Liberal Arts and Sciences

Faculty Research and Development Grants

TO: All HCLAS Faculty Members
FROM: John Teehan, Chair, HCLAS Executive Committee
RE: 2023-2024 HCLAS Faculty Research and Development Grants (FRDG)/ Presidential Research Awards Program (PRAP)
DATE: December 19, 2022


Below are the guidelines for the 2023-2024 HCLAS Faculty Research and Development Grants (FRDGs). The sample application can be found here:
https://www.hofstra.edu/academics/colleges/hclas/research-and-development-grants.html

This document is being sent to all F & P/T faculty. Please note that, where appropriate, all FRDG applications will be considered for a Presidential Research Awards Program (PRAP) award; you do not have to apply separately for PRAP monies.

Contents

About FRDG Funding

The Dean's Office and the HCLAS Executive Committee encourage all faculty to apply for HCLAS Faculty Research and Development Grants as vehicles to enhance and increase their research and scholarly productivity. Due partly to recovery of older, unused FRDG funds, the total amount of money for 2023-2024 to be awarded (excluding PRAP, for which we do not yet have updated information) is approximately $247,000 in FRDG this year. For the last award cycle, 100 faculty members requested a total of $351,009 and the Executive Committee distributed $252,474 in FRDG funds, along with $19,600 in PRAP funds, with the average award over $2,776 (figure includes PRAP funds awarded) for individual faculty research needs. For 2023-2024, we hope to maintain a similar level of funding for applicants, although the amounts allocated will depend on the number and quality of proposals received, and adjusted for total FRDG and PRAP funds available. Please note that faculty may apply for funding for the same project over two or more years and bank the funds awarded until they have sufficient resources to complete the project.

Kindly contact me (John P. Teehan John.P.Teehan@hofstra.edu) or Nilla Park (Nilla Park Nilla.Park@hofstra.edu) if you have any questions.

Application Deadline

The deadline for receipt of FRDG applications is 11:59 p.m., Friday, February 10, 2023. No late applications will be accepted; the application site will automatically close, and you will be unable to access it after the deadline.

Funding Timeline

Funding for the 2023-2024 FRDG and PRAP will be available only for expenses incurred after May 20th, 2023. Funds remain available for five years. Faculty who have a current FRDG balance will receive an email reminder of that balance amount from the HCLAS Dean’s office by January 10, 2023.

Expenditure Report

Note that all grant recipients must submit a report detailing how the award monies were spent, with what result, etc. These reports must be received via email to Chris Jenkinson (Christine.M.Jenkinson@hofstra.edu) not later than one year after the expenditure of funds.

Funding Description

The grants are intended to provide monetary support for scholarly research and professional (including pedagogical and curricular) development—particularly if such development leads to publication or presentation by faculty and/or students. FRDG/PRAP awards support projects that are not normally funded by the University through other sources. Please note that available funds are limited, and that it is the policy of the Executive Committee to try to fund as many projects as possible. We therefore respectfully request that faculty limit their requests to amounts that are feasible for the Executive Committee. The fund does not award released time. Proposals requesting purchase of equipment (including computers and associated software or hardware) must include a detailed description of how the equipment will be used in the research or project.

Conference Funding

Conference travel will be considered for funding, provided the faculty member has documented that they will be taking an active role in the conference (e.g., presenting research, moderating a session, participating in a workshop, acting as an officer of the organization), and provided that the applicant also demonstrates that monies for conferences from the regular College travel fund have been exhausted. The application should specify the conference title, location, and date, and it should specify the role in the conference to be undertaken. FRDG and PRAP funds are not intended to take the place of HCLAS conference travel funds; therefore, faculty must indicate how the expenses for such travel exceed the current travel budget. IF YOU ARE REQUESTING CONFERENCE FUNDING, PLEASE FOLLOW THESE DIRECTIONS VERY CAREFULLY. IF YOU DO NOT PROVIDE ALL THE INFORMATION REQUESTED, YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE FUNDING FOR YOUR CONFERENCE TRAVEL. Funding will be considered for conference travel between May 20, 2023 and May 18, 2024 (inclusive). Faculty members who request funding to travel to a conference to give a paper for which they have not yet received official acceptance should submit such requests to the Assistant Dean for Budget and Finance, who will allocate funds for such travel once the official acceptance has been received inasmuch as travel budget funds remain available. FRDG and PRAP funds are not available to support travel to conferences for which the acceptance of a proposed presentation has not yet been received.

Eligibility

All Full-time faculty in the College, including associate deans who hold faculty rank, and continuing regular adjunct faculty [as defined in article 2.2 of the CBA] who have also completed at least six (6) semesters of service or the equivalent as per Article 24.10, are eligible to apply for funding as per articles 6.20 and 6.21 of the CBA.

Collaborations

It is acceptable for two or more faculty members to combine their funding in a collaborative project. Each faculty member participating in such a partnership must fill out the application form, and indicate in the box near the top of the application designated for “Title or Purpose of Proposal” that their application is a Collaboration and must specify the name of the research partner. Each faculty applicant participating in the collaboration must individually fill out the information on the previous year’s funding, etc. To aid in tracking the budget for collaborative projects, please specify one individual as the lead PI.

Types of Expenditures Funded

Examples of costs that may be defrayed by an HCLAS Faculty Research and Development Grant include, but are not limited to, laboratory supplies, instrumentation, research-related travel expenses, conference expenditures not covered by College travel funds, microfilm, data-base search time and print-outs, library access and use fees, and photocopying of research materials. FRDG resources should be used by and for Hofstra faculty and student researchers. Justified expenses for special technical services, test subjects, and competent student research assistants will, however, be funded where possible. Faculty may request up to $1000 from the FRDG program to defray open access publication fees.

Funds for equipment should be requested only after faculty have determined that such equipment, or an adequate substitute, does not already exist on campus and cannot be funded from another source. Evidence for same must be included.

Expenditures for equipment, supplies, services, etc. will not be supported unless an immediate use is specified. For equipment intended for limited or one-time-only use, we strongly recommend exploring the possibility of rental. All equipment completely funded by the HCLAS Faculty Research and Development Grants belongs to the University and will revert to general University use upon completion of the funded project or after three years, whichever comes first. Any purchase of a computer, computer accessories, or software using Hofstra FRDG or PRAP funds must be made through Information Technology at Hofstra.

Please note that the goal of the FRDG program is to provide resources so that faculty can accomplish work that they otherwise would not be able to do. Requests for funding for materials routinely purchased by departments, such as office supplies, and requests for compensation for time spent by faculty engaged in a project will not be funded.

Application Adjudication

Proposals will be evaluated by the four elected members of the Executive Committee plus four faculty consultants, representing each of the four schools, chosen by the Committee. The Committee will send letters apprising each applicant of the decision affecting their proposal within two months of the application deadline of February 10, 2023. At the end of the Spring 2023 semester, or at the beginning of the Fall 2023 semester, the Executive Committee will report on FRDG proposals funded and the total amount awarded during the previous academic year.

Time Limits on Awards and Stipulations

The HCLAS faculty and Executive Committee have determined that FRDG and PRAP funds must be spent within five years, unless faculty provide a justification to the Assistant Dean for Budget and Finance for holding onto them for a longer period.

Submitting Your Online Application

Please read the guidelines carefully and use the online application form to submit your proposal. If an application does not follow the format described in these instructions it will not be considered. Note that you may begin filling out the online application form, then save it online, and then complete it at a later time; there is a Save and Re-enter button on the application. To facilitate your application process, the Executive Committee recommends the following:

  1. Prepare your funding proposal as per the instructions on the form: two pages maximum, plus two pages of ancillary materials (if required) and save it electronically to your computer.
  2. You may click on the “HCLAS Awards: HCLAS Faculty Research and Development Grants (FRDG) and Presidential Research Awards Program (PRAP)” link here which will prompt you to log onto the portal using your usual Hofstra login information.
  3. Look carefully at the online form to ascertain the type of information requested. A sample of the online application is attached at the end of these guidelines;
  4. Prepare the information requested on the form regarding any FRDG or PRAP monies you received for the last award cycle (proposal submitted in 2022-2023), including the summary (250-word maximum) of that proposal and list of any publications, presentations, research results, etc. from that award. Note: if the information on the previous award is not correctly provided, the application will be incomplete and will not be considered.
  5. Go to the online form and fill in all the information. This should take about 15 minutes.
  6. Upload your 2023-2024 proposal from your computer by clicking the Upload button. Then click Submit at the bottom of the application form. Both you and Chris Jenkinson will receive a notification that your application has been received.