Applications are now being accepted for the the Chancellor’s Innovation Scholars Program at Appalachian State University—Hickory.
The program supports the intention of building lasting collaborative capacity to generate meaningful impacts through scholarship and learning innovations in the Hickory area. This Fall, the program invites a focus on cross-sector, often interdisciplinary collaborations that leverage established areas of excellence to build knowledge and programs that support place-based thriving and resilience in and around Appalachian State University's Hickory campus.
Projects, approaches and results should all position App State to be competitive for external funding and follow-on partnerships that will continue to grow the innovation investment of this program. These might include, but are not limited to, the following:
Research that leads to innovative thought across disciplines
Innovative learning approaches or campus events that enable interdisciplinary, novel approaches to student learning and establish programs that could become competitive for external funding
Student engagement experiences that build community and enable creative solutions
Initiatives that directly address a campus, community or societal challenge through novel collaborations
Partnerships with town, county, state, national or international partners
Innovative programs to contribute to the economic development of our region, including workforce development programs
Partnerships with community, business and industry partners Hickory
Projects that support or connect to university strategic initiatives, that build on areas of established excellence and that emphasize Appalachian thriving and resilience themes are particularly welcome. All full-time faculty and staff are eligible to apply. Applicants do not have to be Hickory Campus faculty, but the project or program must affect the residents of the Hickory, North Carolina area, including Burke, Alexander, and Catawba counties.
The Chacnellor's Innovation Scholars Program supports faculty and staff from all disciplines and program areas who propose novel approaches to:
Build collaborative teams that create capacity for continued scholarship and activities beyond the time frame of this award
Create lasting institutional change
Provide community and societal benefits
Leverage and expand areas of excellence in App State scholarship
Establish opportunities that increase student engagement in scholarship and outreach
Support partnerships with community, industry and local organizations
Promote place-based thriving and resilience
All projects must engage App State students. Successful applicant teams will paint a compelling picture of how the proposed project plan and budget allocation will seed research, scholarship, creative activities, curricular and programmatic approaches, and other innovative activities that translate into real impacts for the faculty, students and Hickory community, and that build capacity for ongoing success in this arena.
The awarded project team must submit a final written report on their funded work and present, as requested, in a research forum showcasing Chancellor’s Innovation Scholars Program efforts.
Budget
The Innovation Scholars team selected may receive up to $25,000 in funding support, distributed across multiple years and accessible in annual increments based on milestone successes to be determined by the proposing team. Proposals may request up to $10,000 available in Year 1, $10,000 available in Year 2 and $5,000 available in Year 3. Slight deviations from this funding distribution may be requested with justification in the proposal.
Funding may be applied specifically to support expenses related to each unique project. Some examples are purchase of equipment, software, research materials and print/electronic publications, travel directly associated with the project activity, one course buy-out per semester to conduct grant-related work, hiring student assistants, summer salary supplement to conduct grant-related work, and support for community partner work.
A review committee will provide finalist recommendations to the Chancellor’s Council, who will make the final award recommendation to the Chancellor.
Important dates:
Applications due: October 10 at noon
Peer reviews due: October 24 at noon
All applicants notified of status: November 21 at 5 p.m.
Earliest project start date: January 1, 2026
For questions about this program or the application process, please contact grs@appstate.edu