Organized Research and Creative Activities (ORCA) Program
ORCA Program Overview
The ORCA program provides small project grants to Tenured and Tenure-Track faculty to support research, scholarship, and creative activities. Each year, the Office of the Provost and the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP) oversee the distribution of internal funds to awardees based on a peer review process involving a university-level review committee. Proposals for ORCA are accepted through the first Monday of October for each academic year. Details regarding the process can be found in the ORCA policy.
Directions for Submission to the Online ORCA System FY24
This page is about the Organized Research and Creative Activities (ORCA) grant submissions. This year, we will be operationalizing our online portal for proposal submissions. Please read the directions very carefully and note that the online portal is only for your final proposal.
By Monday, September 11, 2023, you should send a copy of your proposal to your Department ORCA Committee. The online proposal system is not for this portion of the process. You should submit your initial proposal to your department committee via whatever mechanism is outlined in your departmental ORCA policy. You should contact your department chair regarding this departmental process.
By Monday, September 18, 2023 the Department ORCA Committee provides written feedback to the proposal submitter. The procedure for this feedback is handled in the department and can be provided through whatever mechanism the department committee feels is appropriate.
ONLINE PROPOSAL SYSTEM BEGINS HERE
Once the proposal has been formally submitted, a workflow process will begin and the proposal will be sent to the ORCA Department Committee chair, Department Chair, and Dean for their recommendation and comments; and, finally to the University ORCA Committee. All of this will happen through the online proposal system such that the applicant does not need to separately email the proposal to any of the above-mentioned people. There will be a confirmation of submission provided by the system once the proposal has been submitted.
Key Points
- The department process for feedback has not changed. It is handled in the department via whatever process the department uses.
- The online system is only for the final proposal once the applicant has received feedback from the department and has either integrated it or communicated to the department why they did not implement it as described in the policy.
- Only final proposals submitted through the online system will be considered for funding.
- Do not submit draft proposals to the system, only the final proposal.
- This system is a Microsoft Form platform, so you do not have the option to save your work and then come back later. The proposal must be submitted in one sitting. You are also not able to edit it once it has been submitted. If you submit something by accident, reach out to me and I will have it deleted from the system.
ORCA Report
Per section 3.6 of the ORCA Policy, recipients are required to submit a final report summarizing the results of the funded project. This report must be submitted within 18 months of the end of the semester in which the ORCA grant is received. (Example: ORCA grant was awarded in December 2022, the report is due by June 2024. Please note that failure to submit this report may render an applicant ineligible for future ORCA grants.
Please submit your report here: