Completed 2023 Initiative

Strengthening community at The University of Texas at Austin is an important goal. The initiative – Actions That Promote Community Transformation (ACT) – aims to support and enable members of our campus community to lead projects that promote community development, mentorship, and sense of belonging.

We are excited to announce the call for proposals for the 2023-2024 Actions That Promote Community Transformation Award. Seed grants ($3,000-$5,000) will support faculty led initiatives that encourage community development, mentorship, and sense of belonging.  We will accept applications for the 4^th cohort of the program until September 25, 2023 and awards will be announced at the beginning of October.

Who may participate:

Project goals can be geared towards faculty, staff, or students, but must be led by a faculty member.

The following is an outline of project requirements/parameters:

• Projects may be proposed by individuals or teams.
• Teams may involve staff and students but must be led by faculty.
• Projects may include piloting new ideas, testing new initiatives, or data collection on issues of interest, etc.
• Projects may also be a continuation of previous projects that have been successful.
• Areas of interest can include
  • Improving support of graduate or undergraduate education
  • Enhancing departmental culture
  • Hiring and recruitment of faculty, staff, and students
  • Practices that improve faculty/ staff promotion and retention
  • Understanding the variety of needs within our campus community
  • Amplifying and collaborating with campus resources
  • Identifying opportunities for improve faculty, staff, and student support, development, and mentorship.

Please note: this initiative covers time periods after the effective date of the new SB17.  For this reason, the following apply:

• Proposed projects should not include programs or activities designed or implemented in reference to race, color, ethnicity, gender identity, or sexual orientation if they will be implemented in university programs.
• Projects that qualify as research by students, faculty, or research personnel are not similarly restricted.
• Projects that qualify as creative work by students, faculty, or research personnel are also not similarly restricted.

Application:

You will be asked to attach a project budget and a project proposal to your application.

Your project proposal should be no more than two pages in length and must include the following sections.

• Project Title
• Project Members: List names and departments/colleges
• Project Rationale: How will your project build community on campus?
• Project Outcomes: What are you hoping to achieve with the completion of your project?
• Project Impact: How will you share the impact of the project? Whom will you share it with?
• Metrics for Evaluation: How will you evaluate your project goals and outcomes?

Application Deadline:

September 25, 2023 at 11:59 pm

Award Recipient Commitments

Participants will attend monthly community building workshops that identify resources to strengthen their project outcomes and build community with other award recipients.

• Monthly Community Building Workshops
• Submit a Mid-Year and End of Year Report
  • January 15- Mid Year Report
  • August 2- End of Year Report
• Participate in Impact Lunch with Dean upon completion of project
• Present project outcomes at ACT Community Fair Spring 2024