RESEARCH, SCHOLARSHIP AND PROFESSIONAL GROWTH COMMITTEE
FUNDING REPORT – FALL 2010
During the Fall 2010 term, the RSPG committee issued a request for proposals in the funding categories of Research, Instructional Improvement, and Hemingway Faculty Vitality. The deadline for applications was on October 18, 2010. By that that date, the committee received 35 applications, representing all the colleges on campus. Once again, most (about 65% of the received) applications requested funding for travel to either conduct research or present scholarly work in a conference. Twenty-four proposals were directed to the Hemingway Faculty Vitality Fund ($28,674 requested), while eleven applied for the RSPG/Instructional Improvement and Research funds ($32,197). The total amount of funding requests was $64,933, while the committee had $30,285 to allocate (about 47% of the total requested). The total of amount of funds to expend ($30,285) included $15,163 for research and instructional improvement (RSPG) projects, $12,122 for faculty vitality projects (HMWY), and $3,000 to allocate for student assistants, generously provided by the Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR).
The committee met on October 29, 2010 to consider the applications. The meeting was well-attended, and each proposal received a thorough review with discussion and deliberation. The decisions were difficult to make as the proposal pool was unusually competitive, while the funds were limited. After careful deliberation, the committee awarded—either partially or in full—21 of the 35 applications, and allocated a total of $30,147. The average amount of funding per proposal was $1,435. Unfortunately, many strong proposals were left without funding.
Details of the requests, awards, and the recipients with project titles are presented below.
RSPG Research/Instructional Improvement (All funds spent)
· Requests: 11 applications, total $32,197
· Awarded: 7 (63% of) applications; $15,163
Hemingway Faculty Vitality (All funds spent)
· Requests: 24 applications, total $28,674
· Awarded: 14 (58% of) applications; $12,122
Office of Undergraduate Research (Remaining balance: $138)
· Requests: 3 requests for partial funding for a student assistant
· Awarded: $2,862 (out of a possible $3,000)
Colleges Represented in the funding total:
College # of applications Funds awarded % of total awarded
Science (5) $10,532 35
S&BS (5) $6,882 23
COAST (3) $5,965 20
A&H (4) $2,862 9.5
Education (2) $2,061 7
B&E (1) $945 3
Health Prof (1) $900 3
Fall 2010 Awarded Funds
Percentages by College
After the Fall 2010 funding decisions, the RSPG committee reports a remaining total of $138 (OUR). This money will carry over to the Spring 2011 funding cycle for hiring undergraduate assistants.
The RSPG committee will accept applications for Spring 2011 in two calls for proposals. The first call includes the Hemingway Collaborative and Excellence Awards (deadline February 18, 2010). The second call for is for RSPG research and Instructional Improvement proposals as well as for the Hemingway Vitality, New Faculty, and Adjunct proposals (deadline March 11). More information about the awards is posted on the RSPG web site (http://weber.edu/rspg). The CFP with instructions and deadlines was mailed to all faculty in the beginning of the spring semester.
The RSPG committee looks forward to receiving applications and supporting faculty projects in 2011.
Fall 2010 RSPG Research and Instructional Improvement Grant Recipients
Brown, Fon (CEET) EE Embedded system project circuit boards, $2,715 (of which $325 from OUR)
Chung, B.M. (Zoology) Visualization of the intestinal peptide transporter in the nematode Caernohabiditis, $4,700 (of which $2,212 from OUR)
Ferro, David (Computer Science) Speculative fiction archive project, $2,500
Little, Branden (History) Archival research for completing a book manuscript titled: Band of Crusaders: American Humanitarians & the Remaking of the World, $2,035
Magda, Daniel (MMET) Capstone design project for mechanical engineering technology program, $750
Okazaki, Robert (Zoology) Molecular analysis of osmotic stress proteins in Nemerteans, $3,500
Rich, Julie (Geography) Optical dating and investigation of St.Anthony dunes, Idaho, $2,500
Hemingway Faculty Vitality Grant Recipients
Bedford, Daniel (Geography) Paper presentation - Student opinions on global warming, $600
Dorsey, Bryan (Geography) Presentation of transit oriented development research at Association of American Geographers annual conference in Seattle, WA, April 12-16, 2011, 800
Fital-Akelbek, Sandra (Mathematics) Presentation of a paper at SITE 2011 -22nd International Conference of Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education, $1,200
Garza-Caballero, Azenett (Psychology) Effects of cultural vs. religious diversity on out-group prejudice among majority ethnic and religious members, $947
Hamer, Jan (English) Attendance at 2011 AWP Annual conference, Washington, D.C., $488
Hanson, Kami (Dental Hygiene) Faculty attendance at a training workshop for TalEval grading system, $900
Herzog, Timothy (Chemistry) POGIL facilitator training workshop, $400
Herzog, Valerie (HPHP) Athletic training educators perceptions and preferences for using games and puzzles as pedagogical tools, $1,250
Hill, Stephen (Business Administration) Transportation decision-making at "Beehive Publishing"—A case study, $945
Hoagstrom, Christopher (Zoology) Restoring rivers in the Southwestern US and northern Mexico bi-national conference, $ 732
Makov, Susan (Visual Arts) Codex symposium presentation: "A Book Arts Collaboration," $830
Palumbo, Michael (Performing Arts) National string project consortium, $396
Sowerby, Amanda (Performing Arts) Telematic dance, $1,148 (of which $325 from OUR)
Walker, Loretta (Teacher Ed) Regression toward the mean: Tale of a teacher and a tough kid, $811