Faculty members are strongly encouraged to seek external support for projects such as: 1) curricular development or revision including instrumentation needs; 2) individual or departmental research; and 3) faculty development or improvement (sabbatic study or research, learning or disseminating new skills, and so forth).

External grants are binding contracts between the sponsoring agency and Ithaca College. As a result, careful review of proposals before submission is required.

If you are exploring a possible proposal, discuss the project at the outset with your Chair; then with one of the "routing officers" [Academic Funding and Sponsored Programs Director, Paul Hamill (all public grants and private research grants) or Academic Funding and Sponsored Programs Associate Director, Paula Davis (most corporate and foundation gifts)]. If possible, you should also discuss your idea with colleagues at Ithaca College and elsewhere who have recently received funding, for up-to-date "scuttlebutt" on your field's grant sources.

The Chair will confirm that your plans are compatible with departmental needs and would enhance your professional development. At the earliest possible moment, i.e. when the general outline of the project and budget are becoming well defined, the investigator and his/her chair must notify the dean. Major questions should be settled before you further invest your time and energy. In addition, the Dean must be aware of proposed uses of reassigned time, new spaces, or matching funds. The routing officers will help you to approach possible sources of funding as well as explaining internal procedures. If your exploration involves a private gift, initial contact with the possible donor must be made by the Development Office.

When you decide to develop a proposal to a particular source, the routing officer should be notified, and a preliminary description circulated using an "Intent Form" (link can be found on the Academic Funding home page). This form allows the Dean, Provost, senior budget officers, and the Vice President for Institutional Advancement to consider budget and other issues.

At least two weeks before the mailing date, you should submit the proposal with a "Routing Form" for formal authorization by the Chair, Dean, Provost, Development Office, and President. Any of the routing officers will gladly help you to prepare the final budget and routing forms. Detailed guidelines on creating a grant budget are available from Paul Hamill in the Academic Funding Office. Guidelines and helpful hints on grants development are also available on the Academic Funding homepage on the World Wide Web (http://www.ithaca.edu/funding).

Please be sure to TYPE your Intent and Routing Forms.

Maintained by Denise Vanderburgh (dvanderburgh@ithaca.edu)
Office of Academic Funding and Sponsored Programs

Last updated 1 May 2007