DESCRIPTION OF PROPOSAL COMPONENTS

Cover Page
Please list and provide the requested information for each Principal Investigator.  Add additional sheets if necessary.  All proposals must be reviewed and signed by the Department Head or College Dean before submission to the FRC.

Main Body of Proposal (Maximum 5 Pages)
Summary
State the hypothesis to be tested, the problem to be investigated, or the teaching methodology to be investigated.  The summary will be displayed on the FRC web site if the proposal is funded.

Procedure and Timetable
List the steps or stages in the procedure and the approximate time frame during which each
will be accomplished. Be realistic in setting up the time schedule. Be aware that funds must be spent by June 30, 2007 for the first year of funding and June 30, 2008 for the second year for those who receive a two years of funding.  Funds cannot be carried from one fiscal year to the next.
Resources Currently Available  Indicate the equipment, personnel and technical expertise needed for the project currently available, this may include any unique experience or training that the faculty member has which makes this project feasible.  Specify all equipment and/or supplies which will be loaned or donated by an off-campus source if this project is funded. Indicate the approximate dollar value of this donation or loan.

Narrative  The narrative should be concise yet complete in stating the problem, presenting a brief
literature review, and thoroughly describing the methodology of the project.

Statement of Research Accomplishments with FRC Funding  (Include only if funded by FRC within the last five Years.)  Please briefly describe the results of any FRC research or innovative teaching grants that were funded within the past five years.

Budget
The maximum budget allowed for one year proposals is $8,000.  The maximum budget allowed for two year proposals is $12,000.  The total amount that can be used for salary support/release time may not exceed $7,000 per year.

Salary (release time)  Release time for the PI (normally a maximum of 3 semester hours) may be requested during the fall and spring semesters.  Requests for funding of released time must be approved by the Dean and Department Head of the PI’s college or department and verification of approval must accompany the application.  The cost for covering the PI’s released time should be equal to the cost to hire an adjunct faculty person to cover the researcher's teaching duties.  In the case of optometry, salary support in the fall and spring semesters may be equal to the cost to hire an adjunct faculty person to cover 8 hours of clinic per week.  In the case of the library, salary support in the fall and spring semesters may be equal to the cost to hire an adjunct faculty person to cover twenty-five percent (25%) their weekly load.

Salary (summer) - The amount of salary support for the summer may be equivalent to what the researcher would earn by teaching six credit hours..  In no case may the total work load of the researcher exceed what would be equivalent to teaching seven credit hours.  For example, if the researcher received summer salary support from FRC equivalent to 3 credit hours of teaching, he/she could not teach more than 4 credit hours that summer and would be expected to spend the remainder of the time doing research.  In the case of Optometry, salary support for the summer may be equal to the cost of hiring an adjunct faculty person to cover 20 hrs of clinic teaching each week for 10 weeks.  In the case of the Library, a person is eligible to apply up to $7,000.

Student salary - Whenever possible, work study students should be utilized, since the cost to the research project is one-fourth the cost of an institutional student. However, if a project requires a student with specific expertise, it may not be possible to find a student qualified for work study and an institutional student will have to be used. If any student salary is requested, give a thorough description of the student's duties in the research project at the bottom of the budget page.
Supplies and equipment - Use additional pages to itemize and justify supplies (other than office) and equipment. Be specific in listing items needed - not just software, but which specific software product. Indicate exactly how supplies will be used in this project, and if similar or identical equipment is available on campus, why it is not sufficient or available for this project. The grants are not intended for the purchase of computers or computer software for which the university has a site license (word processing, database, spreadsheet or integrated packages).

Travel - The travel should be directly related to the conduct of the research, i.e., original data collection, use of archives or special library collections, consultation or collaboration, or use of lab facilities not available at NSU.  Travel to professional meetings should not be included as a part of the grant proposal.  If unsure of university guidelines regarding any aspect of the budget, e.g. map miles, meals, etc., please obtain assistance from your respective department or college. It is important that the budget requests are accurate.

All faculty salaries, either release time or summer, should be justified through a description of the planned duties or activities.

Two Year Funding
The funding of two year studies/projects begins on July 1, 2006.  Funding for two years allows faculty to develop studies/projects that cannot be completed in a one year time frame, and enables faculty to devote at least one entire, continuous summer to a study/project. Applications for two year grants must adhere to the following guidelines.

1. Awards are for two years, for a maximum of $12,000 total (pending availability of funds).

2. Application should include a clearly defined time-line with definite goals to be achieved by the end of each semester.

3. The budget should be divided into fiscal year-long segments. Each year would begin on July 1 and end on June 30. Summer salary would be available for each calendar year covered, if all other criteria are met, e.g. justification, teaching load.  For example, summer salary could be requested for summer of 2006 and/or for summer 2007, for a study/project beginning July 1, 2006 and ending June 30, 2008.

4. On March 15th of the first year, recipients of two year grants are required to submit a 1-2 page report stating which of the goals had been achieved and how much money had been spent. Justifications should be given for any changes from the original time-line.

5. The FRC will evaluate the report at the April meeting, and recommend or not recommend funding for the second year. Funding is always subject to the availability of funds each fiscal year. In the event that sufficient funds are not available for a second year, priority will be given to projects that have made the best progress toward the stated goals, as judged by review of the March 15th report.

6. Faculty receiving approval for a two year award are expected to actively seek outside funding during the second year. The FRC grants are “seed” monies on for building outside funding resources.

7. Faculty receiving two year awards are not normally funded a third consecutive year for any studies/projects by the FRC.

8. Funding priority will be given to projects with strong justification of need, clearly defined goals for each semester that support the budget for each fiscal year, which are submitted by faculty who have achieved research/evaluation goals in the past, especially if funded by FRC.

FINAL REPORTING REQUIREMENTS FOR ONE YEAR AND TWO YEAR GRANTS

Within six months of the termination of the funded project or at the time of application for another FRC grant, whichever comes first, the researcher is expected to submit a final report, not to exceed five pages, using the outline below.  An acceptable final report must be on file before the researcher applies for another FRC grant.

I.  Financial report.  Were all the awarded funds spent?  If not, why not?  (Changes in the budget needed previous approval and justification for those changes need not be repeated here.)

II.  Information gathered.  Was the unprocessed information (or data) gathered as planned?  What short falls were there and why did they occur?  Does the researcher have feasible plans to gather missing information?  What unanticipated, extra information was gathered?

III.  Information processing/ achievement of specific objectives.  State in a clear manner what the researcher added to the present fund of knowledge in the general area into which this project fits.  What publications are in preparation, have been submitted, have been accepted for publication, or have been published?  What papers have been (or will be) delivered at meetings (give time, place, and name of sponsoring organization)?  What other tangible outcomes are available that verify the achievement of the research goal?

IV.  Student involvement. How many students were involved and how were they involved?  In what way did they benefit from that involvement.

V.  Anticipated follow-up work.  What new projects or extensions of this project does the researcher anticipate doing, if any?  Will new funds be applied for to continue that work, from FRC or from outside sources?

EVALUATION CRITERIA FOR GRANT PROPOSALS

The FRC will use the following criteria in evaluating each proposal.

I. Does the proposal fit FRC guidelines for funding?  If the proposal does not fit FRC guidelines, it will not be considered.

II.  Clarity of problem.  (20 points) Is the immediate objective of the project clearly stated?   Is a successful outcome identifiable?

III.  Narrative. (35 points) Did the researcher describe the broad area into which this project fits?   Was that description clear and understandable to an educated person outside that specialty area?  Does this project seem to be an important part of that area?  Is the project innovative?  Does the researcher clearly state what new information he/she hopes to gather?

IV. Procedures (30 points) Do the procedures to be used seem appropriate?  Are they practical and within the capability of the researcher and the research setting?  Is a time table clearly identified and is it feasible?  Is the budget appropriate?  (Inclusion of non-fundable items, such as travel to meetings, can be stricken from the budget without lowering the score; but an unrealistic budget should lower the score.)

V. Researcher's Past Performance (10 Points) If the faculty member has not received an FRC grant within the last five years, the researcher will be awarded 10 points.  If the researcher has received an FRC grant within the last five years, the Statement of Research Accomplishments with FRC Funding section of the proposal should demonstrate a good faith effort on the part of the researcher to achieve the stated goals.

VI. Potential for External Funding (5 points) The philosophy of the grants is that these internal funds are seed money to generate a start toward having principal investigators reach out for external funding.  Does the continuation or expansion of this project have the potential for external funding from private, state or federal sources?

All incomplete or erroneously prepared proposals will be returned to the Principal Investigator for revision and re-submission.  Previous grant recipients who have not turned in Final Reports will not be funded for future projects.  The FRC committee will consider all complete proposals received by the deadline.

Revised December 2001 NORTHEASTERN STATE UNIVERSITY
OFFICE OF THE VICE-PRESIDENT OF ACADEMIC AFFAIRS
FACULTY RESEARCH COMMITTEE

Submission Deadline: March 3, 2006
Cover Page

Please list information for each Principal Investigator: Add additional sheets if necessary.

Name (last, first) ________________________________________Date__________________

 Academic Unit____________________________________________________________

 I have reviewed and approved the request for release time included in this proposal (Signatures required only if funds for release time are being requested.)

    Department Head's Signature:____________________________________________________

    Dean's Signature:______________________________________________________________

Proposal Title__________________________________________________________________

Is two year funding being requested? Yes ____ No _____

Is this part of a long-term, continuing, and/or matched funds project or similar to another previous
project? If so, please briefly discuss.
 

FRC FUNDING HISTORY (Previous Five Years)
  Title          Amount 
FY 2005-06____________________________________________________________________
FY 2004-05____________________________________________________________________
FY 2003-04____________________________________________________________________
FY 2002-03____________________________________________________________________
FY 2001-02____________________________________________________________________

Has (Have) Final Report(s) been submitted to the FRC for these grants?      ___Yes      ___No

Note: An acceptable Final Report must be on file for any FRC funding within the last five years before the FRC will consider this application.  Late reports may be submitted to the FRC Chair.

         2006-2007 Grant Proposal
DESCRIPTION OF MAIN BODY OF PROPOSAL Please address the following in the application within a maximum of five pages.

 1. SUMMARY (If funded, the summary will be displayed on the FRC web site with the announcement of funded projects.)
 2. PROCEDURE AND TIMETABLE
 3. RESOURCES CURRENTLY AVAILABLE
 4. NARRATIVE: Statement of problem, literature review and statement of methods
 5. STATEMENT OF RESEARCH ACCOMPLISHMENTS WITH FRC FUNDING (Include only if funded by FRC within the last five Years)

BUDGET Please refer to the budget portion of the instructions.  The required justifications of expenditures should be included in this section.  If submitting for Two Years of funding, complete a separate budget section for each year of funding.  Remember, funding budgets run from June 30, 2006-July 1, 2007 and June 30, 2007-July 1, 2008.

Funding Period (For all one year proposals): June 30, 2006 -July 1, 2007

Salary Faculty Release Time _________________________________
Salary Faculty Summer Pay __________________________________

Work Study Student Salary (hours x $1.29*) __________________________________________
Institutional Student Salary (hours x $5.15*) __________________________________________

Supplies ______________________________________________________________________
Equipment ____________________________________________________________________
Duplication ____________________________________________________________________

Travel
Air Fare        ______________________________
University Car (miles x $0.365*)     ______________________________
Personal Car (miles x $0.375*)    ______________________________
Lodging (State allowance only)    ______________________________
Meals (State allowance only)     ______________________________

*Check grants and contracts for current rates.
Contractual Services _____________________________________________________________

Other_________________________________________________________________________

TOTAL _______________________________________________________________________
 

CURRICULUM VITAE One for each researcher, two page limit

           2006-2007 Grant Proposal
 

PROPOSAL TITLE_____________________________________________________________

STIPULATIONS
Submission of this application signifies your permission to publish the Summary section of your proposal on the NSU WWW page if your proposal is funded.

Acknowledgment
Published papers or book chapters and/or oral presentations of work funded in whole, or in part by the Faculty Research Committee shall carry this acknowledgment:
 "Support for this project was received from the Faculty Research
 Committee, Northeastern State University, Tahlequah, OK 74464."

Conveyance of Copyright, Patent and/or Commercial Profit

I, (Print or type, last name first) ______________________________________ do convey to the
Faculty Research Committee at NSU half of any profit in excess of $500 that I receive from any copyright, patent or commercially-marketed idea that started as a concept funded in whole or in part, by the committee. I understand that such funds will be used only to support further research activities at Northeastern State University.

      __________________________________________
      Signature     Date

COMPLETION OF FINAL REPORT
Within six months after the end of funding for your project, you will complete a final report summarizing your work.  Included will be: 1) Financial report; 2) Information gathered; 3) Information processing/ achievement of specific objectives; 4) Student Involvement; 5) Anticipated follow up work; and 6) Permission to publish your results on the NSU WWW page.
 

HUMAN SUBJECTS
Does this project involve human subjects? ____________Yes ___________No
If yes, three copies of the HEAC application must be included.
 

ANIMAL SUBJECTS
Does this project involve animal subjects? ____________Yes ___________No
If yes, three copies of the UAWC application must be included.  

This page should be separate, and have an original signature and date.
Include additional signed pages if there is more than one researcher.
Revised February, 2006