| Arts
Research Institute
Guidelines for faculty grants
The Arts Research Institute (ARI)
oversees the distribution of research funds to ladder faculty
in the Arts Division. Faculty are eligible to apply for
support under two categories:
- Faculty Mini-Grants (maximum
$2000): applications must be received by April
18, 2011 at 5 p.m.
- Major Project Grants ($2,000-$20,000):
applications must be received by February 11,
2011 at 5 p.m.
Applications are reviewed
by the ARI Executive Committee. They are judged on the
basis of the excellence of the project proposal, including
its potential international and national importance and
its contribution to scholarship, theory, and/or practice
in the arts. Applications for Major Project Grants are
vetted more rigorously than those for Mini-Grants.
Detailed guidelines for each
grant category are given below. Please read these guidelines
carefully. Applications that do not adhere to the criteria
in terms of content, length, or deadline will not be forwarded
to the Executive Committee.
Deadline
for completion and expenditure of grants - November
1, 2012.
I.
Faculty Mini-Grants
Maximum award: $2000
Deadline:
Applications
must be received electronically by ARI Administrator
Christina Waters by 5 p.m. on April 18, 2011
- A. Eligibility.
Proposals will be accepted from individual
ladder faculty members in the Arts Division. Groups
(including FRAs) are not eligible to apply.
Additionally, faculty who receive an individual Major
Project Grant (see IIC below) will not be awarded
a Mini-Grant in the same academic year. Individuals
who participate in a collaborative Major Project
Grant (IID) may receive a mini-grant as well.
- B. Concurrent application to COR.
In order to qualify for a Faculty Mini-Grant,
the applicant must also apply for funding to the Academic
Senate's Committee on Research in the same year. The
two applications should seek support for different
projects or different components of the same project.
- C. Size of the grants.
Mini-grants are limited to a maximum
of $2000 a year per faculty member; priority is given
to junior faculty. Since the total funding to the
Division is not large and the number of ladder faculty
members increases each year, faculty are urged to
apply only
for the amount of support needed. The application form
will direct faculty to detail specific expenses. Some
proposals may receive partial support. (Total funding
in this category is approximately $45,000 for the entire
Arts Division.)
- D. Application deadline and award notification.
Applications for mini-grants must be
received by April 18, 2011 at 5 p.m. for projects that
commence July 1 of the same calendar year. Individuals
will be informed of decisions in May. Late or incomplete
applications will not be forwarded to the committee.
(Off-cycle contingency funding may occasionally be
available if there are surplus research funds.)
- E. Evaluation criteria.
The ARI Executive Committee distributes
mini-grant funds widely. As the number of faculty
in the division increases, however, the Committee
may not be able to fund all proposals, or may need
to fund some proposals at less than the requested
level. Faculty should provide detailed budgets and
carefully justify all expenses. Support will be given
for specific research/creative projects in any of
the arts; the ARI does not support teaching
activities. In the project description on the application
form, the applicant should detail the specific anticipated
outcome of the grant and should specify how the proposed
project relates to the overall direction of his/her
research and productivity. The committee will consider
the quality of the proposal and its potential contribution
to the field, as well as the faculty member's record
of publication, exhibition, production, or other creative
work.
- F. Timeline for project completion.
Mini-grants support projects
beginning July 1 of the application year and scheduled
for completion by June 30 of the following year. Faculty
may apply for funding to support a discrete portion
of a longer-term project, but will be expected to achieve
concrete results by the end of the one-year grant period.
Funding will not be carried over from
year to year. However, since projects often reach completion
during the summer, awarded funds will remain available
until September 30, at which time any unspent funds
will automatically revert to the ARI.
- G. New faculty.
The ARI executive committee will attempt
to reserve some funds at the end of the academic
year to support new UCSC ladder faculty joining
the Arts Division the following Fall. These new
faculty members may apply for such funds at the
beginning the Fall quarter. Award limits will be
the same as those for continuing faculty members.
II.
Major Project Grants
Individual:
$2,000-$10,000; Collaborative: $2,000-$20,000
Deadline:
Applications must be received electronically by
ARI Administrator Christina Waters by 5 p.m. on February
11, 2011
- A. Purpose.
These highly competitive grants support
specific projects that will enhance the national
and international prominence of the arts at UCSC and
increase the quality and vitality of research or creative
work in theory, scholarship, and/or practice in the
arts. These criteria will form the basis for the Committee's
award decisions.
- B. Types of Grants and Eligibility.
Applications will be accepted in two
categories: (a) Individual major project grants, and
(b) Collaborative major project grants. Funding levels
differ (see below). All Arts Division ladder faculty
may apply as individuals and/or part of a collaborative
project.
- C. Individual major project grants.
Individual ladder faculty
members in the Arts Division may apply for a major
project grant. Levels of support in this category
are $2,000-$10,000 . In order to maximize support
for worthy projects, few applications will be funded
at the $10,000 level; therefore applicants should
apply only for the funding needed and carefully justify
all expenses. NOTE: Individuals
who receive a major project grant will not be
awarded a Faculty Mini-grant in the same academic year.
- D. Collaborative major project grants.
Groups of faculty (which
may include lecturers) may apply for grants of $2,000-$20,000.
Collaborators from other divisions, and other institutions,
must seek additional funding. Collaborators must supply
a letter or email of commitment to the project, which
must accompany the application. Awards will normally
be less than the $20,000 maximum; funding at the highest
level permitted by these guidelines will be reserved
for extraordinary proposals. Therefore, applicants
should apply only for the funds needed and should carefully
justify all expenses. Please note these specific requirements:
(1) each application must detail a unified, coherent
project (not a diverse set of projects by various members
of the group; a lecture series based on a unified theme
or a mini-conference or inter-related series of seminars
fulfills this requirement); (2) One faculty member
must serve as PI (principal investigator) for the project;
that person must be the leading creative participant
and/or organizer. Individuals awarded a collaborative
grant remain eligible for a Faculty Mini-grant in the
same year.
- E. Multiple applications.
Faculty may submit a maximum of one individual
grant and one collaborative grant on which s/he is
PI in any single academic year.
- F. Application deadline and award notification.
Applications for Major Project Grants
must be received by Feb.11, 2011 at 5 p.m. for projects
taking place between July of the application year
and the following August. Decisions will be rendered
by April 1. Late or incomplete applications will not
be forwarded to the committee.
Priorities for Major Grants
(1) Strength of the proposal and its potential impact
(its national/international impact & long-term contribution
to the applicant's field)
(2) Attempts to secure funding from non-ARI sources
(Has the applicant applied for external money for this
or other research projects? Have other sources of funding
besides ARI been considered?)
(3) The likelihood of timely completion (Is the proposal
realistic and well thought-out? Does the applicant's
record indicate that the project will be completed? Has
an exhibition/performance venue been secured or a publisher
been identified?)
(4) Fiscal responsibility (Is the budget reasonable?
Are the figures reliable?)
Best practices, tips and guidelines
- Projects will not be funded repeatedly without tangible
evidence of progress
- ARI does not normally fund courses or projects related
to teaching; projects related to coursework and specific
classes must articulate a clear research aim and outcome;
- Vanity publications (self-publishing or pay-for publishing)
are rarely funded, although exceptions will be considered
- Collaborators with institutional positions outside
the Arts at UCSC are expected to contribute to the collaboration
monetarily
- Departments that benefit from events are expected
to contribute monetarily or in kind
- The expected contribution of each collaborator should
be spelled out in the application with a note of endorsement
from each collaborator in which the individual acknowledges
her/his specific contribution
- Collaborators are not considered to be collaborators
if the grant is being used to pay them
- Collaborations outside a single department
are more desirable than those within the same department
(Divisional perspective vs. Department perspective)
- ARI rarely funds more than one major public event
held at UCSC and oriented towards the same department/group
of people in any one academic year
- Big events often require a year of planning prior
to the year of the event; ARI will fund planning sessions
- Money from previous grants must be spent and accomplishments
made clear beforenew funds will be granted
- Executive Committee rankings & discussions are
confidential; queries should be directed to the ARI director
- G. Evaluation criteria.
Applications for Major Project Grants
will be judged on the degree to which they meet the
stated purpose of this grant program (see IIA above),
as well as their feasibility and likelihood of completion
(which includes the applicant's record of productivity).
Applicants should detail the specific anticipated
outcome of the grant, specify how the proposed project
relates to the overall direction of their research
and productivity, and address the project's contribution
to the field, its originality, and its potential national/international
impact. The committee will not necessarily distribute
funds evenly, but will assess the needs and significance
of each project and will award funds to those projects
that have the greatest potential for fulfilling the
stated goals and objectives of the ARI. Projects may
be funded in part. Applicants should request only
the support necessary, justify all expenses, and inform
the committee of the minimum funding that will allow
the project to go forward.
- H. Allowable projects.
Activities including, but not limited
to, the following are eligible for funding under the
Major Project Grant category: public exhibitions,
installations, performances, and screenings; symposia,
conferences and speaker series; residencies of artists
and scholars at UCSC; publication subventions; creative
activity and/or research leading to publication, performance,
or exhibition. Costs funded by the ARI include, but
are not limited to: research-related travel; honoraria
for guests; materials and equipment; research assistance;
technical assistance; event staffing; publicity and
promotion; photocopying and postage. ARI major project
grants will not
provide stipends or honoraria for UCSC faculty or support
attendance at conferences as an observer or participant
(faculty may apply for support for the latter purpose
under the "mini-grant" category). Requests
for catering expenses should be kept to a reasonable
level. Course relief will be funded only in extraordinary
circumstances and in no case more frequently than one
course every five years.
- I. Timeline for project completion;
multi-year projects.
All ARI-sponsored research – including
Individual Mini-grants and Major Project Grants must
be completed by November 1, 2012 (4 months
after the end of the fiscal year for which funds
were granted). Multi-year projects will be funded
on an annual basis only. Funding will expire at the
end of the grant period. Should it become impossible
to complete a project by the specified funding deadline,
grants monies will return to the ARI, and applicants
may apply again for research funding in subsequent
rounds. For multi-year projects,
the committee may, in rare instances, allow funds
to be held over for one additional year. The awardee
must petition the committee by April 1 for monies
to be carried over into the next year; the committee
will consider the request and inform the applicant
by May 15.
III.
Off-Cycle Travel/Contingency Requests
When available, off-cycle travel
funds are
intended to supplement Academic Senate COR travel funds
to venues at which faculty have been invited to present
research or other creative activity.
Off-cycle contingency funds,
when available, are intended to support unforeseen
research opportunities which arise outside the regular
ARI funding cycles.
Off-cycle proposals should include
an explanation of the unforeseen contingency or travel
circumstance, and a budget. In general, contingency
funds will NOT be granted for projects previously funded.
If applying for funds to supplement
an existing ARI-funded project, the narrative must
explain why additional support is required, and why
such a need could not have been foreseen at the time
of the original application to ARI. Please supply
ARI with documentation concerning your contingency
fund request.
To be eligible for ARI off-cycle travel
funds, you must have already applied to the Academic
Senate COR for travel funds (please include a copy
of your Academic Senate COR Travel Grant request).
You may apply for funds to supplement COR travel funding
to a single venue, or for travel to a second venue.
In any case you must apply for “off-cycle” funds prior
to making expenditures or undertaking the travel
for which you will be reimbursed. These funds may
not be applied retroactively.
Travel requests may not exceed $1000.
Contingency funds requests may not exceed $2000. No
one person can receive more than $1000 in travel and
$2000 in contingency funding in any academic year.
Application for off-cycle funding is
on-going. Decisions will be made by the Executive Committee
on a case-by-case, first come, first served basis until
the off-cycle monies are expended.
IV.
Other Policies
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