Research and Scholarship Advisory Committee

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Southern Connecticut State University is pleased to announce that funds are available to support undergraduate research assistants for full time faculty members during the Spring and Summer of 2025. This initiative, Undergraduate Research Assistants, is funded by the SCSU Foundation through the Office of the Provost.  Grants of up to $3,000 will be awarded to Faculty Members to support one and only one undergraduate research assistant to assist with the faculty member's research in any academic discipline represented on the SCSU campus.

Faculty members who wish to apply for this grant will submit proposals stating the objectives of the research project on which they plan to employ an undergraduate assistant, stating exactly what the responsibilities of this student will be, and they will include an itemized budget.   The budget must include a stipend for the student and may include travel expenses for the student if necessary to the project.

The purpose of this program is to support a research experience for undergraduates and to support faculty research.

Eligibility:  
To be eligible, a faculty member must:   

• be a full-time tenured or tenure track faculty member at SCSU.
• have completed one full year as a full-time faculty member at SCSU by the start of Fall semester 2024. 
• have a research project that would gain additional benefit from the support of an undergraduate research assistant.
• and, if relevant to the discipline, add to the opportunity to pursue additional external funds at any level (i.e. from small regional private grants to major competitive national initiatives)

For projects involving human participants or animal subjects, approval from the SCSU Institutional Review Board (IRB) or Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) must be obtained before beginning the project proposal.

To Apply:
The application must be submitted via the Kuali portal using this link: Faculty Application for Undergraduate RA by 4:00 p.m. on Monday November 11, 2024.  Without exception, incomplete applications will not receive consideration nor will late applications.  

The electronic application will require:

1. Identifying information as a cover sheet
2. A PDF attachment of your Statement of research: using a maximum of five pages (single-spaced, 11-point Times New Roman font), please describe the:
   1. Research problem; 
   2. Research design (methodology and status of IRB and/or IACUC clearances, if applicable); 
   3. Research resources (e.g. laboratory access, equipment, libraries, etc.); 
   4. An outline of anticipated expenses relative to the project, and 
   5. A detailed description of the responsibilities of the undergraduate research assistant and their anticipated, specific contribution to the applicant's research.
3. A PDF attachment of your full CV
4. A PDF attachment of your IRB or IACUC approval if such is needed

Awards:
Members of the Research and Scholarship Advisory Committee (RSAC) will review proposals and recommend awardees to the Provost.

Final Report:
A report of no more than 2 pages is due one month after the end of the project.  Relevant professional “products” (peer reviewed publications, other published works, national/international presentations, relevant productions or works, etc.) are an expectation of this scholarship. 

Questions:
Questions regarding the application process or other issues may be directed to C. Michele Thompson at ext. 2-5614 or via e-mail to thompsonc2@southernct.edu.
 
Questions regarding the electronic form can be directed to the SPAR office, Julianne Fowler fowlerj3@southernct.edu.

Download Application Instructions

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Southern Connecticut State University is pleased to announce the continuation of a program to support independent undergraduate research during the Spring Semester 2025. This initiative, Undergraduate Research Grants, is funded by the SCSU Foundation. Grants of $3,000 each will be awarded to undergraduate students to complete research in any academic discipline represented on the SCSU campus. Each student awardee will be guided by a faculty mentor. Faculty mentors will receive payment for one credit for their guidance of the proposed student research.

The student may accept the full $3,000 as a stipend, or, if needed, a portion of the money can be used for expenses related to the project.

The purpose of these grants is to promote high quality research and creative activity at the undergraduate level by having students work closely with a faculty mentor.

Eligibility:
To be eligible, a student must:

• be a matriculated undergraduate with a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0.
• have completed at least 45 course credits by the end of Fall Semester 2024;
• be enrolled in undergraduate courses for the Spring 2025 term (i.e., seniors graduating in December 2024 are not eligible);
• work with a mentor who is a full-time faculty member at SCSU.

If a student has previously received an undergraduate grant from this program, a copy of the final report from the previous grant must be included with the proposal.

For projects involving human participants or animal subjects, approval from the SCSU Institutional Review Board (IRB) or Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) must be obtained before beginning the research.

To apply:
The student application must be submitted via the Kuali Build portal using this link: Undergraduate Research Grant Application by 4:00 p.m. on Monday, November 18th 2024. Faculty Mentors must then respond to the application and add their reference documents within 24 hours.

Incomplete applications will not receive consideration, nor will late applications.

The application approval routing map: 

The electronic application will require:

1. Identifying information as a cover sheet
2. A PDF of your Statement of Research: using a maximum of five pages (single-spaced, 11-point Times New Roman font), please describe the:
   1. Research problem;
   2. Research design (methodology and status of IRB and/or IACUC clearances, if applicable);
   3. Research resources (e.g. laboratory access, equipment, libraries);
   4. A budget of anticipated expenses that may be personally incurred, relative to the project; funds for faculty expenses are not allowed
   5. Expected outcomes;
   6. A plan to disseminate results; and
   7. A mentorship plan
3. A PDF of an unofficial copy of your CURRENT SCSU TRANSCRIPT

Faculty mentors will receive notification to upload a PDF of their recommendation into the electronic application before routing to the Department Chairperson for notification and to the chair of RSAC for approval as to completeness of the proposal and eligibility of the student.

Awards:
Members of the Research and Scholarship Advisory Committee (RSAC) will review proposals and recommend awardees to the Provost. The Provost will announce the award recipients by December 16, 2024.

Academic Honesty:
Please note that these proposals should be written by the student proposer; any proposal that was clearly written by the sponsoring faculty member will be disqualified. Likewise, any student proposal which contains plagiarism or exhibits any other form of academic dishonesty will be disqualified.

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Description and Purpose:  Southern Connecticut State University recognizes the importance of student and faculty scholarship and creative activity in furthering its mission. The University is committed to expanding the array of support mechanisms for such scholarship and creative activity. The Conference Travel Grants for Students aims to provide graduate and undergraduate students with funds to support travel costs and/or registration fees for national or international conferences whether virtual or on ground for the purpose of presenting their scholarship.  Proposals from students who wish to attend a conference without presenting their work will not be considered for funding.  Proposals from students whose work demonstrates a high probability of producing, for example, a published manuscript (or other relevant scholarly representation aligned with their discipline, i.e., art exhibit, book contract) will be given priority.

Eligibility:  Matriculated graduate or undergraduate students (both full and part time), whose conference proposal has already been accepted by the conference organizers, are eligible to apply for this support.

• • Faculty cannot be the lead author. 
  • Student presenter must be the first or second author.  If two students are on one panel, they cannot get full funding but will have to split the award amount.
  • No more than two students for one paper or poster will be allowed.
  • Student must have completed at least one semester at SCSU.
  • FT faculty may not apply for these funds even if they are enrolled as a Graduate Student.
  • PT faculty who are enrolled in a graduate program at SCSU may apply for AAUP travel funds or for a student travel grant, but not both.

Review Process:  These grants are sponsored by the Office of the Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs and the Deans.  Students with other concurrent funding must disclose their funding.

Award Amount: Matriculated graduate students may apply for up to $1,000 for a national conference or up to $1,500 per international conference, depending on the budget submitted.  Undergraduate students may apply for up to $500 for a national conference only. Please note: regional conferences cannot be awarded under this Call.  Funds for both types of students may only be applied towards the costs of registration, transportation, and hotel room expenses.  All travel must abide by regulations of the CDC and CT Department of Health as they exist at time of travel.  Funds may not be used for faculty travel expenses. 

For virtual conferences: Matriculated graduate or undergraduate students may apply for up to but not more than the cost of registration for a virtual conference.  Funds may not be used for faculty registration expenses.

Application Process:  The application and all required documents must be submitted via the Kuali portal system using this link: Conference Travel Grants for Students.

All the following documents must be submitted (in PDF format).  Incomplete applications will not be funded.

• Conference announcement
• Student's Conference abstract and proof of acceptance of the student's abstract
• Unofficial transcript
• Budget of travel-related expenses.

Please note that only the cost of registration, estimated traavel to and from the conference site, and the estimated expense for a hotel room during the conference should be listed in the budget. For virtual conferences only the cost of registration (not supplies) for the conference can be submitted.

• Proof of conference registration costs.

Students must indicate a faculty mentor on the form; the faculty mentor is expected to formally approve the application through the electronic portal.

We recognize that conferences send acceptance at different times, therefore there is no hard deadline for submission of proposals.  However, after committee review and approval, commitments to fund will be granted on a first come, first serve basis. Therefore, students should apply as soon as possible after they receive organization/society/conference acceptance. Funds are ordinarily distributed on a reimbursement basis following processes used by the university Travel Office. All applications must be submitted a minimum of two weeks before the conference travel. All expenses, following travel, must be fully reconciled prior to the end of next fiscal year (by no later than June 30, 2025).

Further Information

For questions, please contact Professor C. Michele Thompson thompsonc2@southernct.edu .

Please note that awardees are responsible for completing the University/State required Travel Authorization and associated paperwork within the required timeframe to be reimbursed.