COVID-19 Response Grants
WMU Meader Presidential Endowment COVID-19 Response Grants
The Office of Research and Innovation is pleased to be able to offer COVID-19 Response Grants, funded by the Meader Presidential Endowment, to full time Western Michigan University faculty including administrators and those staff that meet the WMU requirements to serve as a PI. WMU has unique resources and ideas to apply to the many problems we must address now and in the near future related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many examples of the immediate contributions from members of the WMU community, in response to COVID-19, have been highlighted on the WMU web site and in the press. Our goal is to stimulate small-scale research projects and creative scholarship that can potentially address a risk from the coronavirus pandemic on students, communities and the public in addition to new research areas that relate to issues that result from or are part of the COVID-19 pandemic. This will take the WMU contributions to this national issue to the next level, and work to assure they continue into the foreseeable future.
The focus of this internal funding opportunity is to jump start big ideas, and the recent increase in federal funding to address the coronavirus and its effects may be appropriate to then further these ideas. Funding will be available through many agencies from NIH and NSF to the NEH and NEA.
Congratulations to recent recipients.
| Title | PI | Co-PI | Department (College) |
| The COVID-19 Crisis, Accreditation , and the Future of Higher Learning | Cousins, James | Associate Dean College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) | |
| Pandemic Response and Religion in the USA | Covell, Stephen | Diane Riggs | Comparative Religion (CAS) |
| Potential Factors Motivating U.S. Governors to Issue COVID-19 Shelter-in-Place Orders | Mingus, Matthew | Kevin Corder | School of Public Affairs and Administration, Political Science (CAS) |
| Providing Support for English Learners During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Design Based Research Study | Protacio, Maria Selena | Special Education and Literacy Studies (CEHD) | |
Development of a low-cost instrumented spirometer for the screening and diagnosis of long-term respiratory impairments caused by COVID-19 | Santos, Alessander | Physical Therapy (CHHS) |
The competition is currently closed.
Applicants can request up to $10,000 for a 12-month project. No extensions will be allowed. Allowable expenses are limited to salary support for staff, postdocs, students, other trainees at WMU and required materials.
Proposals that can start immediately and remotely will be given highest priority. Applications with participants from more than one unit are strongly encouraged.
Key points: Funding is available immediately, and proposals will be reviewed on a rolling basis no less often than weekly by a committee from inside ORI including the ORI 2020 Faculty fellows Amy Naugle and Lofty Durham.
Funds will be distributed until exhausted or May 4, 2020, whichever comes first.
The applicant(s) must be full time Western Michigan University faculty including administrators and those staff that meet the WMU requirements to serve as a PI.
Proposals requirements:
- Description of how the project will benefit the community, students, society
- 500-word description the proposed project activities/methodology
- Project Budget which cannot fund the PI or any faculty salary