Guidelines

Selection Criteria

  • Proposals will only be considered from an individual researcher or research team provided the researcher or members of the research team are not current members of the NACA® Board of Directors, the NACA® Research and Scholarship Group, or the NACA® Office staff.
  • Research proposals must focus on issue(s) related to campus activities and student involvement that are relevant to a wide audience and have implications for student success initiatives, as reflected in the NACA Research Agenda. See list below for preferred topics.
  • Proposals must clearly articulate a strong research design that is appropriate for the research question(s).  Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-method studies will be considered.
  • Proposed research must be original work of the research team and must not have been reported elsewhere.
  • Proposals must comply with the NACA® Statement of Professional Ethics and the NACA® Non-Discrimination, Diversity Advancement and Affirmative Action Principles. 
  • Proposals must include an abstract of the proposed research.  The members of the research team must be willing to have this information posted on the NACA® website and/or in NACA® publications.
  • Proposals must include a timeline for completion, noting that research must be completed by May of the following year..

Preferred Research Topics

Special consideration will be given to proposals addressing one of the following topics:

  • The influence of student involvement on academic achievement and/or student persistence to graduation.
  • Ties between the development of employability skills and campus involvement.
  • Student learning gains from types of student involvement activities, including student organization membership, positional leadership and event planning opportunities.
  • High-impact practices in campus activities.
  • Preparation experiences for employment in campus activities, including graduate preparation and/or career development activities.
  • The role of student organization advisors in facilitating student learning and/or student success.