Responsible Community Engagement for Federal and National Grant Proposals

​How can community partners be more meaningfully engaged in federal grant proposals?

​Federal grants are increasingly requiring university-based researchers, faculty, and principal investigators (PIs) to involve community members in their projects to ensure a strong connection between community-identified needs and the research process. This represents a significant shift, as many faculty members have not been trained in effective community engagement, creating a gap in practice. While faculty are expected to establish partnerships with community organizations, the depth and quality of these connections are often unclear.

​To address this challenge, a growing number of community engagement professionals on campuses are helping faculty and PIs identify potential partners. However, this involvement is sometimes treated as an afterthought, resulting in a last-minute effort to include community partners who were not involved in shaping the proposal from the start.

​This workshop is sponsored by:

• ​Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Education

• ​UniverCity Alliance

• ​Morgridge Center for Public Service

• ​Morgridge Institute for Research

• ​College of Letters & Science

• ​School of Medicine and Public Health