Information for the Faculty Research and Development Committee

C33V

Areas of Committee Concern

The committee is concerned with evaluating and recommending action on teaching faculty development activities, including proposals for research and advanced study, sabbatical leaves, and doctoral programs. The committee also oversees annual selection of the Elon Distinguished Scholar.

Policies and Procedures

• The Chair is elected each May by the committee. The Chair assumes duties about June 1 and serves for one year.
• Faculty members will be ineligible for funding from this committee during the terms of their service on the committee.
• Committee meetings are scheduled by the Chair once a month at a time convenient to committee members, unless committee business necessitates more frequent meetings.
• The Chair informs members of meetings at least one week in advance and provides a written agenda and a copy of the minutes of the previous meeting.
• The Chair presides at all meetings unless he/she appoints a proxy in his/her absence.
• The Chair appoints another committee member to record the minutes of each meeting.
• All decisions on committee business will be made through normal parliamentary procedure and a majority vote of the members present. A quorum consists of a majority of the committee membership.
• The Chair reports the committee’s decisions for sabbatical and other funding promptly to the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, who then notifies the faculty members, department chairs and the academic council as necessary.
• The Chair is responsible for completing all reports of committee business and submitting them to the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at the end of each academic year as necessary.

The FR&D committee reviews proposals for

1. Full-year, full-pay sabbaticals;

2. Half-year, full-pay or full-year, half-pay sabbaticals;

3. Hultquist awards;

4. Reassigned-time fellowships

5. Summer research funding; and

6. Research expense funding

The following process will be employed when reviewing applications for support:

1. All committee members will review the proposals for all sabbaticals. The committee members cannot apply for sabbaticals while serving on FR&D.

2. The committee will split into two subcommittees to review the following groups of applications:

a.  The Hultquist and Expense Only Subcommittee, consisting of a minimum of seven members, including the FR&D chair, will review applications for Hultquist and research expense awards. None of the members of the Hultquist and Expense Only Subcommittee may apply for research expense support, and none would be candidates for a Hultquist stipend.

b.  The Summer Research Subcommittee, consisting of a minimum of seven members, including the FR&D chair, will review applications for summer research funding. None of the members of the Summer Research Subcommittee may apply for summer research funding.

c.  If the available number of FR&D members is insufficient to meet the minimums specified in a) and b) above, the FR&D chair, with the help of Committee on Committees, will seek additional reviewers from across campus, including former FR&D members.

 3. The committee will select a returning member of FR&D to chair an ad hoc committee to review Reassigned-time Fellowships. This ad hoc committee chair will, with the help of the Committee on Committees, identify and invite faculty to serve on this ad hoc review committee.

Methods of Reporting To the Campus Community

The committee chair will submit a written annual report to Academic Council. On matters deemed to be of general concern, the Council may request that the committee report directly to the faculty.