Reduction in Teaching for Research Purposes Award
Permanent-stream Concordia University of Edmonton faculty may apply for a reduction in teaching assignment in order to carry out research. A limited number of Reduction in Teaching Awards for Research Purposes are available to encourage and support faculty members engaged in both funded and non-funded research.
Reduction in Teaching for Research Purposes is defined in the Collective Agreement
8.8. Internal Research Support
8.8.2 Teaching Reduction for Externally Funded Research Purposes
8.8.2.1 In order to encourage externally funded research at Concordia, a Member may be granted a reduction in the teaching assignment to facilitate his/her research. Applications for teaching reduction in order to carry out externally funded research are evaluated by the Research and Faculty Development Committee using the following criteria:
(a) Where grants permit the provision of funds to hire a teaching replacement for the faculty Member, the Member shall seek such funding.
(b) Priority will be given to applicants when the external grant is such that it would be unavailable during a sabbatical leave.
(c) Normally the deadline for application for such a teaching reduction shall be November 15 of the year prior to that in which the reduction is to take place. The application must be accompanied by proof of application to the granting agency, and be submitted in writing through the Vice‐President International & Research. At the discretion of the Research and Faculty Development Committee, applications presented at other times of the year may also be considered.
(d) Members receiving this reduction in teaching for research purposes remain in the full‐time employ of Concordia. The faculty Member’s position on the Faculty will not be in jeopardy and the salary will not suffer (i.e., no increments will be lost). Depending on the nature of the particular teaching reduction sought, reduction of committee and advisement responsibilities will be determined by the Vice‐President Academic & Provost in consultation with the appropriate Dean. The Member will not be required to undertake any new or additional committee or other service work during the reduction in teaching.
(e) The Member must inform Concordia of any additional remuneration while the teaching assignment is reduced. Concordia will limit its contribution so that the total earned remuneration (net of reasonable related expenses) which the faculty Member receives will not exceed 100% of regular salary for the duration of the teaching reduction.
(f) Applications for Teaching Reduction for Externally Funded Research Purposes will be considered in conjunction with applications for Teaching Reduction for Research Purposes.
8.8.3 Teaching Reduction for Research Purposes
8.8.3.1 To encourage faculty Members to engage in research, Concordia provides a limited number of reduced teaching assignments on a semester‐to‐semester basis.
8.8.3.2 Reduced teaching assignments are available to permanent‐stream faculty Members. Reductions in teaching assignments are not available for personal research contracts with personal remuneration.
8.9 Application and Review Procedures
8.9.1 A faculty Member may apply by November 15 to the Vice‐President International & Research or delegate for a reduced teaching assignment normally to begin on the first day of the upcoming academic year (on or about 1 September) to the Research and Faculty Development Committee. Applicants will provide in writing:
(a) The nature of the research project, including a brief description of the goals and methodology of the proposed research;
(b) A time‐line for completion of the research project;
(c) Plans for sharing the research results, such as via publication, presentation to a scholarly conference or to the public;
(d) Rationale of the urgency for completion of the research project.
8.9.2 Reduced teaching assignment for research requests will be considered by the Research and Faculty Development Committee. If a Member of that body is an applicant, the Vice‐President International & Research will approach the Faculty for an alternate from that Faculty to serve in place of the Member. The Research and Faculty Development Committee makes its recommendation to the Vice‐President Academic & Provost through the Vice‐President International & Research by the end of the first semester.
8.9.3 Applicants are informed by the Vice‐President International & Research of the Research and Faculty Development Committee’s recommendation by January 15.
8.9.4 Faculty Members whose research projects are underway or nearing completion will be given priority.
8.9.5 Merit‐based criteria shall be developed by the Research and Faculty Development Committee (RFDC) in relation to the following:
(a) The potential for ongoing research projects, including those arising from the Member’s research program;
(b) The number and quality of publications, presentations, performances, or exhibitions resulting from an established research program;
(c) The Member’s demonstrated or potential capacity to develop collaborative relationships within the academic community or with community agencies;
(d) The Member’s demonstrated or potential capacity to create opportunities for students to become involved in research;
(e) Additional criteria as determined by the Research and Faculty Development Committee.
8.9.6 The maximum teaching assignment reduction per faculty Member is twelve hours a year, to be applied to either or both semesters.
8.9.7 Teaching assignment reductions extending over two or three years, subject to annual review, will also be considered.
8.9.8 Applications will be evaluated by the Research and Faculty Development Committee and prioritized on the basis of the merit of the proposal in accordance with the criteria in 8.9.5 of this article. The RFDC will make a decision on the Member’s application and forward the decision as a recommendation to the relevant Dean. The Dean shall either:
(a) Implement the recommendation, or
(b) Defer the Member’s reduction in teaching for no more than 2 semesters, on the basis of program delivery needs, providing reasons, in writing, to the RFDC and the Member.
8.9.9 The Member shall submit an annual written report to the RFDC which accounts for his or her use of time during tenure of the teaching assignment reduction.
8.9.10 On the basis of this report and following consultation with the Member’s Dean, the Research and Faculty Development Committee shall accept or reject the application for an ongoing teaching reduction.
8.9.11 The maximum institutional teaching assignment reduction is 108 hours per year, subject to budgetary considerations.
8.9.12 Members receiving this reduction in teaching for research purposes remain in the fulltime employ of Concordia. Normal salary increments will apply, and the time involved in the reduced teaching assignment for research will count toward sabbatical leave.
How to apply
Eligible faculty members seeking a reduction in their teaching assignment for research purposes must submit an application outlining, in detail, the proposed research project to be undertaken. Applications must be submitted by November 15th for a reduced teaching assignment to begin in the following academic year. An application package must contain a complete Cover Page and the Application Form and be submitted via email to research@concordia.ab.ca.
Cover Page and Application Form
Reporting
Within one month of completion of the reduction in teaching assignment period, awardees must complete a Reduction in Teaching Final Report and submit it to research@concordia.ab.ca
List of Recipients of the Reduction in Teaching for Research Purposes
2021-2022
Dr. Tolly Bradford, Associate Professor, Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts
Title: 1. A Cultural History of Hudson’s Bay House; 2. The Letter Writing of Andrew Wedderburn Colvile
Dr. Cecilia Bukutu, Associate Professor, Public Health, Faculty of Science
Title: 1. Speak Science Simply Program SSSP. 2. Fidelity of virtual reality (simulation) for public health inspector training 3. Literature Review: Complementary & Alternative Treatments for Renal Diseases in Children
Dr. Matthew Churchward, Assistant Professor, Biological and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science
Title: A Scalable Hybrid Model for Mild Traumatic Brain Injury
Dr. Teresa Fowler, Assistant Professor, Education, Faculty of Education
Title: Fostering a ‘good human’ identity through the arts; Men riding for sustainability and wellness; An inquiry into elite level hockey players experiences of masculinity.
Dr. Makan Golizeh, Assistant Professor, Mathematics and Physical Sciences, Faculty of Science
Title: Integrating metabolomics and metallomics for systematic study of glycoxidative stress
Dr. Svenja Huntemann, Assistant Professor, Mathematics and Physical Sciences, Faculty of Science
Title: Placement Games
Dr. Emmanuel Mapfumo, Assistant Professor, Biological and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science
Title: 1. Biosolids effects on low pH vs high pH soils; 2.Pasture productivity and soil health under grazing vs haying and perennial oldgrass vs newly introduced annuals
Dr. Zdravko Marjanovic, Associate Professor, Psychology, Faculty of Arts
Title: Why Help Natural-Disaster Victims? How Resources and Situational Pressures Bias Judgments of Responsibility and Reduce the Need to Help
Dr. Holli-Anne Passmore, Assistant Professor, Psychology, Faculty of Arts
Title: Growing hope: Examining multiple sensory pathways of exposure to nature as a means to enhancing hope and reducing eco-anxiety in university students
Dr. Baidya Saha, Assistant Professor, Mathematics & Physical Sciences , Faculty of Science
Title: Confronting several challenges of machine learning systems
Dr. Ha Tran, Assistant Professor, Mathematics & Physical Sciences, Faculty of Science
Title: Efficient algorithms for ideal lattices, with applications
2020-2021
Dr. Carmen Arth, Assistant Professor, Psychology, Faculty of Arts
Title: Post-Secondary Educators’ Experience of the Changing Landscape of Hetero and Gender Normativity: a narrative inquiry.
Dr. Brent Bradford, Associate Professor, Education, Faculty of Education
Title: An Investigation into the Physical Activity Levels of Children in Outdoor Early Childhood Environments
Dr. Simmee Chung, Assistant Professor, Education, Faculty of Education
Title: A Braided Approach to Teacher Education -an inquiry into the experiences of pre-services teachers and early career teachers in building capacity and foundational knowledge of Indigenous Peoples
Dr. Katherine Collins, Assistant Professor, Psychology, Faculty of Arts
Title: Language and Culture Research Lab
Dr. Trevor Cook, Assistant Professor, Literature & Language, Faculty of Arts
Title: The Boundaries of Ownership: Proprietary Authorship before Copyright, and A Reader’s Guide to G.K. Chesterton’s The Man Who Was Thursday
Dr. Emmanuel Mapfumo, Assistant Professor, Biological and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science
Title: 1. Short and long-term impacts of biosolids applied to low pH soils on the soil quality parameters (NSERC).2. Available water holding capacity of oil sands reclamation coversoils (Syncrude project) 3. Investigating relationships between historical climate data and crop yield (C3Y) at Breton plots Alberta (collaborative project with U of Alberta and Alberta Agriculture and Forestry)
Dr. Zdravko Marjanovic, Assistant Professor, Psychology, Faculty of Arts
Title: Why Help Natural-Disaster Victims? How Resources and Situational Pressures Bias Judgments of Responsibility and Reduce the Need to Help. A SSHRC Insight Grant
Dr. John Maxfield, Associate Professor, Philosophy & Religious Studies, Faculty of Arts
Title: Monograph project working title: Reforming a North German Town: Brunswick from Evangelical Reform to Lutheran Culture in the Sixteenth Century (monograph)
Dr. Colin Neufeldt, Professor, History, Faculty of Arts
Title: The Life of George Kraus
Dr. Baidya Saha, Assistant Professor, Mathematics & Physical Sciences, Faculty of Science
Title: Machine Learning Applications and Challenges in Computer Vision and Big Data Analytics
Dr. Ha Tran, Assistant Professor, Mathematics & Physical Sciences, Faculty of Science
Title: Efficient algorithms for ideal lattices, with applications
Dr. Conrad Van Dyk, Professor, Literature and Language, Faculty of Arts
Title: Nonsense and Romanticism in Children’s Literature; A Reader’s Guide to G. K. Chesterton’s The Man Who Was Thursday; The Nature of Writing Open Access Writing Guide
Dr. Reginald Wiebe, Assistant Professor, Literature and Language, Faculty of Arts
Title: Polyptych: Adaptation, Television, and Comics; The Gutters: Comics, Cinema, and Cultural Capital; The Cancer Plot: Terminal Immortality in Marvel’s Comics’ Moral Universe; Canadian Comics Database
Dr. Robin Willey, Assistant Professor, Department of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts
Title: Craving the Material: Contemporary Protestant Narratives on Art and Artists
2019-2020
Dr. Inhee Berg, Chair, Philosophy & Religious Studies, Faculty of Arts
Title: The Social Status Minority and Early Christianity (monograph)
Dr. Brent Bradford, Assistant Professor, Education, Faculty of Education
Title: Physical Activity Levels of Children in Outdoor Early Childhood Environments
Dr. Katherine Collins, Assistant Professor, Psychology, Faculty of Arts
Title: Development of a computerized analysis for the detection of linguistic bias
Dr. Tim Labron, Professor, Philosophy & Religious Studies, Faculty of Arts
Title: Wittgenstein and the Philosophy of Religion / Science and Religion in curriculums
Dr. Zdravko Marjanovic, Assistant Professor, Psychology, Faculty of Arts
Title: Response Styles in Personality Questionnaire Data / Motivation and Prosocial Behavior
Dr. John Maxfield, Associate Professor, Philosophy & Religious Studies, Faculty of Arts
Title: Reformation in a North German City: Brunswick from Evangelical Reform to Lutheran Culture in the 16th Century (monograph)
Dr. Steven Muir, Professor, Philosophy & Religious Studies, Faculty of Arts
Title: The Icarus Phenomenon: Ritual Experiments and Responses in Paul’s Communities (monograph)
Dr. Vladimir Pitchko, Professor, Chemistry, Faculty of Science
Title: Blended learning technique as a threshold barrier in students’ learning experience in universities
Dr. Owen Scadeng, Assistant Professor, Chemistry, Faculty of Science
Title: Investigation of 8π electrocyclizations on 7-carbon systems
Dr. Ha Tran, Assistant Professor, Mathematics & Physical Sciences, Faculty of Science
Title: Efficient algorithms for ideal lattices
Dr. Conrad Van Dyk, Associate Professor, Literature and Language, Faculty of Arts
Title: The Nature of Writing open access writing guide / Nonsense and Romanticism in Children’s Literature (book project)
Dr. Linda Van Netten Blimke, Assistant Professor, Literature and Language, Faculty of Arts
Title: Female Sentimental Travel Writers and Revolution, 1775-1800 (monograph)
Dr. Robin Willey, Assistant Professor, Department of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts
Title: Narratives of International Faith-Based Humanitarians in East Africa / Christian Humanitarianism: Faith and Values within a Global Development Agency / Art & Religion in Canadian Evangelicalism