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The Office of Research and Engagement (ORE) has announced that five faculty-community partnerships have received 2026 Public Service Endowment Grants (PSEGs).

PSEGs, intended to enhance the mission of UMass Amherst as a Carnegie-classified “Engaged Research University,” focus on mutually beneficial collaborative partnerships between the university and off-campus community organizations through special projects and related scholarship that address a problem or need and/or build capacity.

The use of these non-renewable awards helps leverage campus and community resources and create opportunities for sustained engagement after the end of the grant period. Full-time faculty and permanent professional staff are eligible to apply for the grants, which provide up to $15,000 in funding for one-year projects.

Complete details regarding PSEGs and information about the application process can be found on the ORE website.
 

2026 Public Service Endowment Grant Awardees

Lorraine Cordeiro, Nutrition, School of Public Health and Health Sciences, and Bi-sek Hsiao, Center for Research on Families
Community Partner: Billy Spitzer, Hitchcock Center for the Environment, Amherst, Mass.
“Bridging Education and Employment: Undergraduate Work-Based Learning for the 21st-Century Workforce”

Jordan Kanter, Architecture, College of Humanities and Fine Arts 
Community Partner: Brett Isaac, Navajo Power/Navajo Power Home, Flagstaff, Arizona 
“Reimagining the Housing–Infrastructure Nexus: Distributed Energy and Water in Navajo Communities”

Ray Mann, Architecture, College of Humanities and Fine Arts, and Michael Amato, Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning, College of Social and Behavioral Sciences 
Community Partner: Jose Santana, Chaubunagungamaug Band of Nipmuck Indians, Nipmuck Indian Council, Inc., Leicester, Mass. 
“A Nipmuck Resiliency Hub at Kekamoochaug”

Tatishe Nteta, Political Science, College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, and Jack Schneider, Center for Education Policy, College of Education 
Community Partner: Max Page, Massachusetts Teachers Association, Quincy, Mass.
“The Annual Massachusetts Educator Survey”

Amilcar Shabazz, W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies, College of Humanities and Fine Arts 
Community Partner: Marsha Morris, Northampton Reparations Study Commission Community Engagement Working Group, Northampton, Mass.
“The Spatial Dimension of Black Reparations: Land & Sovereignty in State and Local Reparative Justice Initiatives in the United States”