University funds grants for research
$183,000 allotted for travel, developmental
expenses
By Angie Chang
staff reporter
Manochehr Dorraj, professor of political science, took a trip to Turkey in the summer of 1998 to participate in a faculty seminar with American and Turkish scholars to learn about their politics, society and culture.
Now Dorraj shares his experience in Turkey with his classes and tells
them what he observed on his trip.
“There were great discussions with exchanges of ideas,” Dorraj
said. “There’s nothing like a first-hand experience.”
Larry Adams, associate provost for academic affairs, said Dorraj’s trip was funded by an instructional development grant, one of many faculty development grants TCU offers its faculty.
“Our concern as an institution is with the continuing professional development of faculty members,” Adams said. “We have programs in place that support faculty to enhance their teaching and learning.”
Increasing faculty and staff support was one of the recommendations of the Commission on the Future of TCU.
Chancellor Michael Ferrari said research grants are just a part of that support. Increasing compensation and the number of faculty and staff are other ways to provide more support, he said.
Adams said grants are available for instructional development, research and creative activities. Grants are also available for traveling abroad for faculty seminars or hosting guest lecturers. Funding for these grants comes from university funds and totals $183,000, he said.
Each year the same amount of funds are allocated to faculty grant programs. Unless there are extra funds, the amount will not be increased, Adams said.
Gary Carter, director of sponsored projects at Baylor University, said $100,000 was budgeted this year for faculty grants at Baylor. In the past, $75,000 was allotted to faculty grant, but the amount was increased due to the university’s heightened emphasis on faculty development, he said.
Carter said Baylor has about 650 faculty members compared to the 385 full-time faculty members at TCU. The grant money is enough to meet the needs of Baylor, but an increase is always welcomed, Carter said.
Jeffrey Coffer, associate professor of chemistry, said a faculty peer group is charged with the task of deciding which applicants will get a grant. The grants are usually small and are offered to either new or tenured faculty to help them conduct more research so they may get a larger grant from other institutions in the future, Coffer said.
“These programs promote a teacher/scholar model,” Coffer said. “For (faculty) to be fresh in their disciplines, they need to be scholars, as well.”
Coffer said the programs are popular among faculty but there is usually not enough money to fund as many proposals as they would like.
Jan Fox, coordinator of research and sponsored projects, said approximately 80 percent of the applications are chosen for funding, which is roughly 100 grants a year.
Angie Chang
a_o_chang@yahoo.com
PC sponsors campus-wide events for Halloween
First all-campus Halloween party includes dance,
contests
By Kristina Iodice
staff reporter
Programming Council is sponsoring The Graveyard Gala, the first all-campus Halloween party featuring a DJ and a fortune-teller at 8 p.m. today in the Student Center Ballroom.
“Our committee came up with the idea,” said Jason Kinney, special events chairman. “It was something we thought the students would like and something we could do a lot with.”
The budget for all Halloween events was about $1,800, said Amy Warriner, sub-chairwoman for the Graveyard Gala. The funding covered the dance and pumpkin carving and costume contests. Many organizations and students are interested in the different events, she said.
“We wanted to have a dance and we considered a lot of things,” Warriner said. “There is nothing campus-wide for Halloween except Colby Halloween which is for little kids, so it gives students something to do on Halloween.”
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Krystal Powell/SKIFF STAFF
Nhu Do, a senior marketing major, sells pumpkins as a fund-raiser for Programming Council Monday in the Student Center. |
The pumpkin carving contest is open to any club, residence hall, sorority, fraternity or organization on campus. The winning organization will receive a cash prize of $200 and a trophy, Kinney said. They will keep the trophy for one year and have the opportunity to defend the title at next year’s pumpkin carving contest, he said.
Stacy Stuart, a senior radio-TV-film major, was thinking about entering her carved pumpkin for her residence hall. She said the pumpkin carving contest should be open to individuals and not just groups.
“It’s usually an individual or two or three people doing the actual carving,” Stuart said.
PC will sell pumpkins from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. today outside The Main for groups who want to enter the contest or for anyone who wants a pumpkin for Halloween. The pumpkins entered into the contest will be voted on by students attending the dance.
Part of the Graveyard Gala is a Halloween costume contest open to everyone who attends the party.
arriner said the big draw to the dance will be the chance to dress up and have fun. Prizes for the costume contest winners include gift certificates to movie theaters and restaurants, she said. The categories are most humorous, most original, most adorable, best couple, best group and scariest.
“It sounds different from most costume parties I’ve been to before,” said Melissa Spretz, a sophomore art history major.
Spretz said she would be going to the dance with some friends. It is a fun way to stay on campus and dress up, she said. She wanted to stay on campus for Halloween since she has class the next day, she said.
Stuart said she would probably not attend the evening dance.
“It seems like everyone is busy (tonight) doing non-Halloween things,” Stuart said. “I’d feel silly if I went.”
The events are a way to keep people safe on Halloween, said Chad Kingsbury, a senior math major.
“I think a lot of people are going to go to it for social exposure and to have fun, but people like myself who have other plans and people who have tests and essays to work on and study for won’t be able to attend,” he said.
Kinney said the special events committee worked hard to plan the activities. The group will be decorating the ballroom this afternoon in preparation for the dance.
“We’re hoping it is a big enough success for it to become a tradition,” Warriner said.
Kristina Iodice
k.k.iodice@student.tcu.edu