As the new academic year begins, Washington State University College of Education researchers can look back with satisfaction on the last one. An indication of jobs well done is the list of outcomes from our Faculty Funding Awards. Our researchers compete for these mini-grants, which are expected to be the seeds from which significant scholarly work and larger projects sprout. The 2012 grants resulted in:

• Fifteen national or international conference proposals presented or to be presented with five invited presentations
• Twelve peer-reviewed journal manuscripts submitted and in various stages toward publication
• Three major grant proposals submitted and pending totaling $444,549
• One book proposal accepted by a publisher

The book-in-progress is a handbook for faculty and graduate students. Co-authored by Professor Gail Furman, it is about action research, leadership and social justice. It will be published by Routledge in 2013.

Faculty Funding Awards provide a single principal investigator with up to $5,000 and research collaborators up to $9,000. To make good use of the money, researchers must plan well and be diligent in maintaining timelines and accomplishing tasks.

Last year was the first time that the Faculty Funding Awards were governed by rules revised with an eye toward accountability, transparency, productivity, and stewardship. The money for these awards comes from gracious donors to the college. These results demonstrate that we are grateful for their contributions and that we take seriously the need to be good stewards of their contributions.

I look forward to seeing what this year’s award winners produce.