Explorance Faculty Research Grant 2021

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS

Final submission due: December 18, 2020

The faculty research grant initiative for the Bluenotes Global 2020 VX event was a great success. Presentations by faculty research grant recipients were one of the highlights of the conference. Because of this, Explorance continues the faculty research grant initiative for the upcoming Bluenotes 2021 conference.

Explorance has committed a total of $100,000 to be awarded to faculty in Bluenotes community institutions, in support of their research using assessment or course evaluation data. Each faculty grant award will be between $10,000 and $15,000. Faculty may use an existing research project or use the funding to support data collection in January 2021. The grants will be awarded to faculty contingent on the presentation of their research findings at the 2021 conference to be held in Chicago, August 1 through August 4, 2021. Travel expenses to Chicago should be factored into the project budget. However, conference registration fees will be waived for faculty presenting research. The goal is to have a track dedicated to faculty-led assessment and/or student learning research presentations at the 2021 conference.

Faculty Research Grant Call of Applications Closed

Sponsored by Explorance

EXPLORANCE FACULTY RESEARCH GRANT 2021: OVERVIEW

The faculty grant initiative for the Bluenotes Global 2020 VX event was a great success. Presentations by faculty research grant recipients were one of the highlights of the conference. Because of this, Explorance continues to support the faculty research grant initiative for the upcoming 2021 conference.

Explorance has committed a total of $100,000 to be awarded to faculty in support of their research projects using assessment or course evaluation data. Each faculty award will be between $10,000 and $15,000. Faculty may use an existing research project or use the funding to support data collection in January 2021. The research grants will be awarded to faculty contingent on the presentation of their research findings at the 2021 conference to be held in Chicago, August 1 through August 4, 2021.

Travel expenses to Chicago should be factored into the research project budget.
However, conference registration fees will be waived for faculty presenting research.

The goal is to have a track dedicated to faculty-led assessment and/or student learning research presentations at the 2021 conference.

Note: Anyone interested in reviewing faculty research grant proposals should contact Bob Goldstein, Vice Provost for Institutional Research, Effectiveness, and Analytics at the University of Louisville ([email protected]) directly. A webinar for faculty research grant proposal reviewers is planned for some time in October or November. More details to come soon regarding the proposal reviews!

KEY DATES – MARK YOUR CALENDAR!

KEY DATE	TO REMEMBER
September 23, 2020	Call for Applications opens
December 18, 2020	Deadline for faculty research grant application submissions
January 20, 2021	Notification of awards to selected faculty
April 30, 2021	Progress report due from faculty research grant recipients
June 20, 2021	Presentation proposal (presentation title and description) for the 2021 Conference due for inclusion in conference program
August 1 – 4, 2021	Bluenotes GLOBAL 2021 Conference

GUIDELINES FOR FACULTY RESEARCH GRANT APPLICATION

Faculty research grant proposals should be submitted as PDFs, 3 to 5 pages in length.
Proposals need to be formatted as follows:
- Abstract (no more than 500 words)
- Research Description: Background, Objectives, Research Methodology, Outcomes
- Timeline
- Research Team, including faculty principal investigator
- Budget
Proposals will be evaluated according to the faculty research grant evaluation rubric.
Proposals should be submitted by clicking the “Submit Faculty Research Grant Proposal” button.

Submission Closedl

FACULTY RESEARCH GRANT PROPOSAL REVIEW PROCESS

The Faculty Research Grant Proposal Review Committee consisting of Bob Goldstein at the University of Louisville as the chair, in addition to 6 to 8 other committee members representing higher education institutions from around the world, will evaluate the submitted proposals based upon the rubric.
A blind review process will be conducted, where each proposal will be anonymized upon receipt by Explorance for review by two different committee members. Scores will be combined for a total overall score. The highest combined total scores will be awarded the grant.
Faculty research grant proposal will be 3 to 5 pages in length. Longer proposals will be downgraded with the rubric.
Applicants will be notified by Bob Goldstein, no later than January 11, 2021, whether or not their submission has been selected to receive a faculty research grant.

Who is eligible to participate?

Only faculty are eligible to receive a faculty research grant. Blue administrators and project managers (those collecting the course evaluation and assessment data – i.e., Explorance’s contacts invited to the conferences) are excluded, as the objective is to broaden the scope of topics and participation in the Bluenotes Community.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Who is eligible to participate?

Only faculty are eligible to receive a faculty research grant. Blue administrators and project managers (those collecting the course evaluation and assessment data – i.e., Explorance’s contacts invited to the conferences) are excluded, as the objective is to broaden the scope of topics and participation in the Bluenotes Community.

Can proposals include multiple faculty?

Yes

Can multiple faculty from the same institution submit independent proposals?

Yes. Multiple faculty from the same institution are eligible to receive grants.

Can funding be used to pay indirect costs?

Yes, up to 10% of the funding can be used to pay indirect costs. Please include this in your submitted budget proposal.

How much will each faculty receive in grant money?

The final amount awarded per proposal is contingent upon the total number of accepted proposals. The minimum amount to be awarded is $10,000 per proposal.

Are there any restrictions on the use of the grant funds?

No. However, please keep in mind that travel expenses must be budgeted by the grant recipient. Award money can be used to fund travel to the 2021 conference. Please note that conference registration fees for award recipients will be waived by Explorance.

What are the requirements for receiving a grant?

Faculty awards are contingent upon the recipient providing a progress report of their research (by April 15, 2021), a presentation for inclusion in the 2021 conference program (by June 30, 2021), and attendance/presentation at the 2021 conference.

Must faculty use data collected by Blue?

Faculty are encouraged, but not required, to use data collected with Blue or BlueX within the proposal. Explorance is offering faculty a free BlueX survey account to collect data for this initiative. BlueX, Explorance’s new survey solution that rivals Qualtrics and Surveymonkey, can be used for the data collection. More details about BlueX are available at: https://explorance.com/products/bluex/. To obtain a free BlueX account for your faculty research initiative, please contact Yeona Jang ([email protected]) at Explorance.

Is this initiative available to faculty at institutions in North America only?

No. Proposals will be accepted for consideration from any institution, regardless of location.

Can corporate customers participate?

No. Submissions are limited to institutions of higher education.

Can faculty grant recipients from Bluenotes 2020 VX apply for funding?

Yes. Faculty are encourage to submit an application to the Faculty Research Grants 2021, including for the continuation of research presented at the Bluenotes Global 2020 VX.

When will grant funds be distributed by Explorance?

It is assumed that faculty will follow the internal institutional process for grant approvals. Faculty will work directly with Explorance to have the funds distributed according to any applicable institutional process and policy governing grant awards.