A new Ohio Five grant program that offers funding for its colleges to collaborate on projects that respond to common campus priorities has extended its proposal submission deadline to March 31, 2021.
"We recognize that COVID-19 has resulted in an extraordinary semester for our campuses which has left little time for colleagues across the Ohio Five to envision collaborations," commented Ohio Five Executive Director Sarah Stone. "This year's rolling deadline allows teams to submit projects for spring semester as they are developed and enables our colleges to respond to changing needs as we begin 2021."
Under the one-year change, the Ohio Five Collaborative Grants committee will consider a first round of funding for projects beginning after January 1, 2021 that submit applications by the original October 30 deadline. Thereafter, proposals will be reviewed on a rolling basis through March 31, 2021, or until the program's $50,000 funding pool is fully allocated.
The new grants program invites proposals from faculty, staff and/or administrators for projects that encourage collaboration among divisions and among Ohio Five campuses and:
- foster scholarship and innovation
- address changing student needs in the classroom and broader college experience
- improve our colleges’ competitive advantage in student and faculty recruitment
- realize cost-savings or cost avoidance ideas
The Collaborative Grant Program will support projects developed by two or more member colleges, which may be proposed by full-time faculty members, administrators, and/or staff. Designed to promote shared community across the colleges, the infusion of new ideas and skills to address college priorities, and creative problem-solving, the program will award grant funds up to $5,000 for projects that support:
- Innovative Teaching and Learning, including new approaches and skill development in service of teaching, particularly those that respond to changing needs of students. Approaches include shared courses, team-taught courses, integration of technology in teaching, and joint initiatives with student affairs and other collegiate divisions.
- Staff Programming and Development, especially the pooling of resources to address common staff professional development needs in shared workshops, conferences, and training.
- Supporting Diverse Students, Faculty Members and Employees to foster the development of our campuses as welcoming, diverse communities, especially projects that strengthen the collaboration between academic and student affairs divisions.
- Initiating Collaborative Learning Communities to deepen collaboration, promote the sharing of best practices, and develop joint projects among peer colleagues and departments at two or more colleges.
- Conferences, Workshops and Symposia to Address Key Issues that respond to the program’s priorities or respond to a significant need or development identified across our campuses.
- Start-up Funding for Cost-Savings Ideas developed by two or more colleges.
The Collaborative Grants Program replaces grant-funded, faculty-only mini-grant programs that were previously funded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation that began in 2014 and will conclude during the upcoming academic year. The program was developed by a five-college committee of faculty, deans, librarians, and financial officers who reviewed consortial grants programs across the country and devised the new guidelines. The committee, appointed by the Ohio Five presidents, will approve grant requests in a fall and spring docket. Interested groups should review the Ohio Five Collaborative Grants Program Guidelines or contact Susana Velazquez, Ohio Five Program and Budget Manager, at grants@ohio5.org.