Office of the Provost

Conversations in the Disciplines

Academic Year 2013-2014

A Competitive Grant Program in Support of
Intercampus Scholarly Conferences

Funded by
State University of New York

CID Awards information

CID Evaluation Report

Home

• The Program
• Amount to be Awarded
• Awards 2012-2013
• Guidelines Governing Selection
• Proposals
• Proposal Format
• Participants
• Screening Process
• Notification
• Uploading the Proposal
• Technical Support for the SUNY CID Website Help
• Instructions for Directors of Conversations in the Disciplines
• Title Page
• Budget Page
• Reviewer Evaluation Form
• Closing Dates
• State University of New York Faculty Senate Committee on University Programs and Awards
• Contact Us

The Program

The Conversations in the Disciplines (SUNY CID) grant program is designed to bring together SUNY faculty and visiting scholars from non-SUNY institutions to examine new trends, address changes and challenges, review promising research findings, and become acquainted with professional developments in their fields and on other campuses. SUNY CID focuses on scholarly and creative development rather than administrative, curricular, or instructional matters designed to foster both professional and personal growth of participants and their respective campuses.

Proposals will be reviewed by the University Faculty Senate’s Committee on Programs and Awards (Committee). The Committee will in turn make recommendations to the SUNY Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost who will make the final award determinations.

Amount to be Awarded

A sum not to exceed $5,000 may be made available to help support each approved conference. Since 1965, nearly 484 Conversations have been held on various campuses in numerous disciplines. Conversations normally occur between September 1 and June 30.

Awards 2012 – 2013

• The Present State and Future of Public History in New York
  University At Albany -- Project Director - David Hochfelder
• Boccaccio at 700: Medieval Contexts and Global Intertexts
  Binghamton university – Project Director – Marilynn Desmond
• Digital Humanities and the Transformation of Scholarship
  Suffolk county Community College – Project Director – Karen Dovell
• Landscape Across the Disciplines
  University at Buffalo– Project Director – David M. Mark
• Resiliency of the Great Lakes to Climate and Storms
  College of Environmental Science and Forestry -- Project Director – Gregory Boyer
• The Challenge of Reducing College Student Substance Abuse
  University at Buffalo – Project Director – Kenneth Leonard

          Energy-Smart New York Conversation:

• Environmental, Economic and Social  Sustainability: An Interdisciplinary Approach
  The College at Brockport -- Project Director – Lerong He

          Entrepreneurial Century Conversation:

• Dialog for Creativity and Innovation in Biomedical Sciences
  University at Buffalo – Project Director – Leonard H. Epstein

Guidelines Governing Selection

Overall project worthiness is the major consideration in the selection of proposals for SUNY CID support. The Committee recognizes that projects in different disciplines can be difficult to compare. However, there are attributes common to all successful proposals, and with respect to these, a funding priority is made. The Committee uses five criteria in ranking the proposals.

Each major criterion is rated equally on a scale from "1" (low) to "7" (high). Proposals may be aligned with the Power of SUNY strategic plan as described below. The Reviewer Evaluation Form used by the Committee to score each proposal is included in these guidelines for your information.   Each evaluation criterion is described below:

• Facilitation of Scholarly Exchange: This is the major purpose of the Conversation. A strong proposal demonstrates its scholarly relevance to the topic chosen, is innovative, timely and has clearly stated objectives. The emphasis of the proposed program must be scholarly development rather than administrative, curricular or instructional matters. All proposal topics are welcome, including those that demonstrate a clear connection between the proposed Conversation and one or more of the ‘six big ideas’ outlined in the Power of SUNY strategic plan (www.suny.edu/powerofsuny/Teams.cfm).

• Feasibility: The proposal must show that the proposed program is realistic in its objectives, scope and implementation. The clarity of the program structure is a critical element of the proposal. How practical is the proposed program? Does it include clear and attainable goals and a carefully planned agenda? Evidence of administrative support of the proposal is important. Conversations should last at least one full day. SUNY CID funding is not intended to support meetings of groups or professional organizations that would be held irrespective of program support.

• Participants: The qualifications of the proposed speakers, panelists, discussants, moderators, or others are considered important. For this reason, a brief summary noting career and academic achievements of each proposed presenter should be included within the proposal. Tentative commitments from participants will strengthen the proposal.

• Benefits:   The Conversation should be of substantive benefit to all participating campuses and attendees rather than to a single campus alone. Proposals should describe the benefits of the Conversation to SUNY as a whole, including but not limited to, any connection the ‘six big ideas’ in the Power of SUNY strategic plan.

SUNY faculty from campuses involved as conference collaborators and/or presenters should be described in the proposal. Generally, proposals that include this information are judged more favorably. The more SUNY institutions included within the proposal, the higher the proposal is scored on this specific criterion. The proposal title page includes space for two lead collaborators as signatories to the proposal.

Proposals should explain clearly how the Conversation would benefit its audience and its speakers. For funding conferences, it is expected that the Program Director will send an announcement of the Conversation to the academic dean and appropriate faculty chair of each SUNY campus including all statutory and community colleges. The proposal should include a sentence or two that indicates the Director’s awareness of the responsibility to invite all SUNY faculty to the Conversation through their respective academic deans and chairs.

• Budget: The proposed budget should be specific about honoraria; travel expenses, including meals (breakfast and dinner); lodging; clerical support; publicity; and other costs, and must be submitted on the Budget Page included in these Guidelines. Honoraria may not be requested from this program for faculty and staff of any SUNY campus. No single presenter may receive more than $500 as an honorarium from CID funds. However, honoraria may be supplemented from other funding sources.

• Continuation Proposals: Higher priority is given to new proposals than to those where a continuation proposal is being submitted (i.e., where a Conversation has been funded previously and a subsequent Conversation on the same topic is being submitted for funding). Continuation proposals should include a brief report of outcomes of the original Conversation.

Proposals

Any full-time, regular SUNY faculty member or academic department (or equivalent organizational unit, such as a center or library) on a campus may develop a proposal for planning and hosting a Conversation. Proposals must be submitted through appropriate campus channels. Multidisciplinary and collaborative efforts are actively encouraged. Only one proposal may be submitted per department per year, whether submitted singly or jointly.

If a member of the University Faculty Senate Programs and Awards Committee submits a proposal as Project Director or as Collaborator, they may not review or rate/rank any of the CID proposals.

Proposal Format

The proposal should be double-spaced, with a font size no smaller than 12 points. The application’s structure must adhere to the following outline.

I.  Title Page - Use the Title Page template included in the CID Guidelines to provide contact information for the Project Director and identify the Project Collaborators. Please type all but the requested signatures. After obtaining the necessary signatures, scan the Title Page into a .PDF file along with the proposal, using Adobe Acrobat. Save the proposal file with the last name and campus of the Project Director.   

II.  Facilitation of Scholarly Exchange - Describe the rationale for the proposed Conversation. In describing the topic selected, explain how it is innovative, timely. The emphasis of the proposed program must be scholarly development.

New to this grant cycle and noted above, proposals may link to one or more of the ‘six big ideas’ outlined in the Power of SUNY strategic plan (www.suny.edu/powerofsuny/Teams.cfm). The connection of the proposed program to the Power of SUNY should be described here.

III.  Description – Feasibility – Please address the following in this section:

A.  Rationale, general description, purpose and goals - be specific and limit text to a maximum of eight double-spaced pages.

B.  Format of program - be specific with times and topics.

C.  Preliminary arrangements made, if any, with speakers, etc.

D.  Any additional information that should be helpful to the Committee

IV.  Participants (Limit this section to no more than 3 double-spaced pages.)

A.  Anticipated total participation

B.  Description and number of SUNY and other campuses represented

C.  Description and number of SUNY faculty participants and nature of their participation

D.  Description and number of non-SUNY faculty participants, speakers, panelists, persons reading papers, SUNY and non-SUNY students, public audience, etc.

E.  Brief paragraph noting career and academic achievements of proposed speakers. (The vita of applicants and presenters should not be submitted with the proposal.)

V.  Benefits/Significance - Please address the following in this section:

A.  Benefits to SUNY as a whole (including any direct connection to Power of SUNY goals)

B.  Benefits to audience and others

VI.  Budget: Use the Budget template provided in these Guidelines to submit your budget. After saving the Budget Page as a .docx or PDF file, scan the file along with the Conversations proposal and Title Page into a PDF using Adobe Acrobat.

A.  Enter anticipated source of funds, specifying sources and amounts, if any, from campus or from external sources in addition to the CID program.

B.  Enter CID expenditures, identifying clearly how funds are to be expended. This is a Line Item Budget explanation.

C.  Receipts such as, registration fees are to be included in the Budget. The Faculty Senate Committee on University Programs and Awards strongly recommends the use of registration fees to cover the costs of luncheons, coffee breaks, refreshments etc. Failure to include such fees may result in budget reductions by the Committee.

It is understood and agreed by the applicants: a) that the terms and conditions of this program, as stated in the Guidelines, have been read and accepted; b) that any funds awarded are to be expended for the sole purposes outlined in the application, and any funds not expended for these purposes shall revert to SUNY upon completion of the project or termination date of the award, whichever is earlier; c) that any major change in the original theme or purpose of the Conversation requires prior written approval, and d) that any budget cuts made by the Committee presupposes that the Conversation as proposed in the application will be completed for the awarded amount.

Participants

Campuses hosting a "Conversation" will invite faculty/students/administrators from all SUNY units including statutory and community colleges.  The "Conversation" may be opened to other groups and/or interested individuals on a space available basis.

Screening Process

Academic departments wishing to sponsor a conference should first submit a proposal through appropriate campus channels. Faculty must have the proposal signed by the campus President or his/her designee. The proposal, title and budget pages are to be submitted to the Conversation webpage at: www.suny.edu/provost/cid.

Notification

Notification of proposal selection will be done in a two-step process. Proposal review and award recommendation will be made to the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost by mid-May. Once the award determination has been made, all Project Directors will be notified of the status of their application. Those who are successful will be informed of the selection of his/her project for support, with the caveat that this support is contingent upon receipt of program funding from SUNY’s operating budget. When program funding is assured, Project Directors will be notified and directed to proceed with planning for their Conversation.

To the extent possible, these communications will be done electronically. This includes notification of selection, confirmation of funding availability, approved budgets, terms and conditions, procedural confirmations, and instructions for the transfer of program funding to campuses.

Uploading the Proposal        

SUNY CID proposals are submitted directly to the SUNY CID website. To submit a proposal, please go to: www.suny.edu/provost/cid and click on “Submit Proposal” in the dark blue menu bar. Complete the proposal submission form that is displayed. After obtaining the necessary signatures, scan the Title Page, the proposal and the budget page into a single PDF document and submit it. Please save the PDF file with the last name of the project director and campus. A system-generated message will acknowledge the proposal submission. The system will accept a maximum file size of 10MB in PDF format only.

Technical Support for SUNY CID Website Help

A user of the SUNY CID website will request help by going to the SLN helpdesk. The link is https://sln.suny.edu/help/help_overview.shtml

Once on the page, click the “Help Request” button or call the 800 number to reach a live support analyst. For the SLN helpdesk, a ‘Ticket’ will need to be completed for service. The Ticket requires information on the general problem you are having which is submitted in the ‘Title’ box. It is suggested using the term CID in the Title box followed by an overview of the help needed, i.e., “CID problem signing on” or “CID proposal won’t upload.” In the Ticket’s Description Box, specify the problem in more detail. Hit the save button to send request.

Instructions for Directors of Conversations in the Disciplines

The following terms and conditions govern awards made under the auspices of the Conversations in the Disciplines program:

I.  Using Funds

Expenditure of funds can be made solely for items or services directly related to the Conversations program.

All forms and correspondence authorizing disbursement of funds should be forwarded through the local business office (the State-side office, not the Research Foundation) for payment from the specific account established for the award. Expenditure of funds must be in accordance with State University of New York regulations.

Project directors should be aware of the amount of lead time necessary for securing payments, such as those for honoraria for speakers, and plan and inform concerned persons accordingly. No honoraria are to be paid to faculty or staff participants of any SUNY campus. No compensation may be paid from grant funds to Conversation planners, e.g. project director or collaborators, for their efforts in preparing and conducting the Conversation.

II.  Publicity and Printed Matter

The printed program of a Conversation should bear a sponsorship credit stating, "This conference is sponsored by the SUNY Conversations in the Disciplines Program." If any publications result from the Conversation, the Project Director will, in consideration of the award, abide by the copyright policy of the State University of New York.

III.  Changes in Project: Use CID@suny.edu to e-mail System Coordinator.

Director: If local circumstances make it necessary to change the Director of the Conversation, authorization to do so must be sought in writing through appropriate campus channels to the Program Coordinator in the Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost. The letter should be addressed/e-mailed to the Conversation in the Disciplines Program in care of the Program Coordinator at: CID@suny.edu.

Budget: Any questions about expenditures are to be cleared with the Program Coordinator.   Significant modifications to the budget as approved at the time of award must be authorized by System Administration Program Coordinator. The cost of meals (except those for presenters and planners during the course of the Conversation) and alcoholic beverages may not be charged to funding from the Conversations program. No honoraria may be paid from this program for SUNY (state-operated, statutory or community college) faculty and staff. No single speaker may receive more than $500 as an honorarium from CID funding. However, honoraria may be supplemented from outside sources. Registration fees should be considered to cover costs of luncheons, refreshments, etc.

Dates: Changes of more than one month from the date specified in the proposal should be communicated directly to the System Administration Program Coordinator at: CID@suny.edu.

Presenters: It is understood if a proposed speaker is unable to attend, the project director will seek the best available replacement. It is not necessary to communicate changes of speakers.

Organization: Changes in the organization or format of the Conversation may be done, without report, to the extent that they do notalter the original theme or purpose of the Conversation as approved.

Change in Theme or Purpose: Any change that would significantly affect the theme or purpose must be approved by the System Administration Program Coordinator in consultation with the Chair of the Committee before the proposing unit commits itself to the change. The funding of the grant is made especially on the basis of theme and purpose, and if these change, the basis of commitment of the funding is destroyed, and funds may thus be jeopardized. Requests should be directed to the Program Coordinator at: CID@suny.edu.

Commitments: Confirmation of award acceptance and of the terms and conditions governing the Conversations Program must be forwarded to the Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost. If external funding is expected, other than the Conversations monies, a copy of the commitment letter from each sponsor must accompany the award acceptance.

IV.  Evaluation Report

An Evaluation Report on the activities supported by this award is required within 60 days of the completion of the Conversation. The suggested format for this report is available at: www.suny.edu/provost/cid. The Evaluation Report must be e-mailed to the Program Coordinator at: CID@suny.edu.

V.  Technical Support for SUNY CID website help

A user of the SUNY CID website will request help by going to the SLN helpdesk: https://sln.suny.edu/help/help_overview.shtml

Once on the page, click the “Help Request” button or call the 800 number to reach a live support analyst. For the SLN helpdesk, a ‘Ticket’ will need to be completed for service. The Ticket requires information on the general problem you are having which is submitted in the ‘Title’ box. It is suggested using the term CID in the Title box followed by an overview of the help needed, i.e., “CID problem signing on” or “CID proposal won’t upload.” In the Ticket’s Description Box, specify the problem in more detail. Hit the save button to send request.

TITLE PAGE

Title Page (PDF)
Title Page (MS Word)

Budget Page

Budget Page (PDF)
Budget Form (MS Word)

Reviewer Evaluation Form

Reviewer Evaluation Form (PDF)
Reviewer Evaluation Form (MS Word)

Closing Dates

All applications must be received by Friday, April 5, 2013. Please upload your proposal to the SUNY CIT webpage: www.suny.edu/provost/cid, click on “Submit Proposal” in the dark blue menu bar and fill-in the proposal submission form.

State University of New York
Faculty Senate Committee on University Programs and Awards

Contact Us

A user of the SUNY CID website will request help by going to the SLN helpdesk. The link is https://sln.suny.edu/help/help_overview.shtml

Once on the page, click the “Help Request” button or call the 800 number to reach a live support analyst. For the SLN helpdesk, a ‘Ticket’ will need to be completed for service. The Ticket requires information on the general problem you are having which is submitted in the ‘Title’ box, suggestion use the term CID in the Title box followed by an overview of the help needed, i.e., “CID problem signing on” or “CID proposal won’t upload”. In the Ticket’s Description Box, specify the problem in more detail. Hit the save button to send.

Please direct all other questions to: Dr. Catherine Regan, Program Coordinator
Conversations in the Disciplines Program