The Office of the Vice President for University Outreach sponsors the Competitive Outreach Scholarship Grants Program (COSG) at Auburn University. The COSG program is intramural and made available to promote community-engaged scholarship and the outreach enterprise in the context of mutually beneficial and reciprocal university/community collaboration for the public good.
Purpose and Scope of Grants
The purpose of the Competitive Outreach Scholarship Grants Program is to encourage and support faculty engagement addressing critical societal needs in Alabama and beyond through university/community collaboration for the mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources in the context of partnership and reciprocity. This intramural program is a collaboration of the Office of University Outreach and AU faculty, and is intended to enhance public engagement and vigorously promote outreach scholarship as defined in Chapter 3 of the Faculty Handbook. Each proposal will be judged on its merit and the project’s potential benefit to the State and to Auburn University.
Amount of Grants
Grants will range in value up to $25,000 for one year.
COSG Program Information Sessions
Two colloquia will be provided in the spring to inform interested faculty, and those who desire to partner with faculty (i.e., community partners, extension faculty, staff and students) about the Competitive Outreach Scholarship Grant (COSG) program. If you are interested in learning more about the application, review, award and post award features of the program as well as requirements, email outreach@auburn.edu or call (334) 844-5701.
Application Guidelines
The following requirements should be carefully considered before submitting a COSG proposal:
- All proposals for the Competitive Outreach Scholarship Grants program should be submitted by the early proposal submission deadline for a format check (for if needed revision, and resubmission). The final proposal submission deadline is TBA. Proposals not previously submitted by the early submission deadline for format check will not undergo a format check and will not have the opportunity for revision or resubmission. Access for submitting proposals online WILL be closed by the final deadline.
- Only Auburn University full-time tenure-track or clinical faculty members, whose departments consider scholarly productivity in the conferment of promotion, are eligible to apply. Faculty may submit only one application for the 2018-19 grant cycle.
- All proposals must exemplify the qualities and purposes of reciprocal and beneficial community engagement. Proposals must meet the university definition of outreach as stated in Chapter 3 of the Faculty Handbook and include letters of support from both the faculty member’s department head (or director or dean, as appropriate) and a representative of the external constituency. Auburn University has defined outreach as “the function of applying academic expertise to the direct benefit of external constituencies in support of university and unit missions.” The department head’s letter must tell how the proposed project serves a university or unit mission and how it will contribute to the investigator’s scholarly agenda. The external support letter must explain the need for the project and describe how the external constituency will participate in providing direction, support, and evaluation for the project as a collaborating partner.
- All applicants must utilize the application proposal form and the excel budget proposal form provided below. The proposal application form and the excel budget form combined should not exceed nine pages. The nine page limit does not include the cover letter (on letterhead) and supporting documents. Please include all supporting documents at the end of the proposal. The proposal application form, excel budget proposal form, and all supporting documents should be combined and converted into a one multi-page proposal PDF file before submission.
- Proposals received by the aforementioned final deadline using any other format or exceeding the specified page limit, will not be eligible for panel review. Proposals not submitted as one multi-page PDF document by the aforementioned final deadline will not be eligible for panel review. Utilize the checklist within the Call for Proposals before making submission.
Notifications
Applicants will receive three email notifications. The first email notification will confirm receipt of the proposal. The second email notification will be sent after the final submission deadline indicating whether or not the proposal met minimum requirements for panel review. The third email notification will delineate the outcome of the panel review and the award disposition. All applicants can expect to receive the third and final notification the second week in April 2019.
Administration of Grants
Support for funded projects may begin as early as April, 2019. Those who receive grants will be contacted to discuss grant cycle requirements. These requirements include the development of a MOU and Partnership Agreement with University Outreach and the establishment of a FOAP for funds distribution. Grant recipients are strongly encouraged to attend the Outreach and Engaged Scholars Luncheon (April 2019), a recognition event for being awarded a grant. In addition, grant recipients will be asked to submit a mid-year grant cycle report (six months into the project), a final report summarizing the project and evaluating its impact on the target constituency at the conclusion of the grant cycle. These reports of outreach engaged scholarship will be used in future Outreach publications, and grant recipients are encouraged to plan their own discipline-specific submissions for publications as well.