Chair Grants are intended to help support a Chair’s research, teaching, and professional development while they are serving as a department chair.
Eligibility: Chairs who do not already have professorship funds. New Chair Grant requests cannot be considered until any existing FS&R or Chair Grants the applicant has are complete and have been closed out, including returning any unspent funds. If a Chair is on sabbatical for all or part of the year the grant is being requested for, the Chair has the option to either request the grant for themselves or to defer the eligibility to the person serving as the Interim Chair in their absence. Plans for any such deferrals must be shared in writing prior to the Chair Grant deadline.
Award Term: From the date of award until April 30th of the following year.
Award Amount: Up to $5,000 may be requested. Any unexpended funds must be returned at the conclusion of the grant period.
Deadline: Feburary 1, 2026
Note: New Chair Grant requests cannot be considered until any previously existing FS&R or Chair Grants that have been awarded are complete and have been closed out, including returning any unspent funds.
Allowable Uses of the Chair Grant Funds:
· Travel expenses in connection with your research and professional activities. They may be used, for example, for transportation, accommodations, meals, conference registration fees and association membership dues. Per diems requested should follow standard College rates. Personal travel segments should be clearly identified.
· Publishing costs, including research materials, open-source fees, copyediting and translation services, and subventions.
· Student Research Assistant – The minimum wage for summer students conducting collaborative research with faculty on college funds is $15.00 per hour. This is considered taxable income and the students will have taxes deducted from their pay. Student research assistants hired during the academic year should be paid according to the Academic Year Student Pay Scale.
Note: Chair grants cannot be used to pay a stipend, research scholarship, or other lump sum payment to a student.
· Materials and Supplies – Expendable items necessary to carry out the work of the project including things such as canvas, paints, field notebooks, laboratory/studio supplies, chemicals, etc. That may include small equipment necessary for the project if costing less than $5,000, or office supplies (but not furniture or furnishings).
· Technology – Software, computing devices, compute fees, peripherals, etc. if not otherwise available through standard T&I processes.
· Clerical and translation services – Could include book indexing, transcriptions, and translations.
· Participant incentives – Payments to participants involved in human subjects’ research. See also the College’s Gift Card Policy.
· Books and journals purchased with Chair grant funds are the property of Davidson College. Such purchases should be specific to your needs and should not duplicate existing resources on campus.
· For any expenses not listed above please contact Fuji Lozada (erlozada@davidson.edu) in advance of purchase to confirm their allowability.
Award Management and Reporting
· Post-Award – Chairs can request a post-award information session regarding hiring student assistants, approving student timesheets, hiring international students, expenditures, financial reporting, and other post-award matters. Contact LuAnne Sledge (lusledge@davidson.edu) in the Office of Sponsored Programs.
· Final reports – Final expense reports are due within 30 days of completion of the grant, and no later than the end of April.
· Changes in plans – It is possible to obtain approval for changes in the planned uses of the funding after award, within overall program guidelines. Please contact Peter Szanton (peszanton@davidson.edu) in the Office of Sponsored Research to request any changes.
Each spring, one Davidson Student is selected to receive a grant in order to complete an independent multimedia international reporting project. The project should focus on a systemic issue of global importance that is under-reported or unreported in U.S. mainstream media.
Applications for Pulitzer Center Fellowship can be submitted until February 8, 2026. Please be sure you are applying for the correct type of grant. If you are uncertain about the type of grant for which you are applying, please contact our office.
As part of your application, you will be required to complete this application checklist.
Thank you,
Dean Rusk International Studies Program
Funds may be provided to assist with the publication of manuscripts that have received final acceptance for publication by a scholarly press or public dissemination of artistic work. A copy of the letter of agreement and any invoices must be submitted with the application. Fundable expenses include: cost of reprints of articles published in scholarly journals; per page journal fees (not covered by publisher or royalties); indexing; preparation of photos, line drawings, or other artistic assistance; expenses related to exhibitions in which their work will be shown. A funding ceiling for these grants will be established on an annual basis by the VPAA.
Note:
1. 1. All full-time faculty, regardless of rank, are eligible to apply.
2. These grants are independent of FS&R applications.
3. Decisions are made on a rolling basis.
4. Once awarded, send letter of agreement (contract) and receipts to LuAnne Sledge in the Office of Sponsored Programs, for reimbursement.
Application Deadline: Rolling.