Support for Faculty Scholarship and Research

Sabbaticals

Faculty members are eligible to apply for sabbatical in their sixth year of employment and every seven years thereafter. The requirements, application procedures, and award criteria are explained in section M9 of the Faculty Contract. Sabbaticals are normally awarded as full-time release of teaching responsibilities for one semester, full-time release of teaching duties for two semesters at half-pay, or half-time release of teaching for two semesters. In certain cases, a faculty member may request to maintain a normal teaching load and take one semester’s pay distributed over three summers. No concurrent summer teaching is permitted with a summer sabbatical.

Office of Sponsored Programs

The mission of Office of Sponsored & Academic Programs Support (SP) at SVSU is to contribute to the professional development of faculty and administrators, strengthen the quality of the institution’s academic and support programs, and enhance the stature of the University. SP assists faculty and administration in the development of proposals for research and academic support. SP also assists with the administration of public and private grants, contracts, and sponsored project agreements. For further information, refer to www.svsu.edu/sponsoredprograms/.

Internal Grants

Research, Release Time, and Professional Growth Grants, commonly known as “Unit Committee” grants, support faculty scholarship and professional development. There are three types of “Unit Committee” grants: release time (usually one course/year), research funding (typically research travel, equipment, consumables and student assistants, usually in the range of a few thousand dollars), and professional growth (typically training and education). The grants are evaluated within each college by the Faculty Research and Development Committee (“Unit Committee”), and the Committee makes recommendations to the Office of Academic Affairs where final awards are decided, depending on available resources. Application forms are available online at www.svsu.edu/sponsoredprograms/internalgrants/ and are due in mid- November each year. Follow-up reports are required.

Foundation Resource Grants are available to fund projects that promote scholarship, further the academic and cultural missions of the University, and/or have significant impact on the University community. The primary goal of the program is to stimulate innovation and provide enrichment opportunities for students via “start-up” funds for new or one-time programs or projects. For optimal consideration, proposals for student travel experiences should include detailed itineraries for the time spent at the destination. See: www.svsu.edu/sponsoredprograms/internalgrants/.

Ruth and Ted Braun Fellowship recipients are generally senior faculty with a well-established record of scholarly achievement. The Braun Foundation annually awards three-year fellowships to two faculty or staff members; the appointments begin on January 1st following the award announcement. Each fellow will receive supporting grants totaling up to $37,500 ($12,500 per year) during the three-year term, to recognize and further his or her scholarly or professional activities. Braun Fellows will be expected to produce a body of professional or academic work for publication or presentation during or at the conclusion of the Fellowship term.
See: www.svsu.edu/sponsoredprograms/internalgrants/.

Institutional Review Board

"All research involving human subjects conducted in whole or in part by any individual acting on behalf of SVSU (e.g., full- or part-time employees, students, and volunteers) regardless of the physical location of the data collection, shall be submitted to the SVSU IRB for purposes of oversight and compliance with this policy. This requirement is binding whether the research is externally funded or not and regardless of the source of any such funding."—SVSU IRB Policy & Procedures