Welcoming the World to Amherst

Student Engagement and the International Programs Office are pleased to announce a co-sponsored grant program “Welcoming the World to Amherst” that is intended to inspire and support new, innovative co-curricular programming to promote strong, deep and meaningful engagements and interactions among domestic and international students.

The grant program is offered to Registered Student Organizations (RSO’s) and Graduate Student Organizations (GSO’s) and is intended to support programs that foster collaborations among international and domestic students. 

Applications are due via Campus Pulse by January 15, 2016 and organizations will be notified about the status of their application by January 22, 2016.

• Student groups must be UMass Amherst RSOs or GSOs to be eligible.

• A maximum of 10 proposed projects will each be awarded up to a maximum of $1,000 for costs related to the development and implementation of a co-curricular program or activity during the spring 2016. These funds must be spent by June 30, 2016.

• Both the planning and the implementation of the project must be in partnership with RSOs/GSOs involved in international and U.S. diversity efforts. Other groups and organizations may also be included.

• Residence Education will sponsor an additional $500 per grant if RSOs or GSOs partner with an on-campus residential community where international and domestic students live together in community such as Gorman/Wheeler, Thatcher/Lewis/Johnson, and North Village Family Housing Community. All other grant criteria apply. 

• Funding will be awarded to the lead RSO/GSO initiating the project. The lead group will be required to document how the funding was shared with collaborating student groups.

•  After the program is offered, representatives of each funded group will be required to report to the WW2A team on their experiences (a 200 word narrative, photographs and/or videos).

• Grant recipients are required to participate in an initial workshop that details the WW2A program's goals.

• The grant encourages and will give priority to activities that occur over time rather than a single event. WW2A is not available to support the purchase of equipment or pay for salaries.

Inquires may be submitted to:

Johnny P. Tooson
Executive Director of Student Engagement and Leadership
Student Affairs and Campus Life
jtooson@umass.edu