Work

Reimagining Seed Grants for the 21st Century: Individual and Institutional Impacts of a Mini-Grants Program

Year: 2022

Type: article

Abstract: The Connect Grants initiative is an innovative mini-grants program that promotes faculty leadership and career development while enhancing the university’s scholarship environment and infrastructure. Launched in 2014 as part of a National Science Foundation (NSF) ADVANCE Institutional Transformation (IT) effort, the initiative is designed to broaden faculty opportunities and support creative department-level efforts to guide faculty through career stages. Due to its successes, the program has been institutionalized. Through Bolman and Deal’s (2017) organizational lens, this paper describes the motivation for creating the program, its design, evolution, and evaluation. Findings indicate that the program supports individual awardees by expanding networks, building critical skills, and promoting scholarship, while also influencing institutional policies and practices. In contrast to some other inclusivity initiatives, the Connect Grants program targets institutional structures rather than focusing solely on individual skillsets and deficiencies. This provides an opportunity for reimagining seed funding and realizing both individual and institutional impacts.

Source: ADVANCE Journal

DOI: 10.5399/osu/advjrnl.3.2.6

Authors: Margaret Bailey, Sharon Mason, Carol Marchetti, Betsy Dell, Elizabeth Litzler, Maureen Valentine

Institutions: Rochester Institute of Technology, University of Washington

Language: English

Topic: Research, Science, and Academia

Subfield: Management of Technology and Innovation

Field: Business, Management and Accounting

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Quality education

Open Access status: diamond

Funder: National Science Foundation