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Research development professionals at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) used the Center for Advancing Research Impact in Society (ARIS) Broader Impacts (BI) Toolkit with early-career faculty preparing grant proposals for the National Science Foundation’s Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER). This prestigious career-development funding mechanism places unique emphasis on the integration of research and education, positioning awardees to enhance the impact of their research programs through education initiatives like curriculum development, outreach, and community engagement. However, many early-career faculty lack experience or training to develop robust education plans that are thoughtfully aligned with and responsive to their research. With the aim of developing practical ways to help faculty gain these skills, the study team used mixed methods to analyze the integration of research and education in CAREER proposals submitted by UNL faculty. These methods included using the ARIS BI Rubric to evaluate the proposals, convening two panel review discussions, and interviewing principal investigators about their ARIS BI Toolkit use and approach to research-education integration. Case study findings reveal that while effective and impactful integration can take many forms, early-career faculty and those who support them can utilize the ARIS BI Toolkit strategically to strengthen this aspect of grant proposals, positioning faculty to write well-integrated CAREER proposals and potentially contributing to long-term grant-writing and research program success.
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This content will become publicly available on November 13, 2025
"Communities Don't Want Us to Roll In and Roll Out": Beyond the Baseline to Sustainable and Mutually Beneficial University-Community Partnerships for Societal Impacts.
This article features a case study conducted by University of Oklahoma’s Center for Faculty Excellence (CFE) of faculty National Science Foundation CAREER research grant proposals. Specifically, of interest to us is how the Broader Impacts sections of our faculty’s applications might be strengthened with the help of the Advancing Research in Society (ARIS) rubric. We are also concerned with key principles of community engagement and how the ARIS rubric can lead faculty to develop mutually beneficial collaborations that increase community capacity and science literacy. Our study is described in the larger context of our mission and work at CFE and the nationwide imperative to orient higher education and research toward a larger societal good.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2140950
- PAR ID:
- 10644193
- Publisher / Repository:
- University of Alabama Division of Community Affairs
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship
- Volume:
- 17
- Issue:
- 2
- ISSN:
- 1944-1207
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 10
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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