Elevate OSU through Research
The R1 status of the University is strongly supported by the research and scholarship in the College of Arts and Sciences. Research and scholarly activity also contribute to student recruitment and experiences while at OSU, including the opportunity to take classes from world-class researchers. The externally funded research that is conducted in the STEM and social sciences disciplines is an important component of the required research expenditure for an institution to be given R1 status. Most of the units in CAS have doctoral programs; the number of doctoral degrees produced in all areas are important in the calculations of the research activity index (a crucial statistic) calculated as part of the Carnegie process. Strong and active College of Arts and Sciences research and scholarship programs are vital to “elevating OSU among the ranks of R1 universities and leveraging this top-tier status to advance research that impacts society.”
Initative 6
Support research and scholarly activity of CAS faculty and students, thereby improving the University among other R1 institutions.
Objective 1: Increase funding from external sources
To support and expand research and scholarly activities, CAS will increase both submitted proposals and awards from external sources by at least 4% a year. This will be measured in number and dollar amount of proposals and awards, in addition to the time to first grant for new faculty. Approaches will include College and University-level workshops on proposal writing; activities to facilitate the formation of teams around proposal topics; and distribution of funding opportunities, including directly contacting relevant faculty.
Objective 2: Increase fellowships and early career awards
CAS will work to increase the number of faculty receiving prestigious fellowships and early career faculty awards, as well as the number of graduate students receiving prestigious graduate fellowships. Approaches will include workshops and panels with previous recipients; increased awareness of Faculty Fellowship Top-Offs program (support for when salary and benefits would not be fully covered by the fellowship); continued coordination with Graduate College on support for graduate and undergraduate students applying for NSF GRFP and other prestigious fellowships; fellowship applications encouraged by mentors; recognizing recipients for their accomplishments through press releases, which will also increase awareness of opportunities.
Objective 3: Increase research impact through communications
To increase the impact of our research through communicating results to the public, CAS will add funding to the Community Engagement Grant Program; distribute opportunities and host faculty panels about writing for The Conversation; and host workshops on writing for the public. Results will be measured by media mentions, Experts Directory reports of public directed scholarship, and national rankings of graduate programs.
Objective 4: Recruit and retain top-tier faculty
In order for the College to recruit and retain high-quality faculty, which is also critical for the success of teaching and recruiting students, we will implement the following:
- Improve and extend the current faculty mentoring program.
- Train faculty volunteers from all departments to develop a culture to attract and retain a diverse faculty body.
- Provide workshops for faculty development to promote career advancement, irrespective of rank.
- Encourage appropriate work-life balance. The College and its departments will review their practices, policies, and procedures to identify, modify, or remove those that are incompatible with work-life balance.
- Leverage our institutional membership in the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity (NCFDD) to support the above activities.
- Conduct exit surveys/interviews to identify barriers to retention.
Objective 5: Foster transdisciplinary research
Transdisciplinary research is essential if we are to address in any meaningful way the large-scale global challenges that currently confront current and future generations. In order to achieve this objective, CAS will:
- Identify and promote current transdisciplinary projects.
- Develop at least two new transdisciplinary foci to meet the OSU strategy.
- Provide seed funds for transdisciplinary projects.
- Create regular opportunities for Faculty across disciplines to build networks that become the basis of transdisciplinary programs.
- Ensure that transdisciplinary activities are valued as part of the A&D and RPT process.
- Provide support in the form of graduate research assistants to assist with developing transdisciplinary projects.