New Faculty Guide

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Research and Creative Activity

The mission of the Office of Research & Creative Activity at Western Kentucky University is to provide outstanding support for the research, service, creative, and scholarly endeavors of our faculty, staff, and students. Our staff is dedicated to partnering with the university community to increase external support for these activities, while ensuring compliance with federal, state, and institutional regulations.

Our unit includes the Office of Sponsored Programs, the Office of Research Integrity, and Grants & Contracts Accounting.  The Office of Sponsored Programs is a service unit that assists the faculty and staff at WKU in obtaining and administering external funds. The Office of Research Integrity provides guidance to protect the rights, welfare, and security of individuals involved in research at WKU and its surrounding communities, ensuring compliance with federal, state, and local regulations.

The Office of Research & Creative Activity also oversees a variety of programs and initiatives that provide support for research, creative and other scholarly enterprises at WKU. We are located in Wetherby Administrative Building, Suite 319.

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Office of Sponsored Programs

• Pre-Award Team services include outreach/training, finding/disseminating funding opportunities, reviewing/interpreting proposal guidelines, developing budgets, assisting with proposal development, and revising/submitting proposals. Use our Proposal Intent Form to start working with our Pre-Award Team on an external proposal.
  
  
• The PIVOT Database contains funding announcements from private and government sponsors.

• Post-Award Team services include negotiating awards and interpreting guidelines, establishing charts of accounts, submitting no-cost extension requests, approving budget reallocations, assisting with technical report submissions, managing database/reporting, assisting with Intellectual Property matters, and handling out-going subawards.

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Office of Research Integrity

The Office of Research Integrity is committed to the highest standards of integrity and quality (Animal Research, Biosafety, Export Control, Human Subjects, Responsible Conduct of Research).

Committed to maintaining the highest standards, ORI ensures all research at WKU adheres to institutional policies and oversight requirements mandated by federal and state laws. Non-compliance may result in significant penalties for both WKU and individual researchers. WKU is dedicated to fostering a culture of compliance and promoting responsible research conduct.

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Grants & Contracts Accounting

Grants and Contracts Accounting manages financial records for all external grants, contracts, and agreements at WKU. GCA can answer questions regarding expenditures, balances, and financial details of external awards to WKU.

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Internal Grants

WKU faculty and students are eligible to apply for several types of internal funding.

• Research & Creative Activities Program (RCAP) is an internal grant program administered by the Office of Research and Creative Activity to encourage eligible full-time faculty and instructors to develop individual projects leading to the pursuit of external funding sources, and the promotion of research, scholarly, and creative activities. E-mail: grants@wku.edu
• Faculty-Undergraduate Student Engagement (FUSE) grants support undergraduate students' intellectual development by fostering active engagement in the areas of research, creative and scholarly activities, and/or artistic performances.
• Quick Turn Around Grants (QTAG) provide funding for critical and immediate research needs. QTAGs are awarded and administered at the college level.

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WKU Libraries

WKU Libraries is here to help faculty and their students! Library resources and services support teaching, learning, and research. Need help? Just ask!