Faculty Handbook: Research, Scholarship and Creative Work
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John Jay's Office for the Advancement of Research (OAR), led by Vice Provost and Dean of Research Anthony Carpi, provides a wide array of information and supports for faculty. These include pre-award grant support, post-award support, and other resources for researchers.
OAR also offers a robust number of internal funding opportunities, monthly and annually. These include seed funds for pilot/preliminary work, enhanced travel funds, faculty scholarship support, book publication support, community event funds, conference reception funds, and emergency funding for urgent or time-sensitive scholarship opportunities. There are also annual programs to fund scholarship for mid-career and senior scholars. Inquiries about internal funding and other forms of support can be directed to Director of Research Operations Daniel Stageman (dstageman@jjay.cuny.edu, 212-484-1367).
The PSC-CUNY Research Award Program (see below) is a reliable, internal grantor for course releases and small funds, particularly for pre-tenure faculty. The Office of Sponsored Programs in OAR assists faculty and staff in finding and securing external and private funding for research, provides access to a database on funding sources (Pivot), and provides information on federal and other CUNY funding programs as well. The Director of Sponsored Programs is Susy (Mendes) Cullen (smendes@jjay.cuny.edu, 212-237-8447).
Faculty can apply for internal John Jay funding for professional development activities, such as training in advanced methodology or statistical analyses, pedagogical training, and leadership development. Additional information and the application can be found on the Faculty Resources page under Faculty Opportunity Fund.
Qualifying part-time faculty can also access support for scholarship through funds set aside by PSC-CUNY. See https://new.jjay.cuny.edu/sites/default/files/2024-07/Teaching-Adjunct-Handbook-10-13-23.pdf.
The annual PSC-CUNY Research Award Program provides grant awards to faculty to support research projects. Awards are distributed by the University Committee on Research Awards, a faculty committee, and are administered by the Research Foundation. Preference is given to junior faculty in the allocation of funds. Three awards are available:
Traditional A: up to $3,500
Traditional B: $3,600 to $6,000
Enhanced: $6,500 to $12,000
The annual deadline is December 15. Awards are submitted via: https://www.rfcuny.org/GP/welcome.aspx. John Jay’s OAR offers program information, seminars for applicants, and support for applicants, including review of submissions for compliance with the program guidelines (https://www.jjay.cuny.edu/research/faculty-staff-research/resources-researchers/internal-funding-opportunities/psc-cuny-research-award-competition). See the additional pre-award support available from OAR: https://www.jjay.cuny.edu/pre-award-resources.
The majority of research funding (e.g., NIH, NSF, PSC-CUNY awards) is administered through the Research Foundation. This is an independent organization that manages grant-funding for faculty across CUNY, for which the Foundation charges an overhead fee. Grant-funded employees hired under an award administered by the Research Foundation are considered employees of the foundation. Thus, Principal Investigators (PIs) supervising those employees must be familiar with and abide by foundation policies and participate in foundation-sponsored training sessions. John Jay’s OAR can assist faculty learning to navigate the Research Foundation website and in managing grant awards. The Director of Grants, Budgets and Special Projects is Amrish Sugrim-Singh (asugrim-singh@jjay.cuny.edu, 212-237-8449).
Students benefit academically, intellectually and personally from opportunities for experiential learning with faculty. Given the vast array of faculty scholarship undertaken at the college, students’ educations are enriched when they gain hands-on experience conducting some of this cutting-edge research with faculty mentors. There are a variety of resources available on campus to support student research with faculty to which students can be directed.
Office for Student Research and Creativity
The mission of the Office for Student Research & Creativity (OSRC) is to fund, support, and recognize high-quality student-faculty collaborative research and scholarship in all disciplines, representing the diversity of John Jay College of Criminal Justice (https://www.jjay.cuny.edu/office-student-research-creativity-osrc). OSRC resources and activities include facilitating the annual Research & Creativity Expo, sharing research resources and opportunities (e.g., when a faculty member is seeking students to collaborate on a research project), helping students to identify mentors, and running a research/creativity scholarship program where undergraduate and graduate students can apply for scholarships to conduct research with a faculty mentor over the course of an academic year. The OSRC is led by Assistant Director Bettina Muenster (osrc@jjay.cuny.edu, 212-887-6237).
The Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program
The objective of the McNair Scholars Program, funded by the U.S. Department of Education, is to encourage low-income and first generation students (as well as students from underrepresented populations) to pursue graduate study, and to provide academically enriching experiences and mentoring to prepare students for graduate school admission and eventual doctoral study. Approximately 15-20 scholars are sponsored each year. The program supports participating students’ scholarly activities throughout the academic year and summer. Students participate in workshops, receive intensive mentoring, conduct research with faculty mentors, present their research at conferences and participate in graduate school admission preparation. Students receive stipends and research funding to complete their research.
Faculty can support students by recommending that they apply for the program. In addition, faculty can serve as McNair Program mentors. In this role, mentors guide and support students with their research projects (including over the summer, for which mentors receive a stipend) and support students’ career development in collaboration with the McNair Program. The Program Associate Director is Dr. Ernest Lee (elee@jjay.cuny.edu, 212-237-8760). For more information about the program, contact McNair Program assistant Rachel Rosado at rarosado@jjay.cuny.edu.
Program for Research Initiatives in Science and Math (PRISM)
The Program for Research Initiatives in Science and Math (PRISM) supports John Jay’s diverse undergraduate student body in their quest to become leading scientists and professionals in science, technology, math and engineering (STEM), health, education, and related fields. PRISM includes various initiatives aimed at supporting science and math students at the College (including a scholarship program, S-STEM). These programs engage students and provide them with academic and pre-professional advisement to prepare them for success at John Jay and in their future careers. The goal is to help students see themselves as scientists and future professionals and to expose them to opportunities for further training and growth. The National Science Foundation, the National Academy of Sciences and CUNY have all recognized PRISM as a model of excellence for improving the number of underrepresented students in the STEM pipeline. Students in the following majors are eligible to apply for the program: applied mathematics (data science and cryptography); cell and molecular biology; computer science and information security; forensic science and toxicology. For more information, see https://www.jjay.cuny.edu/prism or contact Associate Program Director Edgardo Sanabria-Valentín (esanabriavalentin@jjay.cuny.edu, 212-393-6489).
Honors Programs
The College hosts two honors programs – the John Jay College Honors Program and the Macaulay Honors College at John Jay (a CUNY-wide program). Students enter John Jay as Macaulay Honors students, but students who do not can apply to the John Jay College Honors Program as entering freshmen, sophomores or juniors. Faculty can encourage talented students to apply. Both programs involve and support student research opportunities with faculty mentors, providing another avenue for student-faculty research collaboration. Faculty Director of the honors programs is Raymond Patton (rpatton@jjay.cuny.edu, 646-557-4504).
The Human Research Protection Program (HRPP) is University wide and exists to protect the rights and welfare of human subjects recruited to participate in research activities. As part of the program, three University Integrated (UI) Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) have been created to review human subjects research in accordance with applicable federal regulations, State laws, and CUNY policies and procedures The HRPP also includes a central CUNY HRPP Office and on-site HRPP Offices at CUNY campuses.
CUNY policy requires that all research involving human subjects be reviewed and approved by the UI-IRB, or granted exemption by the HRPP, prior to initiation of the research. This requirement applies to all human-subject research conducted by faculty, staff, and students, on and off campus, regardless of the funding support, if any, for the project. Research involving human subjects includes the collection of data about or from human subjects (including surveys/questionnaires) and the use of existing data (including specimens). Any changes to a project after IRB approval or exemption is granted must be submitted for review and approval before implementation. Continuing review is also required at regular intervals for certain protocols.
PIs and all other research-team members are required to complete training in the protection of human subjects. CUNY accepts only the completion of the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) Human Subjects Research course for satisfaction of this requirement. No individual may conduct human research without successfully completing this training. All researchers are also required to complete CITI training in Responsible Conduct of Research. The computer-based CITI training can be completed at the trainee’s own pace.
Each campus HRPP Office assists faculty, students and staff in complying with the requirements of the program. John Jay’s HRPP office, under the auspices of OAR, provides oversight, administrative support and educational training. John Jay’s HRPP Coordinator is Eliana Forero (eforero@jjay.cuny.edu, 212-237-8598). As Director of Research Compliance and Integrity at John Jay, Eliana oversees HRPP, research agreements, conflict of interest and export control, and serves as the College Research Integrity Officer (RIO). For more information on the relevant policies and procedures, to request training for your research lab or class, or if you have questions, please contact Eliana Forero (eforero@jjay.cuny.edu, 212-237-8598) or go to https://www.jjay.cuny.edu/research/research-compliance-integrity.
The process for allocating funds to Departments to support travel to conferences for full-time faculty and the process for authorizing and reimbursing such travel are based in the Office for the Advancement of Research (OAR), located in Suite 601BMW. Allocations depend, in part, on faculty reporting of annual scholarly productivity. Rate of productivity – as well as faculty rate of reporting productivity to OAR – factor into the calculations. Hence it is important for all faculty to report annual productivity (even if there is nothing to report). See the Faculty Travel Guidelines, forms and information HERE. Travel forms and checklists (https://new.jjay.cuny.edu/research/faculty-staff-research/resources-researchers/faculty-travel-guidelines/faculty-travel-forms-checklists).
Qualifying part-time faculty can also access support for scholarship through funds set aside by PSC-CUNY. See https://new.jjay.cuny.edu/sites/default/files/2024-07/Teaching-Adjunct-Handbook-10-13-23.pdf.
Allocation
Funds to support full-time faculty travel to conferences (Academic Travel) are allocated once a year, typically in early summer, from Indirect Funds in the Office for the Advancement of Research directly to the academic Departments through the Research Foundation. Allocations to individual faculty members are made by the Department (Chairperson and/or Personnel & Budget Committee) according to Departmental policies, processes and/or priorities. Departmental travel funds are available only to full-time faculty as a way of supporting and encouraging their scholarly productivity in preparation for tenure or promotion. Academic travel funds typically support travel to conferences at which the faculty member is making a presentation or playing a key role in the conference as an organizer/moderator of a panel or by virtue of the office they hold in the organization sponsoring the conference. However, post-COVID, a broader array of expenses has been included (e.g., research travel) – if in doubt, faculty should ask their Chairperson or OAR@jjay.cuny.edu.
Authorization
Before a full-time faculty member travels (at least three weeks prior), they must complete the Travel Approval Form (TAF) available from the OAR website: https://new.jjay.cuny.edu/research/faculty-staff-research/resources-researchers/faculty-travel-guidelines or directly here. This form must be signed by the Department Chairperson before it is submitted.
The faculty member is not authorized to travel until this form is submitted, reviewed, and signed by the Associate Provost for Research or his designee. The amount listed on the TAF (“Estimated Cost”) is considered to be the maximum amount the Department Chairperson allocated for the trip. If the faculty member overspends, there is no guarantee that the amount of the over-expenditure will be covered. If the Department wishes to increase the amount of funding after the trip has taken place, the Chair must sign a revised TAF, clearly marked “revised,” or send a signed memo with the faculty member’s reimbursement request, indicating the exact amount being approved.
Reimbursement
Faculty travel reimbursement guidelines are available at: https://new.jjay.cuny.edu/research/faculty-staff-research/resources-researchers/faculty-travel-guidelines. Note the Research Foundation’s policy that all spending must comply with New York State travel guidelines (http://www.osc.state.ny.us/agencies/travel/travel.htm). Maximum hotel and meal reimbursement costs are limited by GSA (U.S.)/Dept. of State (International) and reference websites.
To request reimbursement after travel, the faculty member must complete the Research Foundation (RF) Travel Expense Voucher and Request for Payment form, available at: https://www.jjay.cuny.edu/sites/default/files/2023-12/2.%20E-travel%20Voucher.pdf. The voucher requires only the faculty traveler’s signature, but some Departments require that the voucher first be submitted to the Department for internal record keeping. The faculty member should check with the Department. The completed RF Travel Voucher and accompanying documentation should be submitted directly to OAR within two weeks after travel is complete. See here for Travel forms and checklist of necessary documentation. Inquiries regarding faculty travel can be directed to Research Operations Assistant Tahir Fazal (travel@jjay.cuny.edu; 212-621-4426).