PRO Award Information

Overview

SF Provost’s Research Opportunity (PRO) Award Santa Fe College is committed to providing its students with the opportunity to work on research and creative scholarly projects in a mentor-ship relationship with SF faculty. To help offset costs, students and their faculty mentors are invited to apply for a SF Provost’s Research Opportunity (PRO) Award.

For a copy of the application, please contact Ramona Miller-Ridlon at ramona.miller-ridlon@sfcollege.edu or Claire Orenduff at claire.orenduff@sfcollege.edu.

Each project may receive up to $1000 from this award. Funds from the award may be used for equipment, supplies, and travel necessary for conducting the research/creative project and for disseminating the results of the project. While SF supports scholarship on a wide variety of subjects, funding priority will be given to award proposals that support College initiatives—East Gainesville Initiative, International Education, My Brother’s Keeper, and Sustainability—and that correspond to the mission and goals of the College’s Division of Academic Affairs—especially, Alternative Learning Environments, Practical Liberal Education, and Leveraging the College’s Strengths and Opportunities.

Please note that all travel requests must follow Student Life travel guidelines (https://www.sfcollege.edu/finance/travel/travel-guide.html), and are contingent on funding from Student Life or the Honors Program. A faculty member typically will be expected to accompany the student.

To apply for an award, student(s) must:

  • Be in good academic standing and have at least a cumulative 2.5 GPA
  • Be mentored by a full-time or part-time SF faculty member during the award period and for the purposes of completing the project
  • Submit to the Research in Undergraduate Education Workgroup by the application deadline, a completed application and proposal, along with the required number of copies, in accordance with specific instructions for Research and for Creative Project award proposals
  • Agree to present the research/creative project at the 2019 SF Research and Creative Projects Festival

Proposals will be reviewed by the Research in Undergraduate Education (RUE) Workgroup, which will make final award decisions. Awards will be administered through the Office of Academic Affairs.

Proposal Requirements: Creative Projects (including fine arts, creative writing, digital media, film, reproductions and models, etc.) By the appropriate deadline, please submit to the Research in Undergraduate Education Workgroup five copies except where noted of the following:

  1. Completed Application Form
  2. Project Proposal
    1. In a maximum of five pages using 12 pt font and 1-inch margins, your proposal must include:
      1. a clearly stated goal (or concept) of the project indicating the potential significance of the project and its potential impact on the student and the audience
      2. a detailed description of the project, including the process / work plan and a timeline with proposed deadlines
      3. projected venue(s) of presentation/exhibition/performance of the work
      4. support materials, as appropriate (e.g. a review of the literature, visual support materials, etc.)
      5. budget narrative that details and justifies all proposed expenditures
      6. relevant work sample (only one copy is required).  Examples include: maquettes, drawings, or conceptual models of the proposed project; portfolio of artwork; sound recording or video of previous performances; choreography; portfolio of musical scores; play or screenplay; portfolio of set, costume, or technical theater designs; previous film or video; etc.
  4. Signed Letter of Support from Faculty Mentor, indicating extent of support and collaboration with student on proposed project, value to student learning, specific learning objectives, and a statement of the likelihood the project results will be disseminated as projected in the proposal (maximum length: two pages using 12 pt font and 1-inch margins).  If the project is part of an independent study, include a completed Individual Study Request form. This form does not have to be submitted to the College until the beginning of the semester the independent study is to be completed.

Evaluation Criteria

  1. Quality of Proposal (70%)
    1. Clarity of goal (or concept), potential significance of project, potential impact on the student
    2. Project description, including appropriateness of its process and time line
    3. Likelihood that results of project will be disseminated via projected venue(s) of presentation/exhibition/performance/publication of the work
    4. Quality of support materials, as appropriate (e.g. a review of the literature, visual support materials, etc.)
    5. Appropriateness of proposed budget for accomplishing project goals
    6. Quality and Relevance of Work Sample
  1. Extent of support and collaboration with faculty mentor and articulation of student learning goals and objectives (30%)

Proposal Requirements: Research (including experiments, field study, papers, etc.) By the appropriate deadline, please submit to the Research in Undergraduate Education Workgroup five copies of the following:

  1. Completed Application Form
  2. Project Proposal
    1. In a maximum of five pages using 12 pt font and 1-inch margins, your proposal must include:
      1. definition of the problem
      2. preliminary review of the literature
      3. specific hypothesis and connection to literature review
      4. methodology / proposed experimental design
      5. timeline with proposed deadlines
      6. budget narrative that details and justifies all proposed expenditures
  4. Signed Letter of Support from Faculty Mentor, indicating extent of support and collaboration with student on proposed project, value to student learning, specific learning objectives, and a statement of the likelihood the project can be completed as proposed (maximum length: two pages using 12 pt font and 1-inch margins). If the project is part of an independent study, include a completed Individual Study Request form.  The form does not have to be submitted to the College until the beginning of the semester the independent study is to be completed.

Evaluation Criteria

Proposals will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

  1. Quality and significance of the proposed research (70%)
    1. Definition of the problem
    2. Preliminary review of the literature
    3. Validity of the connection between hypothesis and literature review
    4. Soundness of the methodology
    5. Feasibility of completing the project within the proposed timeline
    6. Appropriateness of proposed budget request and capability of the student to complete the research with available resources
  3. Extent of support and collaboration with faculty mentor and articulation of student learning goals and objectives (30%)

The Award Review Process

The Award Review Committee (ARC) consists of 1 RUE Workgroup Co-Chair (non-voting), 1 RUE workgroup Co-Chair (voting), 1 RUE Workgroup Fine/Liberal Arts representative, 1 RUE Workgroup Sciences/Mathematics/Technical Programs representative, and 1 Academic Affairs representative.

All award proposals are reviewed following the application deadline. Once the deadline has passed, copies of the proposals are distributed to the ARC members. After two to three weeks for individual review, ARC members submit their numerical ratings to the non-voting RUE Workgroup Co-Chair to average. The ARC then meets to consider and discuss proposals.
During this meeting, the student / faculty mentor applicants and their department chair / program director may offer comments and further explanation of the project.

Following all comments, the ARC members may re-rate proposals. The ARC then prepares a ranked list of projects and the amounts funded. The ARC may make one of three decisions:

  1. Fund in full as proposed
  2. Partial funding
  3. Revise and resubmit

The amount of funding available for projects and the number of projects funded is contingent upon the number and quality of proposals received and Academic Affairs budget availability.

All proposals which are not approved for funding may be revised and resubmitted at a future deadline. Applicants not approved for funding may request an evaluation of their proposal, to include comments about the merits and weaknesses of the application.

Proposals which are funded will be administered through the Office of Academic Affairs.  Funds will be available as reimbursements for expenses accrued. Receipts are required for reimbursement. NOTE: Equipment purchased with award funds becomes the property of the Department and the College.

In accepting award funds, the applicants agree to present the research/creative project at the 2019 SF Research and Creative Projects Festival and to complete a Post-Award Self-Evaluation within two months of completion of the project. Failure to present at the festival or to  complete the self-evaluation will result in suspension from future award consideration for the student and the faculty mentor.

Deadlines

Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis throughout the semester.