taxes will be withheld.

An application consists of the following:
• a brief (1200 words or less) description of the proposed project on the application form
• a current curriculum vitae
• at least two letters of support from references outside the College, addressing your research accomplishments in general and the specific merits of the proposed research project.

When requesting letters of support, please send your referees the following explanation:

Mount Holyoke awards internal fellowships to help faculty members pursue scholarly work while on leave. We cannot always support every worthy project. The faculty grants committee is an interdisciplinary group. Your letter will help us to understand the scholarly currency and value of the proposed project. We realize that this is an imposition of your time. We do not need a detailed critique, but a few sentences attesting to the value of the project and the applicant’s previous work, if applicable, would be most helpful.
You may, of course, send the outside evaluators a more detailed description of your work than the 1200 word application you submit to the committee.

The application -- the original plus six copies of the first two items if submitting on paper-- is due in the Dean of Faculty's Office on October 26, 2007. The letters of support should be sent directly to the Dean's office to arrive on or before the same date. If submitting the application online, the curriculum vitae needs to be submitted separately.

The Faculty Grants Committee judges proposals on the scholarly or creative merit of the work proposed and the likelihood of successful completion or substantial progress within the fellowship period. Since the Faculty Grants Committee is an interdisciplinary group, your proposal should be written for scholars who are not specialists in your field. In preparing your proposal, you should follow standards of good practice in proposal writing. These include:

• Identifying the specific goal(s) and central question(s) of the research.
• Describing, if appropriate, the specific methods you will use to address your question.
• Illustrating how your project advances your scholarly or creative work.
• Presenting a convincing case that the research project is feasible, given the time available – if the project is, for example, part of a book, how does this specific piece fit into your longer term goals?
• Stating how you will present the results of your research: journal articles, books, performances, etc.

Please be clear and please respect the 1200 word limit.

II. Faculty Grants
Fall Deadline: Friday, November 9, 2007
Spring Deadline: Friday, March 14, 2008

Faculty Grant Awards are for supplementary assistance in meeting relatively small, but important research expenses. In 2006-2007, the average award was under $2,000. Funds are limited; please also check for external sources such as your disciplinary societies. Our goal is to make the work possible, not to cover every expense. Lean proposals and those involving cost-sharing are viewed more favorably. (See the lists of allowable, and non-allowable, expenses following the checklist below.)

Grants may be used only while the recipient is under contract to Mount Holyoke College. Only one request may be submitted per academic year. No retroactive requests are granted (such as reimbursing expenses associated with a previously attended conference or completed scholarly work).

The Faculty Grants Committee judges a Faculty Grant proposal on the significance of the stated goals, the feasibility of the project, and the expected product or outcome of the proposed research. Since the Faculty Grants Committee is an interdisciplinary group, your proposal should be written for scholars who are not specialists in your field.
In the case of a proposal to attend a conference, please explain how attendance would further your scholarly work. Supporting materials such as the conference program, or a letter of invitation, help the committee evaluate your proposal. Documentation of prospective costs (registration, lodging, etc) is also helpful.

Please be clear. Please respect the word limit (500 words). Applications are due in the Dean of Faculty's Office by 5:00 p.m. on either November 9, 2007 (fall deadline) or March 14, 2008 (spring deadline).

Checklist:
1) a brief description of the proposed project (500 words or less) that touches on the above points
2) if prior College support has been awarded for the same project, you must include a statement of what was accomplished with that prior support
3) a detailed budget -- see below for guidance on what can and cannot be included
4) information on other support for project or a statement that no such support is available
5) supplementary materials such as letters of invitation, invoices for page charges, etc.
If submitted online, no additional paper copies of the application are necessary. If not, please submit the original with 6 copies.

Common expenses that can be supported:
Housing
Supplementary conference travel
Economy-class airfare
Train fare
Bus fare
Rental car costs
Specialized software or data products – not already available through LITS
Expenses associated with publication (e.g., page charges, indexing fees, proofreader fees)
Photocopying and transcription
Outside laboratory expenses for analytical work that cannot be done at Mount Holyoke (e.g., radiocarbon dating, tissue analysis)
Travel for research collaborators to come to Mount Holyoke

Common expenses that are not supported:
Student travel, stipends or wages (these can be requested through the Reese Grants for Faculty/Student Research or the Research Assistance Grants)
Course-related expenses and curriculum development projects that are not related to faculty research
Food associated with travel (food costs at conferences only can be paid for through the annual Faculty Travel allotment)
Mileage reimbursements for personal vehicles
Computer equipment
Other durable equipment
Disposable supplies (these should be routinely paid for using departmental budgets)
Travel expenses for dependents

III. Ellen P. Reese Grants for Faculty/Student Research
Deadline: Friday, March 14, 2008

The purpose of the Ellen P. Reese fund is to support undergraduate independent research carried out with a Mount Holyoke College faculty member in any academic department or program.

Reese grants are made to help defray expenses incurred by students doing research with Mount Holyoke faculty members, preferably research that contributes to the faculty member's own work. Ordinarily, proposals for Reese grants should originate with the faculty member. Students interested in applying for funds for independent projects unrelated to a faculty member's research should consult the Dean of the College

Applications should be made on the application form, and sent to the dean of Faculty Office. There will be one deadline annually in March, coinciding with the spring deadline for Faculty Grants.

As with proposals for Faculty Fellowships and Faculty Grants, proposals for Reese Grants will be reviewed by the Faculty Grants Committee. This committee is an interdisciplinary group, and so your proposal should be written for scholars who are not specialists in your field. In preparing your proposal, you should follow standards of good practice in proposal writing, as described above in the Faculty Fellowships and Faculty Grants sections of this document.

Applications for Reese Grants are due in Mary Lyon Hall, Room 101 by 5:00 p.m. on March 14, 2008.

Reese Grant awards normally include a stipend for one student plus on-campus housing for her during the summer. In 2007, summer stipend plus housing costs for one student totaled $3500.

If submitting on paper, the complete application consists of the original plus six copies of the following:

If submitting online, no additional paper copies of the application are necessary.

III. Research Assistance Grants

Fall Deadline: Friday, November 9, 2007
Spring Deadline: Friday, March 14, 2008

Research Assistance grants are grants made to faculty to pay students working as research assistants on faculty research projects. The tasks for which the students are employed should have significant educational content and should allow the students to learn valuable research skills. Typically, students employed through these grants should work 8-10 hours per week for either one or two semesters in this position, and these students should not be employed in another work-study job. Proposals for Research Assistance grants should be submitted by individual faculty members, groups of faculty members, academic departments or programs, or LITS. The grantee (faculty, departments, programs, or LITS) are responsible for identifying the student(s) and hiring her (them) to work on the supported project.

Proposals for Research Assistance grants will be reviewed by the Faculty Grants Committee. There will be two deadlines annually in November and March, coinciding with the deadlines for Faculty Grants.

As with proposals for Faculty Fellowships and Faculty Grants, proposals for Research Assistance Grants will be reviewed by the Faculty Grants Committee. This committee is an interdisciplinary group, and so your proposal should be written for scholars who are not specialists in your field. In preparing your proposal, you should follow standards of good practice in proposal writing, as described above in the Faculty Fellowships and Faculty Grants sections of this document.

Research Assistance Grant awards may include up to 8-10 hours per week of student wages for one or two semesters.In 2006-2007, the average Research Assistance Grant award was about $1,400.

If submitting on paper, the complete application consists of the original plus six copies of the following:

If submitting online, no additional paper copies of the application are necessary.

Note that unlike Faculty Grants and Reese Grants, all funds from Research Assistance Grants must be expended in the fiscal year in which the grant is awarded.

Faculty Fellowships and Grants