Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Innovation Grant Program

Progress update

This initiative is now completed, but was active in the first three years of the five-year DEI Strategic Plan. A total of 40 grants were selected for full or partial funding over the three-year grant period.

In Year One of the strategic plan, the university established the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Innovation Grants as a dedicated DEI activity fund to encourage innovative ideas that promote, enhance and celebrate diversity, equity and inclusion campuswide. Under the terms of this three-year program, all students, faculty and staff were encouraged to submit proposals for individual grants of up to $10K. In the third and final year of the DEI Innovation Grant Program, teams of faculty, students and staff reviewed 134 applications—with 80 of those submitted by students. The 18 winners received funding that totaled nearly $95,000.

The inaugural Request for Proposals took place in April of 2017. During the first two cycles, 149 applications for one-time grants reflecting a broad range of issues and concerns were received and reviewed by teams of faculty, staff, students and the DEI central office staff. The objective was to fund DEI-related ideas and projects with scalability potential for broader use.

The results for the third and final year of this grant program included:

• 6 staff awards for a total of $38,016
• 6 student awards totaling $24,685
• 6 faculty awards totaling $32,274