S94-8 POLICY ON RESEARCH, SCHOLARSHIP AND CREATIVE ACTIVITY; GRANTS; ACADEMIC FREEDOM
Legislative History
Supersedes S89-12, S90-2.
At its meeting of May 9, 1994, the Academic Senate approved the following Policy
Recommendation presented by Kenneth Peter for the Curriculum and Research
Committee.
ACTION BY THE UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT:
"Approved as University Policy" Signed J. Handel Evans, 5/17/94.
The conduct of research, scholarship, and creative activity at a university advances the frontiers
of knowledge; provides an experiential learning context for future teachers, engineers, scientists,
humanistic scholars, and creative artists; and keeps faculty energized and familiar with recent
developments in their fields. These activities enrich a university community and contribute to
high quality education.
San José State University (hereafter: SJSU, the university) actively encourages faculty
involvement in research and training projects, humanistic scholarship, and creative activity
(hereafter: research). Faculty members' involvement in research is an integral component of
their university obligation, therefore, the university directly recognizes research accomplishments
as one aspect of scholarly achievement detailed in the university retention, tenure and promotion
policy.
Sources of Faculty/Student Research Funds at SJSU
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION GRANTS: Funded by CSU, support for released time, travel, supplies
to increase success in RTP; funds allocated to campus based on number of eligible faculty
underrepresented in disciplines; applications in fall, awards late fall for use in spring semester;
administered by Faculty Affairs.
CSU RESEARCH FUNDS: Funded by state appropriation, support for mini-grants and/or
summer fellowships, including student assistants; funds to campus based on FTEF; applications
in fall, awards in December for use in spring/summer; administered by Graduate Studies and
Research.
GRADUATE STUDENT STIPENDS: Funded by SJSU Foundation, support for graduate
assistants who work with faculty engaged in research; faculty apply for funds and identify
students who will work with them; students submit statement relating research experience to
career goals; faculty required to submit proposal for external support within one year of receipt
of award; awards annually from sponsored project indirect cost recovery; applications in
September, awards in November; administered by SJSU Foundation.
LOTTERY: Funded by CSU, support for activity defined by Academic Senate Lottery
Committee; amounts vary each year; applications in fall, awards for use in spring semester;
administered by AVP.
Sponsored Research
The university provides resources that enable faculty, staff and students to seek external funding
in support of research. Sponsored programs Faculty Development is administered by the
Associate Vice President for Faculty Affairs and provides grant development support, focusing
on conferences, interdisciplinary projects and partnerships between the university, industry, and
the community. The San José State University Foundation assists individual university members
in the identification of potential sponsors, the preparation and submission of funding requests,
and the management of awards.
Chancellor's Executive Order 168 states that all requests for funding of research or other
sponsored projects shall only be submitted to sponsoring agencies with prior approval of the
President or designee (at SJSU, the Associate Vice President for Graduate Studies and Research).
The campus designee works closely with the Foundation, through which all external funding
proposals are processed.
Probationary, tenured, and emeritus faculty may serve as a director or principal investigator (PI)
of a sponsored project, emeritus faculty with the prior concurrence of the college dean.
Temporary or volunteer faculty may play a significant role in a sponsored project as a
co-director, but in all cases the Director or PI will assume full responsibility for the conduct of
the research and its fiscal management. Exceptions to the restricted status for PI may be made
on petition to the Associate Vice President for Graduate Studies and Research by the dean of the
college in which the research will occur. Individual faculty members may not sign contracts on
behalf of SJSU.
The university endorses the principles of academic freedom in research as well as in the
classroom. The primary obligation of the faculty to their disciplines is to seek and to state the
truth as they see it. To support the faculty pursuit of truth, the university promotes conditions of
free inquiry and dynamic exchange of ideas. Sponsorship of research may not inhibit these
freedoms.
Research undertaken at SJSU shall comply with all appropriate regulations for the protection of
human subjects from risk and for the humane care and use of animals.
Classified/Proprietary Research
SJSU will not accept any grant or contract that involves classified research (S69-12). The
university will accept no external support for research that restrains the freedom of the university
or the PI from disclosing the existence of a grant or contract, the nature of the inquiry, or the
identify of the sponsor.
Results of all research approved by the university must be freely publishable. In special
circumstances (e.g., a for-profit corporation as sponsor when proprietary data are involved), the
Associate Vice President for Graduate Studies and Research may negotiate in advance to delay
publication and/or presentation for a modest period--not to exceed 180 days.
University personnel may sign confidentiality agreements allowing access to privileged material
critical to a sponsored research project. They must be free, however, to report on the general
results of the research project within a reasonable time (not to exceed 180 days from the
conclusion of the project).
Assigned/Released:Reimbursed Time/Overload
SJSU faculty often modify their teaching load or generate time for research projects by obtaining assigned time, released time that is reimbursed by a sponsor, or accepting an overload. Faculty who receive assigned time from their departments reduce their teaching load and invest their energies during that time in instructionally-related research; assignedtime is funded from university resources. Faculty participating in a sponsored project may request released time from the department in order to pursue the sponsored activity; the university is reimbursed by the research sponsor for the faculty's released time. Faculty may also add the obligations of sponsored research to their normal university workload as an overload. For all university personnel involved in research, the total time commitment (overloadwhen more than 100 percent) shall be limited to 125 percent of a faculty member's obligated time, per CSU regulations. Overload activities may not interfere with a university employee's primary responsibilities.
Student Research
The university encourages student involvement in research. Students must be permitted to disclose fully the results of work required for courses, theses and master's projects. The protection of proprietary data for a period not to exceed 180 days may be applied to student publication. Faculty members may not sign non-disclosure agreements with students without permission of the Associate Vice President for Graduate Studies and Research. In all cases, disclosure must occur within a reasonable period of time (not to exceed 180 days).