Guidelines for Proposals for Large Grants (over $5,000)

Eligibility

Faculty members of all ranks, administrators, or academic program or departments in the University may submit proposals to the Center. All proposals must involve projects in keeping with the mission and purpose of the Center. Applicants, including members of the steering committee, may not submit proposals that would benefit themselves financially (Bylaws, Article 5.1).

Standards for Proposals

Proposals to the Center must aim to foster more effective teaching, enhance scholarly research or creative work, improve morale in the humanities, and/or increase the number of students majoring or minoring in the humanities. The Center ordinarily will not fund events open only to students enrolled in specific classes.

Proposals must include an itemized budget of judiciously determined expenses. This budget should be set forth on the grant proposal form. The CFH only funds proposals that have financial support from two or more other sources. A list of possible funding sources is available upon request.

The committee strongly prefers that proposed programs stay within budget; however, sometimes the actual total expenses for an event or program may be more than originally proposed. In these cases, recipients, following normal procedures, should submit an amended budget with an explanation for changes, along with the original proposal, before the event or program takes place and before all funds are disbursed. The steering committee will then decide whether to approve additional funds for the event or program. The Center does not reimburse or pay for expenses that exceed the original budget total without steering committee approval. The steering committee does not approve expenses for events or programs that have already taken place.

Budget: Guest speakers should ordinarily spend no more than one night in Baltimore and should usually stay at a hotel recommended by the University. Plan receptions with restraint and according to the status of the speaker, the size of the event, etc. No more than one reception should occur within 24 hours for the same event. Meals for guests should balance hospitality with reasonable economy—restaurant meals should be limited to three or four faculty, students, and/or administrators, selected for professional reasons. Spouses or other guests should reimburse the Center. If circumstances require an exception to any of these guidelines, applicants should explain the reasons in the proposal itself.

Selection of Speakers and Honoraria: To ensure that the committee is considering realistic program proposals, contact proposed speakers and secure commitments before submitting the proposal; at the same time, applicants should consult page 3 of the read-only PDF version of the CFH grant proposal form for suggestions for appropriate amounts for speaker honoraria. In cases in which a proposed speaker is unable to make a commitment until closer to the planned event, those planning the event should at least determine from the speaker that it is a realistic possibility that he or she will be willing to come to campus.

The amount of a speaker's honorarium should be commensurate with his or her stature. The Center does not pay honoraria to Loyola faculty members.

The criteria for approval, applied more rigorously according to the amount of the request, include the following:

• The academic excellence of the proposed program;
• The contribution of the program to its discipline;
• The contribution of the program to interdisciplinary exchange (Does the program involve more than one department? Does it address interdisciplinary topics?);
• The probable interest of the program to the Loyola community and/or a wider audience;
• Whether funding from other sources has been secured;
• The extent to which the proposal has followed the guidelines and procedures set forth in this document.

Funds from the Center for Humanities will not be approved for what can be considered normal University expenditures.

Procedures

First-time grant proposer? Click here to view a read-only version of the Qualtrics proposal form.

All proposals should include the following:

• Grant proposal form 
• Description of the event or program proposed and an explanation of its benefit to the humanities within its discipline, in the University and/or the local and larger academic communities;
• The backgrounds and credentials for featured speakers;
• More detailed budget than that on the proposal form, if necessary; and
• Publicity plans, facility plans, and reservations.

The completed proposal should be submitted using the CFH grant proposal form and any other required documents should be sent by uploading them to this form.

The Program Assistant will send to the applicant, in writing, the steering committee's decision, and a brief explanation if the proposal is rejected.

A Qualtrics final report form, with an account of funds spent, must be submitted to the Director of the Center no more than 30 days after the actual event. This report should describe the success of the program, any difficulties encountered, the size and composition of the audience, etc.

Deadlines

Proposals for large grants (over $5,000) are due on the last (working) day of March preceding the academic year in which the event will be held (e.g., proposals over $1,500 for an event scheduled in April 2022 must be submitted by the end of March, 2021). In the event that a commitment of funding is required prior to the March deadline (for instance, when a deposit is needed to secure a commitment) the steering committee is willing to consider a proposal in a prior month.

Sample Large Grant Proposal

Grant Proposal Form

Faculty Sponsor,  Martha Taylor
Department: Classics
Event Date:  September 10, 2015
Project Title:  Odds Bodkin "The Odyssey: Belly of the Beast" performance

Summary Budget: Proposed Spent

Honoraria $2500
Travel: $500
Lodging: waived
Food  $300
Advertising: 
Black velvet curtain rental  $200

Requested from the Center: $1700
Funds from other Sources:$1800

Total Budget: $3500
Have you consulted your chair? X yes    ___ no
FINAL REPORT DUE:
Budget #:

Abstract

I propose to bring renowned storyteller Odds Bodkin to campus for a repeat performance of “The Odyssey: Belly of the Beast.” Students in Honors, Latin, and Greek classes will be required to attend. Students in CL/HS and CL/EN classes will be required or strongly encouraged to attend. Faculty will benefit from discussions with Odds at dinner after the event.

I. Proposal/Significance of the Project

Odds Bodkin performing “The Odyssey: Belly of the Beast”
Thursday, September 10, 2015
McGuire Hall East (configured for an audience of 200 - Space has been reserved with Events)
7:00-8:30 pm
Sponsor:  Martha Taylor, Classics

I propose to bring back to campus the renowned storyteller Odds Bodkin to give a repeat performance of “The Odyssey: Belly of the Beast.”  The New York Times called Odds a “consummate storyteller” when he performed “The Art of the Tale” at Lincoln Center. Back Stage described him as “one actor who fully inhabits a stunning array of characters without ever running amok. Indeed, he remains seated throughout. No sets; no props.” For “The Odyssey:  Belly of the Beast” Odds will perform a 70-minute long introduction to The Odyssey, using different character voices, while accompanying himself on the guitar.  Odds sent this description of the event: 

The Odyssey: Belly of the Beast is an introduction to The Odyssey. It is seventy minutes long, with numerous character voices including Odysseus, Maron the Priest, Eurylokhos, two Lotus Eaters, Polyphemus the Cyclops, an outrageous and vivid monster indeed, and others. It is scored with 12-string guitar leitmotifs.  Dr. James Tatum, of Dartmouth's Classics Department, called it "world class" when I performed it for his students many times a decade ago. I follow Odysseus through reflections on the War at Troy while he waits with the others inside the Trojan Horse, through the Sack of Troy, then to Ismaros, the Great Storm, the Lotus Eaters, the Isle of Goats and lastly through some vivid and terrifying scenes in the Cave of the Cyclops. Gory, fun and extremely intense and vivid, dramatically and musically. Rather than following Homer's recursive plot, you'll notice, I perform a straightforward chronological version of the tale.

Odds performed “The Odyssey: Belly of the Beast” at Loyola to great acclaim in 2010 and 2012. (He did not come in 2014 only because we spent all our time and energy on Oedipus.)  Whenever Odds performs at Loyola virtually all the 200 seats in McGuire are filled, and students are glowing in their accounts of the performance.  

This performance will serve as one of the “Cultural Events” for the Classics department’s lower-level Latin and Greek students. (The tale is, of course, appropriate to our Latin students because it is Virgil, not Homer, who writes an account of the Trojan Horse and the sack of Troy.)  This will ensure attendance from Latin and Greek students of c. 60. (The composition of the lower-level language classes changes every two years, so none of these students will have attended Odds’ performance two years ago.)  In addition, students in Classical Mythology will be required or strongly encouraged to attend, as will our Classics/History courses.  Furthermore, the three section leaders of the Ancient section of The Human Drama in the Honors Program will require their students to attend (giving a guaranteed additional 50+ students). (These students are, of course, freshmen, and will not have seen Odds before.) I have arranged to reserve McGuire Hall East for the performance, with chairs arranged for an audience of 200 people, and I am confident we will reach that attendance figure. I will contact colleagues at Hopkins, Towson, UMBC, Goucher, and Baltimore County High Schools to inform them about the event.

Odds’ normal fee for such a performance is $2500 (unchanged since 2010) with additional funds of $500 required for transportation.  As in the past, he has generously agreed to waive his lodging fee for this performance. In part to thank him for this generosity (and because he exhausts himself with his performance), we have always taken Odds out to dinner after the performance, and so I have included an amount for that in my budget. This dinner is also enormously beneficial to Classics faculty since the discussion focuses on pedagogical issues at the heart of the discipline, namely how to teach Homer to students in ways that are engaging and effective. 

Budget:
$2500 – Odds Performance Fee
$  500 – Transportation
$  200 – Black Velvet Backdrop Rental (This is essential to configure the space in McGuire for Odds’ performance)
$  300 – Dinner (with Classics faculty: Walsh, McCreight, Taylor, Miola)
________
$ 3500 Less:

$1000 – Paid from Honors (to cover 30% deposit to secure the date)
$  300 – Pledged from Classics
$  500 – Pledged from Student Activities
 ________
$1700 – Requested from the Humanities Center

Attached to the proposal are CVs of all the invited speakers.