Funds are currently available on a competitive basis for innovative community-based research (CBR) courses and projects. Awards will be between $2,500 — $7,500 per year for one to three years. These grants will be awarded to higher education institutions doing innovative CBR work that can serve as models for best practices.

Examples of innovative work could include, but are not limited to:

• Connecting community-based research to the policy and information needs of nonprofit organizations and citizens;
• Linking CBR to ongoing direct service partnerships, especially in programs that serve disadvantaged youth (e.g., evaluating the effectiveness of an after-school tutoring program involving students in an America Reads Program);
• Developing campus partnerships with youth civic engagement groups that involve youth as researchers supported by college students;
• Establishing summer CBR internships that enable students to provide full-time CBR assistance to a community partner;
• Creating stipended CBR internships during the school year that leverage Federal Work-Study and part-time AmeriCorps student funding;
• Organizing multi-site CBR projects that link campus and community partners in different geographical locations (e.g., a study of college prep programs for low-income youth in three rural communities).

CRITERIA

All projects must:

• Involve collaboration between the university and one or more community organizations in the project design and plan for use of the research;
• Clearly state how the project reflects an innovative approach to CBR;
• Result in replication guidelines to facilitate adoption of successful models,
• Have a realistic workflow, timeframe, and budget; and
• Include a 50% match requirement (e.g., a $5,000 award would require a $2,500 match from the institution).

PROPOSAL STRUCTURE:

Please send a project outline of no more than 5 pages including:

1. A brief overview of the community-based research program at your institution, including history, infrastructure, and current initiatives/programs.
2. A description of the community-based research project, including descriptions of participating community partners, covering both process and outcomes, and addressing the criteria above, for each year of requested funding (up to three years).
3. A short description of how the project represents innovation in the field of community-based research.
4. A short description of tools, trainings, and other resources the project is anticipated to generate and share with other CBR centers.
5. The names and contact information for faculty who will be involved in the project.
6. The names and contact information for community representatives who will help guide this initiative and any other non-profit partners who will play active roles.
7. An explanation of how grant funds will support this project.
8. A budget that includes grant and matching funds for each year of funding requested.

All grant recipients must agree to abide by the regulations of the Corporation for National and Community Service, which can be found at http://www.learnandserve.gov/pdf/highered_prov_06.pdf.

Proposals must be submitted by February 1, 2007. If you are uncertain that your project fits the criteria, we encourage you to send a letter or e-mail outlining your project for feedback. Please submit letters of inquiry and final proposals to ld2@princeton.edu.

For more information on the National Community-Based Research Networking Initiative, see the project web page. For all program-related inquiries, please write to Lauren Davis at ld2@princeton.edu.

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ISSUES TO CONSIDER WHEN PREPARING YOUR PROPOSAL

When considering whether your program fits the criteria for the innovation subgrant, please consider these important issues. Many are related to the Initiative’s definition of CBR, as follows:

Community-based research seeks to be linked to the community where data are collected and analyzed with the purpose of taking action or affecting social change. Elements of community-based research include community participation and an ongoing reciprocal relationship between the researcher and the community. The process is directed by the community to bring about greater equality and participation in decision-making.

For students and faculty, abstract theories can come alive through practical applications. Similarly, researchers who have questions about community-based programs related to their academic interests can obtain first-hand information and insights from grassroots groups. Academics can therefore become agents of social change by reaching out to under-served communities. In the community-based model, academic and community members work together to identify the research issue, develop the design, collect the data, write up the results, and work with policy makers and practitioners in designing programs and policies. Research is also action-oriented, in the sense that findings can be adapted for activists, non-profits and government agencies.

• Students must be involved and they must be doing research.

Community-based research as the Initiative defines it requires the participation of three parties: students, faculty, and community partners. A proposed research project that includes work only between faculty and community partners is incomplete. Undergraduate students must be involved in the project, and while they may serve as mentors or perform hands-on service, their role must also include research for your proposal to be considered.

• The research funded by the grant must be community-driven.

An important principle of CBR is the community’s role in the research process. The process should be directed by the community, not the university, to bring about greater equality and participation in decision-making. Rather than proposing the implementation of a program to a community organization, the university partner should approach the community organization as a source of knowledge and awareness of community needs.

• Grant proposals should include not only an institutional contact, but also a community partner operating separately from the university.

Effective community-based research takes place between a university partner and an established community organization that has the resources, staff, and knowledge to develop research questions, work with the university, and use the research to build organization capacity.

• The specific objective of the grant is to fund innovation and replication.

Primary goals of the National CBR Networking Initiative are to spread the practice of CBR, provide tools and resources to ensure quality and collaboration, and to encourage and document innovative practices.

To that end, the objective of the grant is not simply to sustain existing research. It is to fund CBR that diversifies the pool of existing resources and projects such that the reach of CBR is expanded. Thus, ideal projects will be original. They will also be adaptable by other campuses, and funding will be used to in part to fine-tune projects and develop manuals and handbooks to make them replicable and share best practices with other institutions.

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

• Is funding available only to universities?

Funding is available to all institutions of higher learning in the United States and Puerto Rico. This includes universities, colleges, and community colleges. Proposals must come from the institution—not the community partner with whom they are working.

• I’m from university outside of the United States. Am I eligible for the grant?

Because the Innovation Subgrant is awarded with federal funds, only institutions in the United States and Puerto Rico are eligible for subgrants. The National CBR Networking Initiative does offer other resources that are helpful to CBR practitioners all over the world, including a website (www.cbrnet.org) that includes publication and presentation opportunities and helpful materials for CBR practitioners, and a listserv for which you can register through the CBRNet website.

• My university is doing work with a community organization in a different region of the U.S. or world. Are we eligible for a subgrant?

No. Learn & Serve America’s Higher Education Provision stipulate that grant funds may not be used for projects where primary beneficiaries of an activity are outside the unite states. They are meant to connect institutions of higher education to neighboring/local communities to address local community issues. The Networking Initiative does offer other resources, though, including a website (www.cbrnet.org) that includes publication and presentation opportunities and helpful materials for CBR practitioners, and a listserv for which you can register through the CBRNet website.

• What is the grant funding cycle?

The official grant period runs from September 1, 2006, to August 31, 2009. Funds will be awarded for one-, two-, or three-year projects, in the amount of $2,500 to $7,500 each year. The funding cycle indicated on the proposed budget should be 9/1/06-8/31/07, 9/1/06-8/31/08, or 9/1/06-8/31/09.

• Can our institutional match include in-kind donations?

Yes, provided that they are in line with Learn & Serve America’s grant provisions, stated as follows:

"Contributions, including cash and third party in-kind, will be accepted as part of the Grantee's matching share for program operating costs when such contributions meet all of the following criteria:

i. They are verifiable from Grantee records;

ii. They are not included as contributions for any other federally-assisted Program;

iii. They are necessary and reasonable for the proper and efficient accomplishment of Program objectives; and

iv. They are allowable under applicable cost principles."

• Can our institutional match include overhead/indirect costs?

Learn & Serve America’s grant stipulations cap overhead costs at 5%. Should you receive the grant, many institutions will waive the difference between this and your university’s standard indirect cost rate.

• Can our institutional match include other grants that we have received?

Yes, as long as they were not awarded by Learn & Serve America or any other federally-assisted program

• Can our budget include teaching stipends?

Your budget can include teaching stipends and percentages of staff and faculty salary. However, we recommend that your budget also include expenses necessary for innovative and replicable projects, including transportation, supplies, production costs, and the creation of manuals and other materials to aid in replication.