Frequently Asked Questions

Proposal Submission

1. When are the proposals due?

• Proposals are due Wednesday, April 19, 2023 by 11:59 pm.
  

2. How do I submit my proposal?

• Proposals must be submitted online using this link.
• Please prepare your documents and plan to submit all information in one sitting; there is no opportunity to save and return to the proposal.

3. What is required for a complete proposal?

• The submission process requires principal investigators to submit contact information, a campus sponsored programs financial contact, a narrative detailing the program, a budget narrative, a budget template, and a letter of support from their dean and/or department chair. For additional information about what is required, please see the CREATE Awards website, which includes the RFP and proposal guide.

4. What is the proposal guide?

• The proposal guide can be used to help you prepare your responses. Note that the online portal requires you to upload a PDF of your proposal narrative and accompanying documents. It is best to use the proposal guide to help you format your narrative.

5. What does the letter of support from my dean and/or department chair need to say?

• The letter of support should state that the dean and/or department chair is aware of the project and supports your proposal. If funds will be used to offset teaching time and/or be used for a “buy-out", the letter must state that the department will allow this. The letter may also serve as a recommendation, highlighting the accomplishments of the faculty member(s).
• Each principal investigator and co-principal investigator must submit a separate letter of support.

Eligibility

6. Who can serve as a Principal Investigator (PI)?

• Any faculty member, including part-time instructors, lecturers, tenure-track, and tenured faculty are eligible to submit a proposal and serve as a PI. Staff and administrators may not serve as a PI.
• Proposals submitted by teams of faculty should select one faculty member to serve as PI. The PI will serve as the main point of contact and the PI's home campus will receive the subaward and accompanying funds from the Chancellor's Office. Should teams be comprised of faculty from two or more campuses, the PI and the PI's campus will be responsible for issuing any sub-subawards to the co-PI's campus.

7. Can teams of faculty collaborate on a single proposal?

• Proposals can be submitted by one faculty member who will serve as the principal investigator (PI) on behalf of a small team. The PI should include their contact and campus information and include the rest of the team in the space allocated in the proposal form as “co-PIs". In the event that the budget requests faculty buy-outs or other funds to offset teaching schedules, letters of support must indicate this approval.

8. Are lecturers or part-time faculty eligible?

• Lecturers and part-time faculty are eligible to submit a proposal. Given that a letter of support is required from the department chair, the chair will be giving approval of their participation in this grant program. It is also possible to support lecturers' work through funding provided by the grant even if they are not listed as a PI or co-PI.

Funding & Budget

9. What is the funding source of the CREATE Awards Program?

• The Office of the Chancellor secured a grant from the College Futures Foundation to support this program.

10. What are the funding tiers? How many awards will be funded?

• There are three tiers of funding:
1. Tier 1: Budgets ranging from $1 to $50,000 (up to 4 awards available)
2. Tier 2: Budgets ranging from $50,001 to $100,000 (up to 2 awards available)
3. Tier 3: Budgets ranging from $100,001 to $150,000 (up to 2 awards available)
• Budgets do not need to request the full amount within the budget tier. For example, a well-designed, intentional budget of $78,000 may be more likely to be selected for funding than a $99,900 budget that added unnecessary components to the request to “max out" the funding available in the tier.

11. What can I include in my budget?

• This is a competitive grant process, so funds should be allocated judiciously. Allowable expenses include but are not limited to
1. Faculty, staff, and student staff salaries and benefits (e.g., “buy-out");
2. Materials and supplies;
3. Consultants and service contracts;
4. Software;
5. Travel and meeting expenses as directly relevant to the project; and
6. Additional expenses as allowable within campus regulations.
7. Indirect costs (5% MTDC, per the College Futures Foundation policy)
• Funds may not be used to provide scholarships to students.

12. Do I need to submit this proposal through my campus Sponsored Programs/Foundation Office?

• Yes. Please work with your sponsored programs office and follow any campus procedures for applying for grants. They will also help you calculate proper budgets, including salaries, benefits, and indirect costs.

13. Is there a budget template?

• Please download the budget template and submit it with your proposal.

14. What is the indirect cost amount allowable?

• The indirect costs allowable is 5% MTDC, per the College Futures Foundation policy.

15. How will payments work?

• The Office of the Chancellor will establish a subaward agreement with the PI's campus. Payments will be made on a cost-reimbursement basis, such that the PI's campus Sponsored Programs office will submit invoices to the Office of the Chancellor's Sponsored Programs department on a monthly basis after funds have been spent. Campuses will not receive lump sums or payments in advance of spending.

16. How does a PI direct money to a co-PI's campus?

• The Office of the Chancellor will establish a subaward agreement with the PI's campus. That campus should then establish sub-subawards with additional campuses. Thus, the co-PI will submit invoices to the primary PI's campus for payment, and the primary PI's campus will submit invoices to the Office of the Chancellor.

Timeline

17. What is the program timeline?

• Programming can start as early as August 1. Subawards will be processed in June and July, so starting programming earlier than the beginning of August is not advised.
• Programming must end no later than August 31, 2024. This timeline allows programs to run through summer 2024.

Selection Criteria and Selection Committee

18. Who is on the selection committee?

• The selection committee will be composed of several faculty members from across the system and organized by Office of the Chancellor staff.

19. What are the selection criteria?

• Each proposal should directly address student success and focus on closing equity gaps. Recipients must demonstrate innovative teaching practices, extraordinary course design or redesign, or the development of exemplary supplemental support programs to promote student success and close equity gaps.
• Awardees will be selected based on the quality of responses to the required components of the proposal:
1. Program narrative, including the rationale/need for the program and expected outcomes
2. Program scalability
3. Program evaluation or assessment
4. An intentional, thoughtful budget
5. Submission of letters of support for the PI and each co-PI

Reporting and Additional Responsibilities

20. What reporting is required for awardees?

• A mid-term and final report are required for each project funded. Midterm reports are due January 22, 2024, and final reports are due October 31, 2024.
• Upon notification, awardees should submit an abstract that will be published on the CREATE Awards Program website.
• Awardees (PIs and Co-PIs) should plan to submit headshots to be published on the CREATE Awards Program website.
• PIs and Co-PIs may be contacted for additional stories, media, and marketing materials. In addition, they may be asked to share their grant program via webinars, meetings, or convenings.