Summer Faculty Fellowships

Overview

Missouri State University is committed to research and creative activities. These activities enhance the learning environment for the students and help to distinguish the University as a center of excellence in its disciplines. The Summer Faculty Fellowship provides a $6,000 stipend to the recipient. (Please be aware that the stipend provided by this fellowship, should one be awarded, is taxable income). The function of this Fellowship is to allow faculty members engaged in research or in creative activities to devote intense thought and activity to a single project. Projects which involve consulting activity, the production of teaching aids, enhancement of teaching skills, practice of professional skills outside the academic environment, “retooling” for new teaching assignments, development of Internet courses or other curriculum development activities will not be considered.

Policies

• Faculty members with the rank of Assistant Professor and above who have a research commitment in their appointment are eligible to apply.
• Selection is based on the quality of the proposal. In addition, priority is given to new faculty and faculty who have not received previous funding.
• Applicants may not teach summer courses or have outside jobs during the tenure of the fellowship, which begins with the first day of the summer term and ends on the last day of the summer term.
• A faculty member must be returning to Missouri State University for the following academic year to be eligible to receive a Summer Faculty Fellowship.
• The same project cannot be funded by another internal grant source. In addition, a faculty member cannot submit an application for a Faculty Research Grant and a Summer Faculty Fellowship during the same academic year.
• A Summer Faculty Fellowship cannot directly precede or immediately follow an academic year during which a sabbatical has been approved/taken. A person is not eligible to apply for a Summer Faculty Fellowship and sabbatical leave during the same fall semester. Likewise, during the academic year when a sabbatical is taken, a person cannot apply for a Summer Faculty Fellowship.
• A faculty member who has previously received a Summer Faculty Fellowship through the competitive application process must have applied for an external grant since completing that summer faculty fellowship in order to be eligible for another Summer Faculty Fellowship award. Applications for juried cash awards for work already completed are not considered to be external grant proposals. (Please note that a College Dean’s support for research in the summer after a new faculty member is hired is NOT considered a competitive summer fellowship award, and it does not influence eligibility).
• Anyone who has not submitted a final report from a previous Summer Faculty Fellowship will be ineligible.  Because the number of requests exceeds the number of Summer Faculty Fellowships that the University can support, faculty who received fellowships during either of the previous two summers and did submit a final report are also ineligible for the upcoming summer.
• Projects (investigators) funded under this program are subject to the Missouri State University policies for integrity in research, financial disclosure, human subjects review, animal care and use procedures, bio-safety, and use of space. Review these policies through the Office of Research Administration.
• Summer Faculty Fellowships resulting in materials that may be patented or copyrighted or otherwise have commercial value are subject to the University policy on intellectual property.
• Eligible faculty who choose to apply for a Summer Faculty Fellowship should be cognizant of the competitive nature of the process and be aware that not all proposals can be funded.

Application and Format Guidelines

• All applications and attachments are required to be submitted through Dynamic Forms:  Application form
• Proposals are limited to space allotted in the Dynamic Forms Summer Faculty Fellowship application. 
• Follow the application guidelines and provide the information requested, addressing all of the points applicable to the project.  Incomplete applications will not be reviewed by the Committee.  If a question is "not applicable" to your project, please state "N/A" on that particular question on the application.  Please see SFF Application Dynamic Forms 2021 for screenshots and helpful hints for this new form.
  • Download the Summer Fellowship Guidelines and Evalution Criteria
• The application should state in clear, concise language, the purpose of the proposed project, its contribution to the advancement of the applicant’s academic discipline, and a description of the procedures to be employed. Keep in mind that the evaluating committee is composed of faculty members from diverse disciplines. Therefore, an application should state clearly, in terms comprehensible to the non-specialist, what the investigator wants to do and the significance of the work to the researcher’s field of interest and the academic community.

Deadline and Review Process

The application deadline for a Summer Faculty Fellowship is October 30th.   If the deadline falls on a weekend or holiday, applications will be accepted the following working day. 

It is the responsibility of the applicant to track and make sure that their Summer Faculty Fellowship application is reviewed by both the Academic Unit Leader (Department Head/Director) and Dean and is approved and submitted through Dynamic Forms prior to the October 30th deadline.   Late applications will not be considered.

Applications will be evaluated by the Faculty Research Grant Committee. The recommendations of this committee are then submitted to the Associate Dean of the Graduate College and the Provost for approval.  Applications failing to comply with the guidelines will not be considered by the committee. Respect for the peer review process and a collegial attitude toward the work of the committee are integral parts of the success of the university fellowship award system.

Final Report

A written final report must be submitted to the Academic Unit Leader, College Dean, and Graduate College no later than December 31 of the fellowship year. (The copy sent to the Graduate College will be kept on file with the original application for a period of 5 years.)

The final report consists of an overview of the activities undertaken during the fellowship period, as well as a summary of any research results or project outcomes. In addition, the fellowship recipient should submit copies of any conference papers, presentations, and/or publications resulting from the project.

Anyone who has failed to submit a final report is ineligible to apply for another Summer Faculty Fellowship.

History

Download a list of previous Summer Faculty Fellowship recipients.

Contact Information

Questions regarding Summer Fellowships should be directed to Lisa Taylor in the Graduate College.