Proposal Guidelines for a CSREG Scholarly Development Grant

Eligibility

Faculty in tenure-track and continuing positions are eligible to apply. Previous recipients of CSREG Summer Grants may apply; however awards will not be made to the same person in two consecutive years. One may apply for more than one type of scholarly development grant (e.g., FDC, Summer Research Session, or BIPP) or more than one type of curriculum development grant (e.g., FDC, CCC, BIPP, Digital Course Design, or Stroup) with the understanding that each of these processes is competitive and that one will not receive funding for more than one of these internal grants in the same year. Faculty in the last year of an appointment are not eligible. Scholarly development grants are not intended to be used in conjunction with either a sabbatical or untenured faculty leave. When sufficient funds are available, proposals from visiting members of the faculty who will be returning to the University for a complete academic year will be considered.

Application Guidelines

The original application (with original signatures) and an electronic copy (PDF) of the full application should be submitted to:

Nina Banks, Interim Director, Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity and Gender, Coleman Hall 111, by Monday, March 3, 2025.

Email address: nbanks@bucknell.edu

PLEASE NOTE, THIS IS A HARD DEADLINE. Application will not be accepted after this date.

Each application must include all components described below. Please review your application carefully prior to submission. Applications which do not include all information requested below will not be considered. Address questions regarding expectations of the proposal to the Director of CSREG.

1. Completion of the “Cover Sheet” questions (see below).

   Cover sheet (Word Document — Download)

2. A Proposal: The body of the proposal should be no more than four single-spaced pages (12-point font, reasonable margins), although appendices may be included when appropriate. The proposal must include the following subsections:
   1. Project Description: Describe the project and its objectives, including the research methodology to be employed. Clearly identify the anticipated outcomes that receipt of the grant would support (e.g., article, book chapter, book proposal) and explain your expectations for publication. If your research involves human subjects, note your compliance with requirements for such research. In no case should a proposal consist of simply a cover letter attached to a proposal to an outside agency.
   2. Rationale: Provide a rationale for the project, including its scholarly significance in the context of your discipline or interdisciplinary field and the contribution it will make to scholarship on race, ethnicity, and gender and their intersections with other aspects of difference. Include a statement of the value of the proposed work to the applicant's professional development, placing the project in the context of the applicant's past and future scholarship. Identify, if relevant, how the research will be useful in courses you or others teach at the university.
   3. Work plan: Describe the amount of time that you will commit to the proposed summer scholarly project and outline a work plan and likely timetable for the research project. Please note that recipients are expected to commit themselves to their project for a minimum of two months of the summer.
   4. Other Summer Professional Commitments: Your commitment to the summer project is essential to the success of the project. Include a description of your other summer professional commitments (summer teaching duties, summer chair duties, other research projects, consulting obligations, independent study supervision, etc.) and the amount of your time each commitment is expected to take.
   5. Budget: Describe how the $4,000 in funding would be used in completing your proposed scholarly project.
   6. Outside Funding: Describe your efforts to obtain external funding for this project or provide a brief explanation of why this effort has not been made. CSREG encourages applicants to investigate outside opportunities for funding but does not wish to exclude those projects for which no external funding agency exists or those projects which may not be suitable for external support. If an outside grant is obtained for this project, an equivalent portion of the scholarly development grant is to be returned to the University.
   7. Bibliography: Include a bibliography of relevant material. The bibliography may be in addition to the four pages noted earlier.
3. A current curriculum vitae.
4. Outcomes of previous grants. Describe past support receive for this project (from any source) and describe the activities and outcomes for each of any previously funded CSREG Scholarly and Curriculum Development Grants listed on the cover page. These assessments should have been submitted to the Director of CSREG in the fall following all previous summer granting periods (see the “Descriptive Assessment and End-of-Grant Responsibilities” section below).
5. Chair’s signature of endorsement on the cover page. The Department chair or Program director should sign a confirmation of endorsement on the cover page of the application. Department chairs/Program directors who are themselves applying, should ask a colleague to sign this page. Applicants are strongly encouraged to submit the proposal to the chair/director at least five working days before the deadline.

Evaluation of Proposals

In evaluating the merit of proposals, the CSREG Grants Committee will consider first and foremost the suitability of the project to CSREG goals, the quality of the proposal, and the part the proposed activity plays in the applicant's professional and intellectual development. The Committee will also consider necessary expenses associated with the project without which the proposed work could not be completed. In addition, the Committee will consider time demands associated with other summer commitments and the impact those time demands may have on the ability to complete the project within the two-month period. Potential applicants are encouraged to consult with the CSREG Director about their proposal.

Review Criteria include:

1. Suitability of the project to CSREG goals.
2. The quality of the proposal: clarity, completeness, organization, and presentation.
3. Significance of the project for the applicant’s professional and intellectual development
4. Contribution and significance of the project.
5. Clarity of the rationale and the objectives.
6. Feasibility of the research project.
7. Effectiveness of the methodology or procedure.
8. Specific indication of work to be funded.
9. Indication of expected results: publication, or other effects.
10. Degree of applicant’s awareness of suitable resources.
11. Appropriateness of the budget or funds requested.
    

Descriptive Assessment and Other End-of-grant Responsibilities

At the end of the funded project, all grant recipients are required to submit a descriptive assessment of their summer activity to the Director of the Center by September 15, 2025. Faculty awarded research grants should notify CSREG of papers read or material published, acknowledge CSREG’s support in the resulting publications, and supply CSREG with a copy of those publications. Grant recipients may be asked to present their research in a CSREG faculty colloquium or other CSREG sponsored event.