Faculty Research and Creative Activity Committee (FRCAC)

FRCAC is a University faculty committee committed to the advancement of faculty scholarship through research and creative activity outside the classroom. Committee membership consists of the following campus representatives, serving one or more two-year terms: 

(2) representatives from the College of Basic and Applied Sciences;
(2) representatives from the College of Behavioral and Health Sciences, the College of Education, University College, and/or James E. Walker Library;
(2) representatives from the Jennings A. Jones College of Business and/or the College of Media and Entertainment;
(2) representatives from the College of Liberal Arts; and
(1) at-large member.

FRCAC reports to the Vice Provost for Research and Dean of the College of Graduate Studies, and is administered by the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs.

FRCAC performs two functions: 1) award internal grants for faculty research and creative activity, and 2) select faculty recipients for the annual Distinguished Creative Activity Award and Distinguished Research Award.

FRCAC grants are intended to provide seed funding for tenured and tenure-track faculty in the preliminary stages of a larger research or creative activity agenda or program, and preferably in preparation to compete for successive external funding to support the continuation and amplification of their scholarship. 

The committee has two grant-making cycles per year, in September and February. However, the February submission is reserved for those applicants who were not funded in September and wish to resubmit their proposal after revision based on committee evaluation. For further information visit FRCAC Grants. Prospective applicants are strongly encouraged to discuss FRCAC grant-making objectives and process with ORSP Program Manager, Dr. Jamie Burriss.

Current and Past FRCAC Projects

Term Name Department Proposal Title
2021 Spring Kishor Luitel Agriculture Evaluating capital and labor substitution in agricultural production  
2021 Spring Jennifer Shouse Theatre & Dance Play Space: New Play Development Initiative
2021 Spring Andrew  Fialka  History Hope Never to See It: A Graphic History of Central Missouri in the Civil War
2021 Spring Laura  Dubek English Children, Too, Sing America
2021 Spring Elizabeth Dalton Communication Studies Communication during labor and delivery: Examining women's perceptions, needs, and desires
2021 Spring Ramchandra Rimal  Mathematical Sciences Identifying the neurocognitive difference between two groups via tools of data science
2020 Fall Tiffany Rogers Psychology Determining the role of mesolimbic dopamine activity in social motivation in mice
2020 Fall Maryann Barnes Biology Perceived Conflict Between Religion and Evolution among Undergraduate Biology Students
2020 Fall Keely O'Brien Agriculture New applications for kefiran in food packaging: controlling pH to optimize kefiran production yields in milk and whey
2020 Fall Samuel Haruna Agriculture Interaction Effects of Landscape Position and Soil Management Practices on Soil Nutrient Availability
2020 Fall Marie Barnas Media Arts Not One More Vet
2020 Fall Christabel Devadoss Global Studies and Human Geography People of Color in the Rural Rust Belt: Dynamics of Place beyond the White Working Class
2020 Fall Kimberly Evert Womack Education Leadership Making Sense of Student Needs: Exploring Intuitive and Rational Decision Making during the COVID-19 Pandemic
2020 Spring Christopher Combest Music Under Tennessee Skies: New Compositions and Recording of Music for Tuba
2020 Spring Shelley Moore Nursing Educational Interventions, Empathy, and Interest in Working with Elderly and Those with Dementia: A Phased Study
2020 Spring Chaney Mosley Agriculture Cognitive Styleand Undergraduate Agriculture Student Perceptions of Animal Treatment, Sustainable Agriculture, and International Agriculture
2020 Spring Shannon Randol Media Arts Knowing the Self
2020 Spring Yixiang Wu Mathematical Sciences On a waterborne disease model with applications in Haiti
2019 Fall Grant Gardner Biology Small Group Social Network Analysis
2019 Fall Jessica Arbour Biology Analyzing the Functional Morphology of Darters (Percidae: Etheostomatinae) Using Micro-Computed Tomography
2019 Fall Adam Clark Music Adam Clark, Solo Piano CD Recording - "Fantasy in F-sharp"
2019 Fall David Edward Nelson Biology Temporal Integration of Mitochondrial Stress Signals by the PINK: Parkin Mitophagy Pathway
2019 Fall Ying Jin Psychology  A longitudinal analysis of high school STEM teacher persistence and effectiveness
2019 Fall Latoya Eaves Global Studies and Human Geography Social and Economic Impacts of Regional Development in Upstate South Carolina
2019 Fall Suman Neupane Physics and Astronomy  Effects of different metal catalysts on the yield of carbon nanotubes synthesized directly on alumina powder
2019 Fall Sungyoon Lee Elementary and Special Education Learner-Generated Drawing in Science Text Reading: The Moderating Effects of Support Level and Spatial Information in Text
2019 Spring Dr. Bethany Contreras Psychology Assessing the Generalizability of Reinforced Response Variability
2019 Spring Dr. Lu Xiong Mathematical Sciences Predicting 30-day Hospital Readmission using Machine Learning Techniques
2019 Spring Dr. Andrew Polk History God's Own Redneck: The Life and Times of Will D. Campbell
2019 Spring Dr. Chandra Story Health and Human Performance Food Security, Coping, Social Support Strategies, and Diet Quality in MTSU College Students
2019 Spring Dr. Elizabeth A. Smith Human Sciences Food Security, Coping, Social Support Strategies, and Diet Quality in MTSU College Students
2019 Spring Dr. Ashleigh McKinzie Sociology and Anthropology Pulling Back the Veil: Abuse in Evangelical Settings
2019 Spring Dr. Kate Pantelides English After the Accusation: The Impact of Plagiarism Accusations on Student Trajectories
2019 Spring Dr. Alexander Jackson Psychology An Investigation of the Barriers/Facilitators to Making Healthy Choices at Work
2018 Fall Sal Barbosa Computer Science Representation for Question Answering from News Stories
2018 Fall Brandon Grubbs Health & Human Performance A Cross-sectional Analysis of Sit to Stand Power and Functional Performance in Older Adults
2018 Fall Rohit Singh Philosophy and Religious Studies Tibetan Buddhism in the Global Public Sphere: Technology and Transformation in Buddhist Monastic Culture
2018 Fall Mengliang Zhang Chemistry Fast Screening of Explosives by Ambient Ionization Mass Spectrometry
2017 Fall Samuel Haruna and Ngee Chong Agribusiness & Agriscience Influence of Cover Crop on Greenhouse Gas Emissions
2017 Fall Anthony Newsome and Scott Handy Biology Design and Synthesis of Aurones at MTSU That Can Have Therapeutic Applications
2017 Fall Eric Oslund Education Teachers' Knowledge, Training, and Use of Response to Intervention
2017 Fall Shannon Hodge Sociology & Anthropology Bioarchaeological Analysis of Human Skeletal Remains in the Precolumbian Brazilian Amazon
2017 Fall Katie Foss Media & Entertainment Transmission: Epidemics in Media from Smallpox to Zika
2017 Fall Keying Ding Chemistry Cobalt-catalyzed Hydrogenation of Amides to Amines
2017 Fall Poushali Bhadury English Picturing the Nation, Gazing at the World: Graphic Narratives in Bengali Children's Literature
2017 Fall Cameron Gordon Psychology Individual Strengths and Relationship Well-being
2017 Fall Joey Gray and Bethany Wrye Health & Human Performance Collective Memories of LGBTQIA+ Youth in TN High Schools
2017 Fall Mark Abolins Geosciences Does groundwater flow through subsurface faults in central Tennessee?
2017 Fall Tom Neff Media Arts Dialogue on Fire
2017 Fall Marie Elliot Media Arts The Falling Wooden Idols: An Ethnographic Comparison
2017 Fall John M. Coons Health & Human Performance Effects of underwater treadmill training in adults with osteoarthritis
2017 Fall Ngee Chong and Keying Ding Chemistry Enhancing Quantitative Accuracy of Biogenic Terpenes and Reaction Products in Chemistry Research
2017 Fall Edward Bowen Media Arts In Search Of - A Film Adaptation of the Story by Will Ludwigsen
2017 Fall Margaret Brooker Theatre & Dance Florence Fleming Noyes: Liberty Dances for Suffrage
2017 Fall Hanna Terletska Physics & Astronomy Computational studies of complex behavior in strongly correlated and disordered quantum materials
2017 Fall Yi Gu Computer Science Energy Efficiency for Big Data Sciences in Could Environments
2017 Fall Seockmo Ku and Tony Johnston Agribusiness & Agriscience Development of novel fed-batch fermentation condition for the production of organic selenium by probiotic biocatalysis
2017 Fall Yangseung Jeong Biology Quantifying blowfly activity as a factor in the rate and pattern of human decomposition in East Tennessee
2017 Fall Lei Miao Engineering Technology Optimal City Navigation for Pedestrians using Agent-specific Q-learning
2017 Fall  Jennifer Lovett  Mathematical Sciences  Examining Preservice Mathematics Teachers' Understanding of Function

 

Important Dates for 2021/2022 Funding Year

 

Fall Session
  
Start Date: August 15, 2021
Deadline: September 15, 2021 - CLOSED
 
Research funds for 2021/22
Summer Stipend for 2022
Spring Session - By invitation only 
  
Start Date: January 15, 2022
Deadline: March 15, 2022 - CLOSED
 
Research funds for 2021/22 
Summer Stipend for 2022
Start: January 15, 2022
Deadline: March 15, 2022 - CLOSED
 Distinguished Research Award - All of the nomination documents, support materials and letters of reference must be submitted to FRCAC@mtsu.edu  by 4:30pm on 3/15/2022.
Start: January 15, 2022 
Deadline: March 15, 2022 - CLOSED
 Distinguished Creative Activity Award - All of the nomination documents, support materials and letters of reference must be submitted to FRCAC@mtsu.edu by 4:30pm on 3/15/2022.

 

 

FRCAC

ING Building, Garden Level

Program Manager:
Dr. Jamie Burriss
Email: Jamie.Burriss@mtsu.edu
Phone: 615-494-7669