William A.

Minor Grant Program

College of Mass Communication and Media Arts at SIUC –
mcma.siuc.edu

OBJECT: Distribute two research awards of up to $3000.00 annually to

MCMA faculty.

TIMELINE: AWARD proposals will be due each November 30, by

4:30 pm. Determination of awards will take place in January, and
awards will be announced in February. The grant period shall run from
May 15 – May 14.

GUIDELINES:
Projects may be either research or creative activities that explore the
creative correlation of order and novelty in human communication.
“Human communication” means any aspect of interpersonal, mass, or
mediated communication. Some contemporary interrogation of the
questions of creativity, order, and novelty debates the common
western assumption of uniqueness and originality as elements
constituting “pure” art practice (Pennycook, 584). Proposals should
focus on this area of research and practice.

Projects must meet these criteria:

1. The proposal must demonstrate how the project advances our

understanding of the philosophy of creativity in relation to
novelty and order.
2. The project should explore creativity in terms of repetition and
difference. Some examples are: creativity and mashups, global
cinematic exchange and its effects upon narrative structure,
online communities and the order of networking, found objects,
aleatory art, creative re-contextualization, and order in
technology and the arts.

Eligibility:

1. Principal Investigator must be a faculty member with a full time

MCMA appointment at any rank whose appointment is going to
be renewed the following fiscal year. Tenure track faculty,
continuing term faculty are eligible. A Co-Investigator may be
external to the college.
2. The PI must present the work in progress in a public setting, six
months into the grant year
3. The PI must submit a final report on the project’s outcomes, due
three months after the grant period ends. This report shall be
submitted to the Associate Dean.

The conditions for awarding this grant must comply with the Memorandum of
Agreement for the William A. Minor Foundation Account.
 4. All funds must be expended during the grant year. Costs for this
project incurred before or after the grant period are not covered.

Submission:

1. Application packets shall consist of the following:

a. An application form, including an abstract, a grant narrative,
and a detailed budget, and a budget justification. The
narrative should be no more than six double-spaced pages,
and use either an 11 or 12-point font.
b. Vitae of investigators
Applicant should highlight outcomes of any former
internal or external grants received on this vita.
c. Equipment specifications, if requesting such.
d. Letter of support from applicant’s chair, including a
statement clarifying whether or not that department will
maintain any equipment purchased through this grant. NOTE:
The grant does not cover maintenance or equipment or
software upgrades.
2. Applicant must submit six hard copies of application packet to the
Dean’s office by the deadline.
3. No late applications will be accepted.

Regulations governing this Grant:

1. Failure to submit required a completed application with

documentation on time would result in ineligibility for that grant
cycle.
2. An unsuccessful grant application may be revised and
resubmitted twice in succeeding grant cycles.
3. If applicable, applications will be judged on demonstrated good
use of previous internal or external grant funds and/or sabbatical
leaves. This will be measured by the outcomes of those grant or
sabbatical periods.
4. No course reduction or leave accompanies this grant, unless it
falls within a leave previously granted under other University
programs.
5. Funds may cover equipment, research materials such as
database subscription, books, or audio visual materials, travel to
research sites (not conferences), contractual services, hiring a
student assistant, and miscellaneous office expenses such as
copying, or faxing etc.
6. Any equipment purchased with this grant will be placed on the
inventory list of the recipient’s home department.

The conditions for awarding this grant must comply with the Memorandum of
Agreement for the William A. Minor Foundation Account.
 7. The grantee’s home department will be responsible for
maintaining any equipment purchased through this grant.
8. Grant funds may not be used to cover any entertainment
expenses associated with this project.
9. Grant recipients will not be eligible to reapply for this grant for a
period of three years.
10. All funds disbursed will be transferred to the local account in the
recipient’s home department.

AWARD COMMITTEE COMPOSITION

The committee that evaluates grant applications will be composed
of five MCMA members in the following distribution:

1 faculty member from each unit (TT any rank, total = 3)

1 continuing NTT from any MCMA unit
Associate Dean
College Financial Manager (non-voting)

Evaluator’s criteria:
1. Significance of proposed project to scholars, artists, and other
constituencies;
2. Quality or promise of quality in the applicant’s current and recent
work;
3. Quality of proposal’s concept, objectives, description, and
applicant’s clarity.
4. Demonstration of applicant’s understanding of the field(s) in
which s/he situates the project; and
5. Feasibility of applicant’s work plan, including where appropriate,
applicant’s past record of work done under grants.

APPLICATION FORM

Return to: Christine Collin, Dean’s Office, MCMA

Please note that the Application Form includes specific sheets for
Sections I, II, and V.

I. PROJECT COVER SHEET

II.PROJECT ABSTRACT

The conditions for awarding this grant must comply with the Memorandum of
Agreement for the William A. Minor Foundation Account.
 III.NARRATIVE:
1.Description of Project
2. Objectives
3 Context
4.Activities
5.Timeline
6.Outcomes
7. Significance
8.Roles of investigators (if more than one)

IV.INVESTIGATORS’ CVs

V.BUDGET

Please note that software purchases should be listed under

Contractual Services. Travel includes only travel to research
sites, not to conferences, exhibitions, or festivals.

VI. BUDGET JUSTIFICATION

Budget Justification should include the specific use for the item, e.g.
travel, equipment, office-related expenses like copying, database
fees, or DVD purchases. Applicants should make clear that items
they request are not available through other means, and should
specify the particular use for these items in their research.

If you plan to travel to several sites, please break down the total
Travel cost from the Budget into individual trips in this section.

VII. APPENDIX: EQUIPMENT SPECS (if requesting)

Requests for any equipment must be accompanied by a list of
specifications from a preferred, authorized SIUC vendor.

VIII. EQUIPMENT AND SOFTWARE MAINTENANCE LETTER

If you plan to buy equipment, you must furnish a letter from your
chair stating that the department will support any equipment
maintenance and software upgrades. If you chair cannot promise
such support, please furnish a letter stating that you understand
that the department will not support these expenses and still wish
to request the equipment purchase be funded.

The conditions for awarding this grant must comply with the Memorandum of
Agreement for the William A. Minor Foundation Account.
 FINAL REPORT

A final report is due three months after the grant period ends. The
report must contain three items.

Narrative:
Grant Outcomes – either in progress or completed.
Future directions of this research or creative activity
Value of research/creative activity to the field.

Maximum length for this narrative is 4 pages, double-spaced, using

11 or 12-point font.

Documentation:
Include any documentation of outcomes: programs,
notification of receipt of work submitted, letters of acceptance from
journals, public articles or reviews of work. Documentation is
required.

Chair’s Letter:
Chair’s letter must confirm applicant’s outcomes, and furnish
a brief evaluation of the significance of the work in the field. This
letter must be a 1-2 pages maximum.

The conditions for awarding this grant must comply with the Memorandum of
Agreement for the William A. Minor Foundation Account.