Diversity & Inclusion Initiatives Fund Grant Application

The Council on Diversity and Inclusion of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) at the University of Colorado Denver is suspending CLAS Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives Fund (DIIF) Awards for the 2023-2024 academic year.

The DIIF is targeted to promote CLAS’s strategic priority “to enhance diversity across the college and foster a culture of inclusion.” The DIIF aims particularly to fund projects that encourage people to think about diversity and inclusion in meaningful ways and to make positive changes in CLAS and the broader campus.

Examples of projects related to diversity and inclusion goals that the DIIF will support include but are not limited to

  • Hosting speakers, symposia, and conferences
  • Developing and providing workshops on best practices and pedagogies
  • Showcasing diversity and inclusion work
  • Improving policies and procedures within the college

Eligibility

All CLAS students, faculty, and staff are eligible to apply. Applications may have multiple participants, and participation of faculty, staff, and students from other colleges and campus organizations is acceptable. However, the principal awardee must be a member of CLAS. Applicants are eligible to receive ONE award per academic year.

Funding Limit and Allowable Expenses

The DIIF supports two types of awards
1) Deadline awards (DA) of up to $2,500, with Fall and Spring semester deadlines.
2) Rolling awards (RA) of up to $500, with applications taken throughout the academic year. The Council on Diversity and Inclusion encourages student submissions and recognizes that a rolling basis may more adequately fit student needs, since many student projects are planned and funded on a semester-by-semester basis.
Permitted expenses for CLAS DIIF awards include, but are not limited to, travel expenses for invited speakers; costs associated with putting on an event; supplies and materials required for an event or project; honoraria; and student assistants.

Grant Limitations

The DIIF does not cover individual faculty, staff or student research projects unless the application explicitly details how that project will be dissemenated to a broad CLAS audience, or projects better suited to other CLAS grant programs (Dissemination Grants, CRISP, and ACT). DIIF grants should be expended within twelve months of the award unless other arrangements are proposed as part of the application. A one-page report indicating how the goals and outcomes of your project were met is required one month after the project’s completion. Awardees who fail to submit this report will not be eligible for future DIIF grants. Awardees are also expected to submit suitable elements of the project (photos, video, description, etc.) for the DIIF showcase on the CLAS website.

Selection Criteria

Proposals will be evaluated based on merit. Proposals that encourage collaboration among faculty, staff, and students will receive preference. If a student applies without a faculty or staff collaborator, the Council might try to pair the student with a project mentor. Projects that incorporate an intersectional approach to diversity – exploring the ways categories and identities intersect – will also receive priority.
The committee will apply the following criteria:

  • how well does the proposed project aligns with and matches the purposes and goals of the CLAS DIIF
  • follows application guidelines
  • the degree of innovation of the proposed project
  • feasibility of the proposed project
  • potential impact on the CLAS body (student/faculty/staff) at large

Notification: Applicants will be notified of the outcome of their applications within two months of their submission.

Proposals will be evaluated by the CLAS Council on Diversity and Inclusion, which is composed of faculty, students, and staff. Applicants should describe how they will make their proposed projects accessible to all participants. Depending on the nature of the proposal, this may include closed-captioning on films and videos, ASL interpretation, large-print copies of printed materials, etc. Funded participants may be asked to participate and/or present at events highlighting their diversity efforts, such as the CLAS Interdisciplinary Exchanges.

$
250 word maximum. If your project is an individual research project, be sure to address how your research would impact the CLAS mission in a broad manner.
What is the short and long-term impact? (No more than 250 words)
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