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About Engagement Awards

The vision statement for JMU is “To be the national model for the engaged university: engaged with ideas and the world.”

President Alger has entrusted funds to the Faculty Senate to further the university vision. As part of this effort, the Faculty Senate is offering the opportunity for instructional faculty to apply for mini-grants (up to $5,000) to fund engagement projects. 

At JMU, engagement takes three forms:

1. Engaged Learning—Developing deep, purposeful and reflective learning, while uniting campus and community in the pursuit, creation, application and dissemination of knowledge.
2. Civic Engagement—Advancing the legacy of James Madison, the Father of the Constitution, by preparing individuals to be active and responsible participants in a representative democracy dedicated to the common good.
3. Community Engagement—Fostering mutually beneficial and reciprocal partnerships, ranging from local to global, that connect learning to practice, address critical societal problems, and improve quality of life.

Mini-grant funds may be used to support an existing engagement project or for new engagement initiatives.

Eligibility

1. All full-time JMU instructional faculty members are eligible to apply for a Faculty Senate Mini-Grant. The term “instructional faculty” is defined in the Faculty Handbook as individuals who devote at least 50 percent of their appointment to teaching and research functions of the university. Academic unit heads are defined as instructional faculty members.
2. Part-time and adjunct JMU faculty who have primary responsibility for the teaching of for-credit courses are eligible to apply for a Faculty Senate Mini-Grant in the fall, provided that the AUH of their academic unit indicates that the PT or adjunct faculty will likely be employed by that academic unit in the coming spring. It is the applying faculty member’s responsibility to secure this indication. If an adjunct’s employment is not renewed in the spring, the funds will be given to the next most deserving mini-grant proposal, as determined by the Nominations & Elections Committee.
3. Part-time and adjunct JMU faculty who have primary responsibility for the teaching of for-credit courses and have been continuously employed by JMU in such capacity for at least six consecutive semesters (three academic years) are eligible to apply for a Faculty Senate Mini-Grant. The status of part-time and adjunct faculty is defined in the Manual of Policies and Procedures, Policy 2104.
4. Those not eligible to apply for a Faculty Senate Mini-Grant include classified staff members, administrative and professional (A&P) faculty, emeritus faculty, visiting faculty, scholars in residence, and researchers, as those terms are defined in the Faculty Handbook or university policies.
5. Priority will be given to applicants who have not received mini-grant funds in the previous two years, but funding decisions will ultimately be based on proposal merit as defined by the judgment criteria (high-quality engagement, relevant expertise, and clarity and feasibility).
6. For eligible applicants, resubmission of last year’s proposal is acceptable.

Timeline

• Applications due January 31, 2023
• Awardees announced February 6, 2023
• Projects implemented February 7 to June 30, 2023
• Brief project summary results (250 words) due September 1, 2023 to the Faculty Senate Marshal. 

Questions

If you have questions, contact Melanie Shoffner, the Faculty Senate Marshal (shoffnme@jmu.edu).