RISE: Research Ecosystem Integration and Siouxland Partnership Program--A Plan for Growing Research Capacity at Morningside University and Beyond

Morningside University’s RISE program (Research Ecosystem Integration and Siouxland Partnership Expansion) will establish an Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) at Morningside that will serve to increase the research capacity of not only Morningside, but also increase the research capacities of other regional institutions through the establishment of targeted research partnerships. The OSP will utilize their expertise in research administration to create partnerships between Morningside faculty members and potential research partners at other institutions with similar interests that do not have the resources to pursue research individually.

Additionally, the OSP will provide training for all Morningside researchers and partners in grant-seeking and award management. There will be a particular focus on creating partnerships other Emerging Research Institutions (ERI) such as small 4-years institutions and community colleges, as well as K-12 schools. There will be a particular focus in increasing the research capacity of those institutions located in rural areas.

RISE will serve to transform the research enterprise in the Siouxland region by increasing research capacity at Morningside and its partner institutions, and will also serve as a model for how similar ERIs nationwide may increase their research capacities.

The OSP created through the RISE program will provide the guidance, expertise, and training necessary to support faculty across all disciplines in the development of research ideas, identification of opportunities, creation of proposals, and management of awards. Training of Morningside faculty and prospective partners will focus on key areas such as (1) idea development; (2) goal setting and program design; (3) finding suitable funding sources; (4) how to build a successful grant application; and (5) how to manage grant awards from the investigator’s perspective.

We believe that these activities, conducted by the OSP, will increase the research capacity at Morningside and in the region, and we will evaluate this model through a mixed methods approach integrating qualitative and quantitative data from extant data analysis of grant submission/award data, faculty/staff interviews, and document review. If successful, RISE creates a model that will be applicable to multiple institutional contexts across the country such as: (a) teaching-focused institutions that desire to use research to best enhance the undergraduate student experience, (b) institutions that wish to increase their own research capacity and that of the region around them, (c) institutions that desire to increase research opportunities and training for rural faculty and students, or (d) some combination of the above.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.