Positioning Faculty for Funding at an Emerging Research Institution: A Case Study to Inform Faculty Academy Programs

Emerging Research Institutions (ERIs) are notably one of the most impactful organizations in a state system for addressing social mobility, workforce development, and economic growth of a region. Cultivating research at ERIs often requires the faculty to expand their skill sets beyond basic research to engage students and communities. Faculty development infrastructure through a Community of Practice (CoP) can help faculty expand skills sets, plan a career, and work in more robust interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research teams. The purpose of this case study is to evaluate the experience of a cohort in a CoP designed for an ERI to position faculty for funding. The participants of this study are faculty that agreed to attend eight sessions of the CoP over the course of one academic year 2021-2022. Along with attending the CoP, participants agreed to complete two researcher-developed survey instruments and be interviewed post CoP sessions. Publication history, attitudes, investigator readiness, facilitators, barriers, needs, and proposal progression with regards to funding were assessed. Overall, participants reported enjoying the experience and demonstrated high levels of activation towards proposal submissions.