Faculty COVID-19 fund to cushion pandemic’s impact on research

Chapman’s “Faculty COVID-19 Impact Fund,” which closed for applications May 7, will issue individual amounts of up to $5,000 to faculty candidates pursuing independent research. Graphic by HARRY LADA, Art Director

At the beginning, part of Emily Carman’s day-to-day was figuring out nap schedules, breastfeeding and solid foods for her eight-month-old daughter. In the middle, it was watching her child crawl and helping her take her first steps. Now, it’s managing tantrums, monitoring her as she runs and making sure she doesn’t fall and hurt herself. 

Like plenty of faculty with children, Carman, an associate professor within the Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, hasn’t found it easy to conduct independent research over the past year. Her house functions as both a classroom and a daycare center. Her daughter is always there, growing up in the background of Zoom classes and emails and meetings. 

Yet help is on the way for Chapman University faculty like Carman. Effective April 13, a “Faculty COVID-19 Impact Fund” was launched through Chapman’s Office of Research, which notes a purpose to “stimulate scholarly and creative activity among those faculty members who have experienced substantial obstacles during the pandemic.” 

Awards up to $5,000 will be given out to selected applicants, with a cap of $100,000 for the fund in total — which was drawn from Chapman’s Office of Research. The deadline for applications came May 7. Faculty were required to submit the following materials: a one-page “Pandemic Impact Statement,” “Scholarly and Creative Activity Proposal” and “Budget Summary and Justification.” Awards can be used for a number of activities conducive to faculty research. 

“A step in the right direction, is what I thought,” Carman said of her initial reaction to the fund. 

Carman submitted an application for Chapman’s Impact Fund, hoping to use the money to hire a research assistant to help her gather material for an upcoming book analyzing the 1961 film “The Misfits.” In mid-April, she also applied for a scholarship through the National Endowment of the Humanities (NEH) and a grant for film scholars through the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 

However, in the latter applications, Carman labeled a certain stigma against childcare in applying for those kinds of funds. What she in part needed the money for was relief from her administrative tasks and help with her children, so she’d have the time to focus on her studies; however, she didn’t mention that in the NEH or film scholars submissions.

“It’s frustrating, because you sort of have to lie,” Carman said. “But with (Chapman’s) … I was told I could be forthcoming. So I hope it doesn’t count against me, because I think this is supposed to be for supporting faculty in my situation.” 

According to Shira Klein, a member of a “COVID Impact Task Force” of five faculty who brought about the fund, the Impact Fund is both merit-based and needs-based, asking faculty to be vulnerable in detailing their personal circumstances.

Thus, Klein said, the task force paid specific attention to setting up a careful evaluation process. Applications will not be seen by a faculty member’s respective dean or department chair. Instead it will be read by a committee of faculty who Klein said were “recommended for their sensitivity to diversity and inclusion.”

“We wanted to make sure that we didn’t put faculty in a position where they would (feel) all of this vulnerability,” Klein said. “For instance, ‘My lab closed for three months and therefore I got nothing done for three months,’ and they would put that in writing and have that forever in their tenure file.” 

Carman was encouraged by the news of the evaluation process. 

“That makes me feel a bit more optimistic going into this application process,” Carman said. “It seems to me like that’s a pretty progressive, inclusive step.”

The fund itself was put into motion after five faculty members — Shira Klein, Julia Boehm, Georgiana Bostean, Rosalee Hellberg and another who didn’t wish to be named — approached Faculty Senate President Alison McKenzie at the end of January with concerns about how the pandemic was affecting faculty research. McKenzie then met with the Senate Executive Board (SEB) and made the group an official SEB task force.

“It ultimately will help the university long-term, both in terms of retention and recruitment of faculty,” McKenzie said. “Particularly those who are most at-risk for having a negative impact, which tend to be women and people of color.”

Over the next couple months after being approved by the SEB, the task force researched over 40 institutions across the country that had set up programs for faculty’s scholarly activity having been impacted by COVID-19. The task force then worked with Thomas Piechota, Chapman’s vice president for Research, who said the money for grants through the Office of Research comes through its own external funding from granting agencies such as the National Institute of Health, National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Defense.

“I told them several times, I was really impressed; (the task force) did their homework in terms of going out and seeing what the best practices were,” Piechota said. “I always want to see faculty be successful, because when faculty are successful, students benefit from that.”

Further rounds of funding could be set up depending on faculty interest, which will be gauged as the number of applications to the Impact Fund are reviewed in the coming weeks. If more research funding will be offered, the application process will likely take place in the fall semester and in the coming winter, Piechota said. 

He also mentioned that Sheryl Bourgeois, the executive vice president and chief advancement officer, made a commitment to fund future installations of the grant through the University Advancement Office. According to McKenzie, Chapman Provost Glenn Pfeiffer has also made a commitment to the SEB to send a memo to faculty evaluators to consider the pandemic’s impact on faculty scholarship.

Neither Bourgeois nor Pfeiffer responded to The Panther’s requests for comment. 

Those future rounds of the Impact Fund may offer a helpful boost for faculty after a time period McKenzie noted could have lasting effects in the next few years, with backed-up grant applications and a loss of productivity. And if all goes well, Carman could finally add some balance in juggling childcare, teaching and her scholarly activity. 

“I feel optimistic that something will work out,” Carman said.