Casper announces
grants for junior faculty up to $20,000
BY JAMES ROBINSON
Junior faculty will
receive up to $20,000 in unrestricted research grants
under a pilot program President Gerhard Casper announced
during his State of the University address Thursday.
"As you know, it is
my strong belief that the synthesis of research and
teaching is what makes universities such as Stanford so
attractive. I therefore have decided to fund a five-year
pilot program of Presidential Research Grants for junior
faculty," Casper told an audience of faculty, staff
and students in Kresge Auditorium.
Each assistant professor
in the three schools that offer undergraduate
degreesEarth Sciences, Engineering and Humanities and
Scienceswill receive a $5,000 unrestricted research
grant at the time of his or her initial appointment.
Another $5,000 will be granted at the time of
reappointment as well as another $10,000 grant if the
faculty member is awarded tenure.
The grant program will
begin in the current academic year.
Related
Information:
"All existing junior
faculty in the three schools will receive $5,000, as
though they were newly appointed," Casper said.
About 145 faculty members will be affected.
"The fact that I can
undertake such an effort reflects the relative success we
have had in recent years in raising unrestricted funds on
an annual basis, and I thank all who have made that
possible," Casper said.
He noted the university
had reached another fundraising milestone in the 1997-98
fiscal year, receiving $319 million in gifts.
"The willingness of
Stanford's alumni and friends to maintain giving above
the annual levels of the then-record Centennial Campaign
is, if not historic, at the least truly remarkable,"
Casper said. "While the economy has clearly helped
us, I should like to stress that these results reflect
much hard work by many people, ranging from members of
the Board of Trustees to the staff of the Development
Office."
Faculty members will be
able to use the money for any purpose in direct support
of research. It cannot be used as salary or as a housing
supplement, university officials said.
Junior faculty members
were pleasantly surprised by the announcement.
"This is
fantastic," said Paula Moya, an assistant professor
of English first appointed in 1996. "Given the
expectations that Stanford places on junior faculty,
which are heavier than at other places, I welcome their
supporting us."
Noting that junior faculty
often feel "frazzled," Moya said the program is
not just money but also "a substantial statement
that they don't just want to put pressure on junior
faculty but want to help us succeed."
She said junior faculty in
the English Department would be likely to use the money
to, for example, buy expensive books, travel to libraries
to review manuscripts or go to conferences. "I've
been getting about $1,000 a year and that goes really
quickly," she said.
Anne Royalty, assistant
professor of economics, said she may use the funds to
hire research assistants or buy computer equipment and
software. "All of these things are crucial to the
beginnings of careers," she said. "This is a
big influx that junior faculty will definitely
appreciate."
Royalty, who specializes
in labor economics, is undertaking research on fringe
benefits and employee compensation.
"My research is very
empirical, data-oriented," she said. "I'm
always looking for funds for research assistants and to
go to conferences to present my work and to upgrade
computers for number-crunching." SR
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