GRANT INFORMATION:

COR Faculty Allowance Program (CFA)

Overview

What: the COR Faculty Allowance program (CFA) is a non competitive grant program intended to provide financial support for research related activities of Senate faculty. This program replaces predecessor programs such as the New Faculty Research Grant (NFRG), the Faculty Research Grant (FRG) and the Special Research Grant (SRG). The fundamental difference is that faculty will no longer be required to submit a project proposal but will instead be required to fill out a simple application. The only requirement needed to apply is that the applicant is a member of the Santa Cruz Division of the Academic Senate. This program does not replace either the Scholarly Meeting and Travel (SMT) nor the Inter-Campus Travel (ICT) programs. These will still be running concurrently with funds available on a first come, first serve basis.

Policy

The application opened in the fall of 2022-23 (FY23). In the 2023-24 (FY24) year, the call for the CFA will go out during the spring quarter and awards will be  effective at the start of the next fiscal year.  With the exception of the FY23 awards, which will run for 20 months, Senate faculty members will have two years (24 months) to spend their $2000.  Any remaining balance of the FY23 awards, transferred on Nov, 1, 2022 must be returned by 6/30/24. Unexpended balances for CFA awards transferred in FY24 must be returned before the end of the next fiscal year. The maximum balance of CFA funds that can be held in an account is $4000. That is, a faculty may retain funds up to two years’ worth of CFA awards, $4000, for a single year.

As an example, if in FY23, a faculty member applies for CFA and receives $2000, yet they elect not to spend it in FY23. They will have 6/30/24 (the end of FY24) to spend it or return the unspent balance. If the faculty member is awarded $2000 on 7/1/2023 (FY24), the following year, their CFA balance would be $4000. They will have until the end of FY24 to spend the FY23 balance. If they do not, the balance must be returned. However, they may apply again for CFA in FY25 and receive another $2000, on 7/1/24, thus retaining a balance of $4000 if they wish. This scheduled return removes the necessity of having to request an extension since Senate faculty will be automatically eligible to apply in the next cycle. 

A brief description of allowable expenses follows.

Allowable Expenses

Allowable expenses fall into five broad categories:

• Computer and Office Equipment
  • This includes but is not necessarily limited to:
    • Computers
    • Hardware, software
    • Printers, copiers
    • Paper and other print materials for manuals, texts, etc.
• Specialized Research Equipment
  • This includes but is not necessarily limited to:
    • Custom orders for research-related materials
    • Laboratory equipment
    • Laboratory samples or specimens for testing
    • Access to, or copies of, archival materials, manuscripts
• Student Support
  • This includes but is not necessarily limited to:
    • Postdoctoral researcher support
    • GSA support (academic year and summer)
    • Undergraduate research assistants
• Conference and Field Travel
  • This includes but is not necessarily limited to:
    • Airfare
    • Lodging
    • Conference fees
• Professional Services and Memberships
  • This includes but is not necessarily limited to:
    • Membership fees for professional associations
    • Open access fees (UC authors have access to reduced fees in many cases)