Building Research Capacity

Workshop series designed to drive growth in grant submissions

The Division of Research and Innovation recently sponsored a summer “Building Capacity” workshop series for faculty in the College of Education, the School of Public Health, and the School of Urban Affairs and Public Policy.   

Between May 20 and June 21, the faculty cohort participated in three sessions designed to increase their capacity to identify and partner with local non-profits and community agencies for the purpose of grant development and submission. These workshops included an interview session to assess participants’ research and partnership interests, nonprofit and community agency site visits to discuss the alignment of research goals with the missions of local nonprofits and community agencies, and a SMART goal-based project development workshop for faculty to work with nonprofits and community agencies to solidify projects and identify potential funding opportunities.   

Participants from the College of Education included: Dr. Sandra Cooley-Nichols, professor and chair of Instruction and Curriculum Leadership; Dr. Patrick Murphy, assistant professor of Clinical Mental Health; Dr. Ashley Batastini, assistant professor of Counseling Psychology; Dr. Steven Nelson, associate professor of Leadership and Policy Studies; Dr. Laurie MacGillivray, professor of Instruction and Curriculum Leadership; and Dr. Anna Falkner, assistant professor of Instruction and Curriculum Leadership. Dr. Elizabeth Gillespie, assistant professor of Public and Nonprofit Administration, participated from the School of Urban Affairs and Public Policy, and Dr. Courtney Melton-Fant, assistant professor of Health Systems Management and Policy, participated from the School of Public Health.  

Participating nonprofit and community agencies were Southwest Tennessee Community College, Concord Academy, BRIDGES, Community Alliance for the Homeless, the Women’s Foundation for a Greater Memphis, the Shelby County Office of Re-Entry, Hopeworks, Stand for Children, the Frayser CDC, Mid-South Literacy, and Girls, Inc.   

At the conclusion of the workshop series, participants presented their partnership and grant submission plans to the group and the group offered feedback and additional resources for actualizing grant submissions. It is the expectation that the participants in the “Building Capacity” summer workshop series will begin submitting grant applications during the 2021-2022 academic year.   

For more information on this initiative, contact Dr. Nichole Saulsberry-Scarboro at T.N.S@memphis.edu.