Previous grant awards have gone to service-learning classes providing direct service to the community partner, such as landscape architecture students working with recovery efforts in New Orleans and feminist studies students putting together a computer lab for the Safe House of Baton Rouge.  Other awards have gone to the Ceramic Art Student Association for their work with the Empty Bowls project and the Honors College to create a college preparatory class at a local high school.  Grants are not awarded where the service to the community partner is solely in writing the grant proposal.

Eligibility:
LSU students involved in LSU service-learning classes or working with sponsors officially recognized by UPC or LSU as having a track record with successful service programs: e.g., CCELL, Volunteer LSU, Campus Life, AmeriCorps, Office of Greek Affairs, CUP, the University Chaplain’s Association. Recognized student organizations are also eligible, as well as faculty members teaching service-learning classes certified by CCELL that require additional funds for the work of students with community partners.  The community partner must be a non-profit organization or school. No funds should be requested for salaries, either for students or organization staff.

Funding:
Grants of up to $1,000 each will be awarded on a competitive basis until the available funds are exhausted.

Type of Proposal:

Faculty Grants: Faculty members can request funding for a service-learning course before the beginning of each semester.  Proposals should emphasize student involvement in the community through the service-learning process.  Deadline:  Dec. 4, 2009 at 2:30 p.m. for courses that will take place in the Spring Semester of 2010. Aug. 4, 2010 at 2:30 p.m. for courses that will take place in the Fall Semester of 2010.

Student and Student Organization Grants:  Those with existing relationships with a community organization can request funding for projects early in the semester.  Their engagement will be in delivering the service or working with the resources supplied by the grant in the community organization.  Deadline: Oct. 9, 2009 at 2:30 p.m.; Dec. 4, 2009 at 2:30 p.m. for projects in the Fall Semester; Feb. 5, 2010 at 2:30 p.m.; Apr. 5, 2010 at 2:30 p.m. for projects to be completed in the Spring Semester of 2010.

Contents of Proposals:
· Narrative (2 pages). Describe the community organization, the service the organization provides, the nature of the specific problem to be addressed, the proposed solution, the student engagement in the solution, project start and end dates, anticipated results, and measures to be used to judge success.
· A line-item project budget (15 lines or less) with an accompanying budget narrative (no more than 1 page) that justifies each item. Amount requested should not exceed $1,000.
· A letter of support from the community organization, which attests to the value of the project and the student(s)’s engagement in the work.
· A letter of support from the LSU organization or the instructor in a service-learning class, which attests to the student(s)’s ability to carry out the project and to the level of the student(s)’s engagement.

Submission:
Applications should submit the original proposal and letters, plus an electronic copy of all materials in PDF format, by 2:30 p.m. on the deadlines above, to the University Presbyterian Church Office, 3240 Dalrymple Drive, Baton Rouge, LA 70802.

Additional Requirements:
All projects which  receive funding will be asked to prepare brief oral and written reports on the project. Further information will be provided with the funding notice.

Technical Assistance:
For assistance in preparing your proposal, consider contacting Jan Shoemaker (jshoema@lsu.edu), Director of CCELL.