From the Center for Community Partnerships
Course Development Grants: March 30
The Center for Community Partnerships announces course development grants to promote academically-based community service, learning and research. Academically-based community service (ABCS) is at the core of the Center's work. Rooted in and intrinsically linked to teaching and/or research, ABCS encompasses problem-oriented research and teaching, as well as service learning. The grants support University faculty to develop new courses that combine research with cooperative community projects.
Proposals should be submitted by faculty to one of the five programs listed below. Courses should be new or substantially restructured and could be undergraduate, graduate or mixed undergraduate and graduate. The proposal format and deadline is identical for all programs.
A specific proposal can be submitted to only one program, but faculty may submit more than one proposal. Grants will be for no more than $3,000 per project. These funds can be used to provide graduate and undergraduate support, course support and/or summer salary ($3,000 is inclusive of E.B. if taken as salary).
The programs are:
Program in Nonprofits, Universities, Communities, and Schools (PNUCS):
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation Building Bridges Initiative has provided the Center for Community Partnerships with a four-year grant to develop the Program in Nonprofits, Universities, Communities, and Schools (PNUCS). PNUCS' themes are nonprofit administration, institutional asset mapping, and youth leadership. A significant feature of PNUCS-related courses should be the combination of theory and practice. They should include opportunities for faculty and students to provide technical assistance support to nonprofit agencies of varying size and character and engage students in problem-solving activities in conjunction with nonprofit organizations located across West and Southwest Philadelphia neighborhoods.
Ram Cnaan, Associate Professor, Social Work, Co-Principal Investigator;
Ira Harkavy, Principal Investigator;
Mark A. Barnes, Project Director
Program in Universities, Communities of Faith, Schools and Neighborhoods (PUCFSN):
The Program in Universities, Communities of Faith, Schools and Neighborhoods, supported by the Jessie Ball duPont Fund, brings the Penn community into dialogue with religious leaders of all faiths in West Philadelphia together with the leaders of West Philadelphia schools and neighborhood organizations. Through this dialogue, program leaders seek to break down long-standing barriers and create jointly determined and mutually beneficial action-oriented partnerships that address community needs. Other activities include the development of new Penn courses that will engage Penn faculty and students with communities of faith and the overall work of the Program.
Stephen Dunning, Chair of PUCFSN Faculty Committee, Religious Studies Chair;
Wil Gipson, Chaplain of the University, Co-Principal Investigator;
Ira Harkavy, Co-Principal Investigator
Philadelphia Higher Education Network for Neighborhood Development (PHENND):
The Corporation for National Service has provided PHENND, a coalition of over 40 Philadelphia-region higher eds, with a three-year grant to help the PHENND member institutions develop higher education-community partnerships through strategic service-learning. The grant supports PHENND faculty to develop new undergraduate courses that combine research with cooperative community projects. Alternatively, the grant could provide support for undergraduates to participate in research opportunities that will both benefit the community and lead to the development of new courses. The PHENND course development program focuses on four themes: Education; Environment; Public Safety; and other Human Needs. Proposals should fall within the four project areas. While grants will be awarded for no more than $3,000 per project, awardees may then be eligible for an additional $1,000 implementation grant to support work done during the course or research project. PHENND encourages proposals that meet the following additional criteria: (1) The course is part of a project that involves more than one IHE (Institution of Higher Education) to work collaboratively in a specific neighborhood or area (ex. Penn and Drexel and/or University of the Sciences in West Philadelphia) (2) The course is multidisciplinary or the course is part of a project that involves substantial multidisciplinary work.
Hillary Aisenstein, Director;
Ira Harkavy, PHENND Co-Chair
Community Arts Partnership (CAP):
The Community Arts Partnership (CAP) advances academically-based community service by Penn humanities faculty and students in collaboration with West Philadelphia community-based organizations and community artists to create and expand community arts programs at West Philadelphia public schools and in the community.
Ira Harkavy, Principal Investigator;
Ralph Rosen, Chair of CAP Faculty Committee, Classics Department Chair
Center for Community Partnerships Course Development Program:
Funded by both the Provost's Office and the Center for Community Partnerships, this program will allow faculty to develop new and substantially restructured undergraduate and graduate level courses that engage students in real world problem solving projects in conjunction with schools and community organizations located in West Philadelphia.
Francis E. Johnston, Co-Chair of Center for Community Partnerships Faculty Advisory Committee;
Albert J. Stunkard, Co-Chair of Center for Community Partnerships Faculty Advisory Committee;
Ira Harkavy, Director, Center for Community Partnerships
The criteria and format for submitting proposals to all five of the above programs are:
Criteria:
- Academic excellence
- Integration of research, teaching and service
- Partnership with schools, community groups, service agencies, etc.
- Focus on Philadelphia, especially West Philadelphia
- Evidence as to how the course activity will involve participation or interaction with the community as well as contribute to improving the community
- Evidence as to how the course activity will engage undergraduates in research opportunities
- Potential for sustainability
Format:
- 1. Cover Page
- 1.1 - Name, title, department, school, mailing address, social security
number
- 1.2 - Title of the proposal
- 1.3 - Amount requested
- 1.4 - Specific program to which you are applying
- 1.5 - 100-word abstract of the proposal (include a description of how the course will involve interaction with the community and benefit the community)
- 1.2 - Title of the proposal
- 2. A one-page biographical sketch of applicant
- 3. A two-to four-page mini-proposal
- 4. Amount of the request and budget
- 3. A two-to four-page mini-proposal
An original and five copies of the proposal should be submitted to the Center for Community Partnerships, 133 S. 36th Street, Suite 519, Philadelphia, PA 19104-3246. The due date for all programs is March 30, 2001 by 5 p.m.
--Richard Beeman, Dean of the College Co-Chair,
Faculty Advisory Committee,
Center for Community Partnerships
--Francis E. Johnston, Professor of Anthropology Co-Chair,
Faculty Advisory Committee,
Center for Community Partnerships
--Albert J. Stunkard, Professor of Psychiatry Co-Chair,
Faculty Advisory Committee,
Center for Community Partnerships
--Ira Harkavy, Associate Vice President and Director,
Center for Community Partnerships
Almanac, Vol. 47, No. 23, February 20, 2001