ACRL Liaisons Grant Funding Request Template 2012

 

Each Liaisons Grant Funding Request must address the following five points. See the sample below for guidance. Address questions to the ACRL Liaisons Grants Committee.

  1. Description of activities/projects proposed for the upcoming year(s) with accompanying time frame

  2. All Funding Requests, in priority order, with ACRL Fiscal year for which the request is made

  3. Relationship to ACRL Strategic Priorities

  4. Outcomes

  5. Assessment Plan

Sample

1. Description of activities/projects proposed for the upcoming year(s) with accompanying time frame

Since the 2010 National Center for the First Year Experience Conference, I have been working with the  Jennifer Keup (Executive Director of the National  Resource Center for the 1st Year Experience),  Ryan Padgett (the Center’s Assistant Director for Research, Grants and Assessment,  Colleen Boff (First Year Experience Librarian, Bowling Green State University) and Kathryn Deiss (ACRL Content Strategist) on developing questions for a national survey on information literacy for the first year student. The results and analysis of the survey will be published jointly by the National Resource Center and ACRL.

We had a working draft ready just prior to the 2011 First Year Experience Conference in Feb. At the conference, Colleen and I ran a small focus group which critiqued the questions and sought comments on the survey format. Attendees were librarians who were in attendance at the conference. Ryan Padgett asked librarians at University of South Carolina, who critique questions for other surveys, run the National Resource Center, to provide feedback on the questions, and Colleen and I each asked three other additional librarians for their comments as well.

We are scheduled to run the survey during the fall semester, 2011, and we will distribute it via ACRL Instruction Section and LITA membership lists as well as listservs which serve instruction librarians.

We should have the results by January 2012.  Colleen and I will spend most the semester completing our background literature search, interviewing librarians who indicated they were willing to provide additional details about their programs, and writing our analysis. The survey and our analysis should be ready for publication in the fall of 2012.

At the 1st Year Experience Conference in the winter of 2012, Colleen and I will do a presentation on the preliminary results of the survey. We would also like to schedule interviews with librarians in attendance that completed the survey and indicated they would be willing to provide more details.  The conference would provide a chance for us meet with Ryan Padgett to discuss further analysis of the survey.

2. Funding Request

To cover the cost of the 2012 conference, I am requesting $1275 for ACRL fiscal year 2012. This will include $525 for conference registration, about $300 for air fare to San Antonio, and $450 for hotel expenses. This liaison relationship is not sponsored by any section or committee. I have no additional funding sources.

3. Relationship to ACRL Strategic Goals

This project contributes to the second area of emphasis in the “Plan for Excellence,” student learning. The survey will gather data on learning outcomes associated with first year students as well as assessment measures librarians are using to measure the instruction impact.

It also contributes to ACRL’s goal to “shape policies and practices of vital interest to higher education.” The work of the National Resource Center for the First Year Experience attracts participants from a variety of fields and disciplines within higher education. Publishing under their auspices expands the audience for our survey.

4. Outcomes

The analysis of survey results will expand understanding of effective information literacy instruction for first year students for a diverse audience.

5. Assessment

  • We will attract a large and diverse group of survey respondents
  • Survey results will yield a number of contacts for in depth additional interviewing
  • The survey analysis will reveal significant trends and innovations in information literacy instruction for first year students.
  • The finished publication will sell well enough to cover costs and provide a small profit.
  • We will be able to make recommendations for additional research areas.