Yes. The proposal should clearly indicate how the total funds available, including but not limited to ATLAS, will be sufficient to complete the project as planned. If the applicant plans to seek additional funds, but does not yet have them in hand, this information may be useful to reviewers in determining the likelihood of near-term completion. Any support for the project beyond ATLAS funding should be included as match if possible, and must be disclosed to the Board of Regents at the contracting stage.
No. The Notice of Intent submission includes only the cover page and the project summary. The proposal must provide a letter from the submitting institution (see RFP section IV.B.5) specifying the release to be provided, inclusive of the ATLAS-funded release and institutional matched time. In addition, the proposal must document that the campus has met the mandatory 1:1 salary match for any ATLAS salary request (see RFP section II.F). Internal campus documents approving an applicant’s request for release do not need to be furnished. The letter provides the institution’s commitment of the release and the budget details the matching.
ATLAS support can be requested for curatorial projects. The crucial element of a proposal for this type of project is a strong argument that shows the applicant’s creative and/or scholarly intervention in the work and the ways in which the project is a major step forward in the discipline and the applicant’s career. The applicant should determine whether the project as envisioned meets the eligibility requirements set forth in section II.B.3 of the RFP: “The subprogram provides support for the production of original works of art, but does not offer funding for performance or presentation activities not linked to the completion of an original work. Performances of plays, musical compositions, and choreographed works, as well as presentations of artistic works not completed by an awardee as part of the Board of Regents subprogram, are not eligible unless they demonstrate significant new creative engagement on the part of the applicant(s). It is solely the responsibility of the applicant(s) to demonstrate persuasively the extent to which a project meets this requirement.”
It is also important to categorize a curatorial or editorial project properly, as that determines how it will be reviewed. A scholarly intervention is more aligned with the humanities or social sciences, while a creative one is aligned with arts. The applicant should keep in mind that the project will compete against more mainstream creative or scholarly projects, so the proposal must show the reviewers how the project represents a good investment of the funds to achieve the goals of the ATLAS program within the focus area.
The applicant should determine whether a full or targeted listing would best serve the case made in the proposal. It is important to remember, however, that the list will serve two purposes for reviewers: an account of your work in the area of the proposal and of your productivity and experience in completing works like the one proposed. It might be problematic, then, to submit a proposal for a book project and omit previously completed monograph-length works. Similarly, even when not directly relevant to the current project, publications or productions in major outlets for your field – journals of record, popular outlets, high-profile venues – will help reviewers to understand your position in your field and the quality and impact of your prior work.
The goal of the ATLAS program is completion within a limited period of time of a major scholarly or creative work with a significant impact on its field. It is expected that ATLAS funding will bring a work to publication or public view within a very short time following the ATLAS year. Provision of release time for a faculty member to pursue another degree is not within ATLAS’s scope.
ATLAS is open to any research or creative project in Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities areas, and there are no discipline rotations. Library Science is typically considered a Social Sciences discipline. The proposal should clearly indicate how/why the project fits within the ATLAS criteria, including discipline assignment. The external review panels have the discretion to determine whether a project is appropriately classified.
Requests for this kind of travel are not disallowed – distinguished from conference travel that doesn’t include an project-related presentation, which may not be requested – but are discouraged and funded only rarely because they tend not to be essential for near-term completion of the work in hand, so not aligned with ATLAS’s overarching goal. Given the extremely limited funds in the program and large number of proposals – too many of high quality to fund – typically panels will look less favorably on funding an activity that might raise the profile of the work in limited professional circles but not markedly contribute to its completion (especially since, once at the ATLAS stage, the work should be in the final stages). Any request, then, should very strongly demonstrate that the conference presentation contributes substantively to the completion of the work in the very near term.
While equipment purchases are allowable in ATLAS, they must be linked to the completion of a faculty member’s major scholarly or creative work. If the goal of the project is to establish or continue a recording/broadcasting program on campus, it is not a good fit for the ATLAS program. The Departmental Enhancement program supports equipment purchases for academic, research, and agricultural departments and units.
The ATLAS program supports faculty in finishing a major work, and it is not appropriate to include multiple different projects in a single proposal. It is acceptable to include different phases/products of a single project provided that the proposal can demonstrate that the products are parts of the larger whole and all will be completed within the timeframe outlined in the proposal.
Yes, though the proposal should clearly indicate how the work is a major additional contribution to the previous work, and not simply an extension or continuation. ATLAS is intended to support completion of major works with significant impact in its field of study and/or more generally. All proposals must demonstrate the importance and new contributions of the work to be funded. ATLAS funds may not be requested to continue a project already funded, even if it remains incomplete after its initial ATLAS funding.
It is no problem to request RA support for semesters in which you won’t be released. Just be sure that the project timeline specifies how the RA work will be spread across that time. Also, just keep in mind that the project will begin on June 1, 2018 and end no later than June 30, 2019, so the summer work will have to be either in the first summer of the project or in June 2019.