Research, Scholarship and Professional Growth Committee

Report on Activities, Spring 2011

Prepared by: Marjukka Ollilainen, Chair

 

 

In the spring semester, the committee published two calls for proposals.  The first call (deadline February 18) included proposals for the Hemingway Collaborative and Faculty Excellence Awards.  The second call for applications (deadline March 11) included the following award categories: RSPG (research and instructional improvement grants) and Hemingway Faculty Vitality and New Faculty Awards as well as the Adjunct Faculty Vitality Award (available for the third year).  

 

Hemingway Collaborative and Excellence Awards (Feb 18, 2011)

 

The committee received 15 Hemingway Faculty Excellence and Collaborative proposals, requesting a total of $77,827.  The proposals were rated and ranked by committee members and then discussed in a meeting on February 25.  The committee recommended all 15 projects to be awarded either in full or partially.  The recommendations were presented by the WSU Hemingway Trustees to the Hemingway family in a meeting on April 4, 2011 in Salt Lake City.  All the committee’s recommendations were approved.  The following chart displays the awarded Excellence and Collaborative projects by college. The total expended in this category was $73,062.  Award recipients with project titles are listed at the end of this report.  

 

HE and HC Awards by College:

A&H (6)                                        $24,112

Ed (1)                                            $18,940

SBS (1)                                         $10,438

COAST (3)                                   $9,514

Science (3)                                    $7,972

B&E (1)                                        $2,086

Total (15)                                      $73,062

 

 

RSPG Research and Instructional Improvement, Hemingway Vitality, New Faculty and Adjunct Vitality Awards (March 11, 2011)

 

The committee received 28 proposals, of which nine requested funding for research or instructional improvement projects ($14,886) and 15 for conference travel from the Hemingway Faculty Vitality funds ($17,674).  In addition, two proposals were submitted by adjunct faculty members for the Hemingway Adjunct Faculty Vitality funding ($2,374), and four requests were from WSU tenure track faculty hired within the past two years for the Hemingway New Faculty funds ($16,175).  The total requested: $51,109.  

 

The committee reviewed and rated the applications before the meeting on March 25.  After carefully considering each proposal, 24 of the 28 were awarded either in full or partially.  The amount allocated was $32,793 of the available $34,683 (or 94.5%). The average size of an approved grant was about $1,365.  The largest requested (and approved) funding category was the Hemingway Faculty Vitality funds, which is mainly used for funding Weber State faculty members’ domestic and overseas conference travel.   

 

RSPG:  Awarded $14,886 out of a possible $15,000 (remaining balance $114)

Hemingway Vitality: Awarded $10,657 out of a possible $10,693 (balance $36)

Hemingway New Faculty: Awarded $5,000 (out of a possible $5,000)

Hemingway Adjunct Vitality: Awarded $2,250 out of $3,852 (balance $1,602)

OUR: $138 (no requests for OUR funding in this round)

 

Awards by College 

Science (7)                        $10,043

COAST (4)                       $7,864

Education (4)                    $5,514

SBS (4)                             $4,421

B&E (2)                            $2,861

A&H (3)                            $2,090

Total awarded (24)          $32,793

 

 

After the Spring 2011 funding cycle, the committee reports $1,890 in remaining funds in the categories of RSPG ($114), Hemingway Faculty Vitality ($36) and Adjunct Vitality ($1602), as well as OUR ($138).  The Hemingway new Faculty category was spent out. These balances will be carried over to the Fall 2011 funding cycle in their respective categories.

 

The RSPG committee thanks Provost Mike Vaughan and Betty Kusnierz for their continuing support.  The committee looks forward to a new productive year of funding faculty projects.  The deadlines for Fall 2011 and Spring 2012 will be announced on the committee web site in the early fall semester.  

 

 

 

SPRING 2011

Hemingway Faculty Excellence and Collaborative Award Recipients

 

Fry, Richard (Computer Science) International collaboration for the continued development of an                Electronic Medical Records System for Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Ghana, West Africa, $2600

 

Fuller, Dan (Economics) Consensus among economists: A survey, $2086

 

Gatherum, Dawn (Botany), with Barbara Wachocki (botany), Morteza Emami (International Student         Services), Mark Halverson (Facilities Mgmt), and Daniel Kilcrease (housing and Resident Life),       Weber State University campus community garden, $4536

 

Giralt, Alicia (Foreign Languages), with Melina Alexander (Teacher Ed), and Susan Young               (Anthropology), International Community-Based Research Initiative: Exploring Healing Practices,      Ethnobotany, and Language Education, $7030

 

Hagen, Kirk (MMET) with Julanne McCulley (CEET), Modification of the WSU Air Flow Chamber to          Function as a Wind Tunnel, $2950

 

Hamson-Utley, Jordan (HPHP), with Rod Hansen (HPHP), Matt Schmolesky (Psych), Aaron Ashley             (Psych), Joel Bass (HPHP), Steve Scharman, MD (IHC-McKay Dee), Concussion in college              athletes: A study of altered neuroproteins, cognition, and recovery, $18940

 

Hoagstrom, Christopher (Zoology) Trout population and their habitats in creeks of the northern Wasatch    Front, $900

 

Mathews, Thomas (Foreign Languages/Spanish), with Erika Daines (German), Cheryl Hansen (French),       Lisa Lay (Japanese), Melissa Pittman (Chinese), Trial and norming of "STAMP" as a test for                foreign language credit, $1062

 

Matt, Susan (History), with Brooke Arkush (Anthropology), Kathryn McKay (History), Gene Sessions          (History), John Sillito (History), Bob King (Multimedia Services), and Richard Sadler (History),                Virtual Museum of Northern Utah History, $10438

 

Palumbo, Michael (Music Performing Arts) China concert trip, $1315

 

Rague, Brian (Computer Science), with Julanne McCulley (CEET), and Rainie Ingram (STEP), Closing the gender gap in computing sciences and technology, $3964

 

Rogers, Scott (English) The Reclamation Movement in Victorian England, $2911

 

Vause, Michael (English) Participate as a consultant in mountaneering history in the search for the body of                 Andrew Irvine and attend The North Side Everest Medicine Educational Conference, $5794

 

Wachocki, Barbara (Botany), with Stephen Clark (Botany), and Robert Hilton (Computer Science) GPS      Great Plant Search program with Ogden schools, $2536

 

Wang, Shi-Wa (Performing Arts/Music), Yu-Jane Yang (Music), and Victor Uzur (Music), WSU Faculty        Trio performing with the WSU Chamber Music Orchestra in China, $6000

 

 

SPRING 2011

 RSPG Research And Instructional Improvement Grant Recipients

 

Akelbek, Mahmud (Mathematics) Research collaboration and travel to present at The 3rd Biennial              Canadian Discrete and Algorithmic Mathematics Conference, $2000

 

Brower, Brady (History) Preliminary archival research for "Instinct for Justice: The Science of Animal          Behavior and the Evolution of French Republicanism, 1870-1914," $1,445

 

Comber, George (MMET) Composite course development, $1895

 

Hafen, Susan (Communication) Animal-human communication in families, $772

 

Harward, Kelly (MMET) Parametric modeling (Dget 3460) & Plastic product design (Mfet 2870) course       development, $2250

 

Matyjasik, Marek (Geosciences) Nano-scale research collaboration with the University of Notre Dame,        $944

 

Mbaku, John (Economics) Law, institutions and corruption cleanups in Africa, $1816

 

McCulley, Julanne (CEET) Portable renewable station, $3000

 

 

Spring 2011 Hemingway Vitality Award Recipients

 

Berthelemy, Nicole (Zoology) Eleventh International Conference on Salt Lake Research--Laguna Mar        Chiquita, Cordoba, Argentina, $2330

 

Bigler, Mark (Social Work & Gerontology)  Intermountain Mental Health Court Conference, $350

 

Buck, Julie (Criminal Justice) Travel to the Western Association of Criminal Justice, Reno, NV, October        2011, $696

 

Chung, Brian (Zoology)  Poster presentation at the 2011 Digestive Disease Week in Chicago, IL, $1250

 

Clark, Jonathan (Zoology) Travel to the 11th International Conference on Salt Lake Research, $930

 

Crimmel, Hal (English) Sustainability education: Multidisciplinary perspectives and approaches, $668

 

Garside, Colleen (Communication) 14th Annual Continuums of Service Conference, $650

 

Hamson-Utley, Jordan (HPHP) Conducting an invited, peer-reviewed special topic presentation ... at the      National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA) Annual Symposium, New Orleans, LA, June 18-     23, 2011, $1194

 

Hernandez, Michael W. (Geosciences)  Presentation of research poster with student at the American             Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) Annual Conference (1-5 May, 2011),      $707

 

Magda, Daniel (MMET) Presenting a paper and attending workshops at the American Society for                 Engineering Education Annual Conference, $719

 

Sondossi, Mohammad (Microbiology)  Travel to the 11th International Conference on Salt Lake Research,                $1882

 

 

Spring 2011 Hemingway New Faculty Awards

 

Little, Branden (History) Archival research for completing a book manuscript titled: Band of Crusaders:      American Humanitarians & the Remaking of the World, 1914-1964, $1930

 

Speicher, Timothy (HPHP) National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA) Annual Symposium, New            Orleans, June 17-23, 2011, $1250

 

Speicher, Timothy (HPHP) Wireless electromyographic (EMG) analysis system proposal: A tool to foster     teaching and research of human kinetic performance, $1820

 

 

Spring 2011 Hemingway Adjunct Faculty Vitality Awards

 

Ingram, Teresa (HPHP) Attending a special series of feature presentations on concussion at the National     Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA) Annual Symposium, New Orleans, LA, June 18-23, 2011,          $1250

 

Parkhurst, Gregory (Economics) The effect of positive and negative information on choices over competing               public goods: The case of information overload, $1000