Bluenotes GLOBAL 2023
2023 Explorance Faculty Research Grant Call for Applications

calendarFinal Submission Due: 5PM, December 7, 2022 Eastern Standard Time

The faculty research grant initiative for the Bluenotes GLOBAL 2022 was a great success. Presentations by faculty research grant recipients were one of the highlights of the conference. Explorance will continue the faculty research grant initiative for the upcoming Bluenotes GLOBAL 2023 conference.

Explorance has committed a total of $100,000 USD to be awarded to faculty in Bluenotes Community institutions, in support of their research using assessment/course evaluation data and/or other student experience data for teaching effectiveness and student success. See below for more details such as key dates, eligibility, double-anonymous review process etc.

Sponsored by Explorance

2023 Explorance Faculty Research Grants: Overview

The faculty grant initiative for the Bluenotes GLOBAL 2022 conference was a great success. Presentations by faculty research grant recipients were one of the highlights of the conference. Because of this, Explorance continues to support the faculty research grant initiative for the upcoming 2023 conference.

Explorance has committed a total of $100,000 USD to be awarded to faculty in Bluenotes Community institutions, in support of their research projects using assessment/course evaluation data and/or other student experience data. Each faculty award will be between $10,000 USD and $13,000 USD. Faculty may use an existing research project or use the funding to support data collection in January 2023. The research grants will be awarded to faculty contingent on the presentation of their research findings at the Bluenotes GLOBAL 2023 conference to be held in Louisville, July 30 through August 2, 2023.

  • Travel and lodging expenses to the Bluenotes GLOBAL 2023 conference at Louisville should be factored into the research project budget.
  • However, as conference registration fees will be waived for faculty presenting research, conference registration fees don’t need to be included in the project budget.

The goal is to have a track dedicated to faculty-led research presentations at the 2023 conference.

Past Explorance Faculty Research Grant Recipients:

KEY DATES – Mark Your Calendar!

KEY DATE TO REMEMBER
September 12, 2022 Call for Applications opens
December 7, 2022, 5PM ET Deadline for faculty research grant application submissions
January 30, 2023 Notification of awards to selected faculty: See the Recipients
April 24, 2023 Progress report due from faculty research grant recipients
May 22, 2023 Presentation proposal (presentation title and description) due for inclusion in Bluenotes GLOBAL 2023 conference program. Submissions made before this due date will be greatly appreciated.
July 30 – August 2, 2023 Bluenotes GLOBAL 2023 Conference
August 9, 2023 Final report due from faculty research grant recipients

Guidelines for Faculty Research Grant Application

  • Faculty in Bluenotes community institutions are eligible to receive a faculty research grant.
    • The principal investigator (PI) must be a full-time faculty member, while collaborators and co-investigators can be non-faculty (program administrators, Blue administrators etc.), in a Bluenotes community academic institution.
  • Faculty research grant proposals should be submitted as PDFs, 3 to 5 pages in length. Proposals must be formatted as follows:
    • Abstract (no more than 500 words)
    • Research Description: Background, Objectives, Research Methodology, Outcomes
    • Timeline
    • Research Team, including faculty principal investigator
    • Budget
    • References
    • Please see FAQ for more details on IRB/REB requirements, lengths, indirect costs, and restrictions on the use of the grant funds.
  • Proposals will be evaluated according to the faculty research grant evaluation rubric, along the dimensions of project description, goals and timeline, contributions to curricular change/student learning/student success, budget, and measurability. See the rubric for the detailed descriptions of scales by each review dimension.
  • Proposals should be submitted by clicking the “Submit Faculty Research Grant Proposal” button.

Faculty research grant proposal review process

  • The Faculty Research Grant Proposal Review Committee, consisting of the Committee Chair, Robert Goldstein at University of Louisville, in addition to 15 to 20 other committee members representing higher education institutions from around the world, will evaluate the submitted proposals based upon the rubric.
  • A double-anonymous review process will be conducted, where each proposal will be anonymized upon receipt by Explorance for review by two different committee members. Scores will be combined for a total overall score. The highest combined total scores will be awarded the grant.
  • Faculty research grant proposal will be 3 to 5 pages in length. Longer proposals will be downgraded with the rubric.
  • Applicants will be notified by the Committee Chair, no later than January 23, 2023, whether or not their submission has been selected to receive a faculty research grant.

Note: Anyone interested in reviewing faculty research grant proposals should contact Robert Goldstein, Vice Provost of Academic Planning and Accountability at the University of Louisville (robert.goldstein@louisville.edu) directly.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is eligible to participate?

Faculty in Bluenotes Community institutions are eligible to receive a faculty research grant. The principal investigator must be a full-time faculty member, while collaborators and co-investigators can be non-faculty (program administrators, Blue administrators etc.), in a Bluenotes Community academic institution.

Can proposals include multiple faculty?

Yes.

Can multiple faculty from the same institution submit independent proposals?

Yes. Multiple faculty from the same institution are eligible to receive grants.

Can funding be used to pay indirect costs?

Yes. Up to 10% of the funding can be used to pay indirect costs. Please include this in your submitted budget proposal.

Is there any penalty if I exceed the page limit of 3 to 5 pages?

Yes. See the NOTE in the rubric.

Do I mention the Institutional Review Board (IRB)/Research Ethic Board (REB) status in the proposal?

Yes. Your research proposal must be in compliance with your institution’s IRB/REB requirements. Please make sure that your timeline in the application includes the time to take proper steps to get your institution’s IRB/REB approval, accordingly. See “II. Goals and Timeline” in the scoring rubric for research ethics board compliance.

How much will each faculty receive in grant money?

The final amount awarded per proposal is contingent upon the total number of accepted proposals. Each faculty grant award will be between $10,000 USD and $13,000 USD per proposal.

Are there any restrictions on the use of the grant funds?

Yes. The grant should be used both for the research proposed but also knowledge transfer from the research, according to the budget specified in your proposal. Please keep in mind that travel expenses must be budgeted by the grant recipient. Award money can be used to fund travel to the Bluenotes GLOBAL 2023 conference. Please note that conference registration fees for award recipients will be waived by Explorance and thus you don’t need to include them in your budget.

What are the requirements for receiving a grant?

Faculty awards are contingent upon the recipient providing a progress report of their research (by April 24, 2023), a presentation for inclusion in the 2023 conference program (by May 22, 2023), and attendance/presentation at the Bluenotes GLOBAL 2023 conference.

Must faculty use Blue to collect and analyze data?

Faculty are encouraged, but not required, to use data collected with Blue or BlueX within the proposal. Explorance is offering faculty a free BlueX survey account to collect data and a free BlueML (Blue Machine Learning) account to analyze comments, for this initiative. BlueX, Explorance’s survey solution for researchers, can be used for the data collection. More details about BlueX and BlueML are available at: https://explorance.com/products/bluex/ and https://explorance.com/products/blueml/. To obtain a free BlueX or BlueML account for your faculty research initiative, please contact Yeona Jang (yjang@explorance.com) at Explorance.

Is this initiative available to faculty at institutions in North America only?

No. Proposals will be accepted for consideration from any institution in the Bluenotes Community, regardless of location.

Can corporate customers participate?

No. Submissions are limited to institutions of Higher Education.

Can faculty grant recipients from the past faculty research grants (in 2020, 2021 and/or 2022) apply for funding?

Yes. Faculty are encouraged to submit an application for the 2023 faculty research grant, including for the continuation of research presented at the Bluenotes GLOBAL 2020 VX, Bluenotes GLOBAL 2021 VX, or Bluenotes GLOBAL 2022.

When will grant funds be distributed by Explorance?

It is assumed that faculty will follow their internal institutional policy on research grant handling. Faculty will work directly with Explorance to have the funds distributed according to any applicable institutional process and policy governing grant awards in their own institutions.

Faculty Research Grant Application Contact:

Yeona Jang (yjang@explorance.com) at Explorance