2024-25 Faculty RSCA Assigned Time Program Registrations, Applications, and Reports

The University Faculty Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity (RSCA) Assigned Time (AT) Program has been a fruitful investment and an effective mechanism to support the RSCA efforts of our faculty members. Please note this year's timeline, process, and requirements for the new registrations, applications, and productivity reports. All awards are subject to budget availability and there is no guarantee at this time that awards will be funded. 

New Registrations and Applications

(Awards starting in AY 2024-25)

• Eligibility

  • There are three categories of faculty who are eligible for the RSCA AT Program: 

    Category A - Probationary faculty whose contractually-awarded RSCA AT expires in Spring or Fall 2024 must register to receive this award for the first time in 2024-25 for the duration of their probation period.

    Category B - Probationary faculty members who are on the RSCA AT program and are up for tenure in August 2024 may apply for a new award for three years from AY 2024-25 through AY 2026-27, subject to a positive tenure decision, by submitting the materials required for the five-year RSCA productivity report (refer to the Annual, Three-Year, and Final/Five-Year RSCA Productivity Reports section below). 

    Category C

         - New Applications — Currently tenured faculty members who have not been on the RSCA AT program may apply to receive this award for the first time in 2024-25 for three years through AY 2026-27. 

         - Renewals — Tenured faculty members who are currently in the RSCA AT program and reaching the end of their five-year award (Cycle 2) may reapply to renew their award for an additional three years, from AY 2024-25 through AY 2026-27 by submitting the materials required for the five-year RSCA productivity report (refer to the Annual, Three-Year, and Final/Five-Year RSCA Productivity Reports section below).

    NOTE: For all categories, annual renewal of awards is subject to availability of funds, positive annual review by the college dean, and VPRI's approval.

• Timeline

  • March 28, 2024 - New Applications are due from all new and renewal faculty applicants to their College Office via electronic submission.

    April 23, 2024 - Deans’ recommendations submitted to the Office of Research.

    May 17, 2024 - Award notifications from the Vice President for Research and Innovation (VPRI) to successful applicants via DocuSign. Award notifications to successful Category B applicants will be issued after the official tenure decision notifications.

    May 24, 2024 - Award acceptance signed by successful faculty via DocuSign.

• Required Materials

  • New Category A registrants and new Category C applicants must submit all the following material to their College Office by 5:00 p.m. on  March 28, 2024:

    1. Cover Sheet — including name, rank, department, college, and date of appointment to the University,

    2. Scholarly Agenda — Two pages describing your RSCA goals, activities, and expected outcomes/products for the coming three-year period,

    3. ORCID iD* — You must make your profile and citations public,
    Current Curriculum Vitae (CV), and

    4. RSCA Metric Data – An email message from your college will follow to provide college-specific guidance on how to submit RSCA Metric Data.
     

    Category B applicants and Category C renewal applicants must submit all the following material, including the Final/Five-Year Reports, to their College Office by 5:00 p.m. on  March 28, 2024 — your college may provide additional information about the above components and writing prompts:

    1. Cover sheet including name, rank, department, college, date of appointment to the University, and an explicit statement that you are applying for renewal,

    2. Statement of Overall Achievements: One-page narrative describing RSCA progress covering the previous five-year period,

    3. RSCA Productivity Report: RSCA Metric Data covering the previous five-year period in college-specific format,
    Current Curriculum Vitae (CV),

    4. Scholarly Agenda – Two-page ongoing/planned RSCA Agenda for the next three years of the program, if awarded. Attach original RSCA Agenda for reference and explain the Agenda change(s) for the next AT period, if any. Articulate how the ongoing agenda will result in products that are measurable by the college-specific RSCA metrics,

    5. ORCID iD* – You must make your profile and citations public, and

    6. Final Five-Year Report – See report content description below.

    See “Submission Details” section below for the respective college contact information.

• Selection of Awardees

  • Category A - The Dean will provide the VPRI with the list of new registrations for assigned time under the RSCA AT program starting in AY 2024-25 for probationary faculty members meeting the college-specific standards, by April 23, 2024.

    Category B and Category C - The Dean will recommend to the VPRI which Category B and Category C applications may be qualified to receive a new three-year assigned time award under the RSCA AT program starting in AY 2024-25. The Dean determines the process for the selection within their college and may consider specific components of the application or the entire packet holistically. All awards are subject to the availability of funding. 

    The guidance from the VPRI is that the recommendation be made with substantial consideration of the faculty member’s prior RSCA productivity. To assure transparency, the Dean’s office will publish, such as on the college web page, the methodology and the selection criteria. The Dean’s recommendation list must be submitted to the Office of Research in the Division of Research and Innovation (with a copy to the Office of the Provost), along with all candidates’ complete application packets, by April 23, 2024.

    The decision of which eligible faculty will receive assigned time through the RSCA AT program will be made by the VPRI in consultation with the Provost, weighing the Dean’s recommendations. The VPRI and Provost may, at their discretion, review the Dean’s recommendations and process to assure that the selected faculty members’ RSCA productivity meets university-wide standards. Faculty receiving RSCA AT awards will be notified by via DocuSign by May 17, 2024 and will be required to DocuSign their acceptance of the RSCA AT award by May 24, 2024.

Annual, Three-Year, and Final/Five-Year RSCA Productivity Reports

All faculty who had tenure when they started their RSCA AT program in AY 2021-22 must submit a formal three-year report this year.  

All faculty who had tenure when they started their RSCA AT program in AY 2019-20  (Cycle 2) must submit a “final” five-year report this year.

All other probationary and tenured faculty currently participating in the RSCA AT program must submit an annual report.

Satisfactory progress relative to the college metrics and the RSCA agenda as demonstrated in the annual, three-year, and final reports is required for award continuation / renewal on an annual basis.

• Timeline

  • March 28, 2024 - Annual and Three-Year Reports due to the College Office. Final/Five-Year Reports should be submitted along with the faculty member’s RSCA AT renewal application to the College Office. Otherwise, the Five-Year Reports should be submitted separately.

    April 23, 2024 - Final/Five Year Reports and Dean’s feedback on Three-Year Reports due to the Office of Research.

    May 17, 2024 - Three-Year review letters from the VPRI and College Dean sent to faculty.

    May 24, 2024 - Acknowledgement of the Three-Year review letters due from faculty via DocuSign.

• Annual RSCA Productivity Reports

  • Except for those who are submitting a formal three-year report and for those at the end of their five-year award (Cycle 2), all probationary and tenured faculty participating in the RSCA AT program are required to submit their Annual RSCA Productivity Reports to the College Office in their college- specific RSCA Metric Data format by 5:00 p.m. on March 28, 2024. An email message from your college will follow to provide college-specific guidance on how to submit RSCA Metric Data. The College Office will submit a copy of all Annual Reports to the Office of Research by April 23, 2024.

• Three-Year RSCA Productivity Reports

  • Faculty who had tenure when they started their RSCA AT program in AY 2021-22 must submit a formal three-year report to the College Office by 5:00 p.m. on March 28, 2024 consisting of all the following items – your college will provide additional information about these components and writing prompts:

    1. Statement of Achievements: One-page narrative describing RSCA progress covering the three-year period,
    2. RSCA Productivity Report: RSCA Metric Data covering the three-year period in college-specific format,
    3. Current Curriculum Vitae (CV),
    4. Scholarly Agenda – Two-page ongoing/planned RSCA Agenda for the remainder of the program. Attach original RSCA Agenda for reference and explain the Agenda change(s) for the remainder of the AT period, if any. Articulate how the ongoing agenda will result in products that are measurable by the college-specific RSCA metrics, and 
    5. ORCID iD* – You must make your profile and citations public.

    The Dean’s feedback on the three-year reports will be submitted to the Office of Research in the Division of Research and Innovation by April 23, 2024.  All reports, along with the Deans’ feedback, will be reviewed by the VPRI. Faculty will be notified of the VPRI’s and Dean’s review at the same time via DocuSign by May 17, 2024 and will be asked to DocuSign an acknowledgement of the review by May 24, 2024.    

• Five-Year RSCA Productivity Reports

  • Faculty who had tenure when they started their RSCA AT program in AY 2019-20 (Cycle 2) must submit a formal final/five-year report to the College Office by 5:00 p.m. on March 28, 2024.  Faculty applying for RSCA AT Program renewal must submit their Five-Year Report along with their renewal application (see Category C Renewals above).

    Final/Five-Year Reports consist of all the following items - your college will provide additional information about these components and writing prompts:

    1. Cover sheet including name, rank, department, college, date of appointment to the University, and an explicit statement of whether you are applying for a three-year renewal or not.
    2. Statement of Overall Achievements: One-page narrative describing RSCA progress covering the five-year period
    3. RSCA Productivity Report: RSCA Metric Data covering the five-year period in college-specific format
    4. Current Curriculum Vitae (CV)
    5. Scholarly Agenda (if applying for renewal) – Two-page ongoing/planned RSCA Agenda for the next three years of the program, if awarded. Attach original RSCA Agenda for reference and explain the Agenda change(s) for the next AT period, if any. Articulate how the ongoing agenda will result in products that are measurable by the college-specific RSCA metrics 
    6. ORCID iD* – You must make your profile and citations public

Submission Details

Completed applications and reports (with the exception of RSCA Metric Data) should be compiled into one PDF file and must be submitted electronically to your College Office (see email address below). RSCA Metric Data should be submitted in your college-specific format following your college guidance.

Please use one of the following titles in the subject line of the email: 1) RSCA Assigned Time Registration; 2) RSCA Assigned Time Application; 3) RSCA Assigned Time Annual Report; 4) RSCA Assigned Time Three-Year Report; or RSCA Assigned Time Five-Year Report.

Please refer to the RSCA Assigned Time Program Terms and Conditions, as well as the RSCA Assigned Time Program FAQ for answers to common questions. You may also contact officeofresearch@sjsu.edu or your College Associate Dean for Research (or equivalent position) for any questions or further clarification.

* For information on how to obtain an ORCID iD and make your profile and citations public, see orcid.org. If you need assistance, please consult the University Library's ORCID iD webpage.

Intellectual/Creative Property

The funding for this award is provided as “substantial support” for your RSCA and that, under University Intellectual/Creative Property Policy (F98-3 [pdf]) (IP Policy), the University has certain rights to intellectual property resulting from your work under this award. You will abide by the terms of the University IP Policy and cooperate with efforts to protect and promote any intellectual property related to this award. If an invention or discovery is made or a Creative Works is developed, a Disclosure describing the discovery (invention, creative works, or software) shall be prepared and forwarded to the SJSU Office of Innovation.

Conflict of Interest

As an SJSU employee, you are not permitted to have any personal financial interest that would violate California Government Code Section 1090 et seq. or that would result in a Conflict of Interest, as that term is defined in the Political Reform Act, California Government Code Section 81000 et seq. If you receive extramural grant support, you must disclose personal financial interests as required by the laws, regulations, and sponsor/SJSU [pdf] policies governing conflict of interest in research.