CSSIC Research Fellowship Grant

Eligibility

Subject Matter 

Proposals should primarily emphasize how the proposed intervention is intended to promote student success and may be categorized within one or more of the following disciplines:  

• Adult, higher, or postsecondary education 
• Student affairs, student development, or student services 
• Curriculum, assessment, or teaching and learning (e.g. online teaching and learning, experiential learning, supporting international learners, knowledge/skill development) 
• Access, equity, diversity, and/or inclusion in postsecondary education 
• Other disciplines/fields for which research insights can be directly applied to the college student experience with the aim of promoting student success. 

The proposed disciplinarity of this call is intentionally broad in scope. We welcome submissions across and between disciplines that creatively (re)imagine ways of addressing and promoting student success, reflective of increasingly multifaceted, emergent conceptions of student success. Student success is a broad category, which can be diversely defined. Mohawk College’s Student Success Policy Framework (2016) defines student success as “a process and an outcome. As a process, success is experienced as student engagement throughout the college experience. As an outcome, success is defined by each individual student as the achievement of their academic, personal or career goals during college.” 

Student success has been historically defined largely in terms of its end goals (i.e. persistence until graduation and the academic performance or achievement it requires, in addition to post-degree employment), assumed to be mutually endorsed by both postsecondary institutions and students. More recent studies have begun exploring student success from additional perspectives (e.g. student development, wellbeing, belonging) and centring student voices through qualitative, participatory research.  

The CSSIC is currently engaged in a mixed methods study, “Redefining Student Success: Centering Student Voices in the Definition and Measurement of Student Success,” to explore how Mohawk College students define and measure student success. In collaboration with multiple student co-researchers, we have engaged almost 1,000 student participants using virtual surveys, in-person constructive survey-interviews, and focus groups. Based on our preliminary findings, it is evident that Mohawk College students hold wide and varying definitions and measurements of student success. Preliminary themes include academic achievement, knowledge and skills development, career or post-graduation achievements, feelings and attitudes toward learning, and interpersonal connections. While many students spoke to extrinsic factors, such as institutional indicators (e.g. grades), they overwhelmingly positioned these elements in relation to more highly prioritized intrinsic or personal conceptualizations of student success and internally defined metrics/individualized goals. Students also shared insight into identities, barriers/challenges, and life circumstances that shape their notions of student success, such as mental health, disability, caregiving, work-school balance, reskilling, and learning as an international student/living as a newcomer.  

Applicant

The awarded fellowship(s) will be held by an individual researcher(s) with the following qualifications:  

• PhD or EdD, with evidence of having undertaken research in one of the identified disciplines (evidence of having successfully led and completed a funded research project will be considered favourably) 
• Full-time or multi-year appointment (for the duration of the proposed project/funding period) at a Canadian postsecondary institution that holds Tri-Agency institutional eligibility; the ability to lead/supervise a research project; and associated paid/allocated time for research. Eligible appointments include tenured and tenure-track faculty positions, limited-term appointments, postdoctoral fellowships, and other faculty and staff positions with compensated time to conduct research.  

Applicants may submit only one application per call. Both emerging and established scholars are eligible to apply. In addition to providing their CV, it is incumbent upon all applicants to explain how their particular expertise and experience position them to succeed within the proposed fellowship framework. 

Mohawk College is strongly committed to diversity within its community. We welcome applications from racialized persons, women, Indigenous Peoples, persons with disabilities, 2SLGBTQIA+ persons, and others who may contribute to the further diversification of ideas. 

Summary

The College Student Success Innovation Centre (CSSIC) at Mohawk College invites emerging and established external scholars at Canadian postsecondary institutions whose research is positioned to promote college student success to apply for the CSSIC Research Fellowship.  

The goals of this fellowship are to identify and validate innovative student services and/or teaching approaches, methods, and practices that promote success for postsecondary students at Mohawk College and beyond; advance evidence-based research and practice in the college sector; and foster inter-institutional collaboration between Mohawk College and other postsecondary institutions. The resulting research findings and project outputs must be directly applicable to Mohawk College students and will be disseminated widely.  

This opportunity leverages CSSIC’s previous experience implementing student success interventions within research projects and replication studies in partnership with students (as co-researchers, leveraging the students-as-partners model [Cook-Sather, Bovill, & Felten, 2014; Healey, Flint, & Harrington, 2014; Mercer-Mapstone et al., 2017]), practitioners (faculty and student affairs professionals), and external researchers across North America, testing leading-edge practices in college contexts. 

For more details, please see funding application guidelines here.

Overhead

10% - this is included in the funder-provided Budget Template

Application deadlines

RSO detailed review deadline

RSO final internal review deadline

Program application deadline

NOTE: Consult your Faculty Associate Dean (Research) (ADR) regarding Faculty-specific deadlines and submission processes.

Principal Investigators: Complete a Research Management System (RMS) record, including a copy of your complete application, and submit this for approvals in RMS.

Postdocs, students, and trainees: For fellowships and externally-sponsored research training awards or opportunities, you must complete the Research Funding Application Approval (RFAA) Trainee PDF form, and submit it, along with a complete copy of the application, to Research Services at rsotrainee@ucalgary.ca. Trainees should not use RMS at this time.

Approvals: The University of Calgary requires that all funding applications be approved prior to submission. Approval requires signatures via either RMS or the RFAA Trainee form, in the following order:

• Principal Investigator
• Department Head
• Faculty ADR/Dean
• Research Services (on behalf of the Vice-President Research)

Read the Meaning of Grant Signatures policy to understand what your approval means. Please see the agency guidelines for details about which signatures are required on your application, as it may differ from internal requirements.

Late submissions: Late submissions will only be accepted in cases of medical or family emergencies, or other exceptional circumstances. If you submit your RMS record to Research Services after the internal deadline has passed, you must secure additional approvals. Please read: Late Applications Process.

The College Student Success Innovation Centre (CSSIC) at Mohawk College is hosting Informational Webinars about the CSSIC Research Fellowship. These webinars will provide background on and context for the fellowship, a guided review of the Call for Applications, and facilitation of questions from attendees. Those interested can register for one or more upcoming webinars at the following dates/times:

• Wednesday, August 23, 2023 – 10:00 am to 11:00 am (EDT)
• Thursday, September 14, 2023 – 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm (EDT)

Submission Instructions:

1. Complete Full Application as per guidelines on the CSSIC Website. A copy of the application template can be found here.
2. To initiate internal approvals, complete the Pre-Award/Application record in RMS (https://research.ucalgary.ca/conduct-research/additional-resources/resea...), attach your completed Application, and submit for approvals from your department head and/or faculty Associate Dean (Research). *Important: when submitting in RMS, please ensure that you allow time for academic approvals prior to the Research Services review deadline of 12:00pm on Tuesday October 17, 2023.
3. Once these approvals are obtained, RMS will automatically forward the Application record to Research Services for institutional review and approval.
4. Research Services will review, provide feedback (by email) if necessary, and will provide the institutional approval. RSO will provide the capping institutional signature if needed and will advise when ready.
5. Full Applications should be submitted as one pdf file by email to cssic@mohawkcollege.ca on or before 6PM Mountain time October 20, 2023.