Workshop on Fostering Competitive Social Science Research Among Faculty of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Atlanta, GA, October 2003

Spelman College, Atlanta GA

Investigators

Abstract

This project is to implement a program to facilitate the design and funding of social science research proposals by faculty at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The main activities to be funded include 1) conducting a workshop to inform HBCU faculty about funding opportunities, 2) providing actual grant writing experience, 3) advising HBCU faculty in strategies for refining and expanding preliminary research projects into fully developed proposals, 4) assisting HBCU faculty in the revision and submission of proposals for funding, and 5) establishing mentor relationships during and after the proposal development and submission process. The goal of the workshop is to provide guidance, resources, and support to faculty members at HBCUs to stimulate greater grant-seeking activity for faculty research and applied policy work. The approach proposed here notes the importance of mentoring and follow up in faculty development projects. Thus, this proposal focuses attention on a group of HBCU faculty with ideas for research projects that will be developed during a one-year period beginning with a workshop to be held in the fall, 2003, at Spelman College in Atlanta, matching HBCU faculty with experienced researcher mentors, establishing a timetable and procedure for HBCU faculty to send mentors drafts of their research proposals and receive feedback for revision (via email and telephone) during the 2003/2004 academic year, holding a second follow-up workshop in the early summer, 2004 where faculty would present proposals, preliminary or pilot project findings, and critique one another's work, and concluding with the submission of proposals for funding in the fall 2004. The process proposed here goes beyond providing mere information about existing grant sources (which is itself important) at the beginning workshop, and extends a plan for developing the proposal writing skills of faculty who have promising research prospects. The project will provide training in proposal development and submission to faculty at colleges and universities that have traditionally been and currently remain underrepresented in the nation's basic social science research enterprise. If the project is successful in getting faculty more involved in basic research, tremendous benefits will accrue to the university, faculty and students in the form of increased resources, opportunity to conduct research, and academic scholarship. Additionally, a greater emphasis on proposal writing and research grantsmanship will help to create a research culture and build infrastructure for basic research in the social and behavioral sciences. Students will also benefit in the form of hands on research experiences, which has been shown to increase the probability that a student will attend graduate school.