Purpose
The Cullen grant fund was established to provide a source of support for qualified faculty at Abilene Christian University. The intent of the program is to provide time for faculty scholarship during a summer term. The financial resources within a given fiscal year determine the number of grants awarded. Cullen funds are generated by an endowment from the Cullen Foundation and support research projects in all academic areas, with the exception of Mathematics and the Physical Sciences. (Excluded from eligibility are Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Engineering and Physics, and Mathematics.)
Applications
Applications for this internal grant are due on the second Friday of February, with award announcements in March. Funded projects will commence at the start of the next fiscal year on June 1st.
Selection
Full-time faculty members located at the Abilene campus at the rank of instructor or above are eligible to apply. Funds are awarded to proposals that demonstrate potential for serious research and creative activity. Proposals by new/junior tenure-track faculty will receive priority points to support the development of research programs and tenure portfolios. The Research Council evaluates proposals submitted by the faculty according to the following criteria:
- Clear purpose, goals, and objectives.
- Worth and value to the discipline, researcher, or the university.
- Use of sound, clearly explained background, methodology and procedures.
- Expected outcomes of project (e.g., a book, article, paper, presentation, video).
- Clear writing that is precise, detailed, and understandable to a lay audience.
- Well-developed budget with likelihood of successful completion in allotted time.
- Faculty rank and tenure status
ACU encourages the use of internal grants toward developing proposals for extramural funding, particularly for research programs or projects that span multiple years.
To support this goal, faculty who have received Cullen funding for a specific project/program for 3 consecutive years must submit an external application before being eligible to receive internal funding for that project/program again.
Exceptions will be made only for cases in which the faculty member has worked with ORSP to search for opportunities and none were found. In such cases, ORSP can provide an exemption to this requirement. This requirement takes effect beginning with 2019-20 applications; 2019-20 will be considered Year 1 for all applicants.
Goals
Cullen Grants are intended to support scholarly activities including:
- quantitative research studies,
- qualitative research studies,
- technological innovations, and
- developmental and innovative research activity related to musical compositions or artistic production.
Funding
Awards are usually given according to the following categories requested in the budget:
- Summer Salary Request. This amount is paid commensurate with university summer pay schedules as the equivalent of two summer classes and based upon faculty rank. In some cases, the amount of funding may be reduced due to lack of funding or because a project may be judged as less ambitious than others receiving funding.
- Single-semester adjunct costs to receive a course reduction in order to complete the work during a long semester.
- Expenses related to the research. This amount is limited to essential and necessary materials or support directly connected with the research project. Ineligible expenses include clerical work, office supplies, telephone, computer equipment, and travel that is not essential to the conduct of the research, as these support services usually can be obtained from departmental or college resources.
- Partnership with externally funded research support. In certain cases, applications can be made to provide matching funds for an externally funded project. The amount of funding is limited to the equivalent of teaching two summer courses. Also, no salary funds can be used from the Research Council while a faculty member is simultaneously being paid from an outside agency, thus preventing double dipping.
Outcomes
Projects should be completed during a single fiscal year and must produce a tangible, scholarly product. Examples of acceptable outcomes include completion of a book, an article submitted for publication in a peer reviewed journal, presentation at a professional conference, etc.
A final report detailing the progress made and the scholarly product completed is due by April 1 following the project period.
Faculty who have received a Cullen award 3 times for the same project/program must submit an application for extramural funding.
Certifications
Every participant who receives a grant must agree to the ACU Intellectual Property Agreement. The applicant agrees to certain rights and claims against copyrights and patents resulting from university support. Funds cannot be released to any grantee without this acknowledgement of the agreement. The Intellectual Property Agreement may be found on this Website.
Every grantee is assigned a budget for expenses if any are awarded. Salaries are paid through the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs. All budgets must be cleared and accounted for by April 1 after the summer for which the grant was awarded. Grantees without proper accounting forms are liable for the expenses incurred.
If the project involves research with human subjects, IRB approval must be obtained prior to the conduct of the research.
The intent of the program is to provide time for faculty scholarship during a summer term in lieu of teaching. It is strongly advised that recipients do not teach during the summer if receiving a summer stipend. Recipients may not teach more than one course during the summer.
Recipients cannot hold a Cullen/Math-Science award and a Curriculum Development award concurrently, nor can SEED recipients hold either. Recipients may apply for a separate 20/20 award in the same year, but the workload makes this inadvisable.