By:  Dr. Ted Butryn, Kinesiology

Have you ever heard about colleagues at SJSU or other universities receiving major grants from NIH, NSF, or private foundations? For me, even after 12 years as a faculty member here, it was a pretty mysterious process, frankly, and I really thought that going after a large federal or private grant might be out of my league.  However, in 2011, CASA and the Center for Applied Research on Human Services (CARHS) launched the Grants Academy. As a member of the CARHS steering committee, I had the opportunity to assist CARHS Director Amy D’Andrade in facilitating Academy sessions, and so in a way I got to participate as well. After doing so, I can say that the process of procuring funding for my research has never been clearer to me, and I have never been more optimistic about it!

To participate in the Academy, interested tenure/tenure-track faculty submitted proposals, and ultimately seven were selected to be part of the inaugural Grants Academy class. The purpose of the Grants Academy was to guide faculty from the formulation of a fundable research question, through the process of fully developing the proposal and budget, to finally submitting their grant. Academy members attended a series of five workshops throughout the Fall and Spring semesters covering topics such as developing proposal ideas, locating a funding source, budgeting for grant proposals, the NIH review process, communicating with program officers, and writing and revising grant submissions. Representatives from the SJSU Research Foundation, the Tower Foundation, and Graduate Studies and Research gave suggestions and tips in each session, and often worked individually with Academy participants outside of the sessions. In addition, Academy participants received feedback on their grant proposals from experts in their field, and mentoring from faculty across campus who had successfully obtained large grants. The members of the first Academy universally reported feeling that the guidance and personal feedback were priceless. In my 12 years at SJSU, I’ve rarely seen such a rich and collaborative endeavor directed at the promotion of high-level research activity. We have many amazing resources across campus; I am proud that, in CASA, we also have the CARHS Grants Academy.

There is an informational meeting about the Academy this Thursday from 1:30-2:30 in MH 438A. This is a great opportunity to learn more about the Academy and ask questions of presenters and past participants. Hope to see you there!