COVID Impact on Scholarly Productivity Faculty Grant Program

April 8, 2021

Dear Colleagues,

I am pleased to announce the COVID Impact on Scholarly Productivity Faculty Grant Program, a collaborative initiative of the New Brunswick Provost and New Brunswick Academic Units.

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted faculty across institutions of higher education. The pandemic has created conditions where families prioritize their caregiving responsibilities ahead of making progress toward their academic career goals. Numerous articles about the impact on the academy point to the disproportionately adverse impact on women. For example, Jillian Kramer, author of “The Virus Moved Female Faculty to the Brink. Will Universities Help?” points to the widening of gender-based performance gaps that disproportionately affect women (New York Times, October 6, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/06/science/covid-universities-women.html).

The university has provided an institutional response that addresses adjustments faculty can use, including extension of the probationary period, exclusion of teaching evaluations from reappointment and/or tenure packets, and guidance for special notification in the tenure promotion process, to mention a few. However, the Chancellor’s and Provost’s offices, in partnership with academic deans, seek to provide additional support that will allow faculty to advance their scholarly productivity. Through this program, tenure-track (TT) and non-tenure-track (NTT) early-career faculty can seek funding to support their teaching release, student assistance, or training to support scholarly activities as determined to be appropriate by their dean.

Application Process:

Applicants will be junior or early mid-career Tenure Track/Non-Tenure Track (TT/NTT) faculty whose scholarly productivity has been adversely impacted by the pandemic. Applicants will be required to provide a clear plan detailing how the fellowship will lead to increased scholarly productivity. Plans should include both external and internal strategies for increasing productivity. For example, external elements may consist of university or national training series, or formal or informal writing groups. Internal aspects should include schedules, milestones, and goals. Applicants will also be required to describe tangible outcomes that will reflect their desired results (e.g., number of pages drafted, number of article submissions, number of grant proposals).

Award Amounts:

• Award amounts will vary according to demonstrated need and not exceed a total of $5,000.
• Funds will be available starting July 1, 2021 and ending June 30, 2022.

Applications should be submitted to your dean’s office by May 1, 2021, and be accompanied by the following:

• A brief statement of pandemic impact on scholarly productivity.
• A plan detailing how the fellowship will lead to increased scholarly productivity:
  • Include external plans (e.g. university or national training series, formal or informal writing groups) and/or internal plans (e.g. time schedules, milestones, and goals).
  • How will the money be used? (e.g. provide cost for activities, training, release time, research support, etc.). Please note course release requests should not exceed the cost for a PTL hire to cover the course.
  • Describe tangible outcomes that reflect goal achievement (e.g., number of pages drafted, number of article submissions, number of grant proposals).
  • A report on accomplishments will be due at the end of the cycle.
• Deans’ recommendations will be forwarded to the Provost’s Office for final approval.
• Applicants will be notified by the Deans of the academic units.

Given the limited availability of funds, junior faculty members who are primarily responsible for caregiving duties in their families will be prioritized. Please contact your dean’s office for more information.

Sincerely,

Francine Conway, Ph.D.
Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
Distinguished Professor