Faculty Funding Opportunities

Eisen Experiential Learning Grants support shorter-term educational experiences for students that take place outside the classroom but do not offer course credit. These might include visits to museums, scholarly meetings, master classes, workshops, etc. All tenured, tenure-track, and non-tenure-track faculty are invited to submit an application. The recipient(s) will receive up to $2,000.

This grant is made possible by support from Judy Eisen. Judy has had a long involvement with UNF. She received her master’s in Counseling Psychology from UNF in 1978 and even worked part-time for the University, helping to write and edit the first-course catalog. She and her late husband Saul have given generously to UNF for many years and in many ways. In the spring of 2018, Judy’s many contributions to UNF were recognized with an Alumni Service Award.

Applications are reviewed by a committee composed of past winners of COAS faculty grants. This committee makes a recommendation to the Dean. When the review process is complete, applicants may request their rubric scores. The review committee does not provide written comments on applications.

Winners of an Eisen grant may not apply for an Eisen grant in the subsequent year. Winners of an Eisen grant must agree to serve on a committee to review COAS grant applications in the subsequent year. (Faculty on leave are excused from this service.) Award recipients must also agree to offer a public lecture on the subject of their projects.

Application Instructions

All questions must be answered completely and in the order indicated below.

1. Project Overview  
   • Describe the experiential educational experience.
   • How will this experience advance student learning?
   • How many students will benefit from this experience?
   • What makes this experience a unique opportunity for the students?
    
2. Project Budget
   • Itemized budget breakdown.
   • List of other funding sources for this project, if any (include requested and committed funds and sources).
    
3. Format
   • PDF Format
   • 12-point Times New Roman font
   • 1.5 line spacing with 1" margins on all sides
   • A copy of the current CV, limited to 2 pages
   • Proposals may be no more than 2 pages in length, plus 2 pages for the CV
   • All proposals must be submitted electronically to COASFacultyGrants@unf.edu. 
   • Deadlines
     • The submission deadline is April 1, 2024.
     • Awards will be announced by mid-April.
       • All funds must be expended before August 15 of the following year's summer semester. The spring 2024 awardees need to expend the funds by August 2025.  

Questions? Contact Lev Gasparov

2022–2023 Awardees

• Laura Heffernan, English: “AML 6057: Documenting Jacksonville: The Florida Federal Writers’ Project (1936-40) and its Digital Afterlives”
• Joshua Tomlinson, Music: "jemFEST 2023: The UNF School of Music Hosts Grammy Award-Winning Musician Nick Photinos”
• Will Pewitt, English: “The Production of Collaboration: Student Professionalization via Educational Theater”

2021–2022 Awardees

• Andrea Venet, Music: “Perform & Share: UNF Music Student & Faculty Performance Tours.”
• Yolanda Machado-Escudero: Sociology, Anthropology, Social Work: “Student Travel to Legislative Education & Advocacy Day (LEAD).”
• W. Brian Lane, Physics: “Student Travel to Present Physics Education Research Projects.”

2020–2021 Awardees

• Tru Leverette and Laura Heffernan, Department of English, “Viola Muse Collection Digitization and Transcription”

2019–2020 Awardees

• Stephen Heywood, Art, Art History, and Design, National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts conference
• Sunshine Simmons, Music, UNF Clarinet Choir
• Chris Kelso and Jack Hewitt, Physics, Hosting a 2020 Dark Matter Masterclass at UNF

2018–2019 Awardees

• James Curry, Music, Jacksonville Cello Workshop 
• David Sheffler, History, Red Hill Cemetery
• Heather Truelove, Elizabeth Brown, and Curtis Phills, Psychology, Social Psychology Conference 

2017–2018 Awardees

• Jennifer Hager, Art and Design, Iron Wedding
• John Hewitt and Warren Huelsnitz, Physics, Hosting a 2018 IceCube Masterclass at UNF 
• Randy Tinnin, Music, National Trumpet Competition 

A cooperative program between COAS and ORSP to encourage research and grant-proposal submissions in Arts and Sciences.

The College of Arts and Sciences Dean's Office, in cooperation with the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs and individual departments in the college fund proposals for course releases and for research budgets as one means to enhance focus on research, research productivity, and on acquisition of grant funds. The projects may be in any Arts and Sciences discipline. They are intended to support projects that will lead to an external grant application, a high-quality scholarly publication, a prestigious presentation of creative activity, or a work of similar merit. Proposals may be submitted by tenured or tenure-track faculty members.

Applications are submitted to department chairs who consider both the merits of the proposal and the availability of departmental resources that may be committed to applications. Chairs then sends to the dean's office those awards they wish to recommend, in ranked order.

Applications are reviewed by a committee composed of past winners of COAS faculty grants. This committee makes a recommendation to the Dean. When the review process is complete, applicants may request their rubric scores. The review committee does not provide written comments on proposals.

Winners of an REP grant may not apply for an REP grant in the subsequent year. Winners must agree to serve on a committee to review COAS grant applications in the subsequent year. (Faculty on leave are excused from this service.) Award recipients must also agree to offer a public lecture on the subject of their projects. Winners are required to submit evidence of completion of their projects. Such evidence may include a confirmation of grant submission, a confirmation of an article submission, a program of a concert, an announcement of art exhibition, etc. This evidence must be submitted to the Associate Dean for Faculty Advancement by the end of the academic year after the year in which the award was received. Submission of this evidence is a requirement to be eligible for any future COAS faculty funding awards.

The College makes up to 5 awards that include a course release and a monetary award:

• Course Releases an award of $1000, matched by $1000 from the applicant's department and by $1000 by the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, that is used to provide a course release for the faculty member. Whether the release is taken in Spring or Fall is decided by the department chair. (No course release can be authorized in the same term in which a faculty member receives an overload.) Course releases are assigned subject to the needs of the department.
• Monetary Award of $500, matched by $500 from the applicant's department and by $500 by the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (for a total monetary award of $1500), may be used as a budget for research expenses or research-related travel (but not as a salary supplement).

Preference in making the awards will be given to projects that do not benefit from other sources of support. Since funding for this program will come partially from dollars generated by prior grant activity, some of the awards likely will go to projects resulting in grant applications.

Application Instructions

Applicants submit to their department chairs an application packet consisting of the items below. 

• Applicants CV
• One-page project description,
• Half-page description of the significance of the project both to the applicant's research agenda and as a contribution to the discipline,
• A paragraph that identifies the potential source of external funding, the deadline for the application, the timeline for development of the proposal as well as the applicant’s track record of securing external funding,
• Half-page budget (in the case of a monetary award application) and timeline,
• Contact information and signature of the applicant, and
• A statement from the departmental chair, indicating the chair's recommendation (and ranking if faculty from a department submit more than one application), a commitment of the departmental matching funds, and whatever comments the chair wishes to offer.

Format Requirements

• PDF Format
• 12-point Times New Roman font
• 1.5 line spacing with 1" margins on all sides
• All proposals must be submitted electronically to COASFacultyGrants@unf.edu

Timeline

• The submission deadline is October 2.
• Awards will be announced by mid-November.
• All funds must be expended and all course releases must be taken by the end of the subsequent fiscal year (June 30, 2025).
• A successful applicant should submit a written report to the Dean or designee that demonstrates the outcomes of the project. The report is due at the start of the fall semester which follows the end date of the award. For example, if you received the award in November of 2023 your report will be due in August of 2025.

Questions? Contact Lev Gasparov

2022-23 Research Enhancement Plan Awardees:

• Keith Ashley, Sociology, Anthropology & Social Work: “Centering Mocama Communities and Indigenous Landscapes in a Time of Spanish Missions”
• Jessica Chandras, Sociology, Anthropology & Social Work: ”Learning Caste: Banjara Tribal Students’ Language and Education in Rural India”
• Szymon Ciesielski, Chemistry: “The Role of DNAJB1 Co-chaperone Protein in Human Neurodegenerative Diseases”
• Yisu Jia, Mathematics & Statistics: “Climate Change Indicator: Snow Coverage”
• Justin Rogers, History: “Southern Confluence: Constructing and Crossing Color Lines in the Nineteenth-Century South”

2021–22 Research Enhancement Plan Awardees:

• Sara D. Davis, Psychology: “Evaluating the Impact of Showups on Later Lineup Confidence”
• Mandi N. Barringer, Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work: “Preaching on the Quad: The Sociological Analysis of Campus Preachers”
• Chris Rominger, History: “The Mediterranean Overturned: Transnational North African Politics at the Intersection of Empire”
• Fei Heng, Mathematics and Statistics: “Sieve Analysis in COVID-19 Vaccine Efficacy Trials, by Cox Modeling”
• Christa L. Arnold & Margaret C. Stewart, Communication: “Deception in Social Media Posts: Developing a detection methodology”

2020–21 Research Enhancement Plan Awardees:

• Felicia Bevel, History: “Challenging Settler Colonialism Abroad: Paul Robeson, Ol’ Man River, and the Fight for Aboriginal Rights in Australia”
• Josh Gellers, PSPA: “Rights of Non-humans in the Anthropocene”
• Andy Kozlowski, AAHD: “Routine Maintenance: A themed portfolio and exhibition of original prints.”
• Jacqueline Meier, SASW: “Animals of the Artisans: Examining social inequality at Mycenae, Greece”
• TJ Mullen, Chemistry: “Extending Hybrid Patterning to Semiconductor Nanomanufacturing”
• Judy Ochrietor, Biology: “Basigin gene expression in mouse retina in response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS).”
• Anne Pfister, SASW: “The Evidence is Life: Joy and Social Justice through Mexican Sign Language- book proposal”
• Chris Trice, AAHD: “Participation support for the solo exhibition at the Etherredge Center Visual Arts Gallery, University of South Carolina, Aiken”

2019–20 Research Enhancement Plan Awardees:

• Elena Buzaianu, Mathematics & Statistics, "Selection among Treatments with Tow Binary Endpoints in Comparison with a Control"
• Terri Ellis, Biology, "Antibiotic Resistance over a Slow Exposure to a Drug"  
• Phil Kaplan, History, "The Tattooed Slave: Messages and Messengers in Greece and East Mediterranean"  
• Chunsik Lee and Junga Kim, Communication, "Examining Effective Intervention Methods for Defending Brand Safety"  
• Hannah Malcolm, Chemistry, "Characterizing the Mechanosensitive Response of Parburkholderia xenorvans Membranes" 

2018–19 Research Enhancement Plan Awardees:

• Mike Aspinwall, Biology, "Range Size, Environmental Tolerance, and Acclimation Capacity: Are They Positively Associated Across North American Tree Species?"
• Jenifer Hager, Art and Design, "Public Art Project for Shelby KY Tourism"
• Jack Hewitt, Physics, "IceACT: An Array of Cherenkov Telescopes for the Next Generation of Neutrino Observatories"
• Andy Kozlowski, Art and Design, "Solo Exhibition: Artspace Visual Arts Center, Raleigh NC"
• Sarah Provost, Music, "U.S. Jazz Musicians and Their Relationships to Jazz Historiography"

Three goals of the award: To recognize outstanding teachers, formalize mentorship, and provide time and resources to support the research and creative activities needed for candidates to be successful in achieving promotion.

The award is intended to support the research and creative activities of COAS faculty who have a demonstrated record of outstanding teaching and to encourage senior faculty to mentor junior faculty. It provides recipients with the following resources:

• A financial award, $3500 for the mentee and $1500 for the mentor, for creative or research activities needed for promotion, excluding faculty stipend.
• Three-course releases that can be taken in one semester or spread over several semesters.
• A minimal service load to successfully apply for promotion.

This award is made possible by an endowed gift established in 2019 by James and Joan Van Vleck and resources from the College of Arts and Sciences to incentivize faculty mentorship and professional development.

Jim Van Vleck writes: “When I was an adjunct professor at the University of Dayton, and more recently at the University of North Florida, I observed that tenure-track faculty who were passionately focused on excellent teaching and student learning, sometimes struggled to meet research requirements for tenure. These awards reflect my love of UNF, and my desire to support outstanding teachers in taking their place in academia.”

Eligibility

Awards will be given to up to two tenured/tenure track faculty mentor-mentee pairs. Faculty pairs need not be working on the same research project (but they may do that if they wish to).

Mentee: The junior mentee-member of the pair must be either an untenured tenure-track faculty member or a tenured associate professor. The associate professors holding this rank for longer than seven years are strongly encouraged to apply.

The mentee should be an excellent teacher, she/he must have earned at least an “exceeds expectations” in teaching on the two most recent annual reviews. Preference will be given to faculty who have earned a “far exceeds expectations” in teaching.

Mentor: The mentor-member of the pair must be a tenured faculty member. The mentor should hold the rank of a full professor if the mentee is an associate professor.

The mentees who received a sabbatical leave within the two-year period prior to the award application as well as those scheduled to be on sabbatical during the current academic year are not eligible for this award. In other words, the fall 2020, 2021, 2022, and spring 2021, 2022, 2023 sabbatical recipients are not eligible for the 2022 award.

The mentee-recipients may not receive any other COAS award in addition to this award, however, nothing precludes the faculty member from applying for more than one COAS award.

Award recipients must agree to serve on a committee to review COAS grant applications in the subsequent years. (Faculty on leave are excused from this service.)

Selection Criteria 

1. The quality of the mentee’s teaching record. 
2. The quality of the mentee’s research/creative activity project.
3. The quality of the mentor’s record of scholarship/creative activity.
4. The quality and clarity of the mentor-mentee partnership plan.
5. The mentor’s ability to assist the mentee in a meaningful way.
6. The feasibility of the mentee finishing the research/creative activity project before submitting the tenure/promotion dossier.

The description of the mentee’s research/creative activity project should specify the timeline for applying for promotion as well as the anticipated products of the project (e.g., an article, a work of art).

Applications are reviewed by a committee composed of past COAS faculty grant recipients. This committee makes a recommendation to the Dean who makes the final decision on the award.

Here is the award selection rubric. When the review process is complete, applicants may request their rubric scores. The review committee does not provide written comments on proposals.

Award

• The mentee will receive $3,500 and the mentor will receive $1,500. The funds may be used for supplies, equipment, or travel.
• In addition to this monetary award, the mentee will be provided with three-course releases. It is up to the mentee to use the releases in one semester or spread these over several semesters. The semesters in which the releases will be taken will be determined by the Dean upon recommendation of the department chair who will consult with the awardee. All the releases must be taken no later than the spring semester of the following academic year. In other words, if the award is approved in the fall 2022, the releases should be taken no later than spring 2024.
• Where applicable, during the semester in which the releases are taken, the faculty member must continue to work with the undergraduate and graduate students to whom the faculty member has previously made commitments.
• During the semester in which the release is taken, the department must agree to minimize the service obligations of the mentor and mentee and the mentee must step off all FA, UFF, University, and College committees/roles.
• The mentees will be discouraged from taking teaching overloads over the duration of this award.
• A mentee who receives the award is strongly encouraged to submit a promotion dossier within two academic years from the receipt of the award. In other words, if the award is given in the fall 2023, the promotion dossier should be submitted by the fall 2025.
• There is no expectation that the mentee and the mentor will be working on the same research/creative activity project.
• Award winners are selected by the Dean upon recommendation of a committee composed of past COAS awardees.

Application Format 

For a proposal to be eligible for consideration, all questions must be answered completely and, in the order, indicated below. Applications that exceed the indicated word maximums will not be considered.

1. The mentee's Teaching Excellence Materials
   • Annual evaluations from two past years.
   • Summary of the ISQ scores from all courses taught in the past two years. The mentee in their second year may submit their ISQ summary from their first year at UNF. If desired, an applicant may list the average of all the ISQ scores for a course instead of ISQ#10, "overall rating of instructor."
   • Applicants may, if they wish, include descriptions of innovative assignments given in courses taught in the past two years, 300 words maximum.
    
2. The mentee’s Research/Creative Activity Project Description, 500 words maximum.
   • What is the plan to complete the project?
   • What is the potential impact of this project on the mentee’s discipline?
   • How will this project benefit the mentee’s ongoing scholarly/creative agenda?
   • How critical is this project for the mentee’s promotion?
    
3. Partnership Plan, 300 words maximum. A jointly written description of the partnership activities that will take place in the spring semester of the award and thereafter.
4. A letter from the department chair that evaluates the suitability of the proposed mentorship plan and its potential impact on the mentee’s application for promotion to professor, 500 words maximum. If the mentee and the mentor are from different departments, a letter from each chair (one about the mentee, the other about the mentor) is required.
5. Award History. List any previous awards or funding secured since arrival at UNF.
6. Project Budget, $3,500 maximum for the mentee, $1,500 maximum for the mentor, 200 words maximum.
   • Itemized budget that clearly indicates both what the mentee will do with the funds awarded and what the mentor will do with the funds awarded.
   • If relevant, list other funding sources for this project (include both requested and committed funds).
    
7. CVs A copy of the current CVs of both faculty members, limited to 2 pages each. The CV’s margins and spacing are up to the applicant, 12-point Times New Roman font.
8. Proposal Format Requirements
   • PDF Format
   • 12-point Times New Roman font
   • 1.5 line spacing with 1" margins on all sides
   • All proposals must be submitted electronically to COASFacutlyGrants@unf.edu
    
9. Timeline
   • The submission deadline is October 2. If this deadline falls on a holiday, it is extended to the following business day.
   • Awards will be announced by mid-November.
   • The releases must be taken no later than the spring semester of the following academic year. In other words, if the award is approved in the fall 2023, the release should be taken no later than spring 2025.
   • A mentee who receives the award is strongly encouraged to submit a promotion dossier within two academic years from the receipt of the award. In other words, if the award is given in the fall 2023, the promotion dossier should be submitted prior to the fall 2025.
    

Questions? Contact COAS Associate Dean for Faculty Advancement

There are individuals in the College of Arts and Sciences whose service is special. They go above and beyond, not only doing service that appears in reports (e.g., serving on committees, takings on formal service roles, taking on leadership roles), but also doing the informal and hard-to-document service (e.g., meeting with students who need someone to lend an ear) that means so much to the College. Furthermore, these individuals not only do a great deal of service, they do it exceptionally well. They are the individuals a unit turns to when it needs an important job done fast and done right. The purpose of this award is to recognize faculty from the College of Arts and Sciences who, in addition to being outstanding teachers and scholars, have demonstrated exceptional service. Service is defined as leadership involvement within the College, University, community, and/or their profession.

Two faculty members will be selected annually for this recognition. The selected recipients will be granted $12,500 to use within a period determined by the Dean to advance teaching or research goals.

Eligibility:

• Full-time tenured or tenured track faculty members who have completed at least two years of continuous non-visiting full-time service with the College of Arts and Sciences
• Awardees must agree to join the UNF Chapter of the American Council on Education (ACE) Women's Network. (Membership information coming soon.)
• Awardees may not hold the award in any year in which they are holding any of the other COAS Funding Opportunities. A faculty member who is awarded this award and another COAS Funding Opportunity will select the Funding Opportunity they prefer.
• A rating of Exceeds Expectations in the Teaching and Research categories for the consecutive two years preceding the application.
• A rating of Far Exceed Expectations in the Service category for the consecutive two years preceding the application.

Selection Criteria:

• A record of exceptional service.
• A teaching development or a research, scholarship, creative activity (RSCA) proposal with a strong impact on the College, University, community, and/or awardees discipline.
• Detailed and feasible plan for completing the project.
• The proposal’s budget and completion timeline appropriate for the project.
• See here for the award selection rubric. 

Award:

• The awardee will receive $12,500 to use within the following academic year to advance teaching or research goals.
• Potential use of funds include but are not limited to: course releases, graduate student support, travel, equipment, software, and hiring interns or temporary staff.
• This award may not fund the awardees' stipends.

Application Format:

The application should adhere to the format requirements and completely address the questions outlined below and in order to qualify for the award.

1. The applicant's department chair is responsible for verifying the applicant's eligibility for the award in her/his letter of support. To be eligible for the award, the applicant should have a rating of "Exceeds Expectations" or higher in teaching, research, and scholarship, creative activity (RSCA) portions of her/his annual evaluations received over the past two consecutive years. Furthermore, the applicant should have a rating of "Far Exceeds Expectations" in the service portion of her/his annual evaluations submitted over the past two consecutive years. Here is the Award Application Title Page and Eligibility Statement, the latter has to be completed by the department’s chair.
   
   
2. In addition to the above eligibility statement, the applicant will provide a summary of ISQs for the past two years. If desired, an applicant may list the average of all the ISQ scores for a course instead of ISQ#10, "overall rating of instructor."
   
   
3. A service summary, 500 words max, addressing the applicant's service accomplishments. The applicants are advised to separate the description of their University, Community, and professional services. 
   
   
4. Project description, 500 words maximum.
   1. What is the plan to complete the project?
   2. What is the potential impact of this project?
   3. How will this project benefit the awardees' ongoing teaching/RSCA agenda?
      
      
5. In addition to the eligibility statement, the chair of the applicant’s department will provide a letter of support that evaluates the proposed project. If serval applicants come from the same department, the chair must provide the ranking of applicants.
   
   
6. Project budget, $12,500 maximum, 250 words maximum.
   1. Itemized budget with budget justification that clearly indicates how funds will be spent.
   2. If relevant, list other funding sources for this project (include both requested and committed funds).
      
      
7. CV. A copy of the current CV, two page maximum, single-spaced 12-point font max. The CV should list any previous awards or funding secured since arrival at UNF.
   
   
8. Format requirements for the application, except CV
   1. PDF Format
   2. 12-point Times New Roman font
   3. 1.5-line spacing with 1" margins on all sides 

Timeline:

• For 2023-2024 awards and thereafter the submission deadline is April 1, 2024.
• The awards for 2023-2024 will be announced by the end of April.
• All funds must be expended and all course releases must be taken before August 15, 2025.

Application and Selection Process:

• Please email your electronic application to COASFacutlyGrants@unf.edu. Please indicate Joan VV in the subject line of the email. No paper applications will be accepted.
• The awardees will be selected by the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences based on the review and recommendations of a faculty committee.
  

2022-23 Awardees

• Denise Bossy, History
• Jennifer Wesely, Criminology & Criminal Justice

2021–2022 Recipients

• Jenny Hager, Art, Art History, and Design
• Liz Brown, Psychology
• Angela Mann, Psychology

2020-21 Awardees

• Heather Truelove, Psychology

As part of its on-going efforts to support and reward faculty, the College of Arts and Sciences will be offering a number of stipends to recognize college faculty accomplishments in the area of Research, Scholarship, & Creative Activity. The stipends will be offered annually. The stipends can be used as a cash payment (appropriate taxes apply) or research expenditure. The choice is with an awardee.

I. Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP) Scholars Transforming Research Symposium (STARS) Awards, stipend.

Historically, the ORSP has recognized the RSCA active faculty with a number of awards that are typically announced at the April STARS celebration. The COAS faculty members who are recognized by the following STARS awards will also be eligible for the following stipends.

• Best Scholarly Monograph Award: $500 stipend: This award recognizes the best scholarly monograph published by a faculty member within the previous three years.
• Best Creative Work Award: $500 stipend: This award recognizes the best creative activity produced by a faculty member within the previous three years.
• Prestigious Fellowship Awards: $500 stipend: This award recognizes faculty who were on a prestigious fellowship, as defined by the National Research Council, during the previous fiscal year.
• High-Impact Research Article Awards: $500 stipend: This award recognizes faculty who were authors within the past five years of a high-impact research article, as measured by total Web of Science citations. In the College of Arts and Sciences, one award is given for the arts and humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences.
• Faculty awarded patent by the US Patent and Trademark Office. A stipend of $500.
• Principal investigators with 5 years of continuous funding. A stipend of $500.
• Principal investigator with 10 years of continuous funding. A stipend of $500.
• Principal investigators who obtained funding of $250,000 or more in the previous fiscal year. A stipend of $500.
• Platinum Star Award: This award recognizes principal investigators who have obtained cumulative sponsored funding of $1,000,000 or more over their career at the University of North Florida. A stipend of $1000.
• Millionaire Star Award: This award recognizes principal investigators who have obtained sponsored funding of $1,000,000 or more in the previous fiscal year. A stipend of $1000.

The selection of this particular awardees rests with ORSP. However, these stipends as well as all other RSCA excellence fund stipends will be announced on or before December 1 of the awards' year.

II. Top External Grant Stipend

A stipend of $500/grant-or-fellowship for receiving a competitive research grant the external funding agency. The award shall have a budget of at least $50,000/co-PI. Gifts and contracts are not eligible for the stipend. This stipend can be combined with the ORSP STARS award stipend.

Grants received between July 1 of previous calendar year and June 31 of current calendar year are eligible for the stipend.

III. Grant Support Course Release NEW in 2023

To support junior and mid-career tenure-track faculty in their externally funded research. The award is intended to provide the faculty with course releases to help fulfill faculty commitment to external funding agency. Please apply upon receiving an eligible external grant/award, no deadline.

Eligibility: Assistant and associate professors who have not previously received external funding. The award shall have an annual budget of at least $25,000/co-PI but smaller than $100,000/co-PI. For the Arts and Humanities, the lower limit is $5000/co-PI. Gifts and contracts are not eligible. This is a one-time-only award that is intended to help a faculty member secure a bigger budget grant. The award can be combined with other college awards.

Application procedure:

• A faculty member sends a request with the information about secured grant and history of external funding to the chair of the department.
• The chair writes a memo that outlines a plan for covering faculty courses.
• The Dean or designee reviews the request and makes a decision.

IV. Top Book Stipend

A stipend of $500 for publishing a book in the top-rated* publishing agency. Not more than three such stipends will be given in one year.

The stipend will be paid when the book is officially and finally accepted for publication. Revisions, resubmissions, and conditional acceptances will not count until the publication is fully accepted or appears in print.

Co-authored book will be treated as if each author were independent, i.e. each COAS co-author will receive the full stipend.

The stipend will only be made for publications that are original research publications. Case studies, pedagogical books will not be eligible.

This stipend can be combined with the ORSP STARS award stipend.

V. Top Artistic Competition Stipend

A stipend of $500/competition for wining in the top-rated juried exhibition or performance*. No more than three such stipends will be given in one year.

*Every year ORSP awards Best Monograph/Artistic Scholarship award. The award is selected by the committee that is put together by the COAS Associate Dean for Faculty Advancement. The committee
finished its deliberations before the STARS ceremony in April. The same committee will select the Best Book and Best Artistic Competition stipend awardees. The committee will consist of representatives of the nominees' departments.

The following procedure should help identify the Top Book/Artistic Competition awardees:

1. By the March 27, 2024 deadline, the faculty member who wishes to be eligible for the Top Book/Artistic Competition stipend submits a short written review of the book/competition to their department chair that makes the case for why they should be considered for the
2. The books published between October 1st of the previous calendar year and October 1st of the current calendar year and the competitions that took place between October 1st of the previous calendar year and October 1st of the current calendar year are
3. On or before April 15 the department chair will review and rank the departmental requests and forward the ranked requests to the Dean or designee.
4. Immediately after receiving these requests, the Dean or designee will forward the requests to the Best Monograph/Artistic Scholarship Award selection committee. If needed additional committee members will be added to the disciplines. The committee will review the applications and select the awardees who will be announced on or before December 1st of the current calendar year.

VI. Open access publication fees

• Faculty submits the information about accepted publication to the chair of the department.
• The chair reviews the application and forwards it to the Dean or designee if approved.
• The Dean or designee reviews the request and, if approved, forwards it to the VP for Research for the final decision.

2022-2023 Award Recipients

COAS STARS Awardees

• Paul Fuglestad, Psychology: High-Impact Research Article Award
• Jonathan Matheson, Philosophy & Religious Studies: High-Impact Research Article Award
• Heather Truelove, Psychology: High-Impact Research Article Award
• Chris Kelso, Physics: High-Impact Research Article Award
• Laura Heffernan, English: Best Scholarly Monograph Award 
• Jenny Stuber, Sociology, Anthropology & Social Work: Best Scholarly Monograph Award 
• Eric Johnson, Biology: Principal investigator with 5 years of continuous funding
• Michael Binder, Political Science & Public Administration: Principal investigators who obtained research funding of $250,000 or more in one fiscal year
• Jodi Nicholson-Bell, Psychology: Platinum Stars 2019-2020

Top Artistic Competition Stipend

• Andrea Venet, School of Music: Commissioned to compose two pieces for percussion, both written for and to be premiered at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC)

Top Book Stipend

• Josh Gellers, Political Science & Public Administration: Rights for Robots: Artificial Intelligence, Animal and Environmental Law

Top External Grant 

• Amy Lane, Chemistry: RUI: Biosynthetic Diversification of Diketopiperazine Natural Products 
• Holly Miller, Criminology & Criminal Justice: TASC MAT Program for Opioid Disorders During Reentry
• Mitch Miller, Criminology & Criminal Justice: TASC MAT Program for Opioid Disorders During Reentry
• Jason Haraldsen, Physics: Undergraduate Research Education Program in Materials: Theoretical and Computational Investigations of Correlated Electron Materials 
• Dan Santavicca, Physics: MRI: Acquisition of a Magnetron Sputtering Thin Film Deposition System for Research and Teaching at the University of North Florida 
• Maitri Warusawithana, Physics: MRI: Acquisition of a Magnetron Sputtering Thin Film Deposition System for Research and Teaching at the University of North Florida
• Gregory Wurtz, Physics: MRI: Acquisition of a Magnetron Sputtering Thin Film Deposition System for Research and Teaching at the University of North Florida
• Jody Nicholson, Psychology: Cognitive Training to Reduce Incidence of Cognitive Impairment in Older Adults 

Open Access Fee Support

• Bryan Knuckley, Chemistry: Journal of Biological Chemistry 
• Joe Butler & Michelle DeDeo, Mathematics & Statistics and Biology: Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution - Behavioral and Evolutionary Ecology
• Nick DeVillers, English: Subvention for a book published by the Minnesota Press

2021–2022 Award Recipients

• Dale Casamatta, Biology: Top External Grant Stipend
• Jim Gelsleichter, Biology: Top External Grant Stipend
• Matt Gilg, Biology: Top External Grant Stipend
• Frank Smith, Biology: Principal investigators who obtained research funding of $250,000 or more in one fiscal year
• Kelly Smith, Biology: Principal investigator with 5 years of continuous funding
• Candice Tahimic, Biology: Top External Grant Stipend
• Bryan Knuckley, Chemistry: Principal investigators who obtained research funding of $250,000 or more in one fiscal year
• Amy Lane, Chemistry: Top External Grant Stipend
• Barry Albright, Physics: Best Scholarly Monograph Award
• Jason Haraldsen, Physics: Top External Grant Stipend
• Nirmal Patel, Physics: Faculty awarded patent by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
• Dan Santavicca, Physics: High-Impact Research Article Awar
• Bart Welling, Philosophy and Religious Studies: High-Impact Research Article Award
• Mike Binder, Political Science and Public Administration: Principal investigators who obtained research funding of $250,000 or more in one fiscal year
• Jody Nicholson, Psychology: Top External Grant Stipend
• Heather Truelove, Psychology: Top External Grant Stipend
• Curtis Phills, Psychology: High-Impact Research Article Award