NCA funded projects and events advance the discipline of communication. While there are many funding outlets for communication scholars to seek support for academic disciplinary research, NCA is uniquely positioned to support work that is focused on the discipline itself. All funded activities align with the goals of NCA's strategic plan and have widespread impact that reaches beyond a single department, campus, or NCA unit.
Announcing Results of the October 2012 RFP for Funds to Advance the Discipline Grant Competition
Funded Projects and Events:
Gordon
Carlson, Fort Hayes State University
Project
Title: Conceptual Logistics in
Communication Research Workshop
Carlson’s
project will develop an online workshop to explain the Concept Tool Kit and
other research collaboration tools and their uses. The workshop will cover items including but
not limited to demonstrating conceptual logistics and conceptual blending
techniques, acquainting students and faculty with the Concept Toolkit tools,
demonstrating pedagogical implications for students and faculty in and out of
the classroom, soliciting feedback, and introducing the Journal of Concepts
in Communication and its approach to online, open access models of
scholarly publication.
Stephen
P. Depoe and the International Environmental Communication Association
Event
Title: The 11th Biennial
Conference on Communication and Environment (COCE)
The 11th Biennial Conference on Communication and
Environment (COCE), organized under the auspices of the International
Environmental Communication Association (IECA), will take place on June 6-10,
2013 in Uppsala, Sweden. The COCE conference will be attended by over 125
scholars and practitioners from over a dozen countries, including a significant
contingent from the United States (http://environmentalcomm.org/coce2013). NCA will be recognized as the “sustainability
sponsor” of the conference.
Cerise
L. Glenn, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Project
Title: Group Mentoring Approaches to the
Research and Publication Process:
Utilizing Online Research Groups for Graduate Students and Tenure Track
Professors
Glenn’s project will create an on-line research mentoring groups
to increase understanding of the research and publication process and promote
active research agendas for NCA members.
It combines aspects of career socialization and mentoring literature
with the limited amount of research on writing groups.
Steve
Matusza, John Tedesco and Marlene Preston, Virginia Tech University
Project
Title: Closing the Communication Across
the Curriculum (CXC) and Curriculum in the Discipline (CID) Gap
Matusza’s project proposal will replicate and expand (to 5
additional business schools beyond the present one under investigation) the
present exhaustive pilot case study of a business school’s communication
education plans, practices, resources, and constraints.
Katherine
Margolis and Susan Collins, Health and Behavior Strategy and Research
Project
Title: Bringing clear and relevant
health communication into the patient-centered medical home
The objective of this 2-part online learning event is to provide
specific, practical strategies to improve the clarity of written and verbal
communication with patients. The event
will feature speakers with expertise in development and design of patient
education materials that meet health literacy principles as well as in the use
of the teach-back method within patient interactions. The online learning event will include a
variety of learning activities: didactic, video-based modeling, participant
discussion, skills checklist, medical home audit of best practices, and links
to resources for continued learning and support.
Suzy
Prentis, The University of Tennessee
Project
Title: Directing the Basic Course: A content analysis of Basic Course management
to create a registry of resources and options
Prentis’s project will investigate the role of Basic Course
Director across all types of institutions of higher education and will gather
data to ascertain the roles and responsibilities of the Basic Course Director,
what classes they supervise, what training is provided for instructors of the
basic courses, what is the job title/rank of these positions and what resources
do they need to perform better.
Information about projects and events that have been funded by NCA in the past.
Funding proposals submitted through this request for proposals should be for one-time funding not to exceed $5,000. (Contact Brad Mello for larger and/or multi-year requests.) Preference is given to stand-alone projects/events, but partial funding of larger projects/events will be considered provided the funding is allocated to a specific piece of the larger endeavor.
Eligibility/ Funding Parameters
- Principal Investigators must be NCA members at the time of submission.
- Travel, equipment, and other funding categories will only be allocated for items that are in direct support of the proposed project or event. Examples of things that would not be eligible for funding under this term are attendance at NCA’s annual convention and purchase of office computers. Funds may not be used to augment the budget of NCA convention-related activity.
- NCA will pay up to 10 percent of indirect costs, but the total funding amount including both direct and indirect costs cannot exceed the $5,000 funding limit.
Application Process
- The deadline is Tuesday, October 1, 2013, at 5 p.m. Eastern.
- Each proposal should be submitted with a funding request form. (download)
- Proposals should be submitted by the deadline as one PDF document containing all applicable information to Brad Mello, NCA Associate Director for Academic and Professional Affairs, at bmello@natcom.org.
- All proposals should include the following:
- A detailed description of the proposed activity which includes answers to the following questions:
- For events
- What is the topic of the event?
- Why is this an important topic and how can the event be used to advance the discipline of communication? How does this align with NCA’s strategic plan?
- In what way(s) will NCA members benefit from this event? How many people are likely to benefit?
- What is the planned structure of the event?
- What are the logistical details of the event, e.g., dates, location, organizers?
- For projects
- What do you propose to investigate?
- Why is this an important project and how can the results be used to advance the discipline of communication? How does this align with NCA’s strategic plan?
What is the methodology by which you plan to accomplish this?
- In what way(s) will NCA members benefit from this event? How many people are likely to benefit?
- What tangible deliverables will be produced through this project?
- A detailed budget including rationale for each expense and a list of other confirmed funding sources; and
- A C.V. for each Principal Investigator that is no longer than three pages long and includes full name, contact information, and institutional affiliation
Obligations of Grant Recipients
In addition to the funding request form there are detailed documents describing assessment and reporting obligations as well as requirements regarding promotional activities and sponsorship acknowledgement. All grantees are required to meet these obligations.
For counsel on proposal development, contact Brad Mello at bmello@natcom.org or 202-534-1103.