Research and Grants

The College of Education University Research Grant (URG) Program is designed to:

1. Stimulate development and submission of external grant proposals, and
2. Support development of the research agendas of pre-tenured faculty along with moving research agendas forward for tenured faculty that are important to the discipline.

General information about the types, deadlines, application forms, and outcomes can be found in this website. Complete COE URG information, including limitations and proposal components, can be found in the Guideline and Application Materials document.

URGs are evaluated using criteria found in the URG Proposal Evaluation document.

COE URG Types

Research Fellowship

• Designed to help support the implementation of a research project.
• Maximum award, $5,000 for 1 principal investigator, or up to $10,000 for multiple principal investigators.
• Tenured and tenure-track faculty are eligible. Faculty associates and visiting professors may apply as a part of a team that includes a tenured or tenure-track faculty member.
• Applications due September 30th.

External Grant Development

• Designed to help support the writing of an external grant.
• Maximum award, $5,000 for 1 principal investigator, or up to $10,000 for multiple principal investigators.
• Tenured and tenure-track faculty are eligible. Faculty associates and visiting professors may apply as a part of a team that includes a tenured or tenure-track faculty member.
• Applications due September 30th.

Small Grant

• Designed to help provide supplies, materials, software, etc… to support research or scholarship.
• Maximum award, $750
• Tenured and tenure-track faculty are eligible.
• Applications due between November 1st and April 1st

First year Faculty Research Fellowship

• Designed to provide funds to help start a new faculty member’s research.
• Maximum award, $1000
• Tenured and tenure-track faculty in their first year at ISU are eligible.
• Applications due between November 1st and April 1st

Calendar

• September 2024: FY25 URG funding is available pending funding from the University.
• September 30, 2024 at 11:59PM: FY25 Research Fellowship and External Grant Development applications due via InfoReady. Departments/School may have an earlier date for internal review.
• October 2, 2024 at 11:59PM: Chair/Director approvals on all URG applications are due in InfoReady
• October 2024: College Research Committee reviews FY25 Research Fellowship and External Grant URGs and selects recipients. Awards are announced.
• November 1, 2024: Applications for FY25 First-Year Faculty and Small Grant applications open.
• April 3, 2025 at 11:59PM: FY25 First-Year Faculty and Small Grant applications close.
• June 30, 2025: All FY25 URG money must be spent.
• October 1, 2025 and October 1, 2026: Professional Outcomes reports for FY25 Research Fellowship & External Grant Development URG projects are due.

Review and Notification

The URG Applications are reviewed by the COE Research Committee using scoring rubrics based on the individual proposal components. Applicants for the Research Fellowship and the External Grant Development will be notified by November 1st and applicants for the Small Grant and First Year Faculty Research Fellowships will be notified approximately 1 month after their application has been submitted.

Reporting Outcomes

Outcomes of the URG-funded activities, including all scholarly results of work funded by the grant, are reported on the Professional Outcome Form. These forms are submitted in the two fiscal years following the award and are due to the Associate Dean for Research by October 1 in each of the 2 years following the award. All URG awardees are encouraged to share their research at College and University research events.

Outcomes in the External Grant Development category must include a submission of an external grant for year 1. If the grant is funded, the outcome for year 2 will summarize the progress of the external grant. If the grant is not funded, the outcome for year 2 will indicate how the grant was revised and resubmitted to the same agency or submitted elsewhere.

Failure to report the professional outcomes by the due dates will result in all investigators involved in the URG-funded project becoming ineligible for future URG competitions for a period of five years.

Faculty Publication/Exhibition/Open Access Grant

College of Education will match RSP up to $200. Please see RSP site for more information.

Learn more about the Faculty Publication/Exhibition/Open Access Grant

COE Faculty Research Dissemination Travel Award

Provides financial support for faculty, faculty associates and administrative professionals to present at academic conferences.

Learn more about the COE Faculty Research Dissemination Travel Award

COE Student Research Travel Award

Provides financial support for College of Education students to present at professional conferences.

Learn more about the COE Student Research Travel Award

Teaching and Service Awards

Recognize exceptional contributions to education and the community. They aim to honor individuals who have made significant impacts in their respective fields through their teaching and service efforts.

Explore the Teaching and Service Awards

The College of Education has invested in a Grants Team to help you through the grant funding process. This document outlines the steps involved in seeking and applying for grants within the COE.

COE Grant Team

Ryan Brown, Associate Dean for Research, Faculty Development, Outreach and Innovation
Jennifer Dodson, COE Grant Proposal Specialist
Tracy Berner, COE Grant Budget Specialist

Where to start?

If you already have a specific grant in mind or a project that requires funding:

• Complete the COE Grant Proposal Intake Form to notify the COE grant team of your project.
• All proposals for external funding, including grants, contracts, subawards, letters of intent, and other funding mechanisms, must be processed through the College and RSP prior to submission.
• Please let us know as early as possible in the process so that we can work most effectively with you and others in the College seeking grant funding. To have a successful proposal, all documents/information should be complete and ready for campus review at least 5 business days before the sponsor deadline. Subtract 5 business days from the sponsor due date: THAT is your deadline. College and University administrators and staff need 5 full business days to review, approve, finalize, and submit proposals. Please see the Internal Deadlines page for more information.

If you have an idea for a project but have not located a specific grant:

• Contact Ryan Brown at rbrown@IllinoisState.edu or (309) 438-3964, and he will set up a meeting to discuss your project idea.

Once you’ve identified your grant and filled out the COE Grant Proposal Intake Form:

The Grant Team will review the grant guidelines and set up an initial meeting with you as the Principal Investigator (PI). In the initial meeting, we will discuss the general description of the grant, limitations, initial budget considerations, buyouts/course releases, technology needs, partners, and criteria required. A timeline will be developed based on the specifics of the grant and internal ISU policies.

Throughout the grant-writing process, you (the PI) will be responsible for:

• Thoroughly reviewing the grant guidelines
• Writing and editing the grant narrative and/or scope of work
• Preparing and editing the initial budget and budget narrative
• Completing any additional forms required by the funding agency
• Maintaining the established timeline
• Reviewing all final documents once uploaded to Cayuse and/or the funding agency’s website
• Routing the Cayuse record for internal approvals

Members of the Grants Team will be responsible for:

• Setting up the grant record in Cayuse (the University system used to track and submit grants)
• Creating an account with the funding agency, if needed
• Reviewing budget documents, including confirming salary and fringe benefits information.
• Working with the PI to complete any forms that are required by the funding agency.
• Communicating with partner or sponsor organizations (if ISU is a subawardee) regarding needed documents, if necessary.
• Providing a final review of all documents to be submitted
• Working with the PI to upload all final documents to Cayuse and/or the sponsor’s website
• Facilitating the submission of the final grant (possibly in conjunction with the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs)

The goal of the COE Grant Process is to streamline and support the pursuit of grant funding for projects within the College of Education. For any questions or assistance, feel free to contact Ryan Brown.