Frequently Asked Questions

A: All funds provided by the PCF program must be spent by the end of Year 2 (May 2027) else any unspent money will be returned to CTL. Fellows will report all expenditures through the end of Year 2 on the final grant report.

A: Based on the overall PCF program budget, we can only promise a maximum of $10,000 per year per Fellow who is selected for the program. If you have an unanticipated expense leading to a possible budget shortfall, please reach out to your assigned CTL staff mentor.

A: If a Fellow spends less than they received in Fall of Year 1 during that year, any leftover budget is counted as carryover and compared against the proposed budget for Year 2. In submitting a budget for Year 2, Fellows will then by default receive the difference between the amount they list as necessary to conduct their research and the carryover from Year 1. An example of this is provided in the table below.

As shown in this table, carryover is considered when making Year 2 budget awards. It is in the interest of Fellows to spend their funds as proposed in carrying out their research plan and grant activities. Fellows will not receive an excess of funds when money remains unspent year-to-year in conducting their research.

If Fellows spend more than they received in Fall of Year 1 during that year, the Fellow and their department must cover those extra costs during that budget year. CTL is not able to provide more than the $10,000 allocated to each Fellow during a particular fiscal year. Moreover, as shown in the table below, Fellows will not receive additional funds in the next year to make up for their deficit.

In the aforementioned example, if $10,000 is necessary to conduct the work of the proposed project in Year 2, then the Fellow and their department will be expected to make up the difference. While research plans change and some costs may arise that are not anticipated, a significant deficit should be discussed with the Fellow’s assigned CTL staff mentor.

A: Discretionary spending can go towards either increasing the total allocation towards one of the other three budget items, or can support things such as course materials, software, book purchases, professional society memberships, and more. All spending is expected to be in service of your SoTL research project. Spending that is unrelated to being able to carry out this proposed research is not allowed using your PCF grant funds. If you are not sure if an expense qualifies, please reach out to your assigned CTL staff mentor.

A: SoTL represents a distinct research field with its own training, professionalization, conventions, and methodologies. While Fellows in the PCF program may not be trained in SoTL, the goal of the PCF program is to empower Fellows to enter the field of SoTL and be able to navigate this professional discipline. Participating in a SoTL conference and observing how SoTL research is presented via talks/posters, as well as networking with SoTL scholars both new and experienced, is critical to learning about the field and developing a sense of belonging and identity within SoTL. In some circumstances, it may be appropriate to attend an “education”-focused offshoot of a disciplinary convention. Please discuss options for professional development with your assigned CTL mentor.

A: Graduate students who are brought on to work on a SoTL research project are considered academic researchers and must be paid in accordance with the new contracts ratified in 2022. Please reference the most recent required wage rates per these contracts (example of GSR rates starting in Spring 2023. Note that these wages do not include/reflect benefits or fee remission, which may be required as part of the appointment.

Based on these figures, please note that the current grant funds of PCF are insufficient to support a graduate student researcher (GSR) at the required hourly wage/benefits/fees. Fellows in conversation with their departments may determine if a GSR position can be funded through matching funds provided via the department. Else, Fellows are expected to hire an undergraduate student who is to be compensated in accordance with the listed rates from People & Culture (minimum $19 per hour) at no more than 50% time each semester across all job positions.

It is advised that Fellows seek to hire a student who is eligible for the work-study program. Not only does hiring these students support their financial aid package to attend UC Berkeley, but also a subsidy is provided for students hired via work-study which can reduce net costs for employment given the same number of student hours worked.

A: CTL is a strong advocate for students-as-partners particularly where student learning experiences are being surfaced, studied, and designed. Not only can a student provide valuable work effort to an ongoing research project, but student research assistants often share insightful and different perspectives on higher education pedagogy. Moreover, employing a student research assistant provides that student with valuable and applied learning as part of their undergraduate career.

CTL currently hosts a team of undergraduate research assistants who provide support to numerous functions within our center. As such, CTL can provide documentation for this process, including example job descriptions, job recruitment process, interview questions, and work-study website navigation. In exceptional cases where an individual Fellow feels like they lack the HR support to directly hire an undergraduate through their department, CTL may support directly hiring a student worker who then is directly assigned to the Fellow’s project.

A: All three major spending areas (an undergraduate research assistant, research incentives, and SoTL conference engagement) are expected and strongly advised for Fellows. Fellows must offer a persuasive argument if their proposed budget drastically reduces or eliminates any of these three categories. Some changes to the budget will be considered if warranted based on the particular design of the proposed research study. For example, a proposed research project that only uses secondary analysis of available data with no human subjects may be allowed to cut the research incentives line item.

A: No. If you and a colleague are developing a project together, the maximum $10k limit still applies. The stated $10K per year per Fellow is a maximum limit and is not an expected level of funding for every project. 

The earliest milestones for the PCF program are developing a research plan and submitting a corresponding budget. The proposed budget will be rigorously reviewed by CTL in alignment and support of the proposed research plan. The only exception for additional funding for a team sharing one project budget would be for the “Conference Engagement” budget item. Teams of two or more individuals can request additional funds to enable all members of the team to attend a SoTL-related conference. These requests can be discussed and negotiated with CTL during the budget planning phase.

A: As of the 2025-2027 cohort, the PCF program no longer accepts applications from departmental teams. 

However, if  you would like to specifically work on a PCF research project with a colleague, you should both submit individual applications and have each person indicate that they intend to work together on their application (“Are you applying to only participate in PCF on a team of 2 or more individuals?”). In this case, your admission into the program will be contingent on every team member individually being chosen to participate in PCF. If you and all identified team members are individually admitted, you can then choose to develop a shared SoTL research project in the early phases of the two-year program.

Please note that even if you are admitted as a team, each individual team member is held accountable for fulfilling all requirements of the program (e.g. monthly meetings, budget updates, sharing IRB status). Individuals should only apply for PCF if they intend to fully participate in the PCF program as described, and all team members have equal expectations to participate and meet program milestones in that regard.

A: Note that the PCF program not only provides funding, but a dedicated professional development opportunity for instructors with community-building and mentorship. It is expected that selected Fellows may work with other individuals on campus as thought-partners or collaborators (e.g. an instructor on a course who enables data collection as part of a study). However, only those who intend to participate in the professional growth opportunity provided by PCF should apply. Other supporters of the research project may be credited as part of the work, but will not be recognized or funded as a Fellow unless selected for and committed to meeting the program expectations. For individuals or teams who are looking for financial support without required program participation, we encourage looking to other UE opportunities or funding mechanisms outside of UC Berkeley.