The College of New Jersey Engagement Mini-Grant Program (2016-2017)

Request for Proposals (RFP)

Overview and Purpose

Funded by the Division of Student Affairs, theEngagement Mini-Grant Programis designed to:

  • Foster collaborations between members of Academic Affairs (e.g. faculty members, academic departments, offices, Schools)and Student Affairs by providing seed money to develop new or enhance existing innovative student engagement programs, projects, or experiences.
  • Deepen student learning and students’ holistic development by generating student engagement opportunities that are linked to the College’s strategic plan and focused on complementing and enhancing the learning that occurs both inside and outside the classroom. Priority will be given to those that connect to one or more of the College’s Signature Experiences.
  • Build our College communityby establishing new (and strengthening existing) Academic Affairs and Student Affairs democratic partnerships, where faculty and administrators are co-educators and co-creators of student learning.

Funding Available (NOTE: Final grant funding is contingent on the 2016-2017 budget allocation process.)

During the 2016-2017academic year,grant awards will fund up to $5,000 for each submission that meets specific criteria, as defined below. The selection committee will annually award a maximum of $15,000 in mini-grants to fund projects (pending FY17 budget approval).

Defining Student Engagement

Student engagement, defined by Kuh (2009) as the “time and effort students devote to activities that are empirically linked to desired outcomes of college and what institutions do to induce students to participate in these activities,” occurs in a number of forms (p. 683). These include faculty-student interactions in and outside of the classroom, involvement in co-curricular programs, dialogue across difference, community-based learning, and living-learning communities. Over the past three decades there have been a number of studies documenting the positive effects of college student engagement. These outcomes include an increase in students’ leadership, time management, critical thinking, and interpersonal skills, as well as higher GPAs (Zacherman & Foubert, 2014).

Selection Criteria

Project proposals will be reviewed by members of the Division of Student Affairs and Academic Affairs:

  1. The project must clearly demonstrate collaboration between Student Affairs and Academic Affairs and be co-written by a member of Academic Affairs and a member of Student Affairs.
  2. The project must support the College’s strategic plan, with priority given to projects that connect to one or more of the College’s Signature Experiences.
  3. The project must demonstrate a clear benefit to the College community and provide opportunity for student engagement that occurs outside of the traditional classroom.
  4. The project must be completed within an established timeline. All project funding must be spent on or before June 30, 2017.
  5. The budget should be planned as a cost-effective use of grant funds and other College resources and should not duplicate existing activities or programs.
  6. The project must be a new initiative or an enhancement/expansion of an existing program or project.

Grantmaking Timeline

(NOTE: There will be TWO award cycles during the 2016-2017 academic year, but this is all pending FY17 budget approval)

Request for Proposals (RFP) available: March 1, 2016

Proposals due:April 29, 2016 or November 18, 2016

Grant awards announced: July 1, 2016 and November 30, 2016

Funds available: July 15, 2016 – June 30, 2017

Final report due after project completed: July 31, 2017

Application Procedure

  1. Completing each section of the Proposal Form by addressing the questions and instructions, to include:
  2. Project Information
  3. Project Narrative (Learning Objectives and Assessment; Collaboration and Partnerships; Timeline)
  4. Project Budget
  5. Project Assessment Plan
  6. Submitting one (1) electronic copy of Proposal Form to before 5:00pm on April 29, 2016 or November 18, 2016. The form below is a MS Word template;use “Save As” to rename the file before submission. Proposals submitted after the due date may not be considered by the Engagement Mini-Grant Selection Committee.

AdditionalInstructions and Information:

As with any grant process, there is a variety of information to consider before, during, and after application. Below are a few items to aid in the process:

Funding is only available for student engagement projects co-led by members of Academic Affairs and Student Affairs at The College of New Jersey.

Applicants may apply for funding for up to a maximum of four terms.

All proposals will be reviewed by the Engagement Mini-GrantSelection Committee, which is comprised of members from Academic Affairs, Student Affairs, and Student Government. Members of the Committee will review the grant according to the Selection Criteria listed above and may request additional information during the review process.

Once grant decisions are announced, Student Affairs will transfer the awarded funds to the Student Affairs awardee’s office account.

The grant period is from July 15, 2016 to June 30, 2017. All grant funds must be spent by June 30, 2017. Project work can continue beyond June 30, 2017, but all funds must be expended by this date.

Grant recipients arerequired to acknowledge the Engagement Mini-GrantProgram as a funding source when advertising/promoting the funded event.

Grant recipients must submit a final report (which includes assessment data)by July 31, 2017.

Grant funds may not be used for salaries or stipends for TCNJ students, faculty, or staff.

Grant funds cannot be used to pay for existing programs or projects that normally would receive funding through the regular budget allocation process.

In situations where full funding may not be available for a project, the Engagement Mini-Grant Selection Committee may recommendpartial funding after consultation with the applicant.

Engagement Mini-Grant Proposal Form

Please complete the fields below by typing directly into this form. Use “Save As” to save an electronic copy.

Applicant Name, Title, and Department/School(Primary Contact from Academic Affairs):

Email:Telephone:

Applicant Name, Title, and Office (Primary Contact from Student Affairs):

Email:Telephone:

Project Title:

Amount Requested: $ (Up to $5,000)

Project Timeframe:

Fall Term 2016 Winter Term 2017 Spring Term 2017 Summer Term 2017

Entire 2016-2017 Year

Project Overview: Please describe your student engagement program. Be sure to includeif you are requesting funding to support a new program, or enhance/expand an existing program. Provide an overview of how the funding will be used, how the program provides opportunity for student learning and holistic student development, and who will benefit (limit 500 words):

Signature Experience/Strategic Plan: Please describe how your program supports the signature experience or the TCNJ’s strategic values and priorities. You can find out more information about the strategic plan at and the Signature experiences at

Learning Outcomes: Please detail the program’s learning outcomes and describe how your programaligns with the College’s strategic plan (eg vision, mission, values, strategic priorities, etc.) (limit 250 words):

Assessment: Please describe how you will assess student learning and the success of the program. (limit 250 words):

Collaboration and Partnerships: Please describe how this is a democratic partnership between Academic

Affairs and Student Affairs. (limit 250 words):

Timeline: Provide a timeline for the project that includes major milestones and deliverables. If the project will not be completed by June 30, 2017, indicate who you will spend all the funds by that date.

Budget: The budget is the financial plan for your project. Please use the space below to provide an itemized budget that includes the total cost of the project and a brief description of each budget item. If your total budget is greater than $5,000, please show from where the additional funding will come.

Budget Category / Narrative/Description / Amount
Fees/Honoraria
Consumable Supplies
Equipment
Printing
Travel/Transportation
Food
Other
Total Budget
Total Mini-Grant Dollars Requested
Amount of Dollars Provided Elsewhere to Fund the Project and
the Source(s) of Funding / $ Amount
Source(s)

Comments, questions, and suggestions are most welcome. Please address them to Avani Rana, at or x2411.

Engagement Mini-Grants Program RFP -- 1