Support for Faculty
Seeking External Grants
There are two offices that support faculty who are seeking external funding. Faculty who seek support for their individual research agendas and creative activities should contact:
Tess Powers, Director of Faculty Research Support
Office of the Dean of the College
Armstrong Hall #346
Phone: 719-389-6318
tpowers@coloradocollege.edu
Faculty who seek support for a programmatic or curricular project that will be sponsored by the College as an institution should contact Nicole Rivet or Mary Frances Kerr in the Grants Office after first consulting with the Dean. Their contact information is provided in the Grants Office section, below.
Working with the Director of Faculty Research Support
The Director of Faculty Research Support is available to work with you to alleviate the workload related to seeking external funding for your research and creative activities. She can search for funding sources, guide the development of ideas into proposal format, help prepare budgets, and edit and proofread proposal drafts. The Director serves as one of the College’s “sponsored research officers,” and in this capacity takes a very active role in some submissions — particularly federal grants submitted electronically. She also tracks reporting and compliance requirements for awarded grants.
Grant Proposal Preparation in Context
Grant-seeking and proposal development are scholarly activities that can help you focus on the larger context of your scholarly/creative work and encourage articulation of why it matters in that context. Applying for external funding is an incentive to think clearly about your work’s relevance to your field and to articulate your ideas to a broader audience.
It is important to think strategically in the context of grant proposal preparation:
- Start small. Smaller (and internal) grants can be used for specific purposes, and they help establish credibility for later, larger grants or fellowships. In grant-seeking, success leads to greater success.
- Build your profile. Grant applications serve as a way to connect with others in your discipline and can lead to discussions about current work and potential collaborations. Use grants as another way to be an active part of the profession and to create a greater profile within your field.
- Practice makes perfect. Some granting agencies expect repeated submissions before awarding funding, making it especially important to plan ahead and vet proposals early. Some funding agencies provide the reviewers’ comments, which can be invaluable in preparing a resubmission of the proposal.
Initiating Contact
Faculty who are in the initial stages of exploring external funding sources are encouraged to contact the Director of Faculty Research Support as soon as possible to discuss your individual situation. If you are seeking support for a particular time period (such as your sabbatical), it is best to initiate the process 12 to 18 months in advance, because identifying funding sources, proposal development and submission, and awaiting a response can be a lengthy process.
Faculty who already have identified a funding source and are preparing to develop a proposal should contact the Director of Faculty Research Support immediately. Because working closely with the Director will improve the quality of your proposal and enhance its competitiveness, please follow this timeline:
- Contact Tess as soon as you decide to apply for external funds, but at least two weeks prior to the funder’s deadline. If a letter of support is needed from the Dean or the President, please contact Tess at least one month prior to the funder’s deadline.
- For NSF, NIH, or other federal applications, contact Tess at least six weeks prior to the funder’s deadline.
Failure to work within internal deadlines may jeopardize a proposal’s submission.
Identifying Potential Funding Sources
The Director of Faculty Research Support is available to identify funding sources for individual faculty. However, faculty members interested in exploring their funding options are encouraged to explore at least one of the the following two services, which can be searched by subject area:
The IRIS Database
IRIS contains over 8,000 active federal and private funding opportunities in the sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities. Users can search IRIS by sponsor, deadline date, keyword, and other criteria. Most IRIS records contain live links to sponsor Web sites, electronic forms, or Electronic Research Administration (ERA) portals.
The Grant Advisor
The Grant Advisor provides monthly updates in the following categories:
Preparing Your Proposal
Internal Discussion and Approval of the Proposal. The College has implemented an internal grant approval process which MUST be completed at least one week prior to the submission deadline. (Please discuss the process with the Director of Faculty Research Support.) Listed below are people with whom faculty should discuss all external applications and from whom signatures will be required:
- Department chair. Your chair can evaluate the project and provide feedback – and should be informed if sabbatical or course replacement is involved. Please meet with your chair as early as possible in the application process.
- If computer equipment is requested or technological support is involved in the project, please discuss the project with Kris Jones at least one month before the deadline; similarly, if laboratory or other equipment/physical space is required, please discuss the project and related research needs with Facilities.
- If human subjects research applies or an assessment component is required, please consult Amanda Udis-Kessler in Institutional Research at least one month before the external application deadline; if animals are involved, please consult the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee
- Business office. The Business Office will review the budget for its financial implications and would authorize any matching funds involved.
- Dean’s Office. The Dean will have final approval as the institutional authority.
It is vitally important that faculty members keep other members of the College informed of their grant application activity. Reasons include:
- The requirement of institutional approval for all external fund applications is standard practice at liberal arts colleges;
- Anyone on campus who submits proposals represents Colorado College to external constituencies;
- The College is affected by external awards received, because additional staff time is necessary to administer funds and do the appropriate accounting, and faculty grants affect salary and benefits calculations and annual budgeting;
- The College incurs liabilities and oversight for compliance of external funds;
- The College also incurs liabilities for funded projects involving students as researchers, especially for projects that take place abroad;
- Funded absences affect colleagues and the curriculum;New equipment affects IT or facilities management and staff support;
- Grants create HR and payroll implications if student workers or other staff positions are funded through external funds;
- Some funding sources limit the number of applications from an institution, so conflicts may arise if others are unaware of faculty grant-seeking activities;
- The College needs to track faculty applications and successful grants as an indicator of faculty research/creative activities and productivity.
Proposal Components. While the requirements for every grant application differ, grant proposals usually entail the following components:
- A narrative description of the proposed work. While this component is primarily the task of the faculty member, the Director of Faculty Research Support can read early drafts to provide comments on its overall structure and message and later drafts for copy-editing and proof-reading. (If you wish to receive comprehensive feedback, please share a draft with the Director at least a week prior to the deadline.) The Director also can ensure compliance with formatting requirements, etc.
- A budget. After an initial discussion with the faculty member, the Director of Faculty Research Support can develop a first “draft” of the budget (and, if required, the budget justification). The budget can then be fine-tuned as the proposed work comes into sharper focus during the narrative’s development.
- Letter of support from the Dean or the President. The Director of Faculty Research Support can prepare a letter for the Dean’s or President’s signature.
- Language on Colorado College. Depending on the nature of the proposal, the funder may seek background information on Colorado College. The Director of Faculty Research Support can identify and tailor existing language, or draft new language, as needed.
Proposal Submission. Some funders require online submission by an “authorized institutional representative”; in such cases the Director of Faculty Research Support must submit the proposal. Other funders require an online submission from the faculty member only. Still others require a hard-copy of the proposal; in such cases the Director of Faculty Research Support can prepare the necessary copies and the proposal package for delivery.
Working
with Colorado College's
Grants Office
Colorado College’s Grants Office, formally known as the Office of Corporate, Foundation and Agency Relations, coordinates efforts to obtain external funding from foundations and agencies for projects that are “institutional” in nature. For this reason, the Grants Office provides support to faculty members developing institutional, collaborative, outreach, or curriculum development projects. Faculty members and program administrators seeking assistance with such institutional efforts should consult with the Dean prior to contacting the Grants Office.
Grants Office functions include:
- Identifying and managing relationships between Colorado College and grant programs at foundations and government agencies; Researching potential funding opportunities for Colorado College programs;
- Responding to RFPs (request for proposals) for institutional support.
Grants Office services include:
- Offering advice about funding strategies and helping research potential funding sources; Providing information about federal agency and foundation programs; Assisting with the development of a grant proposal and reading drafts; and
- Supplying application forms and materials.
The Grants Office is responsible for managing the College’s relationships with all foundations and agencies. Therefore they request that faculty members contact them prior to engaging in any contact with foundations.
Initiating Contact
With encouragement from the Dean, faculty should contact one of the following members of the Grants Office:
Nicole Rivet, Director
719-389-6892
nrivet@coloradocollege.edu
Mary Frances Kerr, Associate Director
719-389-6704
maryfrances.kerr@coloradocollege.edu
Patsy
Woods, Grants Coordinator
719-389-6789
pwoods@coloradocollege.edu
Materials delivered via campus mail should be addressed to:
Office of Corporate, Foundation and Agency Relations
Advancement Division
Spencer Center, Suite 200F
| 