Funding Guidelines and Uses

Vanderbilt Strong Faculty Grant Program

Funding Overview

The Vanderbilt Strong Faculty Grant Program grants may range in size and purpose. Two general tracks are available.

  • Rapid cycle grants are $2000 or less, fill an immediate teaching or research/scholarship/creative expression need and would be used within a semester (or in planning for such).
  • Gap grants are for larger requests and are designed to address disproportional impacts on the faculty due to their specific roles, activities and even personal obligations during COVID-operations.

The program is not intended to replace existing sources of support, to fund normal expenses, or to support new research initiative/programs. The university established the COVID-19 Research and Innovation Fund to enable donations to support research and innovation projects to fight COVID-19.

Vanderbilt Strong would not provide funding, for example, to assist with childcare needs resulting from the pandemic. Lack of childcare can impact a faculty member's ability to do their work.  However, the employee emergency relief fund is designed specifically to help with that issue.

VU Strong Funding Guidelines

Allowable: 

  • Undergraduate stipends and wages 
  • Graduate wages, stipends and fees 
  • Materials, supplies and technology 
  • CORES expenses  
  • Post-Docs

Unallowable: 

  • Faculty salary 
  • Student tuition 

Examples of possible investments in faculty teaching for the remainder of AY20-21 include:

  • Hire a student or postdoc to help prepare course materials designed specifically for an in-person course which has remote student enrollment; this might include work-study students;
  • Hire a graduate/professional student to be a "chat leader" for an in-person class where the student attends in-person course meetings to help monitor and, when needed, to amplify the voice of students who are participating remotely;
  • Purchase a digital tool or tangible resource that facilitates adaptive teaching including the ability to effectively teach and engage students who are physically present and masked as well as students who attend through virtual platforms.

Examples of possible investments in faculty research, scholarship and creative expression for the remainder of AY20-21, and also AY21-22, include:

  • Hire a student research assistant to advance research, scholarship and creative expression that was disrupted by changes due to COVID-operations; this might include work-study students;
  • Support for grant writing assistance;
  • Purchase materials or supplies to facilitate activities that would have otherwise been conducted in the field outside of Vanderbilt facilities;
  • Enable access to digital collections or access to local archives by collaborators at international locations, and to facilitate research, scholarship and creative expression interrupted by travel restrictions during the pandemic. 

Hiring Student Workers