Research Enhancement Program

1. Research Enhancement Program Mission To contribute to the greater body of knowledge in all disciplines through research, scholarship and creative expression.

2. Research Enhancement Program The REP Core Principles • This program is established to enhance research and creative expression opportunities for all tenured and tenure-track faculty. • The faculty have a major role in decision making concerning REP policies and procedures and in the administration of the program. • The awarding of grants is determined through a peer review process. • The primary consideration in the awarding of grants is the quality of the proposed project.

3. Research Enhancement Program PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION The REP is cooperatively administered by: • The Faculty Senate • The University Research Committee (URC) • College Research Enhancement Committees (CREC) from each academic college, • The Associate Vice President for Research (AVPR) • The General Accounting Office • The Budget Office

4. Research Enhancement Program General Guidelines: Eligibility • All full-time Texas State faculty members with continuing nine-month academic appointments. • May apply as principle investigators (PIs) or co-investigators, (CIs). • Full-time non-tenure track faculty at the rank of Senior Lecturer may apply only as co-investigators with tenured or tenure track faculty. • Department Chairs, Program Directors and Deans are not eligible to apply.

5. Research Enhancement Program General Guidelines: Continued • Faculty may submitonly one proposal. • For collaborative proposals, only one PI can and must be designated. • Faculty may not receive Research Enhancement Program funds consecutive years. REP grantees with delinquent final reports are not eligible to apply. • The maximum award level for individuals applying for grants is $8,000. Collaborative projects involving two or more eligible faculty may be awarded a maximum of $16,000. • Salary stipends may not exceed $8,000 and may be requested only for summer months. The combined summer teaching salary (if any) and REP salary stipend may not exceed one-third of the applicants nine month salary.

6. Research Enhancement Program General Guidelines: Non-Allowable Costs • Any research associated with the completion of the applicant's master's thesis or doctoral dissertation. • Any faculty education or training not directly relevant to the research project. • Course or curriculum development projects. • Travel to conferences.

7. Research Enhancement Program The Application: How to Submit • All proposals must be submitted electronically through the online application process provided on the Research Enhancement Program (REP) web page. (http://www.txstate.edu/research/avpr/rep.html) • Click the link on the menu bar called "REP On-line Application" to begin the process.

8. Research Enhancement Program The Application: The Narrative • The narrative is a Word document, maximum five pages (including references) double-spaced in 12 point Times font with one inch margins. References may be single-spaced. • An introduction including literature citations (if appropriate) and statement of hypothesis or purpose. • A specific explanation of the project's methodology detailing project design, data collection/analysis procedures (if appropriate), etc. • A description of the project, with an emphasis on the creativity, organization and presentation of ideas. Statements detailing the importance of the project to the applicant's field and personal scholarly/creative development, and the applicant’s access to necessary resources. • A detailed budget justification especially for equipment and travel.

9. Research Enhancement Program The Application: The Narrative Cont. • *An explanation of the explicit roles of each applicant if there are multiple investigators. The Application: The Vitae • Atwo page maximumvitae (single spaced in 12 pt. Times) for each applicant that summarizes the applicant’s research, and scholarly/creative activities. The vita should detail previously funded REP grants. • The vita(s) must be added to the end of the narrative so that both comprise a single Word document. The Narrative/Vitae • The narrative/vita document should be uploaded via the online application process by clicking the "Narrative/Vitae Upload" link on the menu bar.

10. Research Enhancement Program The Review Process • Five bonus points will be added to the evaluation scores for all first-time tenure track applicants. • Four essential aspects will be evaluated and given a numerical score. 1. Introduction (statement of objectives and/or research questions) (10 pts.) 2. Methodology (overall project design) (25 pts.) 3. Quality of proposed project (creativity, organization and presentation of ideas, importance to field, access to resources) (55 pts.) 4. Budget request detail and justification (10 pts.) Each college has posted its specific scoring rubric on the front page of the REP website; refer to it when preparing your proposal.

11. Research Enhancement Program The Review Process  • All proposals from a college are discussed and scored numerically. • The CREC will rank the proposals in descending numerical order • In general, the highest rated proposals within a college should be fully funded. • Budgets may be adjusted in the lower-ranked proposals that are deemed worthy of funding resulting in partial funding of those projects. • The CREC resolves any tied scores at the funding cut-off point. • CREC chair submits proposal rankings and recommendations for funding to the URC chair and AVPR. • The URC oversees each college’s funding process and resolves any conflicts. • URC Chair and AVPR present recommendations to Faculty Senate. Faculty Senate acts on URC recommendations.

12. Research Enhancement Program The Review Process: • The URC may examine proposal budgets and amend them according to the recommendations of the CREC. After the URC has approved each CREC’s funding recommendations, it will submit its recommendations to the Faculty Senate for final approval. • Once the Faculty Senate has acted, all participants will be notified by the AVPR whether or not their proposals were funded. • Unsuccessful applicants are encouraged to contact their CREC chair to obtain review comments and discuss ways to improve their proposals for future submission.

13. Research Enhancement Program Post Award Guidelines: • Where appropriate, applicants are expected to consult the AVPR to ensure that proposed projects will conform to university intellectual property policies. • Any research involving recombinant DNA, human or animal subjects must be approved by the Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC), Internal Review Board (IRB) and the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUC), respectively, before a grant account can be set up. • Department chairs/administrative assistants will assist faculty in administering grants.

14. Research Enhancement Program Post Award Guidelines: • The budget period for Research Enhancement Program grants is 12 months from the date that the grant account becomes active. • Recipients of awards must submit a written terminal report to the chair of the URC by June 1 following the termination date. Faculty may not submit new REP proposals while reports from past grants are overdue. • Project summaries are posted on the E-Commons site at the Alkek Library (unless IP issues prohibit).

15. Research Enhancement Program FY14 Submission Statistics and Proportional Funding College Submissions Requested Allocated Applied Arts 14 $152, 000 $48,579 Business 5 $56,000 $17,897 Education 20 $240,000 $76,704 Fine Arts/Comm. 18 $200,000 $63,920 Health Professions 10 $112,000 $37,795 Liberal Arts 36 $312,000 $99,715 Science 37 $336,000 $107,385 Total 140 $1,408,000 $449,996 Funding rate: $450,000/$1,104,000 = 31.96%

16. Research Enhancement Program FY14 Funding Statistics Funded First Tenure College Proposal Time Track Tenured Applied Arts 5 1 3 1 Business 3 2 0 1 Education 7 5 1 1 Fine Arts/Comm. 7 4 0 3 Health Professions 5 2 1 2 Liberal Arts 9 2 2 5 Sci & Eng 13 7 2 4__ Total Funding 49 $216,498 $72,977 $174,971 (47%) (16%) (37%)

17. Research Enhancement Program Contact Information: Dr. Michael Blanda, Assistant Vice President for Research and Federal Relations Professor in Chemistry & Biochemistry Email: MB29@txstate.edu Telephone: 245-2314 Or Research@txstate.edu Virginia DelaRosa, Administrative Assistant II Email: VD14@txstate.edu, Telephone: 245-2314

18. Research Enhancement Program University Research Committee: • Ms. Michel Conroy (URC Chair) • Dr. Sylvia Crixell (CREC Chair-Applied Arts) • Dr. Gary White (CREC Chair-Business) • Dr. Larry Price (CREC Chair-Education) • Lynn Brinkmeyer (CREC Chair-Fine Arts/Comm.) • Dr.Tina Fields (CREC Chair –Health Prof.) • Dr. Miriam Echeverria (CREC Chair-Liberal Arts) • Jian Shen (CREC Chair-Science) • Dr. Michael Blanda (Assistant VP for Research Ex Officio)