Richard Almy Research Grant Program
IAAO is now accepting research topics submissions for the 2025 Richard Almy Research Grant Program and IAAO members, along with students and faculty, are now eligible to submit proposals. The Richard Almy Research Grant Program, formerly the Academic Partnership Program, provides financial support for IAAO members, students, and faculty to complete research in areas related to property appraisal, assessment administration, and property tax policy. The deadline to apply for 2025 is Jan. 31, 2025. Past recipients also listed below.
Richard Almy Research Grant Program Guidelines
The IAAO Richard Almy Research Grant Program seeks to bring together practitioners and scholars to further the research mission of IAAO and encourage the exchange and development of innovative ideas within the profession. Acceptance of a grant carries with it an obligation to submit a satisfactory report for publication by the editor of any IAAO publication. Presentation at an IAAO conference may be requested.
Eligibility
All IAAO members, students and faculty at accredited colleges and universities, independent researchers, and researchers affiliated with other nonprofit institutions are eligible to apply. Student applicants are required to have a faculty supervisor. No geographic restrictions apply.
Subject Areas
IAAO seeks inventive quality research projects in alignment within IAAO’s Body of Knowledge (BoK). The BoK is a framework for defining the key knowledge, skills, and subskills for the mass appraisal profession. Your submission should relate to one or more of these knowledge areas.
BoK 1. Working with the Legal Framework
This Knowledge Area includes skills related to the legal basis for assessment and valuation, reassessment and reappraisal cycles, property tax base, exemptions, and taxation.
BoK 2. Collecting and Maintaining Property Data
This Knowledge Area includes skills related to managing information necessary to the valuation of property, including ownership, transfers, identification, description, and related data management.
BoK 3. Developing and Managing Cadastral Data
This Knowledge Area identifies the skills required to eectively develop, manage, implement, and administer a robust Cadastral System, both digital and printed versions.
BoK 4. Appraising Property
This Knowledge Area includes skills related to discovering property, developing and reporting property value, mass appraisal and single property appraisal, using the three approaches to value, land valuation, and value reconciliation, while considering specific property types.
BoK 5. Leading and Managing the Assessment Oice
This Knowledge Area is concerned with assessment administration and includes skills related to leadership and management, such as planning, organizing, directing, and controlling.
BoK 6. Managing Complaints and Appeals
This Knowledge Area is concerned with inquiries, complaints, and valuation/assessment appeals.
BoK 7. Managing Public Relations and Communications
This Knowledge Area focuses on communicating with the public, government stakeholders, and the media.
BoK 8. Oversight and Compliance Review
This Knowledge Area deals with the skills necessary for audit, oversight, and compliance reviews at a macro level (i.e., State/Province/National).
Application Guidelines
Download the complete application guidelines and cover sheet. Use the faculty form if you are employed as an instructor/professor by an accredited college/university. Use the student form if you are enrolled as a graduate/postgraduate student at an accredited college/university. Submission deadline is Jan. 31, 2025.
Apply NowPreparation of Proposals
The narrative should constitute the major portion of the proposal and concisely explain to the Committee how the funds will be used and what the recipient(s) hopes to accomplish. Proposals must be developed using the following format:
- Cover Sheet
- Narrative
- Title and introduction – Identify a problem and research gap; state an attainable, realistic, and measurable hypothesis or research equation; and explain the importance and relevance to justify funding
- Literature review – Present an overview of related research including its era, area, findings and methods
- Methods – Describe the research design and timeline
- Data analysis and reporting – Outline study area, type of data, data source, mode of collection, study period, and relevant variables; provide justification of selected model and test; outline and justify all the relevant steps
- Intended deliverables – Describe expected publications, presentations, or other output from the research
- For student applicants, include an Institutional Review Board protocol document from college/university
- Resume, curriculum vitae, or brief narrative of each applicant’s education, experience, and focus of study.
- The proposal shall be formatted as a PDF, have one-inch margins, be double-spaced, and use a font size no smaller than 12.
SUGGEST A TOPIC!
Have a research idea for the Richard Almy Research Grant Program?
Mission Statement of the Richard Almy Research Grant:
To facilitate and publish assessment related research through a partnership between institutions of higher learning and IAAO.
Benefits to Academic Partners:
- Free (term) membership to academics (faculty or student).
- Share research costs.
- IAAO will publish articles in the Journal of Property Tax Assessment & Administration, which is indexed by EBSCO & ProQuest and listed in the Cabell Publishing Directory.
- Complimentary annual conference registration for making a presentation of the research findings.
- Share educational opportunities in mass-appraisal & assessment administration.
- Facilitate student internships with assessment jurisdictions.
- Facilitate joint-project development of mass appraisal valuation models.
- Facilitate joint-study on property tax issues.
Benefits to IAAO:
- IAAO members can present subjects that need research.
- Facilitate student internships with assessment jurisdictions.
- Create interest in careers in mass-appraisal or tax administration.
- Catalog research results in IAAO’s Library collection.
- Facilitate data acquisition.
- Facilitate joint-project development of mass appraisal valuation models.
- Facilitate joint-study on property tax issues.
- Build relationship with academics that will foster future project ideas.
- Study assessment trends & property tax trends with planning & development schools.
- Study housing styles and economics with architecture schools.
- Study commercial building uses with engineers.
Richard Almy Research Grant Recipients
| 2023 | Luc D. Hermans | University of Ulster, Ireland |
| 2023 | Marek Walacik | The University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Poland |
| & Małgorzata Renigier-Biłozor | The University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Poland | |
| & Artur Janowski | The University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Poland | |
| 2022 | Stephanie Vieille, Ph.D. | Royal Roads University, Victoria, BC |
| & Laura MacLean, MBA, AACI, P .App | Property Valuation Services Corporation | |
| 2022 | Kenneth Chilton, Ph.D. | Tennessee State University, Nashville, Tennessee |
| 2021 | Michael McCord, Ph.D. & Peader Davis, Ph.D. | University of Ulster, Ireland |
| 2020 | Jared Linna | University of Memphis, Tennessee |
| 2019 | Julie Chang | University of Texas at Austin, Texas |
| 2018 | Wei Sun | University of Memphis, Tennessee |
| 2017 | Frank SanPietro | University of Memphis, Tennessee |
| 2016 | Cory Yemen | Rutgers University, New Jersey |
| 2015 | Andrew T. Carswell, Ph.D. | University of Georgia, Georgia |
| 2014 | Paul E. Bidanset | University of Ulster, Ireland |
| 2013 | Lawrence C. Walters, Ph.D. | Brigham Young University, Utah |
| 2011 | David J. West | Cornell University, New York |