Support for Faculty Seeking External Grants
The Director of Sponsored Research/ Faculty Grants in the dean’s office, is available to work with you to alleviate the workload related to seeking external funding. She can search for funding sources for your research projects and creative activities, guide the development of ideas into proposal format, and edit proposal drafts. She can also provide support with final proofing and some submissions (esp. electronic federal grants), as well as tracking reporting and compliance requirements for successful grants.
Note: While the college searches for a new Director, Nicole Rivet, Director of Foundation and Agency relations, will provide some support for faculty in addition to her normal duties.
Some ways she assists in securing funding include
- discussing the focus of the work, the type of project and activities, and the application timeline – it’s best to have 12-18 months as lead time, because proposal development, submission, and waiting for a response can be a lengthy process;
- searching an array of sources for various funding options, depending on where you are in your career and what kind of project(s) you have in mind, such as big fellowships, summer stipends, equipment funds, residencies, or archival trips; and
- offering guidance in drafting proposals, providing examples of previously successful proposals, finding out what types of projects have been recently funded, and suggesting the best ways to approach program officers or to find additional information.
The Director helps relate grant-seeking to individual goals for the next three-five years and stresses ways to approach external funding strategically:
- Smaller 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.
- Grant applications serve as a way to connect with others in your discipline and can lead to discussions about current work and potential collaboration. Use grants as another way to be an active part of the profession and to create a greater profile within your field.
- Some granting agencies, such as NSF or NIH, typically require repeated submissions before securing funding, making it especially important to plan ahead and vet proposals early.
Keep in mind that 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 and to articulate your ideas to a broader audience.
Nicole can be reached at nrivet@... or x6892
If you would like to get a sense of what kinds of funding opportunities exist, please note that the college subscribes to two very useful services that you can search by subject area. The Grant Advisor sends monthly updates to the college in the following categories:
Colorado College is also a subscriber to the IRIS database which 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.
Faculty Grant Proposal Checklist
As at other liberal arts colleges, CC encourages faculty efforts to seek external support where appropriate and therefore requests faculty cooperation in keeping other members of the college informed of grant application activity. This will improve faculty funding success. Crafting a successful proposal takes time and professional assistance, and the Dean’s Office has created the following guidelines to help you develop a more competitive application. The attached form is designed to facilitate organization and completion of the process.
People with whom faculty should discuss all external applications and from whom signatures will be required:
- Department chair: as a colleague who can evaluate project and provide feedback, and who should be informed if sabbatical or course replacement is involved – please meet with your chair as early as possible in the application process
- Business office: should check budget and other financial implications, should authorize any matching funds involved – please check with Sally Southwick to determine if it is necessary to meet with a controller in the business office once you have a draft budget developed
- Dean’s Office: will have final approval as institutional authority – please consult with the Director of Sponsored Research as early as possible so that she can seek the Dean’s approval for the application
- If computer equipment is requested or technological support is involved in the project, please discuss the project with Marla Gerein in ATS 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
Because working closely with the Director of Sponsored Research/Faculty Grants will improve the quality of proposals and enhance their competitiveness, please follow this timeline:
- Notify her as soon as you decide to apply for external funds. Submit application materials to her at least five business days before the funder’s deadline if her assistance is needed in proposal proofing, submission, or mailing.
- If a letter of support is needed from the Dean or the President, please notify the Director at least two weeks prior to the funder’s deadline.
- For NSF, NIH, or other federal agencies with electronic application processes, notify the Director of intent to submit at least six weeks in advance of deadline, with completed materials submitted to her for uploading five business days before final submission date. Failure to work within internal deadlines may jeopardize submission of a proposal.
Please send final copies of materials to the Director (hard copies or via email) once application is completed and submitted.
Here are some of the reasons why others on campus should know when faculty apply for grants:
- the requirement of institutional approval for all external fund applications is standard practice at liberal arts colleges
- proposals sent out by anyone on campus represent CC 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 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 indicator of faculty research/creative activities and productivity
If external funds are not for individual faculty research or creative activities, but rather are to support a programmatic or curricular project that will be sponsored by the college as an institution, faculty members should consult first with Nicole Rivet and Tess Powers in the Grants Office (x6789).
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