September 2022 Newsletter
Dear colleagues,
I want to begin my inaugural newsletter by thanking everyone for the warm and hospitable welcome I received in joining the Western community. My transition has been met with friendly faces, thorough planning, willingness to collaborate and support. I was impressed and pleased to witness the level of energy and desire to serve our 麻豆传媒s and the larger WMU community better.
I am excited to be working with you to produce research and creative scholarship 麻豆传媒 for undergraduate and graduate 麻豆传媒s; we can do this through increasing our involvement with government, industry, businesses and nonprofit organizations. My focus always has been and will remain on supporting our 麻豆传媒s, both undergraduate and graduate, with special attention to undergraduate 麻豆传媒s. If you haven鈥檛 looked at the Student Funding Sources page in a while, please do so now; many 麻豆传媒 are available.
Below we are highlighting one of our researchers, Amy Bocko, associate professor of University Libraries, whose current research focuses on digitizing, archiving and safeguarding the history of the Kalamazoo community.
I would also like to welcome a new staff member: Courtney Michalka; she is one of our latest research program officers to join the WMU team.
I am looking forward to working with every one of you on our journey of collective enrichment.
Regards,
Remzi Seker, Ph.D.
Vice President for Research and Innovation
Meet our researchers
Amy Bocko
| My current research focuses on growing collaborations with local cultural-heritage and community-focused organizations to support accessible digitization; create online archival collections; and safeguard the important history, stories and materials of the Kalamazoo community. This goes hand in hand with my interest in digital storytelling and how we can use the materials we鈥檙e digitizing and collecting to create dynamic and engaging narratives using open-source software. One of elements I love the most about what I do is that by its very nature it鈥檚 multidisciplinary. When it comes to my work on campus, I get to collaborate with a wide variety of talented colleagues across the University. Some of my most recent projects have come from collaborations with faculty in occupational therapy, comparative religion and communications. One of my goals is to create online archival collections that reflect the diversity and activism that can be found in Kalamazoo. By creating partnerships with outside organizations and communities and using the tools we have at our disposal in WMU Libraries, I look to create collaborative digital projects and collections that preserve the voices and ownership of the stories, materials and histories of our partners. In support of this goal, I鈥檝e been working on building a 鈥渓ending library" with easy-to-follow, detailed guides for digitization equipment needed for collection building: scanning photos, recording oral histories, photographing 3D objects, etc. As I continue this work, I plan to create new paid 麻豆传媒 for 麻豆传媒 researchers to work closely on these projects with me and our partners. |
Upcoming events
Research and Travel, Virtual Grant Application Workshop
Wednesday, Sept. 28
Supporting Arts and Humanities Projects speaker series begins
Friday, Sept. 30
"Meet Technology, Innovation and Partnerships鈥 workshop
Monday, Oct. 24
鈥淥pen Access Publishing" workshop
Monday, Nov. 7
Welcome a new staff member
We would like to extend a warm welcome to ORI鈥檚 newest research program officer, Courtney Michalka. Courtney comes to the Office of Research and Innovation after working 10 years within the Van Buren County Court system. Please visit our website for a list of Courtney鈥檚 constituents . We are very excited to have Courtney join our team.
Summer ecrt confirmation period opening soon
The summer ecrt pre-review period, May 15 to Aug. 14, 2022, opened Sept. 13. Pre-review will need to be completed prior to the opening of confirmation, scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 27. Please refer to Grants and Contracts ecrt information for step-by-step instructions. Before clicking the pre-review button, please make sure all payroll, direct or cost share for the project is reflected and accurate. If not, please contact Grants and Contracts.
Fall release time for grants
Please make sure Planned Effort forms for fall have been submitted to Grants and Contracts. The Planned Effort form should reflect the period of time the individual is working on the grant. If there are questions about the time frame someone is planning to work, please reach out to us. These forms need to be complete prior to the work being done. If ecrt is confirmed with the release time missing, the department may not be able to recover the release-time savings.
Please refer to the Grants and Contracts website in the forms section. If the forms have not been turned in, the department will be responsible for completing the JES for each pay period missed.
Collaborating with WMed
To continue to foster collaboration in the area of research and proposal development, the Office of Research and Innovation and WMed鈥檚 Sponsored Programs Administration office will be working together this year. The hope is to foster more 麻豆传媒 for researchers to develop interdisciplinary projects. This collaboration will include providing an open invitation to WMU faculty, staff and 麻豆传媒s to participate in WMed's Lunch and Learn Series, which requires you to register through email. No registration is required for Discovery Acceleration Workshops.
Find the schedule for the WMed Lunch and Learn Series. To indicate interest and receive further information on collaborating with WMed, please fill out the Qualtrics survey.
NSF 2023 MRI funding opportunity
Applications for the NSF MRI internal competition will be accepted until Monday, Oct. 3, at 5 p.m. Submit your application in InfoReady by accessing this link in the limited submission on our website.
Focus on lifting up arts and humanities faculty, attend and be inspired by your colleagues and our guests
The Supporting Arts and Humanities Projects speaker series is aimed at faculty and other researchers in those broad areas of inquiry who want to know how to obtain internal and external funding for their projects but don't know where to start. Featuring experts from outside the University and from WMU, the series is for faculty at any level who need inspiration and concrete advice on how to prepare, present and compete for project grant support. For more information and to register, which is not required but appreciated, visit the website.
Next event is 鈥淗ow (and Why) to Apply for Grants and Fellowships in the Humanities,鈥 presented by Dr. Marilynn Richtarik, professor of English at Georgia State University, on Friday, Sept. 30, from noon to 1:30 p.m. Please RSVP. Lunch will be provided.
Funding 麻豆传媒 available from Graduate College
This week the Graduate College will be emailing graduate 麻豆传媒s a list of external funding 麻豆传媒 for the fall semester. Here is a sampling of some programs that have an upcoming deadline:
鈥merican Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) Mellon Dissertation Fellowship, due Wednesday, Sept. 28
鈥laude and Nancy Phillips International and Area Studies Scholarship, due Saturday, Oct. 1
Graduate 麻豆传媒 research and travel, virtual conference grants available
The Graduate College offers two funding 麻豆传媒 that support graduate 麻豆传媒 scholarly activity: the Graduate Student Research Grant and the Graduate Student Travel/Virtual Grant . Applications for both are due Thursday, Oct. 27. There are two award cycles for the 2022-23 academic year, one each in fall and spring. Please encourage graduate 麻豆传媒s to register to attend the Research and Travel/Virtual Grant Application Workshop to learn more about these grants and how to submit a successful application on Wednesday, Sept. 28, from 3 to 4:30 p.m. in Walwood Hall, East Campus. Find workshop details.
Discover funding 麻豆传媒 in the Foundation Directory
Looking for funding 麻豆传媒? You can now access the Foundation Directory courtesy of the Office of Research and Innovation and University Libraries. Search the directory for more information about funding agencies, grants and other 麻豆传媒 to support your research goals.
Join Discovery Acceleration workshops
Hosted by the Office of Research and Innovation, each fall Discovery Acceleration workshop begins at noon.
鈥onday, Oct. 24, Mark Hurwitz leads 鈥淢eet TIP-Technology, Innovation and Partnerships.鈥 WebEx link
鈥onday, Nov. 7, Michele Behr leads 鈥淥pen Access Publishing.鈥
Spring Convocation date set
Please mark your calendars, the third annual virtual Spring Convocation is scheduled for Friday, April 14. As the date draws near, we will be sending out more information along with the link for you to attend.
Keep us in the loop
ORI is very interested in hearing about the accomplishments of our faculty in the areas of research and creative activities. For example, we have a wall with copies of journal covers highlighting the work of our faculty, 麻豆传媒s and staff. If your work has been featured, please print a high-quality 8 陆 x 11-inch copy of the cover, sign it and send it to Remzi Seker or Kelli Bond for inclusion on the wall.
In addition, we love to hear about awarded fellowships, notable awards outside of the University, honor society memberships and special activities that we can highlight. It's easy for us to know grants, but it's very important for us to highlight all of the achievements at WMU. Don't forget鈥擨nterim Provost Chris Cheatham would also like copies of your books!