Network Expansion: Frequently Asked Questions
UPDATED: 05/17/11. If after reading the FAQ you still have a question about joining the CIRTL Network please conact Kitch Barnicle, Network Coordinator at kabarnicle@wisc.edu, 608-262-9174. Return to the Expansion page
1. Has NSF committed to funding the expansion of the CIRTL Network?
2. Do I need to register for the informational Q& A Sessions?
3. Will the Q&A Sessions be recorded?
4. May we have a group of people from our campus join the Q&A Session?
7. What is considered a STEM field?
8. What criteria will be used to evaluate applications?
10. Will a transcript of the Q&A sessions be made available?
11. Is there any flexibility on the due date for Letters of Intent or the application for membership?
1. Has NSF committed to funding the expansion of the CIRTL Network?
Currently there are no commitments by any funding source. For more information see question 12.
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2. Do I need to register for the informational Q& A Sessions?
Registration is not required, but it will help us make sure we have sufficient phone lines available. Register for the next Q&A session here: Q&A Session Registration
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3. Will the Q&A Session be recorded?
Yes, the Q&A Sessions will be recorded. Links to listen to the recorded Q&A Sessions will be posted to the CIRTL Network Expansion page soon after the sessions occur. You may also click the following link to view the recording of the April 15th Q&A session: View April 15 Q&A Session
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4. May we have a group of people from our campus join the Q&A Session?
Yes. If you have a group of people joining from the same room, we recommend that you connect to the session with a speaker phone and either have one computer connected to Elluminate projected on a screen or individual participants can sign in with their own laptop. If you are using one computer for the group, we recommend you designate someone to be at the computer to use the interactive features of Elluminate (e.g. hand raising). If your group is signing in with a single computer, please sign in as: Group, Institution Name.
If participants will be connecting from different locations, please ask each participant to register separately so we can adjust the number of available phone lines accordingly. We are using a telephone bridge for the audio portion of the session in order to minimize set up time for first-time users.
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5. What type of programs are current members of the CIRTL Network offering to their graduate students and post docs?
An overview of current program offerings at CIRTL Network institutions can be found at this URL: http://www.cirtl.net/expansion/coreinstitutionalmembers
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6. If NSF funds the expansion of the CIRTL Network, will subcontracting institutions receive IDCs over and above the base amount of funds provided to create a local learning community?
Yes, we expect that each subcontracting institution would also receive indirect costs based on its own federally negotiated F&A rate. The sample budget on page 10 of the CIRTL Growth Plan includes an indirect rate of 52%, simply as a placeholder. The F&A rate will vary across institutions.
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7. What is considered a STEM field?
The CIRTL Network does not keep a list of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. Within the CIRTL Network, we consider all programs supported by the National Science Foundation to be STEM fields. Thus CIRTL also includes programs from the Social, Behavioral and Economic (SBE) fields. CIRTL also includes students from programs supported by NIH, DOE and DOA. As one example, within its first few years the Delta Program in Research, Teaching, and Learning, the local implementation of CIRTL at UW-Madison, had participants from the programs listed on this page: List of STEM fields
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8.) What criteria will be used to evaluate applications?
Visit the Criteria for Review page for details on what criteria will be used to evaluate applications.
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9. In the following statement, does "senior" refer to academic rank or seniority? "A Core Institutional Member should have one STEM senior faculty member, the Institutional CIRTL Leader, committed to leading the institution’s involvement in the CIRTL Network."
A leader needs to have respect on the campus among research-active STEM faculty and among administrators in order to be able to advocate effectively with peers and to effectively grow an initiative on the campus.
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10. Will a transcript of the Q&A sessions be made available?
A complete transcript is not available, though most of the questions that were posed and their corresponding answers can be found on the April 15th Q&A page.
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11. Is there any flexibility on the due date for Letters of Intent or the application for membership?
We are flexible on the submission date for the letter of intent. We ask that you please submit the LOI as soon as possible. However, the deadline for the applications themselves is fixed, since the review process is based on the May 27, 2011 submission deadline.
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12. Does the CIRTL Network currently have funds from NSF to expand the Network to 25 institutions or are you applying for these funds now? Will the member institutions need to apply for the $300,000 mentioned in the Growth Plan or will this be given to all new member institutions? In other words, we will have some funding to support the set-up of the CIRTL community (if our application is accepted) or we would need to find these funds internally?
We will be applying to NSF for funding for the expanded CIRTL Network (25 universities) in January 2012. That proposal will include all 25 universities as subcontractors, each for of order $300,000 in order to set up each local CIRTL learning community. (I say "of order", because the amount each institution would receive will depend on the size of the unsolicited proposal that NSF is willing to accept.)
The start date for this funding would likely be August 2012. It is at that point that we would expect new partners to set up their CIRTL learning communities. That said, we have just submitted a supplement proposal to our current grant that will bridge to August 2012, and which will in part provide funds so that the current Network partners can develop materials and orientation sessions to help new partners plan their new initiatives.
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13. Should section 5 refer only to Ph.D. programs? More generally, is involvement of Masters programs in CIRTL activities encouraged or not? For some of the activities we are considering, which could include cross-cutting between the physical/biological sciences with future social/public health/legal professionals (translating science to policy), creating ties with MS/MA and professional Masters programs would be advantageous in training of graduate "future teachers."
CIRTL’s primary target audience is STEM future faculty. Graduate students in fields where faculty are drawn from masters programs are quite appropriate. We encourage collaborations that leverage related programs and expertise. We recommend that you include those programs that you feel will make the strongest case regarding your institution’s potential impact on the national STEM faculty. Please keep in mind that you are not required to describe 5 programs. Five was included as an upper limit.
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14. How much flexibility is there in the distribution of year-to-year funds in the budget. Table II in the Growth Plan document shows $100K/$82.5K/$70K/$37.5K over years 1-4. How much flexibility is there in these allocations? Are there restrictions in the use of funds? For example, can we pay graduate stipends or wages, purchase equipment?
Subcontract budgets will be due in fall 2011, at the time we prepare the grant application that will be submitted to NSF in January 2012. A budget does not need to be submitted along with the membership application on May 27, 2011. There will be some flexibility in the yearly budget distributions. The sample budget was prepared with the idea that funds would ramp down over the course of 4 years. However, some institutions may need to ramp up and then ramp down their funding in order coordinate CIRTL funding with local budgets. We do not anticipate approving budgets that request more than 40% of the total funding in year 1. Likewise, there are few restrictions on how the funds can be used, provided NSF and institutional rules are followed. A budget justification will need to be provided when the subcontracts are prepared. CIRTL funds have often been used for graduate student stipends. Graduate students often assist in the development, implementation and evaluation of new programs. In some cases, funds are used to provide small stipends to participants, but in these cases you’ll want to think about you would institutionalize these stipends in the long run. CIRTL funds have been used in the past for staff or faculty wages; we are flexible regarding what works best for you. Use of CIRTL funds for equipment beyond computers, webcams or other typical office tools may require additional justification.
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15. Question 17 seems to address institutional support. Would it be helpful to include supporting letters from administrators who will guarantee program sustainability?
Letters of support are not required at this time, although we certainly welcome clarification in the application as to which administrators are supporting your proposed initiative. The application “contact page” asks for the name of the university official who has authorized the request to join the CIRTL Network. Presumably, this official will be familiar with the CIRTL Growth Plan and your application to join the Network. In fall 2011, when the CIRTL Network is preparing to submit the funding proposal to the National Science Foundation, it is likely that we will need a letter of commitment from a university administrator at each Network institution.
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16. As requested, we are preparing 2 page NSF style vitas. Are you interested in the NSF section on collaborators and other affiliations? It is my experience that this takes up a lot of room so that synergistic activities, which may be potentially very useful, need to be pruned way down.
We recommend that you use the space within the biosketch format to include the content that you feel is most relevant to your application. If space is an issue, in the section on "NSF collaborations and affiliations" you may list those affiliations that are relevant to CIRTL and add a statement such as "Additional information on collaborations available upon request."
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