Campus Climate Improvement Grant Proposals Sought

Dignity and Respect logo

The Office of Equity and Inclusion is accepting applications for 2019-20 Campus Climate Improvement Grants until March 15. Undergraduate and graduate students, faculty and staff are encouraged to submit their creative ideas for fostering connection on campus in the upcoming academic year.

These grants, ranging from $250 to $2,500, are intended to support projects that help build community and create a more inclusive campus. The funded projects include film series, book clubs, workshops, art exhibits, lectures, events and more. In total, more than $20,000 in funding will be awarded.

“Since the launch of the Campus Climate Improvement Grants, we’ve had over 40 members of our campus community launch projects to help foster a campus of dignity and mutual respect,” says Enobong (Anna) Branch, associate chancellor for equity and inclusion and chief diversity officer. “This engagement by our student, staff and faculty populations are key to helping us move forward together as we work towards making UMass a community of choice for all.”

Priority will be given to those proposals that are likely to yield a more sustained climate improvement and involve members of our campus community. Special consideration will be given to projects that encourage participation and coordination between two or more areas, schools, departments, organizations or groups.

Prior to application, prospective grantees must attend one of two scheduled information sessions to be eligible to apply. Informational sessions will be held Feb. 27 at 11 a.m. and March 5 at 3 p.m., which you can sign up for here. 

The application can be found here. 

2018-19 Campus Climate Improvement Grant Recipients

  • Saloonee Adhikari, undergraduate student, UMass First-Generation and Low-Income Guidebook
  • Mitch Boucher,Jacqueline Castledine and Julie Skogsbergh, faculty, Social Justice at the Intersections - Storytelling for Community Building Across Difference
  • Christine Burnett, staff, Pass It On Book Circle
  • Madeleine Charney and Jonathan Crowley, staff, Mindfulness for All
  • Iris Chelaru, staff, Mentorship Program for Campus IT Professionals
  • Isabel Espinal and Pete Smith, staff, It Takes a Village to Mentor and Recruit Librarians of Color
  • Keisha Green, faculty, NEPR Media Lab
  • Kirsten Helmer, faculty, First-Year Student Learning Community for Neurodiverse Students
  • Bryan Monesson-Olson, faculty, Increase STEM Content Accessibility for Students
  • Daniel Morales, graduate student, Promoting Our Wealth and Educational Resilience (POWER): Recognizing Community Cultural Wealth Through Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies​
  • Ivory Moulton, undergraduate student, Thank A Service Worker 
  • Aisha Murdaugh, staff, Disability Services Film Series 
  • Sonny Nordmarken, graduate student, Transgender Studies Mutual Mentoring Graduate Seminar 
  • Autumn Phaneuf, graduate student, Engineering International and Immigrant Family Dinners
  • David Reinhard, faculty, Bridging the Great Divide: Democrat-Republican Rivalry and Its Consequences for Diversity, Disparity and Inclusion on Campus 
  • Korka Sall, graduate student, Bi-weekly Inter-departmental Brown Bag Series of African Graduate Students and Scholars
  • Aurora Santiago-Ortiz, graduate student, Intergroup Study Circle
  • Lily Tang, undergraduate student, Asian American Film Festival
  • Loretta Yarlow, staff, For Freedoms Town Hall