Cornell faculty and staff are always thinking of ways to create, enhance or sustain community-engaged learning opportunities for undergraduates, but they might not have the funds to support their ideas. Engaged Opportunity Grants are designed to help by supporting large and small projects from across the university.

These grants are intended to support community-engaged learning activities, including:

Community-engaged leadership student programming:

• projects where students can integrate their leadership education and community-engaged learning through critical reflection
• collaborations with diverse partners (e.g., communities, alumni and other university stakeholders) that build student leadership capacity through community-engaged learning

Do you have an idea not listed here? Contact the Einhorn Center and we can talk about your project.

Engaged Opportunity Grants are not intended for projects that serve one individual undergraduate:

Faculty of any rank, staff, post-docs and medical fellows from Cornell academic or non-academic units*.

*Exception: Individuals from the College of Architecture, Art and Planning, College of Human Ecology and Cornell SC Johnson College of Business can’t apply directly for this grant since these colleges are participating in our Engaged College Initiative.If you are from one of these colleges and are co-leading a project with individuals from other colleges, please email Dhyana Gonzalez to discuss your application. We also encourage you to contact your college representative to learn about current and upcoming opportunities to support your community-engaged work.

Temporary staff and students can be team members but cannot serve as team leads. Participation of community partners and alumni is encouraged.

Cornell affiliate organizations should consult the Einhorn Center to determine eligibility.

Community-based coalitions in active partnership with Cornell with proposals impacting New York State should consult Dhyana Gonzalez, NYS partnership liaison, Mike Bishop, director of strategic partnerships and co-curricular learning, or Anna Bartel, associate director, community-engaged curricula and practice, to determine eligibility.

Projects that have already received an Engaged Opportunity Grant may not apply again.

Engaged College Initiative Eligibility

In fall 2020, the Einhorn Center launched an engaged college initiative, which includes college block grants. Faculty and staff from the colleges listed below should contact the community-engaged learning coordinators to learn about college-specific opportunities and when they’ll be available. Of course, they are still invited to collaborate with the Einhorn Center and participate in Einhorn Center programs.

• Victoria Beard, College of Architecture, Art, and Planning
• Kristen Elmore, College of Human Ecology
• Candace Maxian, Cornell SC Johnson College of Business

If you are from a college listed above and are co-leading a cross-college project, email the Einhorn Center to discuss your application.

Funding for grants will not exceed $3,000. All budget lines must be justified. Applicants should make their case for the use of funds most appropriate to their need. Please note that grantees might not receive their full budget request and that conference attendees will be limited to $500 of funding per traveler.

Opportunity Grants have an 18-month term and are not renewable. At the end of the approved grant period, grantholders will return remaining funds to the Einhorn Center.

Opportunity Grants are not retroactive and can only support programs or travel that takes place after posted notification dates.

There are three deadlines per year. Prospective applicants are encouraged to consult the Einhorn Center at any time during the application process.

Grantees are required to submit a brief end-of-project report using a template provided. As appropriate, feedback from community partners may be sought as part of this reporting process.

If applicable, grantees will provide documentation and evaluation of student learning outcomes. Grantees may use an assessment tool of their own devising or one of those provided by the Einhorn Center.

If applicable, grantees will also provide documentation and evaluation of the partnership, including community partner voice and feedback. Grantees may use a Partnership Assessment Tool of their own devising or one of those provided by the Einhorn Center.

Additional follow-up may be requested depending on the nature of the funding request.

Allowable Expenses

• Faculty and/or staff support:
  • **Travel, meals and lodging associated community-engaged learning conducted off campus
  • Project planning, development, assessment and dissemination
  • Reservation of space
  • Materials that support the project
• Student support:
  • **Travel, meals and lodging associated with community-engaged learning conducted off campus
  • Direct costs incurred by students involved in the project (e.g., conference registration)
  • Costs of publication
  • Systems that support the student work experience (graphics, software, enrollment in online training, etc.)
  • Wages for students (work study, other). Information about Cornell student employment and federal work-study is available at studentemployment.cornell.edu/policies
• Partner support:
  • Funds that support the participation of the off-campus community in the experience and/or documentation, including expenses necessary to build capacity for partner participation
  • Honoraria for outside speakers and/or consultants to complement project planning and student learning
  • **Speaker travel costs

**All travel and related funding must follow Cornell’s current COVID-19 policies. See policies for students, or see policies for faculty and staff.

Unallowable Expenses

• overhead and indirect costs (IDC);
• tuition;
• capital projects;
• faculty or staff salaries;
• post-graduation wages or travel costs for students.

Einhorn Center staff and leadership will review proposals, with selections being made by applying the following criteria, as appropriate:

• Involvement of undergraduate students
• Contribution to Cornell’s goal of 100% undergraduate participation in high-quality community-engaged learning opportunities, which
  • Address a specific community interest, problem or public concern
  • Include working with and learning from a community partner
  • Connect and integrate community-engaged experiences with educational content
  • Include structured, documented critical reflection
• Evidence of community-identified and/or project need
• Feasibility of addressing specified need in partnership with the community/partner
• Clear indication of community-engaged student learning and leadership opportunity
• Prospect for sustaining the community-engaged learning beyond the life of the grant

Given the competitive funding environment, special priority is given to projects that:

• Come from departments/programs that offer fewer opportunities for community-engaged learning

Proposals must be submitted using the online application form, and include the following information, within the space limits described on the form. Forms will differ slightly from the text below, depending on the nature of the funding request.

1. Project title
2. Name(s) of team member(s) and their unit(s)
3. Signature endorsements from chair or supervisor
4. Community partner(s) information, if applicable. Letter of collaboration is required.
5. Succinct summary, to be shared publicly, describing the project context, public purpose and what the project team will be doing
6. Short narrative that describes the overarching goals of the community-engaged learning activity, what you plan to do, how you plan to do it and potential next steps and/or outcomes. As is relevant to the request, include:
   • Description of the project, inclusive of community-identified need
   • Clearly identified community partner(s), their role and the benefit of the work to the partner(s)
   • Role of the student(s) and anticipated student learning outcomes and how you plan to assess these
   • How the project/initiative directly supports undergraduate community-engaged learning at Cornell, or creates the supportive environment for this learning to take place in the near future
   • Description of how the presentation advances the presenter’s discipline; promotes positive civic/social impact; and/or contributes to the field of community-engaged learning
   • Opportunities to sustain project beyond the grant period
7. Additional project information (e.g., course prerequisites, project completion date, conference abstract), as appropriate
8. Estimated number and type of Cornell students (undergraduate, graduate, professional) targeted by the proposal
9. Budget and budget justification aligned directly with the budget categories in the online application form