Advancing Equity in the Age of COVID-19

Office of Inclusive Excellence Confronting Extremism Program
Call for Resource Center Proposals:

Are We in This Together? Advancing Equity in the Age of COVID-19

The Advancing Equity call solicits proposals to promote understanding about equity in the age of the COVID-19 in order to support and advance success for students at UCI.

The current pandemic has profoundly interrupted patterns of learning and life while causing widespread sickness and death at local, national and global levels. Now, more than ever, institutions of higher education and our campus specifically must take into consideration the connections across the lives of students as learners, as family members, and as community agents while responding to outcomes arising from the novel coronavirus.  UCI resource centers – those staff-run units providing academic, social, psychological, identity and other supports – are major levers for care, safety, and resilience for the students they support.

As part of its expanding programming to Confront Extremism, the Office of Inclusive Excellence requests proposals to pilot, extend, and/or refine center programming to enhance student care and success by addressing, reducing and mitigating the fault-lines of inequities arising from the current pandemic.

Competitive proposals may explore the meaning (s) of the pandemic from a broad cross section of fields, disciplines, methodologies or theoretical perspectives, but requires focused attention on innovative programs, services, and events with the evidence-based potential to transform student experiences and learning opportunities. Using COVID-19 as a lens through which to explore fault lines of inequities, proposers are therefore encouraged to interrogate the uneven effects and realities of the pandemic on students and their programs, departments, and living communities at UCI.  Important topics for exploration, pilot programming, scaling up, and other engagement opportunities would include, but are not limited to, issues of identity formation among traditional and vulnerable student groups, producing resiliency in the face of stigma and bias, creating a sense of belonging and community amid social distancing, addressing financial or food security, addressing advising and academic gaps in mandated learning environments, enhancing mental/physical/financial/other health and wellbeing, creating pathways to admission, orientation, and careers through campus resources.  Project contact leads must be the directors of identified campus resource centers.

Competitive proposals will have either single or multiple project leads and will be funded up to $10,000 per project. Proposals must address at least one of the following areas:

• Pilot programming, creative activities, conferences, workshops, or other explorations to launch evidence-based undergraduate or graduate student interventions, training, or other malleable supports to address aspects of equity, diversity, and inclusion for students learning during an age of COVID-19. These projects will provide evidence-based rationale for the use of promising practices, detail the use of SMART (strategic, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely) goals and metrics to track success.
• Project extensions that scale up and enhance demonstrated or promising practices for student care, learning, sense of belonging and/or engagement with inclusive excellence. Project assessment will detail expected learning outcomes and provide SMART (strategic, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely) goals and detailed activities to show measurable impacts and gains for students
• Assessments of processes, decision-making, strategies, or approaches used by individual resource units or clusters of units to strengthen the service mission for engaging students at UCI, building community, and countering stereotypes. These projects will highlight how processes supported student engagement for the campus and/or community served by UCI to advance inclusive excellence in the face of specific strategies, policies, and practices related to COVID-19 issues.

Type of Projects Funded/Fund Use

Projects may range from forums and workshops, case study of strategic decision making, or direct interventions, service expansions, or innovative programming to support undergraduates or graduate students at UCI while learning in an age of COVID-19.

Funding must be used solely for project activities according to UCI policies governing state funds. Fund use may include summer ninths salary, if applicable, equipment, presentation fees, learning tools, and resources, but funds may not be used for one-time salary stipends or direct payments to UCI undergraduates or UCI graduate students or other students. All projects must align with the UC Regents Principles against Intolerance.

Review Process

Submissions will be prioritized by a Review Committee, accompanied by recommendations for funding. Total funding is subject to change and based on the funds available at the time of all funding decisions.  The Office of Inclusive Excellence expects to fund a total of 10 single-lead or multiple-lead resource projects.

Proposal Components

Only complete proposals will be considered; incomplete proposals will be returned without review.

Complete proposals must include: completed form submitted online and one PDF proposal of a maximum of two typed pages with the following components:

• Abstract/Project Summary of no more than 150 words
• Statement of Need/Project Purpose
• Project Activities, Approaches, and Expected Outcomes, inclusive of a project timeline
• Evaluation/Assessment Plan
• Significance of the Project
• Plans for Dissemination
• Budget and Budget Narrative detailing expenses

Deadlines

Complete proposals must be submitted no later than 5 p.m. (Pacific time) on Friday, May 22, 2020

Implementation Requirements

Lead Contacts for all projects funded from this call accept responsibilities to:

• Provide image(s) and abstracts for online project promotion
• Complete mid-year and annual project updates on expenses and advancement of project goals
• Request advance approval from the Office of Inclusive Excellence in writing for any changes in fund uses or funded project activities
• Participate in a video-recorded interview and public forum to communicate findings and project outcomes
• Complete a Project Use Report and expend all funds by June 30, 2021.