Call for Proposals: ACPA Senior Scholars Grant Program
 
September 20, 2019
 
The ACPA-College Student Educators International and the Senior Scholars are committed to
making policy programmatic decisions based on quality research data about the experiences of
students, administrators, staff, and faculty at colleges and universities nationally and
internationally.
With this announcement, ACPA and the Senior Scholars continue a research grant initiative to
encourage practitioners and faculty to initiate original scholarship and research efforts designed
to study critical issues impacting student affairs and/or higher education systems. Potential topics
include, but are not limited to, racial justice, diversity and social justice, student demographics,
and impact and value of student affairs on student success [A fuller list of topics exists in the
Senior Scholars and SSAO Advisory Group Research Agenda].
ACPA will award up to $10,000 in grants for the 2019-2020 calendar year to practitioners and/or
faculty to conduct studies that benefit our understanding of the transformative nature of student
affairs and higher education. Grant recipients will be invited to present their work at the ACPA
Convention in 2021.
Proposals will be judged on their originality, feasibility, clarity, and potential institutional
impact. All grant proposals will be reviewed and highest consideration will be given to topics
that align with the themes included in the Research Agenda. The final work will belong to the
researchers/practitioners and they will be encouraged to submit for publication in an ACPA
media outlet.
ACPA will fund up to two (2) grants. Only current members of ACPA are eligible to be Principal
Investigator (PI) on a grant.
 
Proposal Format
Please merge the following components into one coherent document.
1. Cover Page - The title of the proposal along with the name, title, address, email, and
phone number of the PI and all researchers.
2. Proposal Narrative - The proposal narrative should be detailed but concise (2,000 words
or fewer are encouraged for this section), should include peer-reviewed sources where
appropriate, and must include the following elements:
a. Problem statement identifying the research question(s) or the transformative
conditions that the research is designed to address.
b. Indicate which topic on the research agenda this proposal addresses.
c. Conceptual framework - Discuss and illustrate the theory underlying the project.
The research must be grounded in the literature with a clear connection between
theory and practice. There should be specific outcomes that will be measured and
a potential implications section for practitioners.
d. Data and methodology section - Research studies can incorporate qualitative,
quantitative, mixed and/or critical methodologies. This section should include an
explicit description of sampling, dataset (and the criteria for selecting
data/participants), research instrument or design, and data analysis.
e. Campus-level programming implications section - The proposal should clearly
identify, create, and/or support potential specific programs at the institutional
level that have the potential to be adopted or adapted at a range of institutions.
3. References - Appropriately reference the works cited throughout the proposal narrative
using APA 6 th edition.
4. Timeline for the various aspects of the proposed research, with an end date of Monday,
November 23, 2020, not to exceed two pages.
5. Proposed budget and narrative - Grants may be used for research travel, data collection,
incentives for participants, transcription, equipment, and miscellaneous expenses such as
software and books. Funds cannot be used for salaries, research assistants, tuition and
fees, or institutional indirect costs. Funded projects will be required to submit records of
expenses to ACPA as part of the final grant reports. The budget should include a
narrative not to exceed one page.
6. Biosketch – Brief biographies of the PI and others directly working on the grant.
7. Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval - The researchers are responsible for
completing all institutional review board procedures from the PI’s university as well as
for any other campuses included in the research process. The proposal must include a
brief description of the institution’s IRB process and the timeline for submitting the
research proposal for review.
 
Funding Disbursement
Grant funds will be provided to the PI in the full amount awarded. The PI will provide receipts
for all expenditures, a mid-year report on the budget and research project (Friday, May 1, 2020
deadline), and a final report and budget at the end of the research funding year.
 
Timeline
September 20, 2019 - Announcement of grant program
Sunday, October 27, 2019 (Midnight EST) - Proposals due
Friday, November 29, 2019 - Announcement of recipients
Friday, May 1, 2020 - Mid-Year Project Update to Senior Scholars
Monday, November 23, 2020 - Research completed and report submitted to the Senior Scholars
Please submit completed proposals Florence M. Guido (floguido@milpond.com) and Dina