Chancellor's New $1 Million Fund Advances Multiple Guiding Priorities

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Chancellor Joe Steinmetz, Jeff Long, vice chancellor for intercollegiate athletics, Jim Coleman, provost and executive vice chancellor for academic affairs.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – University of Arkansas Chancellor Joe Steinmetz has created a new campus fund as an initiative to support several of the university’s eight guiding priorities, established this past fall. When fully funded the Chancellor’s Discovery, Creativity, Innovation and Collaboration Fund will invest $1 million a year in new projects designed to enhance the university’s research and discovery mission, build a collaborative and innovative campus, promote innovation in teaching and learning, and strengthen graduate education.

The bulk of the funding will come from a portion of SEC Network revenues and television packages, allocated by Jeff Long, vice chancellor for intercollegiate athletics, to support faculty and the academic mission at the U of A. The remainder of the fund will be allocated from other university sources.

“The university will invest up to $1 million in this fund annually to support cutting-edge ideas and collaborations,” Steinmetz said. “The fund will provide support for a number of new research, discovery, and creative activity opportunities that have not been possible before. I’d like to thank Jeff Long for this commitment to faculty and campus and advancing the university’s land-grant mission. This support is another great example of how our self-sustaining athletics operation gives back to the U of A.”

“The University of Arkansas continues to improve its academic reputation due to the exceptional faculty whose teaching, research and creativity is changing our state and the world,” Long said. “As part of our continued partnership and investment in achieving our institution’s academic mission, the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics is proud to be in position to share a portion of our television revenues to help provide additional financial support to directly benefit our faculty in an effort to inspire new research, creativity and collaborative efforts on our campus.”

The Chancellor’s Discovery, Creativity, Innovation and Collaboration Fund is aimed at further developing the intellectual and creative environment of the University of Arkansas, as well as the institution’s impact as a major research university. The fund will be managed by the provost’s office under the direction of Jim Coleman, provost and executive vice chancellor for academic affairs.

“The exciting thing about this fund is its flexibility to seed research, creativity, teaching excellence and also collaboration and innovation – all themes we’ve been working on while developing strategic initiatives,” Coleman said. “There has been a dearth of external competitive programs that support ‘early stage’ funding of new projects and collaborations, and providing funds for getting some of these projects off the ground will also increase the competitiveness of the university and faculty for external funding. This is a wonderful example illustrating the power of partnerships between academics and athletics.”

Funding will be awarded to groups of faculty and students who propose projects that bring the academic community together in exciting new and innovative ways.

A review committee will consider proposals and may award between 10-15 grants annually. Grants may be awarded for a period of one to three years. Proposal guidelines, deadlines will be available online and the application will be available online in a few weeks. For the fiscal year 2018 funding cycle, the application deadline is July 15, with the expectation that the first awards will be announced this fall.

About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs. The university contributes new knowledge, economic development, basic and applied research, and creative activity while also providing service to academic and professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Arkansas among only 2 percent of universities in America that have the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Arkansas among its top American public research universities. Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas comprises 10 colleges and schools and maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio that promotes personal attention and close mentoring.