5.4 Calvin Research Fellowships
5.4.1 The Nature of the Fellowship
Calvin Research Fellowships are intended to help faculty pursue projects of independent scholarship and to aid them in ongoing, continuing, independent research. To qualify as “independent” research or scholarship, scholarly endeavors must not be with a normal part of a faculty member’s assigned teaching responsibilities. Two kinds of Calvin Research Fellowship (CRF) are available, academic-year course reductions and summer support, neither of which will affect the normal sabbatical leave eligibility policy.
- Academic-year course reductions - The reduction of a person’s teaching load; this reduction normally does not exceed two courses per year.
- Summer research support - These awards may include combinations of one- or two-month stipends and/or direct research expenses. The stipend rate and maximum amount of awards are determined by the FDC. The awardees must be on regular appointments and will not teach or accept other employment during the summer without approval of their academic dean. All things being equal, preference will be given to faculty who are not yet eligible to apply for tenure.
5.4.2 Requirements relating to Calvin Research Fellowships
- Fellowships shall be awarded only to faculty members with a record of solid scholarly or artistic achievement (or unusual promise of it) who have a scholarly or artistic project of merit or who continue to have ongoing research projects.
- Ordinarily, a CRF will not be awarded to any faculty member for more than three consecutive years. Though the quality of the proposal remains the most important factor in the decision, in the case where applicants are regarded as equal in quality, applicants who have not received recent CRF support will be given preference.
5.4.3 Eligibility for a Calvin Research Fellowship
Normally, only faculty on regular appointments will be eligible to apply for CRFs. The provost can make exceptions to this policy.
5.4.4 Conditions pertaining to the College
The CRF budget in any given year is determined by the provost, who takes into consideration both the fiscal soundness of the college and the need for faculty development. Depending upon the ability of the college to offer a balanced educational operations budget, it shall be the policy of the college to allocate some of its resources annually for the support of CRFs.
5.4.5 Selection of Fellows
Calvin Research Fellowship applications must be submitted online to the dean for research and scholarship by the posted due date in the academic year prior to the anticipated term of the course release.
The FDC will review CRF applications during the fall semester. The FDC will then report to the PSC its recommendation for or against the approval of each proposed course release. The PSC will review the FDC’s recommendations and make a final recommendation to the president. In consultation with the dean for research and scholarship and the provost and with the advice of the PSC, the president shall present all affirmative recommendations to the Board of Trustees for its action. The total review process shall be completed before or at the February session of the Board prior to the academic year for which the leaves are anticipated. Applicants will be informed of the status of their applications after the PSC review.
In the event that a high-priority, strategic, and time-sensitive research opportunity arises outside of the usual CRF application schedule, a faculty member and department chair may ask the academic dean to petition the Faculty Development Committee, the provost, and the president with an unsolicited CRF proposal. This kind of request will be granted only if the proposal meets the quality standards of the usual CRF application pool and is judged to be “urgent” by those involved in the review process.
5.4.6 Obligations Following a Calvin Research Fellowship
- It is expected that grantees who receive CRFs will continue in their teaching positions at Calvin College. The teaching load required of each grantee during the academic year following that of the CRF is, at minimum, two courses per CRF-funded course release. Grantees who do not fulfill this obligation are required to reimburse the college in full for the salary (not including the cost of benefits) earned under the CRF.
- All publications that result from work done during the course release should acknowledge the support of Calvin College for the project.
- The grantee must submit an online report by August 15 after the end of the course release, detailing results or progress of the project and any related professional gains. This report should be submitted to the dean for research and scholarship who will forward it to the department chair and the academic dean.
- Common courtesy should require some form of acknowledgement to the Board of Trustees. Notes of thanks may be sent via the Office of the President.
