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STUDENT GRANT PROGRAM BYLAW

MISSION STATEMENT

The primary purpose of the Student Grant Program is to promote and support student research, scholarship and creative activity at the University of Idaho with a program funded by students, administered by students and available to all students, undergraduate, graduate and law, at the University of Idaho.

ARTICLE I – SYSTEM OF BYLAWS

Section 1: Purpose

The purpose of the Student Grant Program (SGP) Bylaws shall be to 1) specify the policies and operating procedures of the SGP and 2) To specify the powers, duties and responsibilities of the Student Grant Program Committee, the decision making body of the SGP.

Section 2: Amendments

Any member of the SGPC may propose an amendment. All members of the SGPC shall be provided with a written copy of the amendment and its justification at least one week prior to the meeting of its presentation. The amendment is considered passed by an affirmative vote of seven (7) SGPC voting members, with at least eight (8) members of the SGPC voting.

Section 3: Revision History

ARTICLE II – COMMITTEE GUIDELINES

Section 1: Powers

The Student Grant Program Committee (SGPC) shall have the power to 1) set policy for the SGP and 2) allocate such funds as it has at its disposal to eligible graduate, law, and undergraduate students at the University of Idaho for research, scholarly, and creative activities.

Section 2: Membership

2.1 Apportionment. The SGPC shall be composed of ten voting student members, a non-voting faculty sponsor, and a non-voting advisory member from the Research Office.

a.       The ten voting members shall include graduate (3), law (1), and undergraduate (6) students.  As the College of Law will always be contributing a law student and the College of Graduate Studies will always be contributing a graduate student, the remaining colleges shall alternate graduate and undergraduate representatives to fill the remaining positions.

b.      The Research Office shall appoint the non-voting advisor.

2.2 Selection of Members. Each of the ten members of the SGPC shall be appointed by the, Dean, or Associate Dean(s) of the College which they will represent.

a.       The Chair of the SGPC will notify each Dean, or Associate Dean(s) early in March that new appointments or re-appointments are needed. The notice shall list the duties of membership in the SGPC.

b.      Following the completion of all appointments and re-appointments, the Chair of the SGPC will provide a list of membership to all appropriate Deans and Associate Deans and the Vice President for Research.

2.3 Term of Office.  The term of office for voting members shall be one year, beginning May 15.  Members may serve a maximum of two terms.

2.4 Duties of Members. Members of the SGPC shall participate in all of its activities. Specifically, SGPC members shall:

a.       Attend SGPC meetings and inform the Chair of any expected absence. In the event of an absence, the member must select a replacement from their college.  The member is responsible for informing their replacement of all pertinent information. This person will have voice and vote. One absence without securing a replacement in one semester is grounds for removal.

b.      Familiarize themselves with all the departments within the college they represent.

c.       Where applicable and appropriate, solicit and represent the views of the students in the College from which they are selected.

d.      Inform the students of the College they represent of relevant actions taken or anticipated by the SGPC.

e.       Provide information concerning the preparation of proposals to potential applicants for funds distributed by the SGPC.

f.       Attend a proposal reviewer’s seminar.

g.      Review proposals for completeness prior to the formal external review process.

h.      Aid in the drafting of written critiques of proposals rejected or not funded by the SGPC.

i.        Return rejected proposals to the applicants from their college and arrange for re-submission of the proposal when appropriate.

j.        Annually review the SGP Bylaws for necessary amendments.

2.5 Resignation of Members. In the event that a voting member resigns from the SGPC, the Chair of the SGPC will request that the appropriate Dean, or Associate Dean(s) appoint an eligible person to represent that college for the remaining portion of the resigning representative’s term.

2.6 Removal of Members. Members may be removed by an affirmative vote of seven (7) SGPC voting members, with at least eight (8) members of the SGPC voting. Removal shall be by secret ballot. In the event of a tied vote, the Research Office member shall provide the tie-breaking vote.

a.       The Chair of the SGPC will send a confidential letter to the individual being removed as well as the appropriate Dean, or Associate Dean(s) explaining the reason(s) for removal of the member. An appeal may be made to the Vice President of Research.

b.       Replacements for members removed from the SGPC shall be secured as outlined in Article 1, Section 2.5.

Section 3: Officers

3.1 Positions. The officers of the SGPC shall consist of a Chair and a Vice Chair, who shall have full powers to carry out the actions of the SGPC.

3.2 Selection. Officers shall be elected from the membership of the SGPC. Officers shall be elected by a majority vote (5), with at least eight (8) members of the SGPC voting. Election shall be by secret ballot. In the event of a tied vote, the Research Office member shall provide the tie-breaking vote.

3.3 Term of office. Officers shall serve one-year terms, with a maximum of one term.

3.4 Duties of the SGPC Chair.  The duties of the SGPC Chair shall include:

a.       Preside at all meetings.

b.      Coordinate the calls for proposals to be received by the SGPC.

c.       Sign all documents or correspondence pertaining to the actions of the SGPC.

d.      Review and sign all letters notifying applicants of the actions of the SGPC.

e.      Take action on all initial requests received from grant recipients for extensions of time or funded projects.

f.      Prepare the semi-annual report.

g.        Notify the Vice President of Research of fund recipients who fail to submit final reports to the SGPC.

h.        The Chair may delegate these duties as necessary.

3.5 Duties of the Vice Chair. The duties of the SGPC Chair shall include:

a.       The Vice Chair shall temporarily perform the duties of the Chair in the event of the latter's inability to act, or resignation prior to election of a successor.

b.      Take minutes of all SGPC meetings.

c.       Maintain a file of all grant proposals submitted to the SGPC, actions taken on these proposals, abstracts and reports received subsequent to funding of proposals and minutes of SGPC meetings.

d.       Assist the Chair in preparing the annual report.

e.      The Vice Chair may delegate these duties as necessary.

3.6 Vacancies. In the event that an officer resigns before the end of the term, the voting members of the SGPC shall elect a successor to serve the balance of the unexpired term as specified above.

3.7 Removal. Officers may be removed by an affirmative vote of seven (7) SGPC voting members, with at least eight (8) members of the SGPC voting. Removal shall be by secret ballot. In the event of a tied vote, the Research Office member shall provide the tie-breaking vote. Removal of office does not result in loss of SGPC membership.

Section 4: Meetings

4.1 Schedule. The SGPC shall meet at least three times per semester to consider proposals. Other business may be conducted at any of these meetings. The Chair, or a majority of the SGPC, may call additional meetings.

4.2 Quorum. Six voting members shall constitute a quorum. No official business shall be conducted without the presence of a quorum.

4.3 Voting. Unless otherwise stated in these bylaws, all actions of the SGPC shall be considered passed by a majority affirmative vote of the voting members present at the meeting.

Section 5: Reporting

5.1 Semi-Annual Report. Following the notification of awards, a report must be prepared, made available online to the University of Idaho students and sent to the student governments, Vice President of Research, and President of the University. The report should, at a minimum, summarizing the following:

1. The committee members, the College they represent and degree level.
2. The total amount of funds available to the SGPC during the report period.
3. The total number of proposals received by the SGPC and the total amount of funds requested.
4. The total number of proposals funded by the SGPC and the total amount of funds awarded.
5. For each research award: the project titles, abstract, amount of award, awardees names and degree level and the names of the colleges and/or departments of grant recipients.
6. Significant actions taken, or anticipated, by the SGPC.

ARTICLE III – GRANT PROCESS

Section 1: Proposal Process

1.1 Eligibility. Eligibility for funding shall be based on whether an applicant is contributing to the overall funds of the program through student fees at the University of Idaho. Eligibility shall be further defined in the Proposal Guidelines.

1.2 Funding Opportunities. There shall be a minimum of one funding period per academic year, with a minimum of the two funding categories: research grants and dissemination grants.

1.3 Timeline. The deadlines for each funding period shall follow these general guidelines

a.       A RFP must be posted no later than one month into the semester prior to the funding period.

b.      Deadlines for proposal submission may not occur any sooner than six weeks following the RFP notification.

c.       External reviewers shall have a minimum of one week to review proposals.

d.      Award notification shall be given no later than 14 days prior to the start of the funding period.

1.4 Proposal Guidelines. Proposal Guidelines shall be reviewed and revised by the SGPC each funding period, made available on-line and must contain at least the following information:

a.       Total funds available.

b.      Funding categories, including specific definitions.

c.       Minimum number and amount of awards.

d.      Specific deadlines related to the proposal process.

e.       Committee overview, including the names of the College representatives.

f.       Specific eligibility requirements.

g.      Proposal submission procedures, including format guidelines for each category.

h.      Overview of the SGPC policies on reviewing and evaluating proposals.

i.        Responsibilities of grant recipients.

j.        All forms associated with the funding process.

Section 2: Decision Process

2.1 Proposal Format. Only those proposals that meet the Proposal Guidelines shall be considered for external review. Should an applicant need to deviate from the specified format, a written statement describing the deviation and the reasons for it must accompany the proposal.

1. If a proposal does not meet the requirements of the proposal guidelines, the SGPC reserves the right, by a majority vote, to request the necessary changes and revisions in order for a proposal to meet the necessary requirements. The applicant will then have five calendar days to make the requested changes and resubmit the proposal to the University Research Office.

2.2 Review Process. All proposals shall be reviewed externally to the SGPC.

1. There shall be a minimum of three external reviewers for each proposal, one of which must be a student at the University of Idaho.
2. Reviewers shall be selected based on their ability to provide an objective, critical opinion of the proposal.

c.       Reviewers shall be provided with an evaluation form, which they must adhere to.

2.3 Decision Process. The SGPC shall use the following criteria to base their decisions.

1. Proposals will be ranked based on their reviewers’ scores.
2. Proposals ranked below a SGPC determined minimum criteria should be removed from further consideration.
3. Final funding decisions shall be based primarily on ranking, however the SGPC may use other factors in making its final allocations.

2.4 Reconsideration and Resubmission of Proposals. Except in the case of a clerical error, the SGPC decision to approve, reject, or not fund any proposal will be considered final, and no proposal will be reconsidered except by a majority vote. However, any proposal that is rejected or not funded by the SGPC may be resubmitted under any subsequent call for proposals.

Section 3: Award Process

3.1 Decision Notification. The SGPC shall provide written notification to applicants regarding the status of their proposals. Applicants with rejected proposals will also receive a written critique.

3.2 Notification to URO. The University Research Office shall receive written notification from the SGPC of all award recipients no later than 14 days before the start of the funding period.

3.3 Recipient Responsibilities. All recipients must submit a final report and fulfill all responsibilities as detailed in the Proposal Guidelines.

1. Grant recipients are expected to represent the highest values of ethical and professional standards.
2. In the case of conviction of research fraud, the grant recipient is required to reimburse all funding provided by the SGPC for that research up to the full amount.

3.4 End of Funding Period. On the day following the end of the funding period:

1. Any funds left in the grant recipient’s budget will be returned to the SGP, unless the SGPC has approved a request for an extension of time.
2. Any overdraft of the grant recipient’s budget will be the responsibility of the grant recipient and not the SGPC.

ARTICLE IV – CODE OF ETHICS

Section 1: Code of Ethics

Members on the SGPC are expected to represent the highest values of ethical and professional standards. Members are further expected to represent the interests of the students in their college and to cooperate in meeting the goals of the SGPC.