Funding Application

The School of Communication provides Creative Activity and Research Grants through a competitive selection process to support faculty work that results in clear and prominent scholarly/creative accomplishments that support the enhanced reputation of the School of Communication.

Only School of Communication full-time faculty members on continuing appointments are eligible to apply for this grant.

• Only School of Communication full-time faculty members on continuing appointments are eligible to apply for this grant.
• Applicants must have fulfilled the conditions of the prior award to receive funding for the next award. Thus, no award can be given if the conditions for the prior award have not been fulfilled.

Priority will be given to projects requiring direct cost support over summer salary support. While there is a suggested maximum $5,000 per applicant, under certain very well-justified circumstances, proposals requesting amounts in excess of $5,000 will be considered. The funding will become available at the beginning of the new fiscal year (beginning June 1) and must be spent by May 31st of the following year.

Evaluation of proposals will be based on the following criteria:

• Projects should have clear potential to lead to major refereed publications, external funding, national exhibitions, juried festivals, or equivalent externally reviewed scholarly/creative activity. While the potential for external funding is not a requirement for a SoC award, the review committee will favor projects that are more likely to lead to external funding.
• While the potential for external funding is not a requirement for a SoC award, the review committee will favor projects that are more likely to lead to external funding.
  
• The applicant should demonstrate good stewardship of previously awarded funds in the form of strong outcomes for earlier projects.
• Purpose of the work is clearly stated.
• Method is appropriate for the project goals specified.
• Writing is clear and designed to be understood by a diverse audience.
• Timeline is feasible for the project proposed.
• For actual expenses, budget provides clear explanation of needs. If summer salary support is being requested, scholarly output during the last two academic years must strongly support the argument that the proposed project could not be accomplished during the normal academic year with available teaching release time. (For example, faculty on a 3/3 load have approximately 10 hours per week for research and creative scholarship.)
• Priority will be given to projects whose faculty do not have start-up funds.

• Acceptance of an SoC grant implies permission to post a link to the funded proposal onthe SoC website.
• All proposals will be evaluated by the School of Communication Research and Creative Support and Services Committee.
• Faculty members applying for an award may not serve on this panel of judges. The panel may call an applicant in for clarifications on her/his application.

By accepting this award, the faculty member agrees to the following:

• A progress report must be filed by December 15th of the first year of funding (roughly the half-way point of the project).
• A final report is due at the end of the one-year period (May 31st). A one-year extension will be granted upon receipt of a detailed progress report and a justification for the extension. The final report will be due at the conclusion of the one-year extension. Reports must be filed using the online grant management system specified for this process. Failure to meet the conditions of the award acceptance after a one-year extension may affect chances to receive future awards.
• All publications or other scholarly outcomes (e.g., films) must acknowledge the financial support of the SoC award. Moreover, links to PDFs for conference papers, publications, and grant proposals and to URLs for film or other creative scholarship must be uploaded to the grant management system.
• The award recipient will make an oral presentation of the work resulting from the SoC award at an SoC forum or event. If the project has been granted a one-year extension, the recipient will make this presentation at an internal forum in the following year.
• An award recipient may not apply again for SoC award funds until a final report for the current SoC award is properly submitted.
• Faculty who accept full-time employment outside of UM for the following academic year will forfeit the SoC award. Only full-time faculty for the academic year following the award announcement are eligible to receive funds. In the event that a full-time faculty member changes employers during a proposed extension for a funded project, all unspent funds will be forfeited.

• Priority will be given to support for direct costs for projects.
• Equipment purchased with the SoC award funds becomes University property and is to be housed in the SoC.
• Where requested funding is for travel, equipment, or supplies, a statement is required to the effect that the requested budget items are either not available or that no other outside support is available.
• It is not permissible to “double dip” from multiple sources across UM for the same expenses related to the same project. However, the same project may receive funding from multiple internal sources if each application specifies a different scope of work or a different phase of the same project. For example, an applicant working on a short film with a $30,000 budget who has received a Provost’s Research award for $15,000 to fund the writing and shooting of a film may still apply for $5,000 (or more) in SoC grant support to cover the costs of film editing.