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Dear Colleagues

Did you know we are a member of Oak Ridge Associated Universities or ORAU? As your ORAU Councilor any application to the numerous ORAU programs needs to be submitted by me. There are many programs including a junior faculty program, event sponsorships, and collaborative grants with ORAU in their areas of expertise. They also run an outstanding annual meeting, and you will find more information on that meeting and events sponsorship below. I encourage you to go to https://www.orau.org/ to look for possible collaborative grant Â鶹´«Ã½ in Emergency Preparedness & Response, Health Communication, Health Physics, Workforce Solutions, Research, Reviews & Evaluations, K-12 STEM Education Programs, Worker Health & Safety, Environmental Assessments and COVID-19 Pandemic Preparedness & Response. As we enter the holiday season we know many of you will still be hard at work on your research and creative scholarship whether remotely or on campus, and our office is always here to help with any questions, submissions, compliance or grant accounting questions. Just email us, call or set up a WebEx! Some of the most fun I have had over the past month was discussing research and grant submissions with our faculty over WebEx.

Terri Kinzy 

Upcoming ORAU Â鶹´«Ã½ ORAU Events Sponsorship Program
Proposals are accepted twice between October 1 through September 30. WMU is eligible to receive one event grant award per year. Funding must be awarded prior to the event and all events must be completed by September 30 of each year. Cycle 1 applications are due March 1, 2021 for events occurring between May 1 and September 30. For more information please visit the Events Sponsorship Program website.

ORAU's 76th Annual Meeting of the Council of Sponsoring Institutions – March 8-10, 2021 ORAU’s 76th Annual Meeting of the Council of Sponsoring Institutions will be held virtually this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The theme is Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, and sessions will be held over several days. Please mark your calendars for March 8-11th, and stay tuned for information on the agenda and registration in early December. If you are interested please contact Terri Kinzy. 

Pierce Cedar Creek Institute Summer 2021 grants
The Institute is offering a number of Â鶹´«Ã½ for Â鶹´«Ã½s and faculty members from your institution interested in art, writing, environmental research, and natural resource internships. The grants and fellowships will provide funding for projects that take place over the summer of 2021. Applications are due by February 4, 2021. More information is available at the Pierce Cedar Creek Institute website.   

Support for Faculty Scholars Award
The Support for Faculty Scholars Award exists to advance the research mission of Â鶹´«Ã½. The SFSA supports research and creative activities that may not lead to external funding but that enhance and sustain the scholarly reputation of WMU and the faculty principal investigator. Deadlines to complete and submit an application online at https://wmich.infoready4.com 

Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) for New Graduate Students
All new WMU graduate Â鶹´«Ã½s are required to complete an online RCR course in eLearning during their first semester. This is a university-wide requirement that provides new graduate Â鶹´«Ã½s with basic research ethics and integrity training. As of December 31, the current RCR course is being replaced with CITI training. Students admitted in spring 2021 or later will take CITI modules to satisfy the university RCR requirement. Graduate Â鶹´«Ã½s working on certain federal grants or those subject to compliance regulations must take additional CITI modules.

Technology Development Fund
The Office of Research and Innovation is now accepting applications for the Technology Development Fund (TDF) for awards of up to $25,000. Â鶹´«Ã½ has made funds available to help discoveries make the transition from invention to commercialization. The funds from this program are intended to be used to bridge the gap that often exists between research-stage technologies and technologies that are closer to being licensed by a corporation, or that may be ready for private investment as part of a start-up company. Commercial-ready technologies often require a working prototype, or a more developed prototype that has been validated for a greater number of conditions or difference endpoints than earlier versions. Further details and guidelines related to the TDF application can be found at the Technology Development Fund link. 

ORI Equipment Refresh Fund
The WMU Office of Research and Innovation is pleased to be able to offer limited funding for the repair, updating or in limited cases procurement of replacement equipment for research and creative scholarship purposes. Proposals should address that the equipment being repaired, upgraded or replaced is essential, non redundant within the college or WMU, and preferably that it is available for shared usage. Personal items such as computers are not covered under this program. Service contracts will ONLY be considered when they are a cost effective solution to repair a piece of equipment and not for prevention of future issues. Disciplines where WRAP/IDR funds are typically available should include any possible cost share that can be contributed by users to allow for the maximum number of awards. Proposals are due at this InfoReady link by December 14, 2020. 

Research Restart Plan
The University requires a Research Restart Plan from all researchers conducting research involving in-person data collection. Please see information at the Research Restart Plan website and submit your restart plan at InfoReady. This University requirement must be reviewed and approved before the IRB can approve in-person data collection. The committee reviewing the research restart plans is separate from the IRB. Once your research plan has been approved please forward a copy to the IRB. A restart plan is not required for remote data collection (e.g., WebEx or Qualtrics).

Libraries' Open Textbook Grant
Applications for Libraries' Open Textbook Grant due Dec. 4. It's not too late to apply for a $1,000 grant from the University Libraries to adopt open textbooks and content for your summer or fall 2021 or spring 2022 courses. Applications must be received by Dec. 4. View complete requirements and apply at the Open Textbook Grant link by Dec. 4.  Why should you consider open textbooks? Open textbooks have a license that allows instructors to use and adapt them for their courses and Â鶹´«Ã½s to access them for free online. They are low or no-cost alternatives to expensive textbooks and one way instructors can help with college affordability. Your subject librarian can help you identify an open textbook or course content to replace your current textbook. Apply at https://wmich.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9ZG3lsq9XebrFg9.

Faculty Research and Creative Activities Award
The application for the Faculty Research and Creative Activities Award (FRACAA) will be available in InfoReady on December 1, 2020. Submission deadline is 5 p.m. Feb. 12, 2021. For more information regarding the FRACAA program, please visit this link. 

Please join us for a WebEx Workshop to learn the ins and outs of Faculty Research and Creative Activities Award with FRACAA committee chair, Dr. Manuel Bautista on Monday, December 7, 2020 at 12:00 p.m. at https://wmich.webex.com/meet/manuel.bautista.

Updated ORI assignments
As a result of reorganization within ORI, some of the job duties performed by Melanie Greer have now been turned over to other staff members within ORI.  Please contact the following for assistance:

Kelli Bond with questions regarding Faculty Research Travel Fund (FTRF), Publication of Papers and Exhibition of Creative Works (PPE), Undergraduate Research and Creative Scholarship Awards (URE) or any general questions.
Bonnie Gabriel with questions regarding payment from Internal Funding awards.
Kay Mortellaro with questions regarding Support for Faculty Scholarship Awards (SFSA) and Faculty Research and Creative Activities Award (FRACAA).
Sarah Pratt with questions regarding grants.
Steve Weber with questions regarding Intellectual Property or Technology Development Fund (TDF).

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