Award and Grants

   

SERVICE LEARNING FACULTY MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENT GRANTS

Application Deadline:  October 1, 2019 at 4:00pm.

 APPLICATION:  Click here to apply.

General Information: The goal of these grants is to help increase the number and improve the quality of undergraduate service learning courses at the UA by providing financial resources for planning and development of service learning activities and to promote the diffusion of academic ideas related to service learning.  

Materials and Equipment Grants: Available funds can be awarded to projects to support a wide variety of expenses including course curriculum materials, equipment, and electronic technology (see restrictions below).  Any proposal can be awarded up to $1,500. 

Applicant Eligibility

  1. The applicant must be the lead instructor of a course already in the course catalog or the lead developer of a new course that is intended to be designated as service learning. Additional co-applicants can be faculty, staff, or graduate teaching assistants of any title and rank. All applicants must be UA employees.  Applicants’ eligibility will be confirmed through department head/chairs and/or college deans.
  2. Priority may be given for faculty currently developing new courses with significant service learning content. Priority may also be given for faculty who have taught a new course within the last year and now want to develop service learning content for that course.

Final Requirements of Successful Applicants

  • All purchases must be managed by the applicant's home department.
  • Submit an end-of-year impact report (1 page plus photos) by June 15, 2020 to the Service Learning Materials Grant Documentation Form. 
  • The end-of-year impact report should be 1-2 pages, single-spaced, 1-inch margin, Times New Roman 12 point in Word format. 
  • The report should describe: (a) what your purchased, (b) what class this was for (if relevant), (c) how it was used as part of the service learning experience, and (d) impact of use - What did this purchase help to achieve? How many students and how many community partners were impacted? 

Use of Funds

  • Specialized equipment or equipment upgrades, plus related installation costs
  • Specialized computer software essential for the service project
  • Computers, iPads, and other electronic technology, if demonstrated it will improve the quality of the service learning activity
  • Curriculum materials that prepare students to perform their service learning activities
  • Other equipment and technology that will transform service learning students

Excluded Uses of Funds

Our source of funding will not allow the following types of purchases:

  • Cell phone equipment and accessories (including service charges), regardless of usage
  • Office furniture
  • Clothing
  • Items that are typically general office equipment, such as printer ink, binders and general teaching supplies unless demonstrated as transformative to service learning activities
  • Routine equipment maintenance
  • Food and drinks
  • Participation incentives
  • Salary, hourly pay or stipends for employees or students
  • Equipment and technology that is not transformational to service learning students

For funded applications, purchases must be initiated in BASIS by the lead faculty member’s department. Equipment purchased will be the property of the lead faculty member’s academic department, and any maintenance, upgrades, or troubleshooting will be the responsibility of the faculty members’ departments.

To check out the budget proposal template, click here.

 

SERVICE LEARNING FACULTY TRAVEL GRANTS

Application Deadline: October 1, 2019 at 4:00pm.

APPLICATION:   Click here to apply.  

General Information: The goal of these grants is to help increase the number and improve the quality of undergraduate service learning courses at the UA by providing financial resources for planning and development of service learning activities and to promote the diffusion of academic ideas related to service learning.  

Domestic Travel Grants: Available funds can be awarded to faculty to support travel for pre-program domestic site visits or for domestic academic conference presentations related to a service learning course. Any proposal can be awarded up to $1,500.  

Applicant Eligibility

  1. The applicant must be the lead instructor of a course already in the course catalog or the lead developer of a new course that is intended to be designated as service learning. Additional co-applicants can be faculty, staff, or graduate teaching assistants of any title and rank. All applicants must be UA employees.  Applicants’ eligibility will be confirmed through department head/chairs and/or college deans.
  1. Priority may be given for faculty currently developing new courses with significant service learning content. Priority may also be given for faculty who have taught a new course within the last year and now want to develop service learning content for that course.

Final Requirements of Successful Applicants

  • All travel arrangements must be managed by the awardee's home department.
  • Submit an end-of-year impact report (1 page plus photos) by June 15, 2020 to the Service Learning Travel Grant Documentation Form. 
  • The end-of-year impact report should be 1-2 pages, single-spaced, 1-inch margin, Times New Roman 12-point in Word format. 
  • The report should describe: (a) where you travel(ed), (b) what class this travel is/was for (if relevant), (c) how the travel experience is/was used as part of the service learning experience, and (d) impact of use - What does/did this travel experience help to achieve? How many students and how many community partners were impacted? 

Use of Funds

  • Approved domestic travel for the planning and coordination of service learning activities and to meet with potential service learning clients/collaborators
  • Approved domestic travel to share service learning ideas with others at state, regional, or national academic conferences

To check out the budget proposal template, click here.

 

OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTIONS TO SERVICE LEARNING TEACHING AWARD

Application Deadline: November 1, 2019 at 4:00pm.

APPLICATION:  Click here to apply.

The University of Arkansas Service Learning Initiative is currently soliciting applicants for the Outstanding Contributions to Service Learning Teaching Award. The purpose of this award is to recognize teaching in service learning that has positively impacted students and the community. The award will be presented to a course instructor (or co-instructors) who has demonstrated the ability to enrich both course content and the community through the application of service-learning pedagogy.

Criteria

The successful awardee demonstrates:

  1. Innovation and originality in developing, implementing and/or sustaining service learning course;
  2. A sustained commitment to service learning;
  3. Significant contributions to the community and classroom; and
  4. Active participation in at least one service learning course since the Fall 2014 semester.

Eligibility

  1. Full-time faculty in any career path (e.g., instructor, non-tenure track, tenure track) at all levels of employment
  2. May not have received the award in the past five years

Submission Materials

  1. Nominee info: Name, Title, Department, Campus Address, Email, Phone,
  2. Name(s), alpha(s), numeric(s) of Service Learning course(s) taught over the last three years (Example: SERV 1003 Introduction to Service Learning)
  3. Most recent syllabus of the service learning course(s)
  4. A personal statement that specifically addresses the significance of the experience to the community and course and the positive impact on student learning (2-page maximum)
  5. A 2-page abbreviated teaching CV highlighting aspects of service learning and the scholarship of teaching and learning
  6. Two letters of support – One letter should come from the academy (colleague, dean, department head) or the community partner. A second letter of support should come from a current or former student. Both letters should speak to the demonstrated ability to enrich both course content and the community through the application of service-learning pedagogy.

 

 

 Please direct any questions related to the grants and award guidelines to Service Learning  Co-Chairs Jennie Popp at (jhpopp@uark.edu; 575-7381) or Angela Oxford (aoxford@uark.edu; 575-4365). Please direct any questions related to the webform to Rachel Backes  (svclrn01@uark.edu; 575-2174).