Inclusive Community Grants
Not currently accepting applications
Inclusive Community Grants are meant to support the college’s efforts to build relationships across difference as we seek to promote a diverse and inclusive campus environment.
Inclusive community grants are open to all faculty, staff and students and will provide $250 to $2,500 in funding for a special project during each academic year. These projects should address a campus climate concern and promote dialogue among members of the campus community on topics such as race, socioeconomic status, age, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, disability, to name a few.
Teams of faculty, staff and students representing various departments or organizations on campus are encouraged to work in partnership with one another to design a project that considers those topics. Multiple projects may be chosen for funding when the grants are available and proposals must be submitted by the deadline of each fall semester.
Past Grant Projects
“Week of the Francophone World”
This project promotes cultural and linguistic diversity, peace, democracy, and human rights. “Week of the Francophone World” will be organized by our Francophone students, faculty, and staff on campus to show our community that “la Francophonie” is not exclusive to France, but rather that there are Francophone cultures and identities spread all over the world.
“Community Closet”
This project promotes inclusivity and sustainability by providing secondhand business casual clothing for any student who needs them in a professional setting. You can find the community closet in the UCARE office, lower level of Myrin Library.
“Making the College Inclusive of Faculty, Staff, and Students Caring for Children”
This project identifies ways in which Ursinus could become more inclusive of faculty, staff, and students caring for children. The group considers how family-friendly policies and practices aid in the recruitment and retention of faculty and staff, enhance productivity, reduce burnout, and model inclusivity and work-life balance for students.
“Faculty Partnerships to Strengthen Living and Learning Communities”
This project supports faculty who want to bring programs and initiatives they are passionate about to Affinity and SPINT spaces. One of the primary goals of this project is to create more diverse and unique educational opportunities for students to engage with faculty on topics of identity, diversity, and inclusion.
“Social Statistics”
This project cultivates an inclusive community for students and faculty to meet each other across disciplines that make use of quantitative methods.
Submitting Your Proposal
Please email a 2-3 page description of the project, including a 100-word synopsis of the project to Heather Lobban-Viravong at hlobbanviravong@ursinus.edu. Applicants should also attach a detailed budget, and identify the principal point of contact within your group for any communications regarding the project.
Proposals will be reviewed by the Office of College and Community Engagement with final decisions made jointly by the vice president of college and community engagement, the dean of the college and the director of the Institute for Inclusion and Equity.
Multiple projects may be chosen for funding and proposals 2024-25 grants awards are currently unavailable.
Successful Proposals Include:
- A detailed explanation of anticipated outcomes and goals for the project and how it will advance efforts to improve campus climate.
- An explanation of how the project is personally and/or professionally meaningful to the team proposing the project.
- A clear timeline for completing the project within the current academic year.
- A detailed description of how the funds will be expended within the current academic year.
- Partnerships/collaborations between or among groups that don’t typically work together.
- Evidence of early outreach to offices/departments that will impact the success of the project.
Grants History
We have awarded a number of grants within the $250 to $500 range, and a limited number of grants within the $1,500 to $2,500 range. The larger grant range funds a project that affects a greater portion of the campus community. Funds must be expended within the academic year in which the grant is awarded.
Teams awarded a grant provide a progress report at the end of the fall semester, and present the results of their project to the campus community at a specified event in the late spring.