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Steve and Karen Jones SEAD Fund Application

Submission due date: Monthly rolling — Last day of each month (5:00pm EST)

Summary

Supported by a gift from Steve and Karen Jones, the Center for Educational Networks and Impacts (CENI) invites applications for SEAD (Science, Engineering, Arts, and Design) projects that support educator professional development and/or research-practice partnerships that seek systemic change in formal and informal education ecosystems. These funds can be used to pursue a range of transdisciplinary activities including pilot studies, feasibility studies, preliminary research, or outreach activities that are part of sustained engagement with educational partners. SEAD grants should help catalyze larger projects (with possibilities for future funding), long-term initiatives, or events, performances, or exhibitions that engage teachers, students, and the community at the regional level.

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Jones Grant Cover.pdf Coversheet for Jones/CENI Funding Application
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CENI prioritizes community-engaged projects that contribute to one or more of the following priorities:

  • Applied Education Research and Engagement in Formal and Informal Learning Environments
    Projects that create or enhance educational environments that contribute to student creativity, capacity for collaboration, and preparation for lifelong learning. This work is changing where, what, and how students learn by prioritizing interdisciplinary, intergenerational, and community-engaged collaborative problem-solving.
  • Dynamics of Educational Partnerships and Collaborative Networks
    Projects that advance the scholarship and practice of interorganizational collaboration in pursuit of educational outcomes, improvements, and enhancements. This work is strengthening collective, multisector responses to evolving educational, economic, political, and social contexts.
  • Systemic Change in Youth and Community Education
    Projects that inform transformative change initiatives by attending to the complexity and ambiguity inherent in educational systems. This work is enabling policy reform, shifting paradigms, and stimulating innovative educational practices. Informed by stakeholder participation and systems thinking, these projects emphasize the role education plays in creating a just and equitable future for civil society and the economy.

CENI faculty and school/museum liaisons may be available to collaborate on approved research projects and/or provide access to CENI/ICAT outreach events (e.g., Hokie for a Day, Science Festival, ICAT Days). As part of your proposal, please indicate what assistance you are requesting from CENI. In some instances, ICAT/CENI can provide workspace in support of SEAD projects during the project award period.

All faculty members at Virginia Tech are invited to submit an application and lead a project team. The PI must be a Virginia Tech faculty member partnering with an educator in a formal or informal learning system in the community. Project leaders are encouraged to work with a CENI school/museum liaison, especially if there is no track record of successful collaboration with the proposed external partner. In keeping with Virginia Tech’s Principles of Community, CENI recognizes the critical importance of diverse teams of scholars.

Funding requests may be up to $6,000. Funds are limited, and CENI expects to make 1-2 awards per year.

Funds can be used:

  • to enable teachers to work outside the classroom and for logistics that enable teachers and students to attend VT-related activities
  • to buy out faculty time during the academic year or summer with home department approval
  • to buy equipment, software, and materials
  • to pay student wages

Funds will not be awarded for conference travel, food, or outside artist fees.

Funds will be awarded to PI’s home department unless otherwise authorized by CENI. All project expenses must be posted to Banner within 30 days of the project’s end date. Unspent funds must be transferred back to CENI within 45 days of the project’s end date.

Submit application materials in a single PDF document to CENI at ceni@vt.edu. Application must not exceed five pages (Times New Roman, 12pt font), including images, tables, or figures. Applications are considered twice per year; deadlines for consideration are October 31st  for projects to begin in the spring or summer and May 31st for projects scheduled to begin in the fall.

Only complete applications will be reviewed. Complete application will include the following items:

  1. Cover sheet to include signatures for all team members and their department head or center director. The cover sheet is NOT included in the page count.
  2. A proposal document including:
    1. Statement of need
    2. Project description, including methods and strategies
    3. Linkage to CENI Research and Outreach Focus Areas
    4. Expected products, deliverables, and impacts, including plans for future funding
  3. Project budget and budget justification
  4. Technical support needed from CENI
  5. Plan for evaluating project success
  6. Project timeline (12 months or less)
  7. Letter(s) of support from external partners. Letters are NOT included page count.

If you have questions about the submission process, please contact Gary Kirk at ceni@vt.edu.

The proposals will be reviewed by a committee of CENI faculty, affiliated faculty, and community liaisons. Evaluation will be based on the following criteria:

  • Relevance to CENI’s mission and Jones fund priorities
  • Intellectual merit and innovation
  • Potential impact of the project
  • Feasibility
  • Potential for SEAD funding to lead to sustainable results and/or continued funding
  • Interdisciplinary nature of the team