CRSA Annual Report - 2024-2025
CRSA Interim Report, January 2025
Fiscal Year: FY2025 (July 2024-June 2025)
Committee Name: Committee on Research & Scholarly Activities (CRSA)
Committee Chairs: Phil Cunningham, Jaime Groetsema Saifi (co-chairs)
Members:
Eric Bader, 2024-2026
Phil Cunningham*, 2023-2025
MC Mack, LFSA liaison
Amber Osvak,* 2023-2025
Jaime Groetsema Saifi*, 2024-2026
Paul Thomas, 2023-2025
*Denotes a minimum of three members who have a requirement to engage in research and scholarly activities as part of their professional assignment.
Standing Charges:
According to the University of Kansas Libraries Code of Governance available at https://lfsa.ku.edu/lfsa-code-and-bylaws, The Committee on Research and Scholarly Activities, in keeping with the Libraries’ mission, encourages, promotes, and supports research and scholarly activities of the members of the LFSA. To support these endeavors, CRSA promotes and reviews applications for the Library Research Fund (LRF) and General Research Fund (GRF).
Library Research Fund (LRF): The Committee on Research and Scholarly Activities establishes and reviews, on an annual basis, guidelines for the disbursal of research funds provided by the Dean of Libraries. The Committee on Research and Scholarly Activities allocates these funds based on those guidelines.
General Research Fund (GRF): The Committee on Research and Scholarly Activities also administers the University’s General Research Fund designated to KU Libraries based on the GRF Guidelines.
Standing Charges Progress/Accomplishment Summary:
Library Research Fund
KU Libraries has allocated $6000.00 for the Library Research Fund (LRF) for distribution and expenditure during FY24 (2023-2024). CRSA approved fourteen (14) LRF awards for a total of $4,417.00.
Name | Amount Awarded (USD) | Project Name | Description of purpose of funding |
Lars Leon | $230.00 | Connecting and Growing Kansas Librarians through a New Resource Sharing Information Hub | Funds to cover registration for Kansas Library Association (KLA) conference |
Paul Thomas | $160.00 | Jayhawkers and Red Legs | Funds to cover image licensing for forthcoming publication |
John McEwan | $275.00 | Social Hierarchies in Medieval Urban Parishes | Funds to cover registration to the North American Conference on British Studies (NACBS) |
Kodjo Atiso | $725.00 | Documenting a Blueprint for Diasporic Information Needs for the Motherland | Funds to cover purchase of recording equipment and incentives for survey participants |
Sarah McCall, Amber Ovsak | $150.00 | Lessons Learned: Nurturing Student-Led Initiatives for Enhanced Library Engagement and Learning | Funds to cover registration to Brick & Click Conference |
Phil Cunningham | $356.00 | Slave Revolt Leader, Slave Trader: New Evidence on an Old Rumor Against Sengbe Pieh | Funds to cover registration and poster printing for American Historical Association (AHA) |
Paul Thomas | $235.00 | Scaramouche goes to therapy: The “Therapeutic Monomyth’ in Genshin Impact | Funds to cover registration at 2025 Popular Culture Association (PCA) conference |
Sarah McCall, Amber Ovsak, Jill Becker | $500.00 | Impacts of a Library Ambassador Program on First-Year Student Success (book chapter) | Incentive payments for focus group and incidental expenses (snacks, beverages) |
Sarah McCall | $429.00 | Mapping Social Work’s Strengths Perspective to the ACRL Framework: Ideas for Inclusive Teaching | Funds to cover registration to 2025 ACRL Conference |
Amber Ovsak | $70.00 | Fostering Sustainable Instruction and Faculty Partnerships through the use of Secondary Education Reflective Feedback Practices | Funds to cover registration to the Innovative Library Classroom Conference |
Ruby Rhodd | $350.00 | Development of research project related to Indigenous Libraries and Tribal Archives | Funds to cover registration to 2025 International Conference of Indigenous Archives, Libraries, and Museum |
Gwen Geiger Wolfe | $84.00 | The Language of Diabetes: Progress on a Content Analysis of Disempowering Terms in Online Patient Education Materials | Funds to cover poster printing for Institute of Public Health and Medicine’s (IPHAM) Public Health Summit 2025 |
Charissa Pincock, Jaime Groetsema Saifi | $400.00 | Describing Medieval Manuscripts at the University of Kansas: A Case Study for Collaboration between Cataloging and Archival Processing | Funds to cover dual registration to the International Congress on Medieval Studies |
Sara Outhier | $453.00 | Automating Diversity Audits: Leveraging Python and the Primo API to Assess Representation in Music Score Collection | Funds to cover registration to IAML 2025 conference |
General Research Fund (GRF)
KU Office of Research notified CRSA co-chairs that KU Libraries has been allocated $16,068.38 for the General Research Fund to be awarded in FY2025 for expenditures during FY2026. CRSA reviewed and approved three (3) GRF awards for a total of $16,010.04.
Name | Amount Awarded (USD) | Project Name | Description of Purpose of Funding |
Andi Back | $6,320.00 | Osa Johnson: Solo Ventures | Funds to cover travel, research, and reproduction fees to research at the Martin and Osa Johnson Safari Museum in Chanute, KS. |
Whitney Baker | $7,190.04 | Heavy Metals in 19th Century Bookbindings | Funds to cover student support in ongoing Conservation project to detect hazardous metals in bookbindings |
Milton Machuca-Galvez | $2,500.00 | Building the Ngäbe Digital Library at KU Repository | Funds to cover travel and research with Ngabe-language materials in Panama and creation of digital repository |
Ongoing Activities:
The committee met via Zoom seven (7) times over the course of the academic year. In the Spring semester, the committee hosted an LRF Information Session (Jan 2025) and an IRB Info Session (Feb 2025). Committee members met with new faculty to share information and resources on library funding that is available through CRSA as well as additional resources available through the New Faculty Research Development (NFRD) program. The committee added itself to the onboarding process for new faculty and staff in an unofficial capacity to share more information on funding available to support research and scholarly activities for new colleagues. The committee encourages future members to maintain these activities to inform colleagues and encourage use of the LRF and GRF awards.
Potential Charges for Future Committees/Recommendations:
The committee encourages future members to formally incorporate meeting with a CRSA representative as part of the onboarding process for new hires. This was done in an unofficial capacity during this academic year with positive responses from new colleagues.
Please review the Committee’s portion of the Library Governance website and the Code <http://lfsa.ku.edu/code-versions>. Does it need updating/correcting? No
Prepared by Phil Cunningham FY2025 chair.