CLOSUP Policy Research Grants Program Guidelines

The following guidelines apply to awards made in response to proposals submitted as part of the annual PRG funding competition or the ongoing small grants PRG opportunities. PRG awards that result from CLOSUP-initiated projects may be subject to alternative guidelines.

Eligibility Criteria

For proposals submitted to the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy Policy Research Grants program, the Project Director must be a non-temporary member of the University of Michigan faculty, with at least a 50% appointment, from the instructional faculty (excluding lecturers) or the research faculty. Adjunct appointments are not eligible. Specifically, the eligible positions are:

From the instructional faculty:

• Professor;
• Professor Emeritus;
• Associate Professor;
• Assistant Professor;
• Instructor;
• Clinical Professor;
• Clinical Associate Professor;
• Clinical Assistant Professor;
• Clinical Instructor.

From the research faculty:

• Research Professor;
• Research Associate Professor;
• Research Assistant Professor;
• Research Scientist;
• Associate Research Scientist;
• Assistant Research Scientist;
• Research Investigator.

Allowable Expenses

Funds awarded under the CLOSUP Policy Research Grants Program may be used to fund research and outreach activities directly connected to the proposed project. CLOSUP follows the guidelines of the University of Michigan Office of the Vice President for Research to determine unallowable expenses. While not necessarily exhaustive, the following list identifies types of expenses that cannot be charged to CLOSUP funds:

• Faculty salaries;
• Tuition;
• General purpose equipment, including computers, fax machines, phones, personal digital assistants, etc.;
• Facilities construction or renovation;
• Cost overruns, disallowances, etc.;
• Indirect costs, or direct costs in lieu of indirect costs.

Award Administration

Award Rules

Project Directors are responsible for ensuring appropriate financial and programmatic management of the award, according to the University of Michigan Standard Practice Guide, in addition to all other relevant University, State and Federal regulations. In addition, the following rules are applied to all CLOSUP Policy Research Grants awards:

• No significant changes to the budget or the scope of the project are allowable without the prior written consent of the CLOSUP Director;
• Awards cannot be transferred outside the University of Michigan; if a Project Director leaves the University prior to the award's expiration date, the award can be transferred to a new project director, if approved by the CLOSUP Director; otherwise the award will be terminated and all remaining funds must be returned to CLOSUP;
• Funds remaining at the end of the award are to be returned to CLOSUP within 30 days of the award's expiration date;
• An award end date can be extended beyond the original end date, if approved by the CLOSUP Director. An extension request must be received in writing at least 10 days prior to the original end date;
• Annual progress reports (for multi-year awards) and a final project report are required, as described below.

Outreach

Each project must include a plan for communicating the research findings to a policy audience as well as an academic audience. Potential dissemination strategies include presentation of the research findings at conferences, workshops or briefing sessions attended by policymakers or publication of a short, non-technical summary of the research findings (in web or paper form).

Reports

Project Directors are responsible for submitting annual progress reports, due 30 days before the end of each project year (for multiple-year projects). In the final year of a multi-year project only a final project report is required. Final project reports are due 30 days after the award's expiration date.

Annual progress reports should include, when relevant, information regarding:

• The major research, education, and/or outreach activities accomplished to date;
• Significant research findings;
• The unique contributions of the project to the study of state and local public policy issues;
• Participants in the project, including students and policy professionals, with affiliations;
• Publications or other products (including databases, physical collections, educational aids, software, instruments, web sites, etc.);
• Budget status;
• Expectations and plans for the following year.

Final project reports should be written for an informed lay audience, since these reports are likely to be included on the CLOSUP web site. These reports should address the same items listed above for annual progress reports, in addition to:

• Plans for continuing the project's beyond its funding period from CLOSUP;
• A final budget report, identifying any funds that remain unspent to be returned to CLOSUP.

Citations
Any publications, web sites, databases, or other products made possible in whole or part from CLOSUP funding should cite that support. The suggested citation is:

• "This [report/web site/database/etc.] is made possible [in part] by funding from the University of Michigan's Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy. Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy."