Incentivizing Research

Panel PresentationCADREI

September 28, 2015OLGA M. WELCH

DEAN

Strategies

IT BEGINS WITH A PUBLICLY STATED EXPECTATION THAT EACH FACULTY MEMBER WILL COMPLETE AND DISSEMINATE RESEARCH THAT IS RELATED TO AND INFORMS THEIR TEACHING RESPONSIBILITIES.

IT IS NOT ONLY REQUIRED BY OUR STATE AND NATIONAL ACCREDITORS, BUT IT CONTRIBUTES TO OUR NATIONAL REPUTATION AS WELL AS INDIVIDUAL FACULTY RECOGNITION AND ADVANCEMENT

COMMITMENT TO PROVIDE THE SUPPORT

Examples

a summer grant program to support faculty research activities that faculty can apply for

a research fund available through the associate dean for academic affairs’ office that faculty can apply to at any time (for non-salary items, like survey costs, software and the like)

annual prizes for best research school wide (usually 3-4 awards, depending on the year)…these are monetary

travel support to top conferences to help faculty make connections and such for research

teaching reductions for new TT faculty for the first 3 years

2 faculty fellowships that go to existing faculty who are tenured and doing some great research…we have two such rotating positions (faculty can hold these for 3 years)

Examples (Continued)

PUBLICLY CELEBRATE THE SUCCESS OF COLLEAGUES IN FACULTY MEETINGS

FEATURE FACULTY MEMBER RESEARCH IN PUBLIC RELATIONS CAMPAIGNS IN CREATIVE WAYS/ALIGN WITH MISSION OF THE SCHOOL AND THE STAKEHOLDERS IT SERVES

ENCOURAGE INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH/WITHIN AND OUTSIDE OF THE SCHOOL/COLLEGE-CAMPAIGN FOR FOUNDATION/UNIVERSITY SUPPORT

Faculty Workload & Incentives Two year research start-up package ($15,000- $20,000)

Teach 12 quarter credits (10 week terms) per year

Equivalent to 4 courses

Teaching downloads with funding

One two light quarters depending on funding

10% salary increase incentive with first federal grant as Primary Investigator (PI)

Faculty Support & Mentoring

Two Interdisciplinary Research Units (IRU)

Peer Mentoring Groups

Business Manager (Grant Budgeting Pre & Post Award)

Library Search Assistance

Editing Services

Pre-Submission Review of Grant Proposal by National Experts

Co-op Research Assistant (RA for one day per week)

Faculty Development (One-month new faculty orientation, mentor, conference support, statistical support)

CHALLENGES

BUILDING A COLLEGEIAL CULTURE THAT ENCOURAGES COLLABORATION RATHER THAN COMPETITION

EQUALITY IN THE DISTRIBUTION OF SUPPORT-SCHOLARSHIP RECONSIDERED ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL!!

SHARING THE WEALTH- BUILDING THE RRSEARCH CAPACITY AT ALL LEVELS-ASSISTANT/ASSOCIATE/FULL PROFESSOR

ENSURING CONTINUED UNIVERSITY “BUY-IN” AND COMMITMENT TO INVESTING IN THE SCHOOL’S WORK

ENLIGHTENED SELF-INTEREST “TRUMPS” EVERYTHING!!