Track II: ERIC-Established (ERIC-E)

After consultation with the Associate Dean of Research, faculty submit a Request to Establish a Track II ERIC-E that describes:

• Name of group and of the primary contact person (along with their email address)
• Purpose/focus of the group.
  • What is the emerging or critical research topic?
  • What scholarly field or new research directions would be advanced?
  • Why is there a need to support INFO scholars in coordinating and communicating their research on this topic and to nurture a sense of community?
• How does this support the College’s mission?
• How will the group be structured and operate?
  • Who is involved and what are their affiliations?
    • What are their roles and responsibilities?
    • Identify the individuals who will serve in the following leadership and/or management positions in the ERIC-E. Please also describe the specific roles and associated responsibilities.
      • There must be a Director to provide leadership and a Steering Committee composed of key roles in leadership and/or management.
      • Will there be an individual responsible for each kind of activity?
      • Will there be one or more working groups for collaborative projects?
      • Who will manage social media engagement?
    • The size of an ERIC- E group will vary depending on the focus and the needs of the proposed activities. Who are the other members? What are the plans for maintaining openness, ensuring access, and actively promoting participation by interested parties outside of the initial leadership and participants?
    • What will be the mechanisms for allocating funds to support the coordination and collaboration activities?
    • What will be the mechanisms for assessing progress and the effectiveness of the activities and structure?
  • What regular internal group meetings are planned? How often will they be held? What is their purpose? For example:
    • Bi-annual planning meetings to highlight accomplishments and identify next steps
    • Monthly Steering Committee meetings for progress reports and planning

Activities	Outcomes to Be Tracked/Reported
Structure, Operations, and Self-Governance	Attendance, Participation	New Collaborations	Other
Leadership/management positions filled	***		Interest in serving in these roles
Steering committee meetings	***		Plans developed, progress made
Funds allocated for coordination and collaborative activities			# of requests, # approved, expenses broken down by activity
Progress and performance assessed	***		Data collected, report written
Other

 

• What collaborative activities, projects and events are planned? How often will they be held? What are the desired outcomes/products for each? For example:

Activities	Outcomes to Be Tracked/Reported
Collaborative Activities & Projects (3+/year)	Attendance, Participation	New Collaborations	Other
Journal conference paper, or book club or reading group	***	***	Discussion highlights
Work-in-progress presentations and discussions	***	***	Improvements
Paper development workshops	***	***	Papers submitted
Practice talks	***	***	Improvements
Writing accountability groups (for more information)	***	***	Progress on projects
Synthesizing scholarly literature to identify research opportunities	***	***	Review or white paper
Research agenda setting	***	***	Report or road map
Collaborative research funding proposal planning/development	***		Submitted proposals
Collaborative research paper or proposal development and writing	***		Submissions
Research potential funding sources	***		Annotated list of funders and programs
Other

 

• What public events are planned ? How often will they be held? What are the desired outcomes/products for each? For example:

 

Activities	Outcomes to Be Tracked/Reported
Public Event (4+/year)	Attendance, Participation	New Collaborations	Other
Formal presentation of research and scholarship (speakers, panel discussions, debates, symposia)	***	***	Video available
Topical workshops and seminars	***	***	New projects
Research planning and agenda-setting workshops	***	***	New projects
Podcast	***	***	Listeners/readers, followers, likes
Other

• For each, identify:
  • The frequency (ongoing, weekly, monthly, quarterly, bi-annual, annual)
  • Its purpose and desired outcome or products, current stage or status
  • Who will be involved in a leadership or support role
  • Format (working group, workshop, retreat, panel discussion, symposia)
  • Modality (in-person/online/hybrid)
  • Expected number of attendees and the nature of their participation
• What resources would be helpful in coordination? When would they be needed, and how would they be used? This should include:
  • A proposed budget for the direct costs of each activity itemized by the type of expense and broken down by quarter
    • Q1: Jan – Mar
    • Q2: Apr – June
    • Q3: July – Sept
    • Q4: Oct – Dec
  • A budget justification providing explanation and/or documentation for each proposed expense.
  • A description of the administrative assistance that would be helpful to support each activity, including:
    • Tasks such as
      • Maintaining the website and mailing lists
      • Sending meeting invitations
      • Managing shared Google Drive
    • An estimate of the number of hours per week
  • Current funding sources available (if any) and potential future funding sources (if known). Funds may not support the costs of performing research, nor be used for a mini-grant awarding program.

Application Template: To fill and submit, click here.