2016-17 Mid-Career Colloquy Grants
Pedagogies of Community Engagement
The Mid-Career Colloquy Grant is designed to augment the work of the colloquy by making $1000 available to each participant through an application process to the Wabash Center. Approved projects will demonstrate direct links between the work of the colloquy and the work of the individuals or groups that the grant supports. Projects should have as a goal the enhancement of the work of the colloquy and a process by which it can contribute to the colloquy discussions. Projects may also involve extending the discussions and learning of the colloquy into other venues. The leadership team should be kept aware of grant projects so the work might be included in the winter or second summer session.
The Grant Proposal will include:
- Application cover sheet
- Project description (approximately 250 words)
What do you want to accomplish? Describe the project – its central question and goals – and how it will fit with your work and the work of the colloquy.
- Rationale (approximately 250 words)
Why did you choose this particular project? Explain your investment in the project and why it matters.
- Outline of activities (1/2 page)
Provide an outline of the proposed activities, showing the steps involved, including the time, place, and people. This work needs to happen within the year of the colloquy. Make sure all activities help achieve one or more of the project goals articulated in the project description.
- Evaluation Plan (approximately 250 words)
How will you evaluate your project to see if you were able to meet your goals or answer your central question? Describe: 1) a method for ongoing, critical reflection and assessment of your work (you might consider keeping a journal or working with a colleague to provide reflection on your work); 2) a description of indicators that will help you discern whether a revision of your plan of work is necessary; and 3) a set of outcomes or markers that will help you know if you accomplished what you set out to do.
- Budget (1 page)
Include an itemized budget of expenses with a budget narrative. Provide an itemized list of the anticipated costs for carrying out the project (travel, resources, fees for services, etc.), followed by a budget narrative that provides brief explanations of how you arrived at the budget amounts. Make sure the budget is aligned with the outline of activities; there should not be costs listed that do not correspond to activities in the outline. In some cases it may be permissible to list a small honorarium as one of the budget items for colleagues’ participation in the project, but the budget narrative must make the case for why this expense is necessary and why the specific amount was chosen. We do not permit the standard budget line for institutional overhead in a grant of this size.
- Please provide a 150-word abstract summarizing the project, to be posted on the Wabash Center website.
Final Report
A final (5-page) report of what you accomplished is due by September 1 of the final summer. The report should have these elements:
- Describe the work of your project by revisiting the goals and activities identified in your proposal and the reasons you included them. Describe what actually took place, what was accomplished, and what didn’t happen as you anticipated.
- Evaluate the outcomes of your project by revisiting the evaluation plan laid out in your proposal. What did you learn? What became more apparent during the course of the work? Critically reflect on the relevant issue related to the colloquy and what you have learned about the question that was central to your project.
- If any materials were produced as a result of this project, provide a representative sample (no more than 10 pages) or electronic links to digital copies.
- 150-word Learning Abstract that summarizes the grant project. This abstract will be posted to the Wabash Center website.
- Official Financial Report that is prepared by the institution’s financial officer, accounting in detail for the expenditure of the grant funds.
Contact:
Thomas Pearson
pearsont@wabash.edu
Associate Director, Wabash Center
Grant Conditions
You are to engage in this work during the year of the mid-career colloquy. All grant activity must be completed by August 1 of the final summer of the colloquy. If during the course of the colloquy you are unable to carry out the project, you must inform the Wabash Center so we may consider the situation.
Funding Process and Revisions
Once your proposal is submitted and approved, a contract will be sent outlining the terms of agreement between your institution and the Wabash Center. A check for the full amount of the grant will be sent after we receive a signed copy of the contract.
If the grant is a coordinated group project, a single school must be designated as grant recipient to oversee the combined funds.
During the grant period, the project director may make minor changes in the project without consulting the Wabash Center; however, any significant change must be approved in advance. Please submit a letter or email that describes and justifies the change so it can be determined whether it falls within the approved intent of the grant.
6/17/16