Doctoral Student Recruitment Grants

The doctoral student recruitment grants program has been established at Missouri S&T to increase departmental level efforts to recruit highly competitive doctoral students.

Grant Description

TRACK I

  • Recruitment of highly competitive underrepresented minority doctoral students (African American, Hispanic, Native American, Pacific Islanders) and/or female doctoral students
    • The following is a list of possible doctoral recruitment ideas for underrepresented minority students and female students, but is not meant to limit departments from developing creative recruitment strategies of their own.
      • Bring distinguished faculty members from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) programs to campus for special lectures, presentations, or campus visits.
      • Use current underrepresented doctoral students as ambassadors to their undergraduate institutions to make presentations to the student body.
      • Provide funding for Missouri S&T faculty to travel to HBCU programs or graduate fairs for doctoral recruiting.
      • Research experience over the summer for underrepresented students to come to campus and work in teams with current Missouri S&T students.  The purpose would be to highlight the excellent research opportunities and facilities on campus.

TRACK II

  • General recruitment of highly competitive doctoral students
    • The following is a list of possible doctoral recruitment ideas and is not meant to limit departments from developing creative recruitment strategies of their own.
      • Use current doctoral students as ambassadors to their undergraduate institutions to make presentations to the student body.
      • Provide funding for Missouri S&T faculty to travel to graduate fairs or student research competitions for doctoral recruitment.
      • Research experience over the summer for students to come to campus and work in teams with current Missouri S&T students.  The purpose would be to highlight the excellent research opportunities and facilities on campus. 

Eligibility

Any academic department at Missouri S&T with a doctoral degree offering can apply.

Grant Proposal Format

The proposal should be no more than 3 pages in length and include the following sections:

  • Results from prior doctoral recruitment grant award, if applicable.
  • Brief description of either Track I or Track II project:
    • Track I: Plan focused on the recruitment of highly competitive underrepresented minorities and/or female doctoral students
    • Track II: Plan focused on the recruitment of highly competitive doctoral students
  • Expected outcomes of the project and how those outcomes will be measured. The project should make some kind of measurable impact within 1-3 years
  • How the project fits existing departmental doctoral recruiting goals and the Missouri S&T Campus Strategic Plan.
  • Itemized budget (including at least a 1:1 match)
  • Faculty PI and Co-PI names and email addresses

Deadline/Conditions

  • Proposals must be electronically submitted by December 15, 2017 to the Office of Graduate Studies at grad@mst.edu.
  • Departments must provide 1:1 matching funds for any approved grants. Departmental match must be directly related to the proposal budget items. In-kind matches are unallowable.
  • Applications will be reviewed by the Recruitment Grant Review Committee.
  • No faculty/staff salary will be paid through these grants.
  • Programs should be focused on providing new avenues to reach prospects.  As such, no funding will be allowed for basic supplies, giveaways, web design, video production costs related to making promotional videos, or professional or organizational membership fees. 
  • No student salary appointments as GTA/GRA/GA will be allowed.  Hourly pay may be acceptable.
  • All expenses must be preapproved by the designated financial approver before accrual.
  • Projects must be completed within 1 year.  Rollover of funds is not allowed. All funds must be spent by December 31, 2018.
  • Grant awardees are required to:
    • Present mid-term (near April 2018) and end-of-year (near November 2018) at a Council of Graduate Coordinators and Staff meeting to share best practices, successes, failures, etc.
    • Submit a Project Outcomes Report by January 31, 2019.  This report would include the deliverables of the award, including the success efforts outlined in the proposal, tracked metrics, and any best practices/ideas.
  • Grant awardees that do not submit a Project Outcomes Report from a previous award are ineligible to apply for doctoral recruitment grant funds until the previous report is received.
  • It is anticipated that 2-3 Track I grants and 2-3 Track II grants will be awarded.
  • Departments can submit an individual proposal or a proposal involving multiple departments. If a department is listed in a group departmental proposal, that department cannot also submit an individual proposal. The maximum award for an individual proposal is $5,000. The maximum award is $8,000 for proposals involving two or more departments.

Questions?

Contact the Office of Graduate Studies via email at grad@mst.edu or phone at (573) 341-4141.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Note: Our office is currently working on comprehensive FAQs for this program. If you would like to submit a question, please contact the Office of Graduate Studies at grad@mst.edu or 341-4141.

Proposals that have clear objectives and convincing implementation plans to recruit high quality doctoral students will be most likely to receive funding, with preference to projects with short-term and/or medium-term impact.

Pending available funds, approximately 2-3 Track I and 2-3 Track II grants will be awarded, though departments can only apply for one grant.

To apply, your department must submit a proposal that describes their project and expected outcomes. Proposals should be sent to grad@mst.edu by December 15, 2017.

A 1:1 funding match is necessary for eligibility.
  • Grant awardees are required to:
    • Present mid-term (near April 2018) and end-of-year (near November 2018) at a Council of Graduate Coordinators and Staff (CGCS) meeting to share best practices, successes, failures, etc.
    • Submit a Project Outcomes Report by January 31, 2019.  This report would include the deliverables of the award, including the success efforts outlined in the proposal, tracked metrics, and any best practices/ideas.
  • Grant awardees that do not submit a Project Outcomes Report from a previous award are ineligible to apply for doctoral recruitment grant funds until the previous report is received.

The start date is January 1, 2018. The end date is December 31, 2018.

Departments can apply for new awards in subsequent years, but the application must include a “Results of Prior Support” section for previous awards.

Departments can submit an individual proposal or a proposal involving multiple departments. If a department is listed in a group departmental proposal, that department cannot also submit an individual proposal. The maximum award for an individual proposal is $5,000. The maximum award is $8,000 for proposals involving two or more departments.

The proposal must specify if it is intended for Track I or Track II. Departments cannot submit proposals for both Track I and Track II.

For an individual proposal, the Department Chair or Designee should submit the proposal electronically. For multiple departments, the proposal will need to be submitted electronically by one Department Chair or Designee and the other Department Chairs should be carbon copied.

The proposal should be no more than three pages long.

The proposal should include the following sections:

  • Results from prior doctoral recruitment grant award, if applicable.
  • Brief description of either Track I or Track II project:
    • Track I: Plan focused on the recruitment of highly competitive underrepresented minorities and/or female doctoral students
    • Track II: Plan focused on the recruitment of highly competitive doctoral students
  • Expected outcomes of the project and how those outcomes will be measured. The project should make some kind of measurable impact within 1-3 years
  • How the project fits existing departmental doctoral recruiting goals and the Missouri S&T Campus Strategic Plan.
  • Itemized budget (including at least a 1:1 match)
  • Faculty PI and Co-PI names and email addresses

Funds are available starting January 1, 2018. All expenses must be preapproved by the designated financial approver (Sara Lewis) before accrual. Funds will be available at the designated start date and will be reimbursed throughout the grant cycle as expenses accrue.

Contact Sara Lewis at lewissar@mst.edu or (573) 341-7873.

Departments will only receive funds for expenses approved and accrued throughout the  calendar year. They will not receive funds past one year from the start date of their project. Rollover of funds is not allowed.

  • No faculty/staff salary will be paid through these grants.
  • Programs should be focused on providing new avenues to reach prospects.  As such, no funding will be allowed for basic supplies, giveaways, web design, video production costs related to making promotional videos, or professional or organizational membership fees. 
  • No student salary appointments as GTA/GRA/GA will be allowed.  Hourly pay may be acceptable.
  • All expenses must be preapproved by the designated financial approver (Sara Lewis) before accrual. Contact lewissar@mst.edu or 573-341-7873.

Departmental match must be directly related to the proposal budget items. In-kind matches are unallowable.