Faculty: Cater Society Seminar Grant
This program builds on the work of the Libby & Douglass Cater Society of Junior Fellows by providing funding for faculty members who engage in highly interactive, face-to-face work with Cater Society Junior Fellows on research and other creative and/or scholarly endeavors outside of the classroom setting. The program provides support to faculty in the form of stipends and funds to offset costs associated with travel and/or materials. If you are working closely with a Junior Fellow on archival research, lab research, field research, or creative/academic writing for presentation, exhibition, performance or publication, you are eligible to apply for these funds.
The Cater Seminar Program, which funds only faculty, is separate and distinct from the Cater Society of Junior Fellows, which funds only students who are members of the Cater Society. This program is also distinct from the existing Dean’s Collaborative Grants. Cater Seminar Program funds are provided to support faculty members who are working with Junior Fellows.
What Kinds of Projects Can Be Funded by the Cater Seminar Program?
There are two basic research formats supported by Cater Seminar:
Summer Cater Seminar Collaborative Projects:
For collaborative projects that include a Cater student that are conducted during the summer, the Cater Seminar Program can provide faculty with any of the following:
- A $300/week stipend of up to $2500 total to compensate the faculty member for his/her time working with the Junior Fellow.
- A $300/week stipend of up to $1800 total to compensate the collaborating student(s) for his/her/their time working with the professor.
- Other funds to cover or offset the cost of summer room or board for collaborating students at the WC summer housing price.
- Travel funds for the faculty member and students to engage in co-research at another location or co-present at a conference.
- Total capped at $5000.00
Semester Cater Seminar Collaborative Projects:
For projects conducted during the regular academic year, the Cater Seminar Program can provide faculty with any of the following:
- A $300/week stipend of up to $2500 total to compensate the faculty member for his/her time working with the Junior Fellow.
- Travel funds for a faculty member to engage in co-research at another location or co-present at a conference with a Junior Fellow.
- A $300/week stipend of up to $1800 total to compensate the collaborating student(s) for his/her/their time working with the professor.
- Other funds to cover or offset the cost of materials or equipment needed by the faculty member to conduct the collaborative research with a Junior Fellow.
- Total capped at $5000.
What kinds of projects can Cater Seminar fund?
- A faculty member who engages a Junior Fellow in data collection in the field.
- A faculty member who engages a Junior Fellow in the creation or production of an artistic work, composition, performance or exhibition.
- A faculty member who engages in archival work with a Junior Fellow, or who engages a Junior Fellow in the research process for an article or book.
- Collaborative research in a professor’s laboratory or at other research centers.
- A faculty member who engages in a collaborative research project with a Junior Fellow during the summer or winter short-term courses.
- To fund a faculty member to travel to conferences to deliver papers or posters that involve the Junior Fellow as an author or co-author.
- In summary, the Cater Seminar projects can involve a wide variety of creative/scholarly research opportunities that provide sound learning outcomes and offer a key role to a Cater Society Junior Fellow.
What Can the Funds Be Used For?
The Cater Seminar Program can provide faculty with any of the following:
- A $300/week stipend of up to $2500 total to compensate the faculty member for his/her time working with the Junior Fellow.
- Travel for a faculty member to engage in co-research at another location or co-present at a conference with a Junior Fellow.
- Funds to cover or offset the cost of materials or equipment needed by the faculty member to conduct the collaborative research with a Junior Fellow.
How Much Funding is Available?
The Cater Seminar Program endowment currently provides an average annual spend-out rate of approximately $15,000 (the actual annual amount fluctuates based on investment performance). Funding is competitively awarded based on the clarity of the project goals, project feasibility and significance, and demonstrable learning outcomes for the Junior Fellow(s) involved. Faculty can apply for multiple awards in a given academic year if they are working on different projects that involve Junior Fellows. We anticipate being able to fund 10-15 Cater Seminar Projects this year.
How Do I Apply?
Applications for these funds can be found on the right column on this page under the link to “Download Grant Application.” Awards are processed and awarded on a competitive basis.
What is the Deadline for Applications, and Where Do I Submit?
The deadline is rolling - submit when you are ready. Please email your application directly to the Curator, Aaron Lampman at [email protected].
Click Here to Download a Grant Application
Rolling Deadline - Submit Now!
Frequently Asked Questions
Any full-time faculty member working with a Junior Fellow from the Cater Society. The Junior Fellow must play a significant role in the creative work, research, writing or presentation. For example, if the faculty member wants to fund his/her costs for a conference, the Junior Fellow must also attend, and must either be the primary author whose work was overseen by the faculty member or a co-author with the faculty member.
Yes. The total award for a semester project cannot exceed $2500, but you can split the funds in any way that best supports the project. The total award for summer projects cannot exceed $5000.
Yes, as long as you are working with a Junior Fellow and the Faculty Travel funds are not overlapping in purpose with the Cater Seminar funds.
Yes, as long as you are working with a Junior Fellow and the Faculty Enhancement funds are not overlapping in purpose with the Cater Seminar funds.
No. The Dean’s Collaborative Grants provide ample funding for summer projects
The application is located on the Cater Society of Junior Fellows Webpage under “Faculty Cater Seminar Program.”
The deadline for applications is rolling, the Cater Seminar Advisory Board evaluates grant proposals and makes awards.
Mirroring the Faculty Collaborative Grants, the cap for a faculty stipend is $300/week of collaborative work with a Cater Society Junior Fellow. To request a stipend, submit a timeline that indicates when the work will be conducted.
Ask the students with whom you are working! The student officers of the Douglass Cater Society of Junior Fellows also maintain a list of members on the Cater Society webpage that is updated at least twice a year. See the “Member List” at www.washcoll.edu/learn-by-doing/opportunities-research/student-research/cater-society/become-a-member.php