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Happy New Year friends and colleagues,
I sincerely hope you had a restful and rejuvenating break. I can't help but feel a great sense of hope and even excitement for all that 2021 will bring – from another round of Faculty Research Lightning Talks (Feb 4th) to new collaborations with the Data Science Working Group (Mar 2nd). I look forward to learning from the experiences of SU faculty who have served on review panels (Feb 25th), welcoming an NEH Program Officer "to campus" (via Zoom on Mar 9th), and preparing our budget and grant managers for a transition to compensation review to replace our federal effort reporting process (Feb 12th).
We are encouraged by your commitment to developing your research agendas, submitting grant proposals, your resilience in adapting and re-adapting project plans, and engagement with our fall activities despite the competing (and draining) demands that 2020 required.
Wishing you a hopeful and healthy new year and we look forward to 'seeing' you soon!
Jenna Isakson, MPA
Director, Office of Sponsored Projects
isaksonj@seattleu.edu
− Upcoming OSP Events
− Recent OSP Events – Materials Available
− New OSP Resources
− New Funds Awarded
− Sponsored Projects Highlights
− SU Policy Updates
− Sponsor Updates
− Other Programming to Support Faculty Research
Please join us for Winter Quarter’s Lightning Talks to learn more about your colleagues’ scholarship and make inter-disciplinary connections! Seven faculty from across campus will present their work, with this round’s theme of anti-racist scholarship. Our presenters include:
− Lisa Abel, College of Nursing
− Robert Chang, School of Law
− Charisse Cowan-Pitre, College of Education
− Anne Farina, College of Arts and Sciences
− Jasmine Mahmoud, College of Arts and Sciences
− McLean Sloughter, College of Science and Engineering
− Erin Vernon, Albers School of Business and Economics
Please RSVP here by Thurs, January 28th and/or direct any questions to osp@seattleu.edu
Please join us as we learn from the experiences of five SU faculty members who have recently served on grant review panels for internal and external sponsors, including the SU Summer Faculty Fellowship, the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the Fulbright Foundation. The session will begin with a brief ‘mini-seminar’ introducing typical elements of the review process, discussing how serving as a reviewer can improve your own grant writing, and providing tips for being an effective reviewer. Panelists will then share insights from their experiences, including observations about the characteristics that set successful proposals apart in the review process and how serving as a reviewer has informed their own scholarship. Faculty who will be graciously sharing their insights are:
− John Carter, Professor of Mathematics, Fulbright Scholar Program reviewer
− Kathleen Cook, Professor of Psychology, NSF reviewer
− Yen-Lin Han, Associate Professor of Mechanical and Engineering, NSF reviewer
− Matt Isaac, Professor of Marketing, 2021 Summer Faculty Fellowship Review Committee Chair
− Kerry Soo Von Esch, Assistant Professor of Education, NSF reviewer
Please RSVP here by Tues, February 23rd and/or direct any questions to osp@seattleu.edu.
In collaboration with the Associate Controller, we are excited to announce the transition from traditional effort reporting to a review of compensation charges. This new process is being enacted to reduce burden and confusion in the certification of publicly-funded compensation and will be reviewed in detail in this session. Additionally, we’ll share our regular OSP quarterly updates and
provide time for questions and community. All budget managers and other staff supporting grants are welcome to attend!
Please RSVP here and/or direct any questions to osp@seattleu.edu.
Visualizing data is a key tool in data-informed research. Well-developed graphs help investigators to understand data and formulate new research questions, and enable clear and quick communication of interesting findings. While Excel is commonly used to graph data, it has limited data visualization functionality. SPSS – a statistical software package that employs a spreadsheet interface similar to Excel and is available to SU faculty, staff and students through the SU virtual desktop (desktop.seattleu.edu) – offers far richer options for data visualization and analysis. This workshop will cover the underlying principles of what makes for good and useful data visualization, as well as how to create effective visualizations in SPSS. We will first explore several standard types of graphs and discuss how to decide which are appropriate for a given data set, then learn how to use SPSS to create them. The workshop will include both SPSS demonstrations as well as time for participants to try SPSS for themselves. Though example data sets will be provided, participants are welcome to bring data from their own projects if they would like help in getting started on visualizations! The workshop is designed to be entry-level; No prior experience in statistics or data visualization is required.
Please RSVP here and/or direct any questions to sloughtj@seattleu.edu.
A recording of OSP’s first event of the year featuring SU faculty from a range of disciplines and career stages who shared the ‘pathways’ they have followed in developing their research programs and the ways in which external funding has shaped their trajectories is available here. Thank you to faculty panelists – Elizabeth Dale (Arts & Sciences), Matt Hickman (Arts & Sciences), Kristin Hultgren (Science & Engineering), and Mo Sin (Nursing) – for sharing their experience sand perspective! The program also featured a ‘mini’-workshop by OSP staff offering practical tools to support developing a research ‘roadmap’ and funding plan that maps research interests, capacities, and potential funding opportunities to identify pathways for achieving near- and long-term goals. Materials – including slides, resource sheet, and templates – are available here.
OSP and the College of Education partnered to facilitate this event, which featured quick 10-minute sessions in which faculty members shared their research agendas and external funding needs with staff from OSP, the Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations and the College of Education’s Development Director. Nearly 25 funding opportunities have been shared with the faculty as we continue to develop strategies and refine projects. If your department or college is interested in hosting a similar event, please contact osp@seattleu.edu
On October 22nd, 14 faculty from across campus came together with the OSP, Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations, and Lemieux Library to share their racial justice-focused scholarship and learn about the public and private landscape in this area. We invite you to explore the Racial and Social Justice Funding Guide, which outlines funding opportunities that support justice-oriented scholarship, as well as information on being an ‘equity-minded’ scholar and resources to support your scholarship.
On November 4th, OSP hosted seven faculty members from across campus to share their work as 2020 Summer Faculty Fellows. Special thanks to Brooke Coleman (Law), Rosa Joshi (Arts & Sciences), Ashli Tyre (Education), Kirsten Thompson (Arts & Sciences), Kumhee Ro (Nursing), Phil Thompson (Science and Engineering), and Kathryn Bollich-Ziegler (Arts & Sciences) for their engaging presentations. Videos of each talk are available here on Seattle University’s ScholarWorks.
The fall Peer Learning Group provided an opportunity for budget managers and staff supporting grants to explore the breadth of information, process descriptions, forms, and other resources available on the OSP website. Slides are available here, along with the fun (and fictional) ‘Mad Libs’-style activity participants worked on collaboratively in order to assist Rudy Redhawk with post-award support of the National Mascot Foundation sponsored project (here).
A number of new resources to support faculty in developing their research and preparing proposals are available on the OSP website. We hope you will find them helpful for independent work, and/or as tools to support conversations with your Sponsored Research Officer!
− Research Development Resources
− Tools for developing a Research Funding Roadmap, including Research Logic Model and Funding Plan templates and additional resources
− National Science Foundation (NSF) Proposal Development Guide, including NSF proposal checklist, templates, NSF proposal development and submission guidance, and other relevant links and resources
− National Institutes of Health (NIH) Proposal Development Guide, including NIH Academic Research Enhancement (AREA) Award Proposal Checklist and other NIH proposal development and submission guidance and resources
Congratulations to the below investigators who were recently awarded funding to support Seattle University research and initiatives*!
Kent Koth | Seattle University Youth Initiative | The Ballmer Group (renewal)
Jacqueline Helfgott | South King County Pre-Trial Assessment and Linkages Services (PALS) Program Evaluation | King County Adult and Juvenile Detention (extension)
Rachel E. Luft | Healing Justice: Emergent Wellbeing Practices in Social Justice Movements | Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (supplement)
Kerry Soo Von Esch, Charisse Cowan Pitre, and Neria Sebastien | Collectivized Teacher-Led Spaces to Empower and Support Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) Equity Educators | Washington State Professional Educator Standards Board
Colleen Montoya Barbano | Seattle University Fostering Scholars Student Support | Alfred & Tillie Shemanski Testamentary Trust (renewal)
Cindy Yeung | Moderate Means Program | Washington State Bar Association (renewal)
Michael Trice | Seattle University Center for Religious Wisdom & World Affairs | Alfred & Tillie Shemanski Testamentary Trust (renewal)
Lauren Johnson and Duron Jones | Albers Summer Business Institute 2020 | BECU Foundation
In addition to the above awardees, we would like to congratulate investigators from the seven colleges, schools, programs, and centers who submitted 18 proposals this quarter! We commend SU investigators’ commitment in these most challenging times.
*Note: This list comprises all new and renewed sponsored projects awarded in the second quarter of the current fiscal year (Oct 1-Dec 31, 2020). For a complete list of funds awarded in previous fiscal quarters, please see past OSP Observers, here.
Colleen Montoya Barbano, Director, Fostering Scholars Program Alfred & Tillie Shemanski Testamentary Trust
Michael Trice, Professor, School of Theology & Ministry and Director, Center for Religious Wisdom and World Affairs Alfred & Tillie Shemanski Testamentary Trust
Congratulations to Michael Trice (Center for Religious Wisdom and World Affairs) and Colleen Montoya Barbano (Fostering Scholars Program) who were recently awarded grants from the Alfred & Tillie Shemanski Testamentary Trust, whose philanthropic mission focuses on supporting interfaith tolerance and understanding and promoting quality educational, human services and health care programming for economically challenged individuals . These two recent awards continue the Shemanski Trust’s generous and long-standing– over 50 years – support of initiatives and student scholarships at Seattle University, including 15 years dedicated to interreligious engagement.
The Trust has provided vital funding to establishing and expanding the current Interreligious Initiative, a program launched five years ago in the Center for Religious Wisdom & World Affairs. The new initiative focuses on creating tools and opportunities for dialogue that reveal interreligious and intercultural connections and shape theological education. This year’s support will enable the Initiative to create curriculum for two university core courses, and to produce weekly podcasts with partners around the world that explore the wisdom of religious traditions and spiritual pathways in responding to societal challenges.
Continued funding from the Trust, including this year’s award, will also sustain the Seattle University Fostering Scholars Program, which provides critical financial, academic, and personal support to current and former foster youth who face enormous barriers to success. As the first program of its kind in Washington State and a national model, Fostering Scholars serves cohorts of 18 to 23 scholars in achieving their life-changing goal of earning a college degree. With the generous funding from the Shemanski Trust, students in the Fostering Scholars program will continue to receive full scholarships that cover the comprehensive costs of attending SU (tuition, books, supplies, healthcare, and year-round housing). Scholarship funds are complemented with wrap-around, personalized academic and social support, advocacy, and mentoring.
Congratulations again to Michael and Colleen – as well as their partners in Corporate & Foundation Relations and University Advancement – and to the Shemanski Trust for their continued support of the Interreligious initiative and Fostering Scholars program!
Check out the “News & Awards” page on the OSP website to learn more about current research activity at SU, including external grants awarded to SU investigators. In particular, check out links to recent SU Newsroom articles about the following externally-funded investigators:
− College of Education Professors Kerry Soo Von Esch, Charisse Cowan-Pitre, and Neria Sebastien’s recent State of Washington Professional Standards Boards grant [article]
− Associate Professor of Biology Kristin Hultgren’s ongoing research with SU undergraduates supported by the National Science Foundation [article]
− Associate Professor of Sociology Rachel E. Luft’s supplemental grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation [article]
− The Center for Community Engagement team’s (led by Director of Educational Partnerships Colina Bruce) recent Safeco Insurance Fund award supporting the Redhawk Mentoring Program [article]
− And more!
OSP continues to be available to support investigators in understanding implications of ongoing and evolving impacts of COVID-19. In addition to the OSP homepage – which provides an up-to-date and comprehensive inventory of SU and sponsor policies and guidance – your Sponsored Research Officer is able to help think through approaches to addressing challenges associated with managing current awards and pursuing new opportunities, as well as to work with funding agencies as needed.
SU has announced that all non-essential travel is restricted through June 30, 2021, including travel related to sponsored projects. Additional information about travel restrictions can be found on the SU Travel Cancellation FAQs.
In accordance with the City of Seattle Minimum Wage law, all new student hires will start at the 2021 minimum wage of $16.69 per hour effective January 1, 2021. Additional information is available on the Seattle University Student Financial Services Student Employment website.
Effective October 5, 2020, the NSF requires that all Principal Investigators (PIs) of current NSF awards report on whether there have been any changes to the PI(s)’s active other support. If a change is reported, the PI(s) will be required to upload an up-to-date Current and Pending Support document to Research.gov in one of two NSF-approved formats. More information about reporting Current and Pending Effort can be found here.
Slides and recordings from the recent NSF Virtual Conference are available here. Sessions that may be of particular interest to SU faculty include those on the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) and Facilitating Research at Undergraduate Institutions (RUI) Programs (here), the Major Research Instrumentation Program (here) and the NSF Merit Review Process (here). These and many other NSF resources are available on the OSP website (here).
National Institutes of Health (NIH) Virtual Regional Seminar Materials Available
Slides and recordings from the recent National Institutes of Health Virtual Seminar are now available here. Sessions that may be of particular interest to SU faculty include those on the Academic Research Enhancement (R15) Award (AREA; here), Fundamentals of NIH Grants Process (here), Overview of NIH Peer Review (here), and Grant Writing for Success (here). These and many other NIH resources are also available on the OSP website here.
OSP highly recommends any SU faculty interested in pursuing funding from the Ford Foundation view this panel of recent Ford awardees from Carleton College, Williams College, and Vassar College who shared their advice for faculty at peer institutions (here).
The Center for Faculty Development is hosting several virtual workshops in Winter quarter as part of their regular series, all of which offer excellent opportunities for professional and personal growth. The following are particularly helpful in supporting faculty research and scholarship:
Wednesdays: January 13th, January 27th, and February 10th (2:30-3:30pm
Affinity Group for Tenure-Track Faculty of Color
Tuesdays: January 19th, February 9th, and March 9th (1:30-2:45pm)
Mon, February 1st (2:00-3:20pm)
Full descriptions of these events can be found on the CFD website. Registration for all events is here.
The National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity (NCFDD) – an organization dedicated to advancing diversity in academia and supporting faculty in successfully navigating academic careers – provides many excellent resources, all of which are available to faculty through SU’s institutional membership. Instructions for activating your NCFDD membership are provided by the SU Center for Faculty Development here. Four upcoming programs that may be of interest to SU faculty are:
Every Semester Needs a Plan – Led by Dr. Anthony Ocampo, Associate Professor of Sociology at California State Polytechnic University
Thurs, January 14th (11:00-12:00pm) – More information and registration here.
Turning Chutes into Ladders for Women Faculty: A Roadmap to Equity in Academia – Led by Dr. Michelle Cardel, Assistant Prof. of Health Outcomes at the University of Florida
Tues, January 26th (11:00-12:00pm) – More information and registration here.
How to Align your Time with your Priorities – Led by Dr. Rachel McLaren, Prof. at University of Iowa
Thurs, February 11th (11:00-12:00pm) – More information and registration here.
Navigating Faculty Career Transitions: Getting to Mid-Career and Beyond – Led by Dr. Lisa Wolf-Wendel, Prof. of Higher Education at University of Kansas
Tues, March 23rd (11:00-12:00pm) – More information and registration here.
The Office of Sponsored Projects is here to help!
We are here to support the full life-cycle of your research and scholarship – from identifying funding opportunities and creating a research plan, developing and submitting competitive proposals, and managing awards. Please reach out to us to request a consultation, notify us of your intent to apply for a funding opportunity, or for help with managing your award!
Your OSP support team:
Sarah Bricknell, MBA Sponsored Research Officer Supports CAS, CCE, COE, |
Kara Luckey, PhD Sponsored Research Officer Supports ALB, CSE (not Bio), CON & Institutional Efforts |
Gabrielle Mitrak Senior Administrative Assistant |
Jenna Isakson, MPA Director |
Please direct any suggestions about how we can make the quarterly OSP Observer most useful to Kara Luckey – we welcome your thoughts!