USA to receive $21.8 million from federal stimulus

In Gov. Bob Riley's proposed education budget for fiscal year 2010, the University of South Alabama is to receive $107.6 million in state appropriations, a $32.1-million cut since 2008, which is part of the 23 percent shortfall in state funding felt by universities statewide. Federal stimulus money is on the way to USA; however, it's not enough to counteract the shortfall, according to Happy Fulford, USA's executive director of governmental relations. According to Fulford's governmental relations update on April 3, Alabama will receive $596.4 million to pump into education. Of that sum, USA will receive $21.8 million to use over two years. "While the stimulus funding will be very helpful, it should be pointed out that it goes away at the end of FY 2011 and falls far short of the $32.1 million cut USA will have received since FY 2008 if the FY 2010 state education budget is enacted as introduced," Fulford said. "Of the stimulus funding that could ultimately come to USA, only $10.9 million will be available in FY 2010." Also, to receive federal stimulus funds for fiscal year 2011, USA has to meet certain guidelines and submit a report to the state, which then submits it to the Department of Education for evaluation. "We will have to submit a detailed report of how we're spending the money, how many jobs it could save, and related things," said Fulford. Despite the shortfalls in state appropriations and federal stimulus funding, USA is offering cash incentives for faculty to apply for research grants. According to Dr. Russ Lea, USA vice president of research, the two main purposes of the incentive program is to generate more requests for funding and to increase quality proposals by requiring peer reviews for faculty to cash in on incentives. "The incentives might actually inspire them to utilize peer reviews," Lea said. "There is literally billions of dollars coming down the pipe. Why should we be bystanders?" The National Science Foundation is bound to receive $2.5 billion for research grants. The National Institutes of Health is receiving a federal stimulus bundle of $7.4 billion to dole out for scientific research. According to National Science Foundation Statistics, USA lags behind other state institutions for research grant awards. According to Lea, that is due in large part to the teaching loads borne by professors and scientists at USA. Applicants for grants in excess of $50,000 can apply for incentives up to $3,000 while those who assist can apply for up to $1,000. The incentive program is being funded by royalties from faculty inventions and innovations, so it "pays for itself," Lea said. For every $1 million in research grants, it creates on average 32 jobs from graduate stipends to post-doctoral studies. None of the funding will come out of the general operating budget. Applicants have a short time to apply. One requirement to receive the cash incentives is an internal peer review. "A big issue is the short fuse they use to liquidate funds," Lea said. "Money will be going out quickly, so we're hoping the incentives will inspire them to write quality proposals. "[Research grant applicants] essentially have to drop everything they're doing to put together a quality proposal, and it is difficult with our high teaching loads. "To capture our market share, we have to be able to respond quickly. And we're hoping that this encourages them to stick to the peers reviews to help increase the quality," he said.