revised October 2010

VPASA Seed Grants Program

1.1 Eligibility
The VPASA Seed Grants Program offers two seed grants: 1.) for full-time faculty to support their scholarly activities and 2.) for students who are leading research efforts and/or presenting at conferences. Faculty Seed Grant: Applications will be accepted from full-time GGC faculty. All investigators must be full-time faculty. Faculty may be Principal Investigator (PI) of only one proposal and may be a participant in a maximum of two total proposals. Student Seed Grant: Applications will be accepted from any full-time or part-time GGC student. Proposals must be independent and the student must be the PI with faculty supervision. Awardees will be required to submit a final report by September 1 of the year following initiation of the award, and possibly asked to sit on a panel on campus to share their results. Subsequent applications from prior awardees will not be considered until their report has been submitted. Each proposal will be evaluated on its overall merit in support of the GGC mission in one or more of the following areas: 1.) Fit of project in training and engaging undergraduates; 2.) Contributions to the discipline of study; 3.) Multidisciplinary orientation; and 4.) Contributions to the community at large.

1.2 Dates
Applications must be submitted electronically to the Chair of the Research Grants Committee by 4:00 PM on November 19. Awardees will be notified by mid-December.

1.3 Amount of Award

Faculty Seed Grant: The maximum award for faculty is $3000. Student Seed Grant: The maximum award for students is $1000.

Proposal Components
1. Acknowledgement of submission - All investigators must sign a copy of this request for proposals and agree to abide by the regulations within. If student, please not such with the name of the faculty supervisor. 2. Cover/Title/Face Page Written on GGC letterhead, addressed to the Research Grants Committee, briefly describes the project, states amount requested and how monies will be used, contains contact information, is signed by the Principle Investigator. 3. Routing Sheet - The GGC Office of Research and Grants Routing Sheet must be signed by the applicant, their Dean, and any other applicable party, such as the Institutional Review Board, if applicable. 4. Abstract A 200-500 word summary, demonstrating that this is a program worth funding. State the problem to be solved, note objectives to be achieved, and activities to be conducted. 5. Narrative : The narrative of the proposal may be no longer than 10 numbered pages. Reference citations must be provided to support the narrative, but do not count in the 10 page limit. Introduction Frames the importance of the project for funding in a larger context of undergraduate engagement, contributions to the discipline and the community at large and establishes your suitability for performing the project. The introduction should capture the reviewers interest and identify target areas of need to be addressed.

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Needs Statement Describes a critical condition or social need that is being addressed and why work should be funded. Goals A broad statement of the overall proposal purpose. Objectives Describes what specifically will be accomplished. Objectives must be measurable with expected outcomes. Methods/Activities Outlines activities to be used to reach stated objectives, and describing the implementation of the project. Provides the steps you will take to achieve the expected outcomes. Evaluation Explains measures of the success of the project and how they will be evaluated to determine the final level of success of the project. Plans for project beyond funding period is an important component of this section. 6. Budget and Justification The budget is a reasonable estimate of costs of the proposed project. A budget justification explains in narrative form how the overall cost for each category listed in the budget was calculated. The budget estimates should be sufficient to perform the project while staying within the scope of the award. 7. Timeline The applicant shall provide a realistic estimate of key steps in the project and the time required for their completion. 8. Required Attachments: Curriculum Vita Required for PI and all Co-PIs. Proposals requiring external resources or collaborations must be accompanied by a letter of intent to provide the specified support.

1.4 Budget Preparation

Standard line items include the following: Personnel Wages of student workers. Faculty summer salaries are not allowed. Base requested salaries on those to be paid during the period of the grant, allowing for cost-of-living increases. Contact ORG if you need salary information. Fringe Benefits Benefits paid to students of GGC: (FICA: 7.65 percent of wages). Equipment An item of property that has an expected service life of more than two years and is not already available for the conduct of research. Items should be listed individually by description and estimated cost with need adequately justified. Travel Domestic travel of personnel to conduct research in performance of the project. Student Costs Cost of transportation, per diem, stipends and other related costs for participants or trainees, to attend conferences, meetings, training, workshops, etc. Other Direct Costs Supplies and Materials Expendable materials to be used during the course of the grant period. Publication Costs/Documentation/Dissemination - Costs of documenting, preparing, publishing or otherwise making available the findings of the research; e.g., reports, journal costs, illustrations, indexing of data, etc. Computer Services Cost of computer services, software, hardware and leasing of computer equipment. A justification based on computer service rates at GGC must be included.

1.5 Award Administration

Awarded funds will be administered by the Office of Research and Grants, in collaboration with the Deans Office of the awardee. Award administration will be explained at a mandatory orientation meeting for all awardees. Awardees will forward expenditure requests to the Office of Research and Grants, which will verify that the expenditures are budgeted for that awardee. The requests will then be forwarded to the appropriate Deans office for purchase or reimbursement. Expenditures are not to be made without prior approval from the Office of Research and Grants. All expenditures must be completed by August 31 of the year following initiation of the award, with explanations for expenditures to be incurred outside the current fiscal/budget year. Note that both completion of expenditures and receipt of the final report are required by September 1 following the initiation of the award.

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Acknowledgement
I acknowledge that I will be a participant in the attached proposal and agree to abide by these regulations. Principal Investigator Co-Investigator Date Date Co-Investigator Date

Checklist
Acknowledgement of submission Cover/Title/Face Page Routing Sheet Abstract Proposal Narrative including Reference Citations Timeline Budget and Justification Required Attachments Curriculum vitae for PI and Co-PIs (for proposals requiring external resources) Letter of Intent to provide resources