Incentive Grants for Engaged Scholarship

Application Process

Community Relations & University Engagement (CRUE) offers faculty grant opportunities to support community engaged scholarship (CES; also referred to as engaged scholarship, defined below). All California State University San Marcos faculty are eligible to apply.

Grant application period:

Open: Saturday, February 15, 2025
Deadline: Friday, March 28, 2025

2025-26: Incentive Grants for Building Partnerships

Building Partnerships

To prepare faculty for future community engaged scholarship projects, proposals to build partnerships should outline: (1) how your engaged work would benefit from an academic-community partnership; (2) a description of potential community partner(s); and (3) activities planned for engaging your potential partners. Awards will range from $500 - $1,000.

Fundable activities for building partnerships include, but are not limited to:

Community partner meetings and hospitality
Materials for interviews to assess community partner needs
Learning opportunities (e.g., attendance to trainings, workshops or conferences focused on community partnerships)
Attendance at community events (e.g., registration, tickets, booth fees)

Selection Process

Members of the the incentive grant committee will conduct a review of the proposals, based on the evaluation rubric.

Funds

The grant funds will be available for use from July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026. A range of $500-$1,000 will be awarded per proposal. All professional development funds must be spent and all paperwork appropriately completed prior to June 30, 2026. It is the responsibility of the faculty member to follow up on any documentation/travel claims with their respective department before the deadline.

*DEFINITION OF COMMUNITY ENGAGED SCHOLARSHIP

Community Engaged Scholarship (CES) is centered on a mutually-beneficial collaboration between the university and a community partner outside the academy. The purpose of the collaboration is to bring together the specialized knowledge of the university with the specialized knowledge of the community to generate new knowledge that is applied to solve critical issues of interest to both. CES meets the needs of the community partner as defined and expressed by the partner, with measurable outcomes. The collaborative work is characterized by robust participation by both the university and community partners and results are disseminated to all partners and beyond.

By community we mean an organization, entity, or simply people, outside of academia.
By engaged we mean a partnership between community members and the university that is marked by mutual respect, in which all partners are significantly and equitably involved in the partnership, community needs are the motivation for the partnership, and the goals and outcomes of the partnership are mutually beneficial.
By scholarship we mean a process of inquiry that applies a suitable methodology to answer a question driven by community needs and goals, and that contributes to a body of knowledge. The outcomes of CES include both traditional peer-reviewed products as well as items of use to the community partner that would not have been created without the scholar’s input.

**DEFINITION OF PUBLIC GOOD

The term “public good” speaks to the commitment to civic [engagement] and social responsibility, to serving and protecting ... [societal well-being]. It implies a moral obligation on the part of individuals and institutions to attend to social problems.

~ Higher Education for the Public Good: A Report from the National Leadership Dialogues

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