Applications, Eligibility, and Funding Criteria

Community Engagement Associates

The Community Engagement Associates (CEA) program offers funding for the support of both undergraduate and graduate students. Before applying, be sure to review the funding and proposal review criteria section to ensure your request aligns with the goals and priorities of the program.

Applications

How to apply

A faculty or staff member is required to submit the application. Please be sure to allow yourself enough time to collect all of the necessary information, such as service learning course information. You may wish to preview the application in its entirety here. Required dean, chair, or supervisor recommendations will be completed through an online form. This recommendation form can be previewed here.

Application deadlines

Applications are currently closed. Please see the below dates on when our application cycles occur.

Priority application period for each AY: February 1–March 30

General application period for each AY: May 1–June 30

Application period for each summer: November 10–January 30

*Please note: the only difference between the priority and general application periods is that those who apply during the priority period will hear back on their application sooner. Anyone may choose to apply during either of those periods.

Please contact us at csl@iupui.edu with any questions.

Types of CEA funding requests

Faculty and staff may request up to two CEAs per award period.

You will be asked to make the following choices in your application:

Undergraduate or graduate students (or a combination of both)
Anticipated average hours of work per week (students may not work more than 20 hours per week)
Which semester(s) you want to award students

Please keep the following requirements in mind regarding the eligibility of students:

Undergraduate students

Carry at least a 2.75 grade point average.
Be eligible for employment at IUPUI.
If students qualify for the Federal Work-Study Program, we will be able to hire them utilizing their work-study award. All students being hired will be asked to present their FAN to discuss the work-study possibility.

Graduate students

Carry at least a 3.0 grade point average (or 3.0 undergraduate GPA if in their first semester of graduate school).
Be eligible for employment at IUPUI.
If students qualify for the Federal Work-Study Program, we will be able to hire them utilizing their work-study award. All students being hired will be asked to present their FAN to discuss the work-study possibility.

NOTE: If a request is approved, the faculty or staff member is responsible for verifying the students' GPA.

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

Center for Service & Learning