TheÌýDean’s Innovation Fund was created in late 2022 with the goal of funding new ideas and innovations for the college.
Faculty and staff may apply for these funds individually or in teams. The purpose is to support the incubation of new ideas so that the concept of the idea may be adequately demonstrated, enabling long-term funding to be sought. Projects that span multiple departments, centers and/or divisions are particularly desired. College of Arts and Sciences partner funding for cross-college collaborations is also welcomed.
All project proposals should have an inclusive approach and relate to the college’s broad goals of:
- student access and success
- faculty and staff impact in research/creative activity, teaching and student support
- community engagement
Diversity, equity and inclusion are a key facet of each of these areas.
While not an exclusive list, the following topical areas are of special interest for FY24:
- justice, equity, diversity and inclusion efforts that seek to improve student, staff and faculty
- access to and/or retention in the college
- improving first-year student retention to second year
- fostering innovation in introductory and GenEd classes
- developing new online certificates and programs
- spawning new cross-disciplinary research projects
- developing and retaining faculty and staff
- linking the College of Arts and Sciences more strongly with the local community
- fresh thinking about how the college might reduce its carbon footprint
Applications are due Nov. 6 via email attachment sent to Rebecca.Davis-1@colorado.edu.ÌýTo be considered, applications should be no more than three pages, at least 12-point font and include:
- project abstract (<150 words)
- project summary
- project budget
Criteria for approval will include:
- originality
- the clarity of the proposal and project
- the generalizability of the project to multiple departments and/or divisions
- for team proposals, the heterogeneity of the project proposers
- the degree to which the project focuses on a factor or variable and argues for how the project advances it
The review committee will be chaired by the dean and include faculty and staff members with broad institutional memories of CU Boulder. Approved projects must be completed—meaning the funds spent—within 12 months of project approval. Brief grant reports are expected at the six-month and 12-month marks.
Projects receiving 2023 funding:
- Uplift: A STEM Research Scholarship for Underprivileged Undergraduates at CU; submitted by Edward Chong and Lee Niswander: $40,000.Ìý
- Creating a New Curriculum for Latinx in Colorado and Beyond; submitted by Leila Gomez, Arturo Adama, Gerardo Gutierrez, Natalie Avalos, Doris Loayza, Lorraine Bayard de Volo, Gabriela Rios, Jessica Ordaz, Betty Leonard, Celeste Montoya, Marcos Steuernagel, Tracy Quan, Kristie Soares, Elika Ortega, Maria Windell and Megan K. Friede: $40,000.
- Racial Literacies; submitted by Kirk Ambrose, Jennifer Ho and John-Michael Rivera: $39,767.
- Building Inclusive Pathways: A Collaboration Between MASP and the Natural Sciences, submitted by Celeste Montoya, Katherine Semsar and Stephanie Montoya: $39,560.
- Belonging as a Protective Factor for Minoritized Identity Students, submitted by Chelsea Killmnick, Donna Mejia, Teresa Wroe and Julie Volckens: $35,750.
- Partnership with BVSD: Supporting and Mentoring Students of Color, submitted by Aun H. Ali, Stephanie Su, Cecilia J. Pang, William Wei, Celine Dauverd, Kieran Marcellin Murphy, Enrique Sepulveda, Marissa Ehringer and Benjamin Brown: $35,500.
- New Frontiers in Teaching Public Health: Innovative Course Design and Community Engagement in Public Health for CU Students, submitted by Colleen Reid, June Gruber and Maureen Floriano: $21,149.
- Staff Professional Development Fund, submitted by Bernadette Stewart: $10,000.
- Protest Through Poetry-Boulder, submitted by Marisa Tirado and Laurie Gries: $10,000.
- Peer Mentoring Pilot Program, submitted by Angela Watts: $8,980.
- Improved STEM Mentoring for Under-Represented Graduate Students at CU-Boulder, submitted by Andrew Cowell, Christopher Lowry, Dana Stamo and Saydie Sago: $8,440.
- Mathematics Preliminary Exam Mentoring Program,Ìýsubmitted by Rachel Chaiser and Kyle Luh: $7,000.
- My Voice Matters: Program for Underrepresented Students to Serve as Mentors and Leaders in the Office of Pre-Health Advising, submitted by Katie Chang: $6,000.
- Helping Them Get Started: Funding Entry-Level Allied Health Professions Exam Fees for Pre-Health Students, submitted by Dana Parcher: $6,000.
- Disability Symposium, submitted by David Braz and Gavin Lang: $5,000.
- Address the Lack of Support for, and Attention to Undergraduate Students in Arts & Sciences from Rural and Small Towns, submitted by the CU Boulder Rural Network: $4,250.
- Staff Innovation Spot Awards, submitted by Jessica Brunecky: $2,500.
-
Projects receiving 2024 funding:
- $40,000 forÌýNature Based Solutions via Community-Engaged Research and Education, from ecology and evolutionary biology.
- $39,286 forÌýStudio Lab for Undergraduate Research, from political science.
- $38,720 forÌýResearch beyond borders: Poster Symposium and Research Fellowship for Underrepresented and Minority Groups in STEM, from physics, mathematics and astrophysical and planetary sciences.
- $30,000 forÌýFailure reframed: Supporting STEM students in developing productive coping skills through scientist narratives of failures, from ecology and evolutionary biology and academic advising.
- $26,494 forÌýCU Boulder Powwow, from art and art history and theatre and dance.
- $12,000 forÌýInternational Graduate Students' Access to Denver Area International Supermarkets, from psychology and neuroscience, chemistry, political science and JEDI (Justice, Equity, Inclusion and Diversity).
- $10,000 forÌýReducing Barriers to Equitable Access to Transformative Field Education via Microgrants, from geology.
- $3,500 forÌýNeurodiversity Training for Supervisors, from international affairs.
Ìý
Coverage of previous award cycles in Colorado Arts & Sciences Magazine:
Dean’s Innovation Fund awards $317,896 in grants
Awards recognize innovation in research, education and inclusivity