The Community University Research Alliance an Overview

1
The Community University Research Alliance an
Overview

• March 6, 2007
• Julia Lalande
• Research Officer, Faculty of Education
• jlalande_at_edu.yorku.ca

2
The Community University Research AllianceAn
Overview

• Our communities are presented with an
  increasingly complex mix of opportunities and
  challenges...Changing patterns of
  employmentpoverty and homelessnessare among the
  phenomena transforming the lives of individuals
  and communities alike. Many of these challenges
  are best addressed at the local and regional
  levels by the local and regional groups that best
  understand the needs of, and the factors
  affecting, particular communities. In addition,
  issues which cut across geographic boundaries are
  also best addressed by postsecondary institutions
  working closely with groups that represent
  particular "communities" of interest. In service
  of these goals, stronger alliances between
  community organizations and postsecondary
  institutions can be enormously effective and
  yield important benefits for them both.

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The Community University Research AllianceAn
Overview

• PARTNERS
• A CURA application should
• Involve several universities and community
  organizations from
• across Canada (equal partnership)
• Involve several disciplines (within one
  university and across
• universities)
• Include aboriginal communities/organizations
  (if possible)

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The Community University Research AllianceAn
Overview

• CONTENT
• A CURA application should aim to
• Jointly develop new knowledge and capabilities
  in key areas (and
• promote the sharing of knowledge and
  resources between partners)
• Sharpen research priorities (and enrich
  research, teaching methods
• and curricula in postsecondary institutions)
• Provide new research training opportunities
  (thereby preparing students
• for the workforce (in and outside of
  academia))
• Enhance the ability of social sciences and
  humanities research to meet
• the needs of Canadian communities in the
  midst of change (and
• reinforce community decision-making and
  problem-solving capacity)

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The Community University Research AllianceAn
Overview

• This means you have to hit 3 components
• Research
• Education and Training (research
  assistantships,
• apprenticeships, activities credited as
  coursework)
• Knowledge mobilization (workshops, seminars,
• online material)

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The Community University Research AllianceAn
Overview

• Things to be aware of
• You are expected to seek substantial funding
  from sources other than
• SSHRC
• Only one successful CURA can be funded per
  postsecondary
• institution
• Neither the applicant nor the lead
  organization can be changed
• between the LOI and the formal application
  stage
• You can (and are often expected to) recruit
  new partners after the LOI
• stage. In addition, you can also recruit new
  partners during the period of
• the grant

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The Community University Research AllianceAn
Overview

• The LOI Stage
• A CURA application at the LOI stage contains
• A project description (including anticipated
  governance
• structure)
• A (preliminary) budget
• A list of partners (confirmed)
• Letters of support
• CVs (including attachments)
• Signatures

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The Community University Research AllianceAn
Overview

• The Full Proposal
• The full CURA proposal contains
• Completed Application Form
• Proposal (summary of proposed research,
  detailed description, list of
• references, communication of results,
  description of team, partnerships
• and alliances, training (role of students),
  budget justification,
• competitive quotes)
• Letters of support
• Supporting documents
• All CVs (including attachments)
• Signatures of all co-applicants (and the
  organization representatives)

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The Community University Research AllianceAn
Overview

• Potential Nightmares
• Getting Community partners onboard (and making
  them stay there)
• Getting the SSHRC CVs of all co-applicants and
  collaborators
• Getting all the letters of support
• Getting all the signatures of the
  co-applicants (both from universities
• and community organizations)
• Getting internal approval concerning release
  time, in-kind and cash
• contribution (from all universities involved)
• Getting confirmed contributions from community
  partners (mostly in-
• kind)
• Getting official approval from other sources
  (for example, research is
• Nunavut is licensed and has to go through the
  Nunavut Research
• Institute)

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The Community University Research AllianceAn
Overview

• Why bother?
• It is a very prestigious grant
• The budget can grow up to 2 Million (with all
  the in-kind and cash
• contributions of the involved partners)
• It actually allows you to do substantial
  research involving community
• organizations
• It is a five-year program that has the
  potential to grow into something
• bigger (long-term goals)

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The Community University Research AllianceAn
Overview

• Anticipated Deadline for the LOI
• September 2007
• Anticipated Announcement of Results
• December 2007/January 2008
• Anticipated Deadline for the Final Proposal (by
  invitation only)
• May/June/July 2008
• Contact at SSHRC
• Luc Lebrun
• 1 613 947 9652