Research Incentive Awards – In-Unit

Program Overview

The UCF In-Unit Research Incentive Award (RIA) program recognizes outstanding research, scholarly, or creative activity that advances the body of knowledge in a particular field, including interdisciplinary research and collaborations, as well as using evidence-based methods to research effective teaching and student learning in higher education (i.e., at the university level).   The Research Incentive award recognizes in-unit employee contributions to UCF’s key goal of achieving international prominence in research and creative activities.

Funding

Regardless of the contract length (9 through 12 months), award recipients shall receive a one-time award of $5,000 as soon as practicable and a $5,000 increase to their salary effective at the beginning of the succeeding academic year. Employees on non-E&G funding will be eligible for the increase depending on the availability of funds.

There are up to 60 awards available to eligible in-unit employees. Academic Affairs provides funding for these awards. RIA awards shall be allocated to the college in proportion to the total number of in-unit employees (rounded to the nearest integer), with a minimum of one award per college.

Eligibility

To be eligible for this award, an employee must meet the following criteria:

1. Must be classified as in-unit.
2. Must hold a full-time (1.0 FTE) 9- or 12-month appointment.
3. At least four academic years of continuous, non-OPS service at UCF immediately prior to the current academic year. Authorized leaves are not considered a break in service (e.g., sabbaticals, professional development leave, parental leave). Visiting and other temporary appointments are not eligible for incentive awards.
4. No employee may be awarded a RIA more than once every five years.

Application Materials

Faculty need to declare their intention to apply to their college.

Applications are submitted through Interfolio. Visit this link for a video tutorial on filing for awards or explore this guide. Gathering the following materials prior to the submission date will ease the application process:

Faculty Activity Reporting Vita: (automatically loaded into the application)

• Assignments of Duties (Summer 2024, Fall 2024, Spring 2025)

Text Box Narratives:

• Research – Primary Area (text box 3000 characters – approximately 428-750 words or fewer)
  • Describe your primary area of research or creative activity.
• Research – Secondary Area (text box 3000 characters – approximately 428-750 words or fewer)
  • If applicable, describe your secondary research areas of interest. If you do not have a secondary area of research, indicate “N/A” in the text box.
• Achievements and Recognition (text box 3000 characters – approximately 428-750 words or fewer)
  • Describe the research or creative achievements, including dates for these activities, discuss any new discoveries, major contributions to the field, creativeness, originality, significant breakthroughs, etc.

Supporting Materials: (Must be Uploaded as PDF files)

1. Current Curriculum Vitae (Required)
2. Annual Assignments (Required)

2. • Upload a single pdf that includes a one-page summary table with a list of annual assignments by year for all categories for which you had assigned duties (e.g., teaching, research, service) and then the last four years of your annual assignments, in descending order.
   • Please do not use Adobe Portfolio.  
   • Note: Assignments for Summer 2024, Fall 2024, and Spring 2025 will be auto-loaded in the Faculty Activity Reporting Vita; all other assignments must be uploaded as PDFs.

3. Annual Evaluations (Required)

3. • Upload a single pdf that includes a table with a list, by year, each category evaluation assessment (e.g., outstanding, above satisfactory, etc.) and then the last four years of your annual evaluations, in descending order.
   • Please do not use Adobe Portfolio.  

4. Examples of Research Products (Required – Maximum of Three Uploads)

4. • Candidates must attach, or include, a maximum of three examples of their work, each as a single pdf.   Examples must be from the last four years and provide evidence of quality rather than quantity. Examples include awards, book reviews, etc.
   • Please do not use Adobe Portfolio.  

Please note: For documents with electronic signatures, open the PDF document, go to “File” and select “Print.” Change the printer option to “Microsoft Print to PDF” then select the “Print” button, the new PDF will retain the signatures.

Evaluation and Awards Process

Award winners are selected by committee. Please see the Collective Bargaining Agreement for committee instruction RIA: Article 23 Annual Incentive Award Programs.

The provost or his or her designee shall give the final approval for awards and shall notify successful faculty. After approval by the provost or designee, each college/unit shall notify all nominees of the results.

Manuals

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