faculty development fund grants
Saint Mary’s College of California recognizes that intellectual growth and scholarly activity are closely related both to each other and to teaching effectiveness. Faculty scholarship is encouraged and supported through awards that fund scholarly interests and pursuits. The Faculty Development Fund Committee administers the awards and is composed of the Dean for Faculty Development and one faculty member from each school appointed by the respective dean. Scholarly activity and intellectual growth are broadly defined and supported as described below.
Applications must be submitted to the Dean/Office of Faculty Development by the 20th of each month, September to May ( except December ), prior to the proposed activity. Applications for retroactive funding will be considered only in exceptional circumstances. Applications must be signed by the department chairman with appropriate documentation attached.
I. TYPES OF AWARDS & CRITERIA FOR FUNDING
Awards are made for three types of activities: active participation, passive participation and scholarly/research activity.
A. Active Awards: Presentation of scholarly work determined by the following criteria:
- Delivery of research paper or equivalent, e.g., a poster, round-table, panel paper, a musical or other artistic work to one’s academic peers or equivalent.
- Participation in a panel, workshop, institute, etc. that requires significant advanced scholarly preparation.
- Scholarly activity that has been peer reviewed or selected by a professional organization for inclusion in a conference program, e.g., invited paper, keynote address.
- Workshops designed by the faculty applicant for one’s academic peers to contribute to his/her field of scholarship or practice.
- Other forms of active participation: If the scholarly activity takes another form that the applicant considers to be active, the applicant must explain why it should be so categorized.
- Documentation of active participation must be attached to the application and may include: 1) a letter of invitation or acceptance of paper, or 2) a preliminary copy of the program with the applicant’s name.
B. Passive Awards: Attendance or administration determined by the following criteria:
- Attendance at workshops or conferences
- Presentation of material which repeats substantially any material presented previously at a different event qualifies applicant for passive funding .
- Attendance at conferences chiefly to fulfill administrative commitments (e.g., convener, M.C., officer in a professional organization)
- Documentation of passive participation must be attached to the application and may include: 1) a receipt for registration, 2) confirmation of travel, or 3) correspondence regarding administrative work.
- Only one passive award is allowed annually.
C. Scholarly Research Awards – Preparation of scholarly work determined by the following criteria:
- Research related to completing books, articles, reviews, reports, creative work (music, art, drama), scientific, technological projects or other types of scholarly research. This includes travel to archives, interviews, translations, purchase of essential research materials, etc.
- Documentation in the form of a description with a timetable and estimated budget of the research project must accompany the application for a scholarly/research award. If funding is requested for an ongoing scholarly project for which the applicant has previously received a Faculty Development award, the applicant must include a progress report demonstrating that the project has entered a new phase requiring additional funding.
- Equipment and unused materials become the property of SMC.
II. ELIGIBILITY
Faculty eligible to receive awards:
- Faculty on the Rank and Tenure roster, including faculty on reduced services plan, academic administrators with faculty rank, and faculty on reassigned time or sabbatical.
- Adjunct faculty who have an annual contract, or who are employed on a pro-rata basis and are assigned at least 5/7 of a full-credit course load or its equivalent per academic year and who have completed teaching at Saint Mary's College at least seven full-credit courses or their equivalent prior to applying for funds.
Faculty ineligible for awards:
- Faculty contracted on a per-course basis.
- Faculty on leave of absence.
- Faculty emeriti.
III. AWARD AMOUNTS
A. Ranked faculty:
Funds are limited to $1,600 per individual per academic year . Active awards and scholarly research projects, $1,000 maximum per application. Passive awards, $600 maximum (limit of one per year).
B. Adjunct faculty:
Funds are limited to $900 maximum per individual per academic year . Active and scholarly research projects, $600 maximum per application. Passive awards, $300 maximum (limit of one per year).
C. If applicant has compelling reasons for requesting funds beyond the maximum amount for any single activity (up to the full annual allotment of $1,600 or $900), an explanation must accompany the application. Such reasons may include international meetings; consolidation of two types of activity, e.g., research and a conference presentation; inflation of travel and lodging costs; etc.
IV. APPLICATION PROCEDURE
1. Applications must be submitted to the Dean/Office of Faculty Development by the 20th of each month—September to May, except December--and must be submitted prior to the proposed activity. Applications for retroactive funding receive consideration only in exceptional cases.
Applications for funding of summer activities (May 20 to September 20) must be submitted before May 20. Those received after May 20 will be considered at the September meeting. Funding for activities occurring before July 1 will come from the current academic/fiscal year allotment; funding for those after July 1 will come from the following fiscal year allotment.
2. Use of the online Application form (link below) is recommended. The application process may begin online with the application being filled out, then printed, signed and submitted with documentation attached; or may be fully completed online with application (copied, pasted into a Word document and sent as an attachment), chair authorization and documentation being submitted electronically to the Faculty Development office (nclark@stmarys-ca.edu).
3. Applications must briefly describe a) the proposed activity, b) its relevance to applicant's scholarly development or teaching; and c) the estimated expenses including transportation, lodging, meals (up to $35 per diem), and appropriate registration fees. When transportation is by private automobile, give mileage and calculate cost at .485/mile.
- Membership fees in professional organizations are not paid through this fund.
- If applicant is receiving funding from another source for the activity, this information and the amount received must be included in the application.
- So that all qualified faculty may benefit from limited funds, applicants are urged to economize to the extent possible.
- Only one copy of the application is needed.
4. Application must be signed by the department chair, program director, or dean of applicant's school, indicating that he/she has been informed of the applicant's proposal and that he/she has approved of the substitution arrangements if the applicant will need to miss class(es). For January Term classes, the signature of the January Term director is required.
5. Supporting documentation for active, research and passive awards must be attached to and submitted with the application. (For details see above: I., A, B, C)
6. Checks will be sent to recipient’s home address approximately 30 days before the funded activity. In certain circumstances (ie., foreign travel) an applicant may request, with submission of a Expense Report (link below) with receipts attached, reimbursement of expenses incurred more than 30 days in advance of the funded activity.
7. As a condition of receiving an award, the recipient agrees to submit a written report to the Dean/ Office of Faculty Development within 30 days after conclusion of the funded project or activity. Use of the Activity Report form (link below) is recommended. Receipts for the expenditures, up to the amount awarded, must accompany the report. Subsequent applications for awards will not be considered until this report and receipts for expenditures are received. A copy of the report (without receipts) will be given to the applicant's Dean, as documentation of the applicant's professional faculty development activity.
8. Any unused portion of the award must be returned with the Activity Report to the Dean/Office of Faculty Development. If the recipient of an award must cancel plans, the award in full must be returned immediately.
9. If the project or activity results in a publication, applicant must acknowledge in a footnote the support of the Faculty Development Fund of Saint Mary's College.
Application • Activity Report • Expense Report (pdf)
