Applications will be accepted from April 1, 2016 until June 30, 2016. If funds remain available after the deadline, additional applications may be accepted on a rolling basis. Receipt will be acknowledged. Grant recipients will be notified by July 15, 2016. Grant award funds become available August 1, 2016.
The Ignatian Center for Jesuit Education’s Thriving Neighbors Initiative invites proposals for faculty/student/community partner program development and research grants for projects that demonstrate a lived example of Ignatian Solidarity and Leadership within the context of collaborative work in the Washington Neighborhood of San Jose.
Preference will be given to research proposals that advance the Ignatian Center’s vision of integrating faith, justice, and the intellectual life through work with the Thriving Neighbors Initiative.
At the culmination of the academic year, participants will be expected to share their findings within a spring quarter Bannan Institute presentation, publish a summary of their findings in the Ignatian Center’s explore Journal, and participate in a cooperative Thriving Neighbors publication submission process.
Thriving Neighbors Grants Application Guidelines
Though all faculty and staff are eligible to apply, full-time faculty (tenured, tenure-track, senior lecturers, lecturers) and full-time staff are preferred. The Ignatian Center encourages interdisciplinary and collaborative projects that involve faculty and/or staff from more than one department or from more than one area within a department, and integrate students as collaborative contributors. To aid new faculty and broaden faculty, staff, and student engagement with the Ignatian Center, priority will be given when possible to proposals from applicants who have not previously received Thriving Neighbors Grant funds. Proposals must be signed by the primary applicant(s) and by the related department chair(s)/supervisor(s).
Thriving Neighbors Grants must be conducted within twelve months from the date of the award in July. When a decision to award a grant has been made, the Director of Community-based Learning will notify each grant recipient and schedule a meeting to review the related grant parameters and expectations.
The Program Director for the Thriving Neighbors Initiative will serve as a point of contact for the grant recipient during the duration of the project. Some Thriving Neighbors Grants will be awarded to fund repeat projects if the proposal makes clear the plan for sustainability beyond the second year of Ignatian Center funding.
The Ignatian Center will:
- Send a formal grant email with financial procedures and approved project and budget documents.
- Approve all expenses processed through Concur.
All grant recipients will:
- Keep track of the number of participation hours logged by SCU students, faculty members, community partners and program participants for all grant-related activities. This data will be shared with the ICJE team quarterly along with program photos.
- Secure photo releases for all program participants and provide a list of those who do not wish to allow their image to be used for promotional purposes.
- Provide the ICJE with a list of community partners receiving stipends as soon as partners are confirmed. Grantees will also provide the ICJE with a 2 week notice for the processing of stipend payments to community partners.
- Designate a project representative responsible for coordinating meetings with community partners.
- Submit in writing any requests for significant changes to the project once it has been initiated. For approved changes, ICJE staff will geenerate a grant addendum and send to grant recipients.
- Oversee all financial transactions via the grantee department.
- Provide a proposal and budget update at intervals of six months and twelve months into the project. ICJE staff will connect with all grant recipients to discuss the timing and format of reports.
Proposals will be evaluated by the Director of Community-based Learning and an Ignatian Center evaluation committee. Occasionally, proposals may be distributed to additional expert reviewers selected by Ignatian Center staff who may advise the committee. The committee's recommendations will be reviewed by the Executive Director of the Ignatian Center for Jesuit Education for final funding decisions.
Reviewers consider the following criteria, among others, when evaluating proposals:
- Does the proposal meet the submission criteria as laid out in this Call for Proposals?
- What is the significance of the proposed project to the work of the given project?
- Does this proposal specify impact to campus community and the Greater Washington community as well as a plan for true co-authorship.
- Is the project clearly described, well defined, and able to be successfully completed within the grant period.
- Is the proposed evaluation methodology appropriate? Are sufficient resources and expertise available?
- Does the proposal demonstrate a sufficient review of relevant literature/sources?
- Is there departmental/institutional commitment to support the project?
- Does the proposal include additional supporting materials such as curricula vitae of project faculty, staff, or community members, relevant bibliography, and/or project schedule.
As a condition of the grant, awardees must furnish the Ignatian Center with a final project report one quarter after the completion date indicated on the proposal cover page. The final project report may be made available on the Ignatian Center website. If a paper related to a Thriving Neighbors Grant is accepted for publication in a journal, a cover letter briefly explaining the research outcomes and a pre-print of the published paper, or a link to the network-accessible journal, must be submitted to the Ignatian Center for inclusion on the website. Researchers must include, or cause to be included, recognition of the Thriving Neighbors Grant, Ignatian Center for Jesuit Education in all publications of research results from a Thriving Neighbors Grant-funded project.