Job Description

As the IAH’s most flexible and responsive grant opportunity for faculty, Empowerment Grants are small (up to $3,000) grants to support research, teaching, travel, conference registration, events, visiting speakers, and more, with minimal restrictions on expenses.

Empowerment Grants have replaced the sponsorship request process at the IAH and are evaluated on a case-by-case basis. If you are planning an event on or near campus that focuses on the arts, humanities, or qualitative social sciences, please consider applying for an Empowerment Grant for support. Such events may include academic workshops, panels, lectures, visiting speakers, conferences, and film screenings.

In addition to travel, research, and events, Empowerment Grants may be used to support course development and other pedagogical activities. If you are interested in funding from the Fixed-Term Faculty Support Grant, please note that funding is now available through this grant. However, Empowerment Grants are not intended to cover the entire cost of a project, and applicants should apply widely for funding. Eligible applicants are encouraged to contact the College of Arts and Sciences for conference travel support and the Center for Faculty Excellence for course development funding.

Through Empowerment Grants, the IAH serves its mission by offering a nimbler funding landscape for faculty who have financial needs that are not adequately served by existing opportunities on campus.

Qualifications

All full-time, permanent faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences, including tenure stream and teaching-track, are eligible to apply. Eligible projects must align with the mission of the Institute for the Arts and Humanities and have a clear connection to the arts, humanities, or qualitative social sciences.

Preference may be given to applicants who have not received funding from the Institute for the Arts and Humanities within the last academic year and those who do not have existing research funding.

The Institute for the Arts and Humanities encourages all applicants to seek additional sources of funding for their project as the amount available through the Empowerment Grant may not fully cover the cost of the project or activity.

Funding Guidelines

If awarded in the fall semester, funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. If awarded in the spring semester, funds will expire at the end of the following fiscal year. One extension request will be considered. Extension requests must be submitted to the IAH in writing prior to the expiration of funds and include a justification.

Appropriate expenses

• Domestic and international research or conference participation, including travel, accommodation, and registration fees
• Professional development activities
• Hosting a conference, lecture, or symposium, exhibition, or workshop, specifically expenses associated with venue rental, catering, travel, and speaker fees
• Course development, especially supplies and meeting expenses. Team-taught courses are encouraged
• Student research assistant stipends, inclusive of fringe
• Research-related books, materials, software, and supplies

Inappropriate expenses

• Personal use
• Regular, base, or summer salary or any administrative supplements
• Expenses related to publication, including image licensing fees, copyediting, professional indexing, publisher subvention, and open access publication subvention. (For these expenses, please apply for the Arts and Humanities Publication Support Grant.)

Reporting and Acknowledgement Requirements

Recipients are asked to acknowledge the Institute for the Arts and Humanities in any publications that result with the support of IAH funding.

The IAH will request a one-page summary of the awardee’s project, general expenditures, and the work enabled by this assistance at the end of the funding period.

Application Instructions

There are three annual deadlines for Empowerment Grants: fall break, early in the spring semester, and spring break.

Faculty should complete an application in Interfolio, which includes:

1. Project or Request Title
2. Type of activity or expense: Research (including student assistants), Conference Participation, Professional Development, Course Development, Event Sponsorship, Other
3. Brief statement on how the proposed project will support career advancement (250 words)
4. Provide information on all sources of funding that you have or are seeking. Please include the balance of your research funds
5. Document upload: A narrative proposal detailing the problem, goals, anticipated outcomes, and how it will benefit your scholarship or professional development (570 words)
6. Document upload: Current CV (5 pages max.)
7. Document upload: Itemized budget with justification (up to $3,000)

Applicants will receive a notification within four weeks of the deadline.