Applications, Eligibility, and Funding Criteria

Funding and proposal review criteria

The Community Engagement Associates program is designed to support work that is both innovative and forward thinking as well as work that goes deeper and is sustained over time. Our review committee strives to balance the funding of innovation alongside ongoing, in-depth community engagement work. We also receive many quality applications each year. With this in mind, we highly encourage all applicants to thoughtfully consider the priorities and criteria herein and to integrate components into their application narratives.

The CEA program will prioritize applications with clear illustrations of community engagement work that:

  • Is done in a mutually beneficial partnership with the community in both curricular and co-curricular spaces
  • Is innovative, emergent, and forward thinking in the field of community engagement
  • Supports the innovative use of community engagement pedagogy to deepen student learning (e.g., international service learning, community-based/engaged participatory research, online service learning, graduate level service learning)
  • Advances or increases the knowledge base around civic learning, civic-mindedness, or community engagement more broadly
  • Builds the capacity of departments/units to increase and to implement opportunities for community engagement or community engaged learning
  • Is equity-minded in its principles toward community engagement
  • Advances the community engagement mission of IUPUI

Proposals will be evaluated by our review committee on the basis of:

  • Evidence that the request will support community engaged teaching, research, or service consistent with the applicant's goals for developing as a community engagement professional, including evidence of support from the chair, dean, or head of the department or unit
  • Clarity of the activities the faculty or staff member has planned for the CEA and their alignment with the course, program, or project being proposed, including:
    • Outline of how the faculty or staff applicant will provide effective mentoring of the student 
    • Outline of the potential benefits and learning of proposed experiences for the student
  • Evidence of clear course, program, or project, including:
    • Description(s)
    • Goals
    • Learning outcomes
    • Community outcomes
    • Plans for assessment and evaluation
  • Evidence of an understanding and practice of reciprocity and mutual benefit when working with community partners
  • Evidence of approaching this work with equity-mindedness
  • Past compliance of the previously funded faculty or staff with CEA program and reporting requirements