Seminar outlines research options for faculty

The Office of Research and Sponsored Programs made CMU faculty and
staff members aware of available funds during a seminar Friday.

Three ORSP program officers – Deborah Clark, Mary Montoye and Craig
Reynolds – hosted “What ORSP Can Do For You” in the Bovee University
Center Isabella Room, using a PowerPoint presentation to outline
various options for internal funding, external funding and intellectual
property.

English Professor Stephenie Young attended Friday’s workshop seeking
options for funding her planned trip next summer to South American
libraries in order to research her book on Andean women’s writing in
Chile and Peru.

“It’s very helpful to see what they’re offering,” she said. “It’s
very difficult to get external funding for humanities so we have to be
looking for our options.”

The seminar began with a description of the grant process.

When a faculty or staff member submits an idea proposal, it is
reviewed and recommended by an ORSP program officer before funds are
awarded by a sponsoring agency and used by the faculty or staff member
to carry out their project.

“Everything begins and ends with the faculty or staff member,”
Reynolds said.

The seminar also offered advice for writing proposals for internal
support, including using standard margins and type size and fully
defining necessary technical or specialized terms.

The difference between a contract – CMU has little discretion on
activities and outcomes usually benefiting the sponsor – and a grant –
CMU has a reasonable amount of discretion on activities and outcomes
usually benefiting CMU or the general public – also was defined.

Pre-award contract services, including contract review and
negotiation, were also described.

“We were actually a little bit surprised at how much they help you
through the whole process,” Young said.

Foreign Languages Professor Christi Brookes attended seeking
information on a Faculty Research and Creative Endeavors Program grant.

“I’m going to support archival research in Paris next summer so I
need money to pay for travel costs and hours of reproduction of
material,” she said.

Each program officer is responsible for grants going towards
specific colleges at the university. Reynolds is responsible for grants
used by the College of Science and Technology.

“The folks that were in attendance seemed to benefit from the
information, so I think it went well,” he said.

Reynolds said ORSP tries to hold the seminar once a semester.

“We want to give the faculty and staff a basic understanding of the
services our office can provide,” he said.