Founders Endowment funding is provided through the Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. The application and review process is conducted by the ad hoc Research Advisory Committee (RAC) of the UWT Faculty Assembly.
This year, the EVCAA has provided $40,000 worth of funds from the Founders Endowment to support faculty scholarship needs to start a project, continue a project, or complete a project. The five main areas of activity identified by RAC for the 2021-22 funding cycle will be repeated again this year, with two grants of $4,000 each awarded per scholarly theme. Project funds must be expended between 1 June 2023 – 31 May 2024.
Overview
Now in its fourth year of operation, the ad hoc Research Advisory Committee (RAC) of the UWT Faculty Assembly calls for applications for funding of scholarship (broadly conceived) from all academic ranks (assistant, associate, and full) as well as the two main types of full-time faculty appointment (tenure-track and teaching). This year, the EVCAA has provided $40,000 worth of funds from the Founders Endowment to support faculty scholarship needs to start a project, continue a project, or complete a project. Faculty salaries (and associated benefits) cannot be included in proposed budgets. The five main areas of activity identified by RAC for the 2021-22 funding cycle will be repeated again this year, with two grants of $4,000 each awarded per scholarly theme. Project funds must be expended between 1 June 2023 – 31 May 2024. The five main themes are:
Humanities & Creative Works (2 awards) - scholarship in the areas of ancient and modern languages, literature, philosophy, religion, and visual and performing arts such as music and theatre.
STEM (2 awards) - scholarship that advances fundamental understanding or practical applications in areas of natural or physical sciences, engineering, computer science, or mathematics.
Social Justice and Equity (2 awards) - scholarship that centers decolonial, antiracist, and social justice research and praxis. These should be community centered and decolonial in their approaches and intersectionally grounded.
Social Sciences (2 awards) - scholarship that uses qualitative and/or quantitative methods to better understand and predict human behavior and learning in the context of individuals, small groups, and/or larger society.
Interdisciplinary (2 awards) - scholarship on non-traditional approaches or application of different methodologies is encouraged. Multi-investigator teams from different Divisions and/or Schools are strongly encouraged. It should be noted that collaborative proposals with multiple PIs/collaborators are not obligated to apply under this theme and may be better suited to one of the other four themes above.
RAC notes that UWT’s new strategic plan for 2022-27 continues our focus on Scholarship and to expand and support a broad range of teaching, research and creative innovation focused on the challenging problems of our time and place. Funds from the Founders Endowment to support faculty research and scholarship specifically addresses this broad theme while also highlighting the importance of Goal 5, which calls for UWT to become “a national leader in community-engaged research, scholarship and teaching.”
All academic ranks (assistant, associate, and full) as well as the two main types of full-time faculty appointment (tenure-track and teaching) are eligible to apply.
PROPOSAL PROCESS – TIMELINE **THE APPLICATION DEADLINE HAS BEEN EXTENDED TO APRIL 3, 2023**
Funding Opportunity announced to campus Early February 2023
Full proposals due by 3 April 2023 midnight (11:59 pm)
Review Committee meeting mid-April to May 2023
Funding approval by EVCAA May 2023
Review/Award letters to applicants May 2023
Project Start Date 1 June 2023
Project End Date 31 May 2024
Project Report Due 30 June 2024
PROPOSAL
Please fill out the Qualtrics Founders Endowment Research Funds Application at https://uwt.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bDubNWqQ9FTU8Ci by Monday 3 April 2023 at midnight (11:59 pm) PDT.
Contact Lisa Isozaki lisozaki@uw.edu if you have questions.
REVIEW CRITERIA
Applications will be reviewed using a rubric based directly on the Proposal Components. In particular, the rubric will weigh applications for projects that are well-defined, fit with the stated Theme, and are from applicants with a clear need for Endowment funding.
Because reviewers may not be specialists in the applicant’s subfield, applicants should craft proposals so that researchers from a wider audience may understand it. Although technical field-specific information will be expected, the major features of the proposal should also be accessible to non-specialists.
REVIEW PROCESS
Applications will be reviewed by the Research Advisory Committee. The committee will evaluate and rank proposals under each Theme using a scoring rubric based on the criteria listed above. The committee will make their final recommendations for funding to the EVCAA based on the quality of the proposals and will indicate the following: rubric scores; prioritized list of those proposals recommended for funding; bulleted list of strengths and weaknesses for each proposal. Regardless of funding, the Office of Research will provide each applicant with a summary of the committee’s feedback after the awards are announced.
REQUIREMENTS OF RECEIVING AN AWARD
- 2-page final report that summarizes project accomplishment funded by the award will be due by 30 June in the year that the award cycle is completed.
- Campus Presentations - Recipients of the Endowment Award will present their accomplishments at a meeting organized by the Office of Research.
If the project includes community partnerships these must be entered into the Office of Community Partnerships database prior to the completion of the project.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
UW Tacoma Endowment grants are subject to the following terms and conditions:
- All UW grant funding, expenditure and purchasing policies apply.
- If a funded project entails any compliance issues, such as those relating to IRB, EHS, hazardous material, and so forth, the grant recipient must certify that they will make the appropriate UW compliance offices aware of the proposed activities and obtain any necessary approvals before initiating any work. Spending funds for items relating to animal subjects or human subjects are not allowable until approvals are received.
- Treatment of intellectual property will accord with UW policy.
- Awarded funds must be spent by 31 May, 12 months after the initial start of funding for the award. Any unspent funds as of that date must be returned to the Endowment parent fund.
- Barring exceptional circumstances, there will be no extensions in the term of a grant.
- The expectation is that the successful applicants will share news of the investment and the results with both the campus community and externally to attract potential sponsors, students and collaborators.
- This program is subject to the availability of funds on an annual basis and the program will be evaluated by the Research Advisory Committee to determine if the overarching goal is met.
- The EVCAA reserves the right to modify aspects of the grant guidelines as needed.
