AU Competitive Outreach Scholarship Grants

COSG Program Information Sessions

Four information session opportunities will be provided in the fall to inform interested faculty, and those who desire to partner with faculty (i.e., community partners, extension faculty, staff and students) about the Competitive Outreach Scholarship Grant (COSG) program. The four information sessions will be held on Tuesday, September 17, 2024, and Tuesday, October 1, 2024, with a morning session from 9:00-11:00 AM and an afternoon session from 1:00-3:00 PM on each day. The morning sessions will be held via Zoom. The afternoon sessions will be held in Mell Classroom 4546.

Register for Information Session Now

For those registering for a Zoom Information Session, a calendar invitation will be sent to you with the login information. If you are interested in learning more about the application, review, award and post award features of the program as well as requirements, email OFEEOA@auburn.edu or call (334) 844-5701.

Application Guidelines

The following requirements should be carefully considered before submitting a COSG proposal:

1. All proposals for the Competitive Outreach Scholarship Grants program should be submitted by the final proposal submission deadline of Monday, October 14, 2024. Access to the online proposal submission form WILL be closed after 11:59 on the deadline.


2. Only Auburn University full-time tenure-track or clinical faculty members, whose departments consider scholarly productivity in the conferment of promotion, are eligible to apply. Faculty may submit only one application for which they are the Principal Investigator (PI) for the 2024-25 grant cycle.


3. All proposals must exemplify the qualities and purposes of reciprocal and beneficial community engagement. Proposals must meet the university definition of outreach as stated in Chapter 3 of the Faculty Handbook and include letters of support from each of the following: the faculty member’s department head (or director or dean, as appropriate), community partner(s) as applicable, and a representative of the external constituency. Auburn University has defined outreach as “the function of applying academic expertise to the direct benefit of external constituencies in support of university and unit missions.” The letter from the academic unit leadership (e.g., department head, director, associate dean, or dean) must tell how the proposed project serves a university or unit mission and how it will contribute to the investigator’s scholarly agenda. The letter(s) from community partner(s) must exemplify collaboration among the university and the community or communities involved. The external support letter must explain the need for the project and describe how the external constituency will participate in providing direction, support, and evaluation for the project as a collaborating partner.


4. All applicants must utilize the application proposal form (Qualtrics Survey) and the Excel budget proposal form provided below. The proposal application form and the Excel budget form combined should not exceed nine (9) pages. The nine-page limit does not include the cover letter (on letterhead) and supporting documents. Please include all supporting documents at the end of the proposal. The proposal application form, Excel budget proposal form, and all supporting documents should be combined and converted into a one multi-page proposal PDF file before submission. The multi-page proposal PDF file must include the following content in this order to be eligible for panel review:

A. Cover Letter on letterhead (not included in page limit)
B. Principal Investigator(s)’ Information

a. Name
b. Department
c. College
d. Campus Address
e. Campus Phone
f. Email

C. Proposal Title
D. Proposal Abstract
E. Project Need
F. Project Method (including proposed timeline)
G. Project Mission
H. Project Scholarship
I. Means of Evaluation and Assessment
J. Additional Funding
K. Project Budget (using provided Excel budget template)
L. Qualifications of Faculty and Personnel
M. References
N. Supporting Documents (not included in page limit)

a. Letters from academic unit (unit leadership e.g., department head, director, associate dean, or dean)
b. Letter from target constituency
c. Other letters committing matching resources if not included in (a) and (b) above
d. Letter(s) from community partner(s) as applicable (at least one; if there are two or more community partners, it is expected that two or more letters will be submitted
e. Principal investigator(s)’ eRA Commons biographical sketch (not to exceed five (5) pages) OR abbreviated curriculum vitae (not to exceed five (5) pages)
f. Any other supporting documentation

5. Proposals received by the aforementioned final deadline using any other format or exceeding the specified page limit, will not be eligible for panel review. Proposals not submitted as one multi-page PDF document by the aforementioned final deadline will not be eligible for panel review. Utilize the checklist within the Call for Proposals before making submission.

NOTE: No format checks will be provided this year. Please ensure that all materials that are submitted following the guidelines listed above. Submissions that are not in the proper format will not be reviewed.

Submit Proposal

COSG Proposal Excel Budget Template

If you encounter an error when attempting to open the COSG Proposal Excel Budget Template, please download the file.

Notifications

Applicants will receive three email notifications. The first email notification will confirm receipt of the proposal. The second email notification will be sent after the final submission deadline indicating whether the proposal met minimum requirements for panel review. The third email notification will delineate the outcome of the panel review and the award disposition. All applicants can expect to receive the third and final notification in December 2024.

Administration of Grants

Support for funded projects may begin as early as February 2025. Those who receive grants will be contacted to discuss grant cycle requirements. These requirements include the development of a MOA and Partnership Agreement with University Outreach and the establishment of a FOAP for funds distribution. Grant recipients will be asked to submit a mid-year grant cycle report (six months into the project) and a final report summarizing the project and evaluating its impact on the target constituency at the conclusion of the grant cycle. These reports of outreach engaged scholarship will be used in future Outreach publications, and grant recipients are encouraged to plan their own discipline-specific submissions for publications as well.

Important Dates and Deadlines

• August 19, 2024 - Call for Proposals opens.
• October 14, 2024 - Call for Proposals closes.
• October 17-November 1, 2024 - Review period.
• December 4, 2024 - Award recipients announced.
• January 2025 - Onboarding of award recipients, including MOU and FOAP development process.
• July 2025 - Mid-year report due.
• September 2025 - Grant recipients honored at Outreach & Engaged Scholarship Symposium.
• January 2026 - Final report due.

FAQs

Who is eligible to apply for the Competitive Outreach Scholarship Grants (COSG) Program?

• Only Auburn University full-time tenure-track or clinical faculty members, whose departments consider scholarly productivity in the conferment of promotion, are eligible to apply. Faculty may submit only one application for which they are the Principal Investigator (PI) for the 2024-25 grant cycle.

What is the dollar amount of the awards?

• Up to $20,000.

What are the application requirements?

• Proposal application forms are to be submitted as a multi-page PDF file and are not to exceed nine (9) pages, excluding the cover letter and supporting documents. The multi-page PDF file is to be submitted in Qualtrics and should include in the following information in order:

• Cover Letter on LetterheadCover Letter on Letterhead
• Principal Investigator(s)’ Information
• Proposal Title
• Proposal Abstract
• Project Need
• Project Method (including proposed timeline)
• Project Mission
• Project Scholarship
• Means of Evaluation and Assessment
• Additional Funding
• Project Budget (using provided Excel budget template)
• Qualifications of Faculty and Personnel
• References
• Supporting Documents

On what criteria are proposals scored?

• The proposals are scored on the following criteria: Project Need, Anticipated Outcomes, Project Method, Scholarship, Mission, and Qualifications of Applicants. The most weight is placed on the Project Need and Anticipated Outcomes.

How can I learn more about the COSG proposal application process?

• Two colloquia will be provided in the fall to inform interested faculty and those who desire to partner with faculty (i.e., community partners, extension faculty, staff, and students) about the Competitive Outreach Scholarship Grant program. The two colloquia will be held on Tuesday, September 17, 2024, and Tuesday, October 1, 2024, with morning sessions from 9:00-11:00 AM and afternoon sessions from 1:00-3:00 PM each day.