Scholarship project opportunity for academic staff

The Stakeholder Engaged Scholarship Unit (SESU) will be issuing a call for EOIs to academic staff later this month. Academic staff will have the option to nominate themselves to participate in the design and delivery of partner-initiated, mission-focused scholarship projects.

The SESU provides scholarly expertise and research assistance to organisations working in areas that are central to ACU’s mission and ethos as a Catholic university. The unit is driven by ACU’s desire to engage with community for the common good and the celebration of human dignity, especially in ways that benefit individuals and groups experiencing disadvantage or marginalisation.

The SESU recently invited applications for scholarship projects from ACU’s partners and other organisations for the 2021 round of funding. Successful projects will soon be selected by the Advisory Group to the SESU.

Why are we issuing a call for EOIs?

We heard what you had to say. We are grateful for the feedback we received from academic staff last year which indicated you would appreciate the option to self-nominate for scholarship projects that align with your expertise and skill sets.

Who can apply?

We will accept EOIs from academic staff on continuing contracts and fixed-term contracts of more than six months across all faculties, research institutes and institutes.

Understanding the EOI process

The call for EOIs will remain open for two weeks and include details of the scholarship projects proceeding via the SESU’s 2021 round of funding.

The EOI form will invite academics to comment on their expertise, experience and skills as relevant to the projects. EOIs will be brief so the application process should be quick to complete.

While academic staff will apply on their own, the Advisory Group to the SESU (responsible for assessing EOIs) will make recommendations for projects to be delivered by teams where possible, rather than individual academics. This should create more opportunities for staff to develop their scholarship skills and will lead to meaningful collaborations across the university.

The EOI will require approval from the staff member’s supervisor and executive dean, research institute director or institute director before it is submitted to the Advisory Group.

What happens if my EOI is successful?

We anticipate that project planning will be underway in April for the successful projects – selected academic staff will meet with the organisations and SESU staff to produce a clear project plan.

Projects are likely to commence in the second half of this year, with a duration of roughly one year (or less).

Staff members’ involvement in the project will be confirmed when a partnership agreement is signed with the organisation and a workload allocation has been agreed by executive deans, research institute directors or institute directors, and the Advisory Group.

Organisational units will receive financial reimbursement to cover the cost of replacing the usual work of the staff member, which would have otherwise been completed had they not been engaged in a SESU project.

More information

Further information will be provided with the call for EOIs later this month.

You can read more about the SESU online.

Please direct any questions to sesu@acu.edu.au.