2020 Summer Research Fellows
Faculty Work to Improve Grant Writing Skills
BY GEENA LAWRENCE
KENNESAW, Ga. (Jun 2020) — Kennesaw State University’s Summer Research Fellows Program is an annual intensive professional development and mentoring program designed to
help faculty members successfully apply for research grants from state and federal
agencies, foundations and non-profits.
“As a result of working with faculty on grant writing, we noticed a strong need to
give faculty dedicated time and space to work on their grants (enhanced by more one-on-one
mentoring and support),” said Evelina Sterling, director of research development and strategic initiatives in the Office of Research, which sponsors the program. “Grant writing can be a difficult
process, so we want to provide faculty with the time, support and mentorship to be
successful.”
The goal of the Summer Research Fellows Program is to enhance the research capacity
of KSU and support the advancement and success of faculty by providing comprehensive
training in the preparation of competitive grant proposals, establishing a research
mentoring program, and creating a community of practice aimed at facilitating and
promoting the engagement of diverse groups of faculty in disciplinary and interdisciplinary
research.
For the program’s second summer, which began in early May and runs through mid-June,
15 faculty members were selected from the 34 applicants, showing just how competitive
this process was. The disciplines of the accepted applicants range from mechanical
engineering, nursing and physics to architecture, geography, and criminal justice.
Each member, who earns a summer stipend for participating, is expected to not have
any competing 
responsibilities or conflicts in order to devote their time fully to the program. The
faculty selected are those who demonstrate the greatest success for submitting a competitive
external grant proposal in fall 2020 or spring 2021 as a result of participating in
this program
“I love working with faculty around grant writing, which is as much of an art as a
science,” said Sterling, who is also interim assistant dean of research in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and an assistant professor of sociology. “It is very rewarding to see something
start with a germ of an idea and develop into a successful competitive proposal that
results in funding.”
Along with the rest of the campus, this program has had a few changes since the impact
of COVID-19, forcing remote learning. All the workshop modules have been moved to
online and there will be a mix of asynchronous assignments around the different aspects
of grant writing that faculty can complete at their own pace, as well as synchronous
presentations from various grant and research-related experts.
While there are still many opportunities for external funding for KSU faculty, some
of the deadlines and expectations have been altered by COVID-19 and therefore, the
program will be flexible with faculty, both around participating in this workshop
as well as the proposal submissions process next year.
The 2020 Summer Research Fellows include:
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NameDisciplineCollege
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Anton Bryantsevdevelopmental biologyCollege of Science and Mathematics
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Page BurchsculptureCollege of the Arts
-
Sara Evanscriminal JusticeCollege of Humanities and Social Sciences
-
David Guerra-Zubiagamechatronics engineeringSouthern Polytechnic College of Engineering and Engineering Technology
-
Ping Johnsonhealth promotion and physical educationWellStar College College of Health and Human Services
-
M.A. Karimcivil engineeringSouthern Polytechnic College of Engineering and Engineering Technology
-
Paul McDanielgeographyCollege of Humanities and Social Sciences
-
Mary RamosnursingWellStar College of Health and Human Services
-
Kisa RanasinghephysicsCollege of Science and Mathematics
-
Darlene Rodriguez-Schaefersocial work and human servicesWellStar College of Health and Human Services
-
Arash SoleimaniarchitectureCollege of Architecture and Construction Management
-
Eric StachuramathematicsCollege of Science and Mathematics
-
Jared TaglialatelabiologyCollege of Science and Mathematics
-
Lynn VaragonanursingWellStar College of Health and Human Services
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Kate Zimmerinclusive educationBagwell College of Education
