Home » ARHU Announces Special COVID Relief Fund to Support TTK Faculty

ARHU Announces Special COVID Relief Fund to Support TTK Faculty

The College of Arts and Humanities announces that the Dean has created a special COVID Relief Fund to help support TTK faculty who have been met with barriers to their promotion and tenure goals over the last year due to COVID. This special purpose fund is to help support assistant professors and associate professors who have been impacted by the current pandemic and have had limited access to materials and other resources they have needed for their projects that are required for tenure and promotion purposes.

Funds must go specifically to costs that have been created due to COVID, and if met, help reach tenure and/or promotion goals. Funds up to $1,000 will be awarded to TTK faculty who can demonstrate a need for funds due to COVID that advance faculty’s promotion and tenure goals. Priority will be given to assistant professors but associate professors are eligible as well. Funds must be expended by the end of the 2021 calendar year.

Examples of acceptable requests are: costs for digitization of research materials from an out-of-state library; hourly rate for assistant or archivist’s labor to obtain research materials from out-of-state museum; postage and shipping to receive materials to your home from off-site facility. No faculty salary will be provided and no travel expenses will be allowed.

Required documents:

  1. Special ARHU COVID Relief Fund Application Form: online application form
  2. Project Description (two-page maximum, single-spaced with one-inch margins, at least 11-point font): Detail the project’s objectives and how it will meet tenure/promotion goal. Address how COVID has affected the completion of the project. Then explain how the funds will eliminate the barrier and assist in completing the project.
  3. Budget and Justification (two pages maximum): Provide an itemized budget on one page, and justify each expenditure on the second page.
  4. You must include documentation (letter or email) from any source outside of UMD confirming proposed costs associated with project. Faculty can submit estimates for this application, but documentation should be consistent with those estimates.

Deadline for applications is 5 pm Friday, April 23, 2021.

Submission Process:

Complete the online application form and upload all required documents by 5 pm April 23, 2021.

Award Expectations:

ARHU will transfer awarded funds to the faculty member’s department account. Awardees will work with department budget manager to either get reimbursed for costs incurred or to submit invoices for direct payment.

A two-page report will be required nine months after award date, and it should summarize use of funds and how they helped achieve your tenure/promotion goal. All awarded funds must be spent by end of 2021. Funds not spent by then will be refunded to the college. Successful applicants will receive any additional guidance in their award notification letter.