UCOP - LAUC - Committees - Research and Professional Development Committee - Guidelines: University-Wide Research Grants for Librarians
Guidelines: University-Wide Research Grants for Librarians
PROGRAM DESCRIPTIONThe University-wide Research, Mini & Presentation Grants for Librarians program is a competitive program open to the members of the Librarians Association of the University of California (LAUC). The purpose of the program is to encourage and provide funding for research projects undertaken by LAUC members. The University of California Office of the President (UCOP) allocates funds for this program. The guidelines herein are to be used solely for the preparation of applications for funds to be disbursed by the Office of the President upon the recommendation of the LAUC Research and Professional Development Committee to the University Academic Vice-President. For examples of what has or has not been funded in the past, see Appendix A: What Projects Have/Have Not Been Funded in the Past. NOTE: Additional funds for research and professional development may also be available from each of the ten campus divisions, see http://www.ucop.edu/lauc/divisions.html. These funds are awarded according to guidelines issued by each LAUC division. Applicants should consult the guidelines prepared by the LAUC divisional research committee for application for campus level funds. For Research Grant Application forms, see here. For Mini & Presentation Grants, see here (.doc). I. PURPOSEThe purpose of the program is to support research by LAUC members. Proposals will be evaluated by the criteria identified in Section III of these guidelines. Applications for University-wide funds may be used to support an individual research project, research involving more than one campus, joint support with one or more campuses of a research project, and other similar research ventures. Proposals must focus on research in library and information science including the dissemination of information; on advancement in knowledge within the broad definition of these fields; on the profession of librarianship; or on subject specialties for which the applicant is highly qualified and which would result in the advancement of knowledge in general. NOTE: Projects that relate solely to operational problems unique to an individual campus or that fall within the normal scope of departmental responsibility are not appropriate for application to this funding program. Applicants with projects such as these are encouraged to seek funding from their campus administration, their library administration, or from other grants programs (e.g.: grants from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, see http://www.archives.gov/nhprc/announcement/). II. THE LAUC RESEARCH AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEEThe LAUC Research and Professional Development Committee solicits and reviews applications for University-wide research grants. The LAUC Research and Professional Development Committee is composed of a representative from each of the ten LAUC divisions. The Vice-President of LAUC serves as the Chair in a non-voting capacity except to break any ties that may occur in the review process. The Chair of the LAUC Research and Professional Development Committee is responsible for submitting its recommendations on the allocation of funds to the Office of the President and for notifying the LAUC President of funding decisions from the Office of the President. III. CRITERIA FOR JUDGING PROPOSALSThe general criteria by which applications for University-wide research grants are judged are the following:
Proposals which do not meet the criteria specified by these guidelines will not be funded regardless of whether funds are available. Proposals from bargaining unit and non-unit members will be evaluated and ranked together to determine their relative merit. The allocation of funds to bargaining unit and non-unit members will be made separately. For examples of what has or has not been funded in the past, see Appendix A: What Projects Have/Have Not Been Funded in the Past. IV. APPLICATION AND REVIEW PROCESSA. ELIGIBILITY All members of the Librarians Association of the University of California (LAUC) are eligible to apply for funds from this program. Members of the University-wide LAUC Research and Professional Development Committee are not eligible to apply for funds for the period of their term of office on the Committee. B. PRELIMINARY INQUIRIES The Chair of the LAUC Research and Professional Development Committee or the division representatives to the LAUC Research and Professional Development Committee will be available to advise applicants on the appropriate interpretation of written guidelines and on procedural matters. C. SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS Submission of proposals for University-wide Research Funds must be made through the appropriate campus division research committee. The applicant(s) must submit two (2) copies of their proposal. One copy in paper only with any required signatures to the Chair of the divisional research committee. A second copy of the proposal must be submitted electronically as an email attachment to the Chair of the divisional research committee. Electronic versions of guidelines and application forms will be maintained on the LAUC Statewide website for downloading and may be available on local campus servers. The electronic form may be printed out for use as the paper copy and submitted along with any required, authorization signatures. (See Section V, Part 1 below for electronic form sites). Direct applications to the LAUC Research and Professional Development Committee will not be accepted. (For procedures on the submission of multi-campus proposals see G. MULTI-CAMPUS PROPOSALS below). Research proposals submitted to the divisional research committee may be forwarded to the University-wide Committee if judged meritorious by the divisional committee. In these instances the divisional research committee's comments and evaluations will be submitted to the University-wide LAUC Research and Professional Development Committee. For examples of what has or has not been funded in the past, see Appendix A: What Projects have/have not been Funded in the Past. The LAUC Research and Professional Development Committee may request, at its discretion, evaluations from competent reviewers who are not members of the committee. D. FUNDING AVAILABLE The University of California Office of the President allocates funds to the University-wide Research Grant Program for Librarians. Funds are allocated to support research by both unit and non-unit members. 2010/2011 Fiscal Year allocations Bargaining Unit: $24,300.00 The amount of funds recommended for award will not exceed the amount available for allocation. The total funds allocated in any year will depend on the quality of the research proposals received. The University-wide LAUC Research and Professional Development Committee is not obligated to award all of the funds available if the proposals received do not meet the standards set by the Committee. E. FUNDING PERIOD Research grants will be awarded annually according to the published schedules for submission and review and are subject to the limitations of available funding. Funds are available July 1. There are no limitations on how many times an individual may apply for funding for research projects; each proposal will be judged according to established criteria. There are no time limitations on multi-year grant proposals; however, all projects compete on an annual basis for available funding. F. DUAL-LEVEL FUNDING Applications may be funded in part from campus funds and in part from University-wide funds. Applicants may wish to structure proposals with this in mind. Multi-campus proposals are eligible for consideration and will be reviewed and evaluated equally with single-campus proposals. Multi-campus proposals shall be submitted to the divisional research committees and are subject independently to each division's guidelines and criteria for evaluation. Multi-campus proposals must clearly identify either a Principal Investigator or one contact person with whom the LAUC Research and Professional Development Committee can communicate for additional information and for notification of the Committee's recommendations. The chair of the divisional research committee at the campus where the Principal Investigator or contact person is located will forward the proposal to the Chair of the LAUC Research and Professional Development Committee. H. DEADLINES Applicants are responsible for ensuring that proposals to be forwarded to the University-wide LAUC Research and Professional Development are submitted to the chair of the divisional research committee by the division's announced deadline. The Chair of the divisional research committee is responsible for submitting all proposals to be reviewed by the University-wide LAUC Research and Professional Development Committee to the Chair of the University-wide LAUC Research and Professional Development Committee by the announced deadline for submission. So that all proposals can be given equal time for review, it is essential to meet the deadlines stated in the Call for Proposals calendar. The Committee reserves the right to not consider late proposals. I. NOTIFICATION The University-wide LAUC Research and Professional Development Committee will forward to the Office of the President its recommendations for funding. Applicants will be notified by the Committee Chair of the final decision of the Office of the President. The Committee will notify the LAUC President and appropriate division chairs of the final funding decisions. File copies of all successful applications will be maintained in the LAUC Archives and will be made available on the LAUC website. J. REPORTING All successful applicants are required to submit the following to the Chair of University-wide LAUC Research and Professional Development Committee: Annual Report (email is acceptable) -- A concise annual report, which outlines progress and funds expended, is due at the end of the funding year (July 1). Exact requirements will be specified in a letter from the Committee Chair to each successful applicant (email is acceptable). Final Report (email is acceptable) -- A final report summarizing project achievements is due within one month of the conclusion of the project. The Chair will distribute this report to each campus and the Office of the President (email is acceptable). Final Product -- One copy of any product (publication, videocassette, audio recording, web site, etc.) resulting from a research project must be sent to the Chair of the University-wide LAUC Research and Professional Development Committee. The Chair will deposit this copy in the LAUC Archives. When appropriate, copies of the product should be added (and cataloged) to a circulating collection of the local institution, as well as deposited in the UC eScholarship Repository, if appropriate. Use the End of Funding Period Report form for both annual and final reports. Reports will be made available on the LAUC website. ACKNOWLEDGMENT All products resulting from this program must acknowledge receipt of funds from the University of California Research Grants for Librarians Program. Proposals that also receive divisional funds must comply as well with divisional reporting requirements as indicated in the letter of notification from the divisional research committee. V. PROPOSAL CONTENT AND FORMATA proposal consists of the following parts:
A. GUIDELINES Guidelines for each part of the proposal follow: Refer to the "Evaluation Worksheet" below for further suggestions on proposal content, keeping in mind that proposals are judged by the criteria delineated in Section III, above. The applicant is responsible for producing a printed copy which must be used to gather any signatures that are required. A printable copy of the electronic form is available at: Part 2: Need for Research The research being proposed must be clearly described with information on the extent to which research has already been done on the subject, the relationship of the proposed research to prior work, and the anticipated impact or benefit. This section can include a review of the literature, a letter of support from an acknowledged expert, and/or a discussion of the value of the end product. Part 3: Design and Methodology The design of the project must be clearly stated, with the objectives of the project identified. A paragraph or section clearly stating the expected outcomes of the project should conclude this part of the proposal. Please be aware that the committee gives significant weight in the review process to the structure and methodology of the projected research. A method of dissemination must be indicated if the outcome of the project is a written document. A detailed statement of how the project is to be accomplished is required to evaluate the proposal and to evaluate the completed project. While an explicitly detailed statement of methodology may not be possible in the formulation of the proposal (e.g., exact wording of questionnaires to be used), an appropriate and detailed statement will make the proposal more competitive. This statement must include data-gathering and analysis techniques, and drafts of instruments and forms. If human subjects are to be used in research, the appropriate university form will need to be submitted. The process of obtaining IRB approval or a determination of exemption from subject protection regulations does not have to be completed prior to submitting your grant proposal. However, the grant cannot be awarded without evidence that the approval or exemption has been obtained. Document in this section if computer resources are required and how they will be used to accomplish the project (include costs of computer resources in Part 4, Budget). Part 4: Budget Budgets must be based on the LAUC budget year of July 1-June 30. Proposals must include a detailed line-item budget statement which explains and justifies the amount requested. This statement should be a realistic, comprehensive statement of needs. Include information on the amount and source of any funds other than University-wide research funds which have been received. (Receipt of funding from other sources will not prejudice the review of the proposal.) Substantial institutional in-kind contributions (e.g. substantial library supported photocopy or clerical support) should be itemized. Applicants may request funds for hiring assistants, secretarial support, computing costs, equipment, supplies, travel required for collection of data or examination of materials, manuscript preparation, or other research expenses directly related to the research. Actual publication costs (printing, copy, paper costs, binding) will generally receive lower funding priority. Note: Equipment and software purchased with University-wide research funds are the property of the University of California. As such they must be inventoried and managed by the division's business/systems office in the same manner as equipment and software purchased with library/campus funds. In addition, an inventory list of such equipment and software shall be sent to the University-wide LAUC Research and Professional Development Committee, and, as appropriate, be made available to other LAUC members for their use. Applicants are encouraged to investigate available equipment on campus before requesting the purchase of new equipment. In so far as possible, applicants are expected to include and anticipate increases in costs which might take place in the year in which the grant is awarded. If additional funds for unforeseeable expenses are required after the initial grant has been awarded, a revised proposal with a copy of the original grant must be submitted as part of the regular funding cycle. Additional funding is contingent upon funds remaining after initial grants have been approved. Applicants are encouraged to consider hiring library school students to assist in the research when appropriate. A brief description of the duties to be performed should be included in the budget statement. The level of the responsibilities should be appropriate to the proposed level of salary. Duties assigned to graduate students normally should be at the research rather than the clerical level. A description of the duties should also be provided to the appropriate school to assist in recruitment of individuals. Whether the student is awarded course credit for the work and the responsibilities of the librarian for supervision of such work will be determined on an ad hoc basis between the student, the student's professor, and the librarian. If you are considering outsourcing or delegating any part of the data gathering or data analysis to others (such as staff, student employees, or library school students) be sure to clarify how closely you will be supervising and what degree of judgment and intellectual analysis will be delegated to these individuals. We expect grant awardees to be the intellectual architects of their research and to participate fully in each stage of the research. Librarians who plan to take leave to work on or complete their research may request funds to cover the cost of a replacement for all or part of his/her responsibilities during the leave. Part 5: Supplemental Budget Information Form Use the Supplemental Budget Information Form (Word document) available from the University of California Research Grants for Librarians Program web site. Part 6: Personnel The qualifications of the applicant(s) to accomplish the proposed research project will be given consideration in the review process. A statement must be included in the proposal identifying those relevant qualifications and a current vitae or resume should be included in the proposal for each LAUC member involved in carrying out the project. Vitae/resumes for successful proposals may be posted on the LAUC website as examples so use your university address, not your home address. If additional personnel are required, specifications for their qualifications must be included. Note: If adjustments to work schedules, release time, or leave are included in a proposal, prior approval is required and must be indicated by including authorizing signature(s) on the printed application. Part 7: Timetable for Completion of the Projected Research Anticipated completion schedules must be included. Although schedules need not be highly detailed, as a minimum applicants should include a chronology which indicates completion dates for various phases of the project. B. RESEARCH PROPOSAL CHECKLIST Read the Appendix B: Evaluation Checklist before submitting a research proposal to your divisional LAUC Research and Professional Development Committee chair. Use this checklist to ensure that you have followed the directions and that all necessary information is submitted with your proposal.
VI. FUNDING DISBURSEMENTSAWARDS -- Funds are awarded on a one-year basis (July 1- June 30). It is the responsibility of the grant recipient, upon receiving formal notification of the grant award, to contact his or her local library accounting office and make arrangements for the transfer of the grant funds from the UC Office of the President as soon as possible after July 1. Contact information for the transfer is included in the award letter. Grant funds should be expended within the year of the award. Encumbered balances may be carried over for one additional fiscal year in the event that it is not possible to disburse all funds during the year of the award. EXTENSIONS -- Funds not expended within two fiscal years from July 1 following the award date will revert to the Office of the President unless an extension of the project has been granted by the Chair of the LAUC Committee on Research and Professional Development. The Chair may grant one-year extensions upon consultation with the representative to the Committee from the recipient's campus, and approval by the Office of the President, as long as no additional funds are required. Requests for extension with additional funds must be submitted to the Committee as part of the regular funding cycle. UNSPENT FUNDS -- Unexpended funds will, at the completion of the project, revert to the Office of the President. Upon termination of employment with the University, unexpended funds will revert to the Office of the President. APPENDIX A
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