Faculty Research and Awards Committee Members
President's designee: Liz Demski
Provost and Dean of the College designee: Aimee Huff
Vice President for Finance and Administration or designee: Piper Orton
Faculty:
Baafra Abeberese 19-22 (B)
Stephen Biller 19-22 (C)
Venita Datta 16-17 & 18-20 (A), Chair
Lisa Graham 17-20 (A)
Pinar Keskin 18-21 (B)
Mike Wiest 19-20 (C)
I. Types of Awards Available
General Grants to Support Scholarly Activities
General Grants are designed to encourage research and other scholarly work by eligible individuals. 2019-20 application deadlines are: Thursday, September 19, 2019; Thursday, November 7, 2019; Thursday, February 6, 2020; and Thursday, April 2, 2020. These deadlines must be strictly observed so that Committee members will have time to review applications before meeting. Extensions will not be granted. Funds are limited to $3,000; the Committee may grant partial awards.
Other Grants
- Special Dissertation Grants
Special College funds are available to assist faculty in covering expenses connected with doctoral dissertations, and will be awarded retroactively. Applications will be due on the same dates as General Grants and must follow same application format. Tuition expenses are not covered.
- Davis Awards
The College's Davis Fund for Russian Area Studies has set aside a modest sum of money to help support faculty research in the field. Funds may be used to pay for research expenses relating to projects concerning Russia and/or other territories of the former Soviet Union. The applications should follow the same guidelines as Faculty Awards, but should specify "Davis Fund" in the application. Applicants may apply for both the maximum $3,000 in Davis monies plus the maximum $3,000 from Faculty Awards. These applications will be considered during any of the Faculty Award application rounds.
- Luce Moore Awards
The College's Elisabeth Luce Moore Fund supports individual faculty awards related to world religions. Applicants from the Department of Religion may apply for both a Luce Moore Award of $3,000 and the maximum $3,000 from other faculty awards. Faculty members in other departments may apply for a Luce Moore Award in lieu of other faculty awards. Funds may be used to pay for research expenses relating to projects concerning world religions, including research assistant funding and travel expenditures. The applications should follow the same guidelines as Faculty Awards, but should specify "Luce Moore Fund" in the application.
- Open Access Awards
Open Access award applications are reviewed by the Faculty Awards Committee and administered by LTS. Please use the online application form and select “C. Other” as the type of application and “Open Access” in the dropdown menu.
II. Research Award Guidelines
A. Eligibility
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Category |
Eligibility |
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Tenured or Tenure Track |
Eligible during active service and paid leaves |
|
Unpaid Leave Faculty in the Ranks |
Ineligible |
|
Half-time or Greater in the Ranks (e.g., Visiting Lecturers, Lecturers, Sr. Lecturers) |
Eligible |
|
Emeriti |
Eligible |
|
PERA |
PERA Faculty are ONLY eligible for professional development funding directly from the PERA department |
|
ISL |
ISL Faculty must receive approval from their department chair prior to applying for a Faculty Award |
|
Other Faculty |
Ineligible |
|
Mellon Post-Doc |
Eligible |
B. General Guidelines
- Awards are intended to encourage research and other scholarly activities, but not to finance ongoing projects indefinitely. Applicants will be expected to investigate all possible sources for funds (including start-up accounts) and to justify the use of unexpended funds after a 3-year period. A brief report on the result of faculty awards received in the past five years must be included on the application for a new grant or the new grant will not be awarded. Grants will not be made to support activities that postdate the faculty member's termination date at the college (with the exception of grants made to emeriti/ae faculty).
- Applications for the charges for publication up to $3,000 will be considered only with a copy of the publisher's request for such funding from the College. Page charges for articles are fully fundable up to the $3,000 limit. No grants will be made for reprints. Applications for subvention of publication costs should be made before publication. If a project assisted by a grant results in publication, the author should acknowledge support provided by the College and reimburse the College up to the amount of support should royalties from publication exceed $6,000.
- Books purchased with funds from awards revert to the Margaret Clapp Library when the individual leaves the College. Equipment and computer software purchases become the property of the College, earmarked for the individual's use while at the College during the time the project continues. Copies of materials belong to the individual. Books and journals for one's personal library may not be purchased. In order to receive reimbursement from the College for purchases made with funds from an award, original receipts must accompany the check request.
- When the sums applied for exceed the funds available for making awards, the Committee will attempt to give preference to those who have not previously received such grants. Standard conference travel and special dissertation grants are awarded retroactively. Ordinarily no retroactive awards are made for scholarly research.
- Faculty awards may not be used to fund tuition or college courses or to purchase computer hardware.
III. Application Procedure
A. Research Awards
- Type of Award
Please select the type of award you are applying for from the options.
- About the Project & the Applicant
Please give applicant name, title, department, rank, years at Wellesley and please indicate if you have applied for an award before or not—if you have received funding for this project please note number of years. Provide a description of the results of every award (excluding conference travel) funded by the Committee on Faculty Awards in the last five years, including year awarded, amount awarded, and project title. Please list any publications from recent faculty awards. Applications that do not contain this information will not be considered. Please list your current project title.
- Additional Information (Files)
- Vita: Attach a brief vita no more than 2 pages in length, including graduate degrees, postgraduate awards (with dates) and recent publications (last 5 years).
- Project Description: Please upload a specific and succinct project description between 500 and 1000 words. Include a statement of your objectives, procedures, and estimated time schedule. Explain clearly and specifically how the award will help you realize the objectives of your project. Be specific about what you expect to accomplish during the award period, and your estimate of the total time required. Remember that your application may be read by scholars who do not have your specialized background and knowledge. If this is a joint project, give names and addresses of collaborators, the sources of their funding (if any) and joint efforts (if any) to obtain other funding. Give full citations of any papers related to this project that you have delivered at professional meetings or have published.
- Funding Sources: If you have applied elsewhere for funds, explain. If you have not, please consider doing so.
- Optional Information: Please upload any additional files that might support your application.
Reference Guide for Common Expenses
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Transportation Expenses |
If the budget includes airfare, the fare should be based on the economy fare quotation from one of the on-line vendors, such as Expedia.com, Travelocity.com, or Orbitz.com. For foreign travel, every effort should be made to consolidate research for the sake of efficiency. |
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Accommodations and Meals |
Please refer to the Faculty Workday Finance Guide. |
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Typing & Indexing Manuscripts |
Grants to pay the expense of typing and indexing manuscripts will be awarded only after the manuscript has been completed and copies of receipts submitted. If an individual, rather than a company, provides the typing service, payment will be made through payroll unless the individual is in business as an independent contractor. In order to be paid through payroll the Controller requires a completed I-9 (immigration form) and a W-4 (tax withholding form). For payment by check request, a completed form verifying independent contractor status must be submitted to the Controller's Office before any checks can be issued. Forms are available on the Controller's Office website. |
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Copying |
If more than three copies will be made of materials explain why. |
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Child Care Amended 2/13/19
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Where documented need exists for child care to allow time for research, some expenses may be reimbursed using the following guidelines:
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Student Research Assistants |
In the event you wish to pay a student research assistant, the student you hire needs to be set up with the Student Employment Office via the Office of the Provost and Dean of the College. Hourly rates for students range from $8.00 to $11.00 per hour during the academic year and somewhat higher in the summer. If special research needs cannot be met by student research assistants, the Committee will consider requests for more specialized assistance at higher hourly wages. |
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Equipment |
List details for equipment and supplies, using actual catalog or suppliers' quotations or data from the College Purchasing Office. Also consider whether equipment can be fabricated by the College technical staff at a lower cost? Is it available already through another source at the College?
Computers: While computer purchases will not be funded, applications for software will be considered. |
You will be asked for clarification for an award application that does not meet the Guidelines for Faculty Awards. If there is insufficient time for the Committee to review and vote on the application, you will be asked to resubmit it.
B. Supplementary Conference Travel Awards
Supplementary conference travel awards - Under normal circumstances, the College will pay reasonable expenses for room and board up to 100% of the award maximum. Please note that Supplementary Conference Travel covers transportation, conference fees, meals and accommodations.
a. Apply as for a research award.
b. Specify the dates of travel and conference.
IV. Payment of Funds
A. Research Awards
Payment of a research award is made upon submission of the completed reimbursement request through the Workday system. It is your responsibility to be sure that the grant (award account) is not over-expended. Should over-expenditure occur, it will be your responsibility to reimburse the College.
B. Supplementary Conference Travel Awards
Payment is made upon submission of the completed reimbursement request through the Workday system.
V. Additional Available Entitlements
A. Widener Library Grants
Widener grants are available to all faculty eligible for faculty awards. There is no deadline for this entitlement. Please use the Faculty Awards Application and select “Create New Widener Library Grant Submission” in the top table, a check made out to the Harvard College Library will be issued to the faculty member.
B. Annual Conference Travel Funds
Conference travel funds do not require a formal application process and are awarded retroactively. Each eligible faculty member will start the fiscal year with $2000 available in their Conference Travel “bank.” This funding can be spent on travel and living expenses incurred during attendance at scholarly meetings. Expenses may be paid for on a College Travel ProCard or by the faculty member. All reimbursements will be processed through the Workday platform (please contact LTS for training on reimbursement procedures). Conference travel funds will NOT accumulate from year to year. Any remaining balance at the end of the fiscal year will be swept and it will be replenished with the full amount (currently set at $2000, subject to an annual review) at the beginning of the next fiscal year.
Expenditures in excess of $2000: Faculty anticipating conference travel expenses in excess of $2000 in the current fiscal year should apply for a Supplemental Conference Travel Award through Faculty Awards (following the application guidelines and deadlines).
Faculty may plan in advance for conference travel in excess of $2000 in the following year by requesting to carry over funds from the current year. This carry over provision must be requested via email to provostfinance@wellesley.edu. Those requests should specify the purpose, dates and budget for the conferences. The amount of the carryover will be limited to the funds needed to pay for the actual expenses in excess of $2000, and faculty should take care to assure that they hold enough current year funds to meet those costs. Funds may be carried over for only one year.