Announcement | Guidelines | Application Form | Past Winners
Guidelines
The Presidential Mini-Grants for Departmental Diversity Initiative seeks to encourage faculty to promote diversity through the development of new academic initiatives. Projects will involve students who stimulate departmental colleagues to confront a problem or issue of diversity within the context of that department's particular needs. Many faculty have had ideas about projects worth funding that would foster greater understanding of diversity issues as they pertain to fields of academic inquiry had there been sufficient resources.
The specific nature of the Departmental Diversity Initiative should be determined by departmental needs. Two or more departments may collaborate and share a Mini-Grant. They may include curricular innovations, faculty development, or student projects. While the Selection Committee encourages departments to range as freely and as imaginatively as possible in framing proposals, there are some guidelines they should bear in mind. Only departments or programs are eligible to submit applications; an individual faculty member should be identified as the project coordinator. Recipients of this award are not eligible to apply again until three years after their award is received.
Applications will be reviewed by a faculty Diversity Mini-Grant Review Committee. Selections are made based on the potential of the project to ensure that the University continues to provide invaluable educational experiences for today’s diverse student body. Preferences will be given to proposals that promote awareness, skills, and knowledge about issues related to race, gender, ethnicity, abilities, age and/or religion. Drawing on a total pool of $30,000, the award amount granted will be determined by the number of grants selected and approved for funding. Each Mini-Grant recipient will be recognized at the Annual Awards Dinner and receive a certificate.
The committee requests that each proposal include a two-page description of the project, the name of the project coordinator within the department, and a precise statement of the department's anticipated costs. Please specify concisely the goals of the department's proposed program, particularly noting the ways in which the project contributes to the learning experience of your students and colleagues. An application should be accompanied by a completed cover page.
Note: Departments whose programs are funded are expected to submit a report to the President upon completion of their initiative, evaluating their effectiveness in meeting the stated goals.
The proposal should include:
- The problem/issue to be addressed
- How the members of the department and students will be involved (both required)
- The expected outcome(s) of the initiative
- A proposed budget covering project costs
(Note: If a grant proposal is submitted by the chairperson then it must be signed by the Dean)
Application deadline is Friday, February 22, 2013.
