Faculty Development Summer Fellowship Program - The University of Tulsa
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Faculty Development Summer Fellowship Program

This program stimulates and enriches research and scholarship at The University of Tulsa by providing support for selected faculty members to work full time on a significant project during the summer. Proposals are expected to define a specific project that will ultimately result in a publication, presentation, performance, show or proposal for external funding support. Fellowships give preference to new faculty as part of their start-up packages. Fellowships are open to all qualifying full-time faculty. Please contact Bonnie Medlicott at 918-631-3264 with any questions.

Eligibility

Full-time faculty of The University of Tulsa who are tenured or tenure-track may apply for a Faculty Development Summer Fellowship.

The recipient must remain at the University for at least the following academic year. A recipient who fails to do so assumes an obligation to repay the fellowship. Recipients may not receive other University salary compensation during the summer (e.g., teaching a summer course) unless the provost approves an exception. Recipients may combine summer funding with the Faculty Research Grant program to increase research outcomes. These are subject to the same restrictions stated on the award. Recipients may seek and receive supplementary funding from external sources to support their scholarship.

Size and Number

Each award is equivalent to 1 month of the faculty member’s nine-month base salary. The University Faculty Development Fund provides $3,500 with any balance being provided by the college. The Collegiate Dean may increase the level of the award to a maximum of 15% of the faculty member’s nine-month salary. Approximately 20 awards are made each summer. These fellowships are not tax exempt.

Faculty members receiving these fellowships have access to normal University summer support such as the use of laboratory equipment, machine shops, supplies, computer and staff assistance. Recipients can request additional funding in terms of a research support grant up to $1,000, which may be used for student assistance, travel, supplies or duplication and publication costs associated with the research. The support grant may not be used for faculty salary. Support grant funds unexpended by the end of the summer fellowship period will be swept after September 30. Books, documents, microfilm, etc., purchased with grant funds should be retained by the university library upon completion of the research project. Equipment purchased with these funds is also property of The University of Tulsa

Applications

Each applicant must submit a completed cover page / application form (link found below) including an abstract and information about previous research support. The five-page narrative proposal should clearly outline the intended activity and provide a statement describing the significance of the work to the individual, the discipline and the university. It should be double-spaced using the default font and size in Word (Calibri 11) or equivalent. The abstract and proposal should be written in language that may be understood by a reader outside the discipline. If these guidelines are not met at the college level, the application will not be considered for funding.

Proposals listing multiple principal investigators are not accepted. Each individual must submit a separate standalone proposal, but may indicate that the work is related to a colleague’s proposal and how it is related. Funding of one proposal does not necessitate funding all proposals in the related research. A faculty member may not submit more than one proposal per year for a Faculty Development Summer Fellowship, nor receive simultaneous funding for a proposed project from a Faculty Research Grant during the same fiscal year.

Each proposal should contain all of the following and in this order:

  1. Cover Sheet. This should be the first page the reviewer sees. The second page provides space for:
    • A clear and concise abstract of the proposal, and
    • A listing of previous research support for the past three years as specified on the application. Be sure to provide full citations for scholarship tied to funding. This is your opportunity to demonstrate productivity resulting from past funding provided by The University of Tulsa or other sources.
  2. A five-page narrative proposal, including each of the following sections:
    • Project Significance: Discuss the project’s significance and relationship to other work in the field, and indicate the place of this proposal in the applicant’s career development.
    • Methodology: Provide a description of the methods to be used in the research or scholarship.
    • Timeline: Provide a description of the specific activities planned for this project during the fellowship period, as well as any other professional commitments (other research projects, consulting, etc.) planned during the fellowship period.
    • Budget and Justification: If requesting additional funds beyond the $500 support grant, please submit a detailed budget and justification. If applicable to your position, please describe any funds available for the proposed project through your startup funds and why you are asking for additional funds.
    • Expected Outcomes:
      1. An explanation, where applicable, of the contribution the project will make to the applicant’s teaching.
      2. Potential for creating new research, knowledge or creative expression that will bring national or international recognition to the university.
      3. Potential for the project to receive additional funding from other sources, especially those that are external to the university.
  3. A copy of the applicant’s current vita. Please demonstrate what was accomplished with past funding received, including any publications or scholarship produced for each grant / award.
  4. A letter of recommendation from the applicant’s department chair. In order to request a recommendation, the applicant must submit their proposal to their department chair by the chair’s deadline or at least one week prior to October 13.

Proposals will not be considered unless they follow the guidelines and contain all of the above information.

Compliance

If your project uses human subjects, a protocol must have been approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) or the protocol must be submitted to the IRB at the time of application. If IRB approval has previously been obtained, you must include the IRB approval letter with your application. View IRB Institutional Review Board – Protection of Human Subjects policies.

If your research uses animals, vertebrates or fish, a protocol must have been approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) or the protocol must be submitted to the IACUC at the time of application. If IACUC approval has previously been obtained, you must include the IACUC approval letter with your application. View IACUC – Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee policies.

If your research utilizes infectious agents, select agents and toxins, human or endothermic vertebrate materials (including blood, body fluids, cells and tissues), recombinant DNA, synthetic nucleic acid molecules or transgenic animals, the protocol may require Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) review and approval. Please contact Dr. Mohamed Fakhr to determine if IBC approval is necessary prior to submitting the proposal. The Department Chair must sign indicating that the proposal has been reviewed for these biosafety considerations. View more on the IBC – Institutional Biosafety Committee.

Faculty working with chemicals must attend a Laboratory Standard Training Session once every three years while at The University of Tulsa. Please contact your department for information regarding this training.

Procedure

Proposals shall be submitted to the department chair for review in preparation for requesting a letter of recommendation. The applicant must submit their proposal to their department chair by the chair’s deadline or at least one week prior to October 14 to provide the chair time to write the letter of recommendation. Each discipline chairperson will submit recommendations to the collegiate dean, ranked if more than one proposal is submitted by the department’s faculty. The dean will then submit ranked recommendations to the Faculty Development Summer Fellowship Selection Committee. These recommendations should indicate the importance and significance of the research and how it relates to the goals of the department and college. The support of the collegiate dean is imperative because the dean is asked to provide financial support for the award. All applications and related information are judged and ranked according to merit by the selection committee. The committee is composed of one faculty member each from the Collins College of Business, Oxley College of Health Sciences and the College of Law, and two faculty members each from the College of Engineering and Natural Sciences and Kendall College of Arts and Sciences. The Vice President for Research and Economic Development appoints the committee members. Appointments are for four-year terms, and ideally, only three members will be appointed every other year. Committee members are ineligible to submit proposals. The Vice President for Research and Economic Development serves as ex-officio member of the committee and as chair. The Vice President for Research and Economic Development will determine the final selection of recipients.

Deadlines

To receive consideration for a Faculty Development Summer Fellowship, the completed proposal must be submitted to the department chair by Oct. 6. The department chair will then submit ranked proposals with letters of recommendation to the collegiate dean by Oct. 13. The collegiate dean will submit the proposals, ranked according to merit, to the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, McClure Hall, Room 201, by Nov. 1. Announcement of fellowship recipients will be made before the end of the semester.

Reports

A final report (not to exceed one page) must be filed by October 1 following the summer award. The report must include the amount of the research grant used, the nature of the research results, and when and where a publication, presentation, performance, show, or proposal is planned. Include details about the dissemination of project results, including names of journals, publishers, professional conferences, and funding agencies. The report should be submitted via email to the Vice President for Research and Economic Development and to Bonnie Medlicott in the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs.

If a report is submitted after the deadline, the faculty member will not be eligible for a fellowship the following summer; however, as long as a report is filed, albeit late, the faculty member will be eligible to apply for further support after skipping one year. An applicant who has received an award but failed to submit the required report will not be considered for another award.

Apply for Faculty Development Summer Fellowship Program

 

Cover Sheet and Application