Strategic Planning FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions for Strategic Research Planning

When and how can I get my research funds? 

• Research funds will be available for use by tenured/tenure-track faculty in the Social Science and Arts & Humanities by October 1. At that time Department Managers can help you access them. 

What can I use my research funds for? 

• Research funds can be used for any activity directly related to research, e.g., travel, conferences, hiring student support, purchasing research materials, paying for publishing costs, etc. If you have any questions, please check with your DM. 

Why are tenure-track and tenured faculty in the Arts & Humanities and Social Sciences receiving an annual research fund while those in the Sciences will need to apply for seed funding? 

• Research in the sciences is typically carried out by teams of people supported by grants while research in the Arts & Humanities and Social Sciences is more often carried out via individuals or small-scale collaborations and is not necessarily grant supported. Differences in allocation of research funds reflect these differences in how research is carried out. A more limited pool of seed funds is available to faculty in the Arts & Humanities and Social Sciences who plan to apply for external funding. 

When will the annual calls for seed funding in the Sciences be announced?  

• Details of seed funding will be forthcoming in the next month, with a plan for both a Fall and Spring call for proposals. 

When can I expect to learn more about the Dean’s Research Fellows program? 

• The Dean’s Research Fellows are selected by the Dean with input from the Associate Deans based on information derived from the peer review and P&T processes. The first cohort will be announced by November 1, 2024.  

Where can I find information online about the research support staff members that have been hired and how to work with them? 

• We are currently in the recruiting phase for the two Research Development positions and hope to have those resources in place by the end of the semester. Russ Bahorsky  recently assumed the Research Communications role. The Dean’s office has just hired Avery Wagner as a graphic artist who can help with research illustration. Two pre-award positions in Research Administration will be hired in the next 12 months, which will expand our capacity to support the preparation and submission of proposals independent of the Office of Sponsored Programs. 

I am a general faculty member in A&S. What kind of support is available for my work? 

• General Faculty members will continue to receive Professional Development funds just like last year. Department Managers can help you access them. 

My research is at a stage where a bit more time would permit me to get my project over the hump to completion. How can I use the flexible scheduling of teaching to help me? 

• We will be piloting a process for providing faculty with flexibility in the scheduling of their teaching loads to advance a project at a critical moment in the research process. As these requests need to be included in the curricular planning process, faculty should anticipate a lead time between approved requests and any changes in the scheduling of their teaching. More information about the process will be forthcoming. 

Will my science department get a larger cohort of graduate students? 

• The Associate Dean for Graduate Education will be working with departments this fall to begin these discussions. Expansion will begin in this year’s recruitment cycle. 

What support is available for developing a large-scale grant proposal? 

• We will be supporting the development of large-scale grant proposals in multiple ways: 1) by expanding our research development staff; 2) by providing seed funds that can be used as planning grants; and 3) providing workload flexibility, where appropriate, for the principal investigators on proposals. 

When will we learn which Areas of Excellence A&S is supporting and what the programs are? 

• The Areas of Excellence recommended by the Strategic Research Planning steering committee are included in their final report. These draft ideas will undergo revision over the course of the fall semester, and we anticipate sharing out investments early in the spring term.  

How will the Dean’s Office measure the impact of strategic investments? Why is this necessary? 

• The Strategic Research Plan was designed to enhance general research support and to identify specific areas for investment with the overall goal of increasing A&S’s prominence in research, scholarship and creative arts. We will use metrics derived from departmental peer evaluation rubrics to measure increases in research activity associated with these investments. While our main interest is to assess changes in research activity and success at the level of the school and the division (i.e. Sciences, Social Sciences, Arts & Humanities), department-level metrics may be used to evaluate areas of excellence where appropriate for guiding and assessing investments in research. 

Who can I contact if I have other questions related to these investments? 

• Please address questions to your department chair or your divisional associate dean. You can expect additional communications later this fall sharing further information about these initiatives.