Size and Nature of Awards. The Center for Community Engagement & Learning anticipates awarding approximately $20,000 in minigrant awards to be used to support community-based learning and research in any discipline.
Full-time faculty may apply for (a) up to $7,500 for a project-based award with multiple disciplines and multiple community partners or (b) $2,000 individual faculty awards for individual courses or research/creative projects.
We anticipate awarding one or two project awards and three to six individual awards. The size of individual faculty awards will rarely exceed $2,000. Awards may be used to defray costs associated with community-based teaching or research/creative activities, such as faculty stipend, community partner honorarium, student research/liaison assistance, books, supplies, or travel to conferences (however, no more than $300 may be devoted to airfare). Neither stipends nor tuition waivers may be offered to students enrolled in community-based learning courses. However, student assistantships – whether graduate or undergraduate – are required for research awards, and student research assistantship stipends may be offered.
Criteria for Ranking of Awards. Applications are open to all full-time UAA faculty with preference given to junior faculty, those teaching GER courses, those in under-represented disciplines, and those who have not received an award previously. The only other requirement for eligibility for a minigrant award is either (a) offering a regular academic course incorporating community-based learning pedagogy and practice or (b) conducting civically engaged, community-based research and creative activity from August 2009 through June 2010.
For community-based learning in courses awards, the Minigrant Selection Committee will review and rank proposals according to several questions. To what extent does the proposal:
1. Connect academic course content with learning experiences in a community project with direct experiences working with community-based or tribal organizations, businesses, schools, public agencies, or under-resourced communities?
2. Fulfill learning objectives for the course through community service activities?
3. Promote structured reflection in the classroom to deepen student learning?
4. Plan for reciprocity and benefit to the community partner as well as to the student?
5. Have feasibility, show plan development and innovation?
6. Have an impact or outcome on the community, for the University, and in terms of accessibility in GERs, major requirements, or discipline electives?
7. Include a budget that is a reasonable use of funds?
For community-based research & creative activity awards, the Minigrant Selection Committee will review and rank proposals according to several questions. To what extent does the proposal:
1. Give students and community partners opportunities for collaborating in project conceptualization and design?
2. Connect research and creative activity objectives to local community issues, needs, or experiences?
3. Encourage benefits of the research and creative activity to community partners and to students?
4. Incorporate interdisciplinary approaches?
5. Have feasibility, show plan development and innovation?
6. Have an impact or outcome on community, for the University, and on students?
7. Include a budget that is a reasonable use of funds?
Reporting and Reimbursement Procedures
All community-based faculty awards are made possible by UAA's Center for Community Engagement and Learning. You will be asked to acknowledge this support in any paper or publications derived from the activities supported by this award.
Faculty who apply for course awards must agree to offer their course during Spring, Summer, or Fall 2010, and at least one additional time in the future; to attend faculty workshops on community-based learning; to implement classroom assessments; and to share their revised course syllabus, learning goals, pedagogical innovations, and assessment results with UAA's Center for Community Engagement and Learning.
Faculty who apply for research awards must agree to conduct their research and creative activity during Spring, Summer, or Fall 2010; attend faculty workshops on community-based research; and share their results, outcomes with community partnerships, and evaluative assessments in special forums and venues at UAA.
Minigrant recipients will be required to submit a final report, highlighting the importance and benefits derived through this support, as well as documentation of budget expenditures.
