Faculty Excellence Grant Guidelines

Overview and Eligibility

The Faculty Excellence Grant (FEG) supports activities that enhance faculty scholarship and align with Montana State University’s strategic plan.

• Eligibility:  Tenured, tenure-track, and non-tenure-track faculty with a scholarship component in their appointment are eligible to apply.

Allowable Expenses

Travel Guidelines

Travel can commence July 1 (Round 1) or January 1 (Round 2) and requires that you submit for travel pre-approval.

• If faculty would like to purchase their tickets in advance of receiving the funds but after award notification, they must work with their departments on the process for reimbursement of expenses. This agreement should be outlined in their proposal ahead of time.
• If the travel occurs after the end of the funding cycle, faculty should purchase tickets and pay for their hotel if possible before June 30^th. Any expenses that will be incurred after the June 30^th deadline must be submitted by June 1 as a no-cost extension with the remaining funds.

Evaluation Criteria

Proposals are reviewed based on the following five categories:

• Prioritization: Preference is given to applicants who have not received FEG funding within the last two years.
• Dean’s Ranking: Significant weight is placed on the Dean’s recommendation letter and college-level prioritization.
• Planning and Organization: Evidence of thorough intellectual preparation, practical planning, and sufficient resources to complete the project on schedule.
• Scholarly Impact: The degree to which the project enhances the faculty member’s scholarship and takes their scholarship in a new direction with a clear justification for why FEG funding is necessary over other sources.
• Budget: Level of detail and the strength of the justification for all requested costs.

Proposal Format

Submit all items as a single PDF using the template provided here with the following structure:

• Cover Page: Provide the details about the applicant and project, including a project summary.
• Project Overview (1 page): Describe the proposed activities, planning and organization, and scholarly impact.
• Budget Summary (1 page): Detailed breakdown of expenses. See example here.
• Brief CV: Maximum 5 pages.
• Current & Pending Support: List all current and pending grants with time commitments (Academic/Summer or Calendar months). Use the following format for each:
  1. Project Title
  2. Agency, Requested Amount, and Dates
  3. Project Location
  4. Time Commitment
• Supplemental Materials: If needed, provide materials that support your project including quotes for equipment, invited speaker confirmations, etc.

Submission Process

1. Apply via InfoReady: Visit infoready4.com, select "Internal Opportunity," and locate the Faculty Excellence Grant.
2. Departmental Review: Department Heads/Directors rank submissions and provide a rationale explaining the ranking.
3. Dean’s Review: Deans provide a ranking and provide a rationale explaining the ranking.
4. Committee Review: The FEG Faculty Committee reviews all ranked proposals and makes final funding recommendations.
5. The Center for Faculty Excellence will summarize feedback from all reviews and provide the summary to the applicant.

Ranking Categories:

• Excellent: Exceptional project with no weaknesses.
• Very Good: Strong project with minor weaknesses.
• Good: Solid project with moderate weaknesses.
• Fair: Project with significant weaknesses.

Notification

Faculty awardees will be notified by email of the decision no later than early May for spring proposals or early December for fall proposals.   

• ROUND 1:  Funds will be transferred to departments in September. Travel can commence starting July1.
• ROUND 2:  Funds will be transferred to departments in December. Travel can commence starting January 1.

Reporting Requirements

Successful recipients must submit a one-page final report (PDF) to their Dean and cfe@montana.edu by September 15 following the grant’s completion.

Reports must include:

• Project goals and a summary of expenditures.
• Direct outcomes and their specific contribution to your scholarship.

The Dean will evaluate the report to determine if the project performance was acceptable and notify the Director of the Center for Faculty Excellence.

Change of Scope and No-Cost Extensions

Often research and scholarly work has unexpected challenges, if this happens to you, here are the processes to request either a change of scope or a no-cost extension.

Change of Scope Requests

A change of scope can be requested at any time up until May 1 when you want to change the use of the funds in a significant way. For example, if you change the conference that you want to go to, or supplies are needed that you didn’t anticipate. While you cannot request additional funds, you may request to use the funds that you have in a different way as long as it still meets the goal of your proposal. The funds will still need to be spent by June 30^th.

Please submit a one-page document with the following information to cfe@montana.edu: 

• Name, email, department
• Year and round when you received the grant
• Original goal of the proposal
• Proposed change of scope and rationale
• Remaining funds
• Budget justification for the new scope of work

No-Cost Extension Requests

A no-cost extension can be requested when you become aware that you will be unable to spend the funds by the June 30^th deadline. While you cannot request additional funds, you can request that the remaining funds be available until December 1.

Please submit a one-page document with the following information to cfe@montana.edu: 

• Name, email, department
• Year and round when you received the grant
• Original goal of the proposal
• Rationale
• Remaining funds amount
• Budget justification

Updated: 03/02/2026