Dear All, 

I hope you are doing well. I am pleased to announce the Stewart K. McCroskey Memorial Grant opportunity. Please read the following guideline if you are going to apply.  The Stewart K. McCroskey Memorial Fund provides funding for graduate and senior undergraduate students in the Geography Department. If you are interested in funding for Fall semester 2020, the deadline is October 31. The deadline for funding for Spring and Summer semesters is March 1, 2020. Below you will find the guidelines to apply for funding.  If you have any questions please email Hyun Kim ([log in to unmask]) and Nikki Luke ([log in to unmask]).

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GUIDELINES FOR PREPARING AND SUBMITTING PROPOSALS FOR FUNDING THROUGH
THE STEWART K. McCROSKEY MEMORIAL FUND

The Stewart K. McCroskey Memorial Fund 

The Stewart K. McCroskey Memorial Fund was established in 1993 by the McCroskey family to honor and foster the memory of Stewart K. McCroskey. Stewart, who was a graduate student in Geography at the time of his illness and death, was especially interested in the people of the Caribbean and their relationships to their environment. His research examined water management strategies on the dry island of Antigua, but he was sincerely interested in a wide range of geographic questions and environments. Ongoing contributions continue to strengthen the Stewart K. McCroskey Memorial Fund. 

Purposes of the Fund 

• To provide financial support: up to $750 contingent on annual budget and number of requests. (see note *)  

• To support field research and professional development by graduate students, and senior or rising senior undergraduate students in Geography. 

• To support and help offset the cost of attending professional meetings, seminars and workshops. (see note **, ***)

• To purchase specialized field equipment and supplies for student research. 
  
  * Depending on the status of the award, federal law may require they pay taxes on the amount received.
  ** Funding cannot be used for the AAG Annual Conference.
  *** As of 9/1/2020, the lifting of the travel ban for in-state and out-of-state travel is made. However, international travel is ban. Thus if your application involve international travel, it should not be processed for the McCroskey awards

1.     Submit a two-page proposal that includes: 

• Purpose for which funds are requested; 

• How funds will be used; 

• Amount requested, and an estimate of itemized and total project costs; 

• Amount of funds awarded or expected from other sources, including personal funds, toward meeting the costs of the project.

• Results from previous McCroskey awards (if applicable).

2.     With the proposal, include a supporting letter from a faculty advisor that specifies how funds will assist the student in their research. 

3.     Proposals may be submitted at any time, but in order to guarantee consideration for funding, proposals should be submitted prior to the October 31thand March 1stdeadline of each academic year and should clearly state the quarter/deadline for which the proposed work is submitted. Funding for Fall must be requested during the Fall deadline and funding for Spring and Summer must be requested during the Spring deadline.

4. Email the proposal and the letter of recommendation (word document or pdf, both versions are okay) to the committee chair (Dr. Hyun Kim) on or before the deadline.

Funding Decisions

Funding decisions are made by the Oversight Committee. The Oversight Committee, appointed by the Head of the Department of Geography, normally consists of two faculty members, and two students from the Department. The funding committee will meet within two weeks of each proposal deadline and announces funding decisions by letter and email within a week of the meeting. The Department Head may call ad hoc meetings of the Oversight Committee in special circumstances. 

Requirements of those Awarded Grants

If your proposal is funded, you will need to meet with the Geography Department Administrative Services Assistant (Ms. Molly Green [log in to unmask]) regarding how to file for the funds, records and receipts that must be submitted with expense vouchers, and other information pertinent to receiving reimbursement or, when essential, advance of funds for travel. Do this as soon as possible. Be forewarned that those who wait until the last minute to secure appropriate information may find that advances and/or reimbursement are not possible. 

All equipment and other expendable supplies purchased with McCroskey funds are property of the Department of Geography. 

Those awarded grants are required to write and send a thank you letter to the McCroskey Family (Jill Coupe and Hope Williamson) within a month of being notified of receiving funds. The thank you letter should be an expression of appreciation for the support and a brief description of the project being undertaken by the student and how the McCroskey Funding is essential to that project. Students should submit thank you letters to the Chair of the McCroskey Committee for review. After the Committee Chair’s review, the awardee will print it on departmental letter head and submit it to Molly Green to be mailed by the department. The awardee must also make a copy of the same for the Committee chair. The McCroskey Chair keeps copies of any reports and thank you letters that are submitted to the Department Head at the end of the academic year for record-keeping, fund-raising and audit purposes.