Research Jumpstart Program

Overview

Sometimes research faculty find themselves disappointed with their scholarly productivity whether they encounter challenges in writing and editing, confidence and time management, uncertainty with a new research thread, or writing in a new genre. For some faculty, often women, people of color, and others who experience bouts of imposter syndrome, responsibilities at work and at home can squeeze out sufficient attention to research. The Research Jumpstart Program (RJP) aims to help scholars who have experienced success in the past get back on track.

RJP will provide participants with 25 hours of support from a professional editor-coach for scholarly research as well as accountability support from the OFE and fellow cohort members. Professional editor-coaches, who do not work at Montclair, have been selected for their editorial, writing, and coaching skills. 

The OFE will match scholars with our professional editors. These professional editors can help with:

  • Planning, time management, and motivation
  • Concept development, venue selection, and other aspects of research development
  • Writing and editing, including focus, organization, mastering generic conventions, and clarity. 
  • Revision, including revise & resubmit, recasting for a new venue

Professional editors are not subject matter experts able to provide disciplinary feedback, nor are they primarily copy-editors. Instead, professional editor-coaches are experienced in working with talented writers, and able to offer a fresh perspective, feedback, and support. Our professional editors are familiar with academic research and publishing, peer review processes, and the like. Writing coaches help writers by asking questions that enable the writer and coach to work together to make plans that include incremental steps toward achieving a goal. 

Commitment/Expectations

Participants commit to working on a research or scholarly project(s) that will have concrete deliverables during the term of the program and their work with their assigned coach. Scholars will work directly with their editors to determine how the editors’ time will be spent. They will also provide regular progress reports to the OFE and submit a final report detailing their work in the program, including achieved outcomes (submission of a manuscript, submission of a revision, proposal, grant application, etc.), as well as an update in December 2025.

Participants will be asked to attend a kickoff event and an end-of-program convening. The kickoff event will be a working session to revise and finalize individuals’ work plans. At the final convening, participants will share their accomplishments and their plans for the future.

Participants will be invited to OFE writing groups as well as occasional gatherings with their RJP cohort. Writing groups are an effective means for individuals to improve their productivity and decrease the stress and anxiety that many scholars experience when they seek to increase their engagement with achieving a scholarly goal.

The program will run between December 2024 and June 30, 2025.

Eligibility

Open to assistant and associate tenure-stream professors in their third year and beyond who are promising scholars with unrealized goals. The RJP is limited to 10 faculty in the 2024-2025 academic year.

Application process

To apply, submit:

  • CV
  • current Faculty Scholarship Program document
  • a 300-word proposal that explains the nature of your challenges, and how you anticipate having the professional editor and the RJP will help you further your FSP goals. Include 2-3 attainable outcomes that you will be asked to report on in your final report.

In addition, consult with your dean and ask for an endorsement, which can be sent to Emily Isaacs.

Send applications to faculty@montclair.edu.

Finalists will be invited to a short interview to discuss their proposal.

Time Frame for AY24

Announcement of Program: By October 4, 2024

Application Deadline: Monday, October 28, 2024

Notification to Applicants: By November 15, 2024

Program Duration: Dec 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025

Summary Report: June 30, 2025

Update Report: December 31, 2025.