Call for Proposals: The Diversity Fund

Statement of Purpose

The Diversity Fund was established five years ago to help foster the recruitment and retention of faculty and students from under-represented minority groups as well as to facilitate research on diversity in higher education. Although the amount of funding awarded varies, funding for most projects will not exceed $20,000.

The Diversity Fund supports:

• Implementation of schools' strategic plans to increase the presence of under-represented minorities (matching funds required).
• Research on diversity in higher education.
• Projects to diversify the campus environment.

Application Process

Proposals to the Diversity Fund consisting of an original and three copies should be submitted to the Office of the Provost, 122 College Hall/6303 before March 15th of each year. If the date falls on a weekend or holiday the deadline is the following business day.

Proposals must include:

1. The Diversity Fund Cover Sheet. Failure to complete the cover sheet or to comply with page limitations will risk disqualification from the competition. The cover sheet should include: name of Principal Investigator, rank, phone number, e-mail address, department, school, campus address, and mail code; the name of the Business Administrator, phone, and e-mail address; the title of the proposal; and the signatures of the Dean, Department Chair and Principal Investigator.
2. 100-word abstract of the proposal.
3. Amount of current support for the project.
4. Other pending proposals for the same project.
5. A list of related support received during the past three years. If the proposal was funded in the past by the Diversity Fund, a report on the use of those funds and an assessment of the project's impact should be included.
6. A one-page biographical sketch of each project director.
7. A proposal of not more than ten single spaced pages giving the scope, rationale, significance, plan, and impact of the project.
8. Budget (one page). Budget items should be listed in order of priority. Please note that financial support cannot be provided for non-Penn faculty.

Criteria for Review

Criteria for review will include the following:

• Relation of the project to the Agenda for Excellence and the University's goals for recruitment and retention of under-represented minorities.
• Potential for generating new insights about diversity in higher education.
• Budget appropriateness.
• Current support.
• Projected/committed amount of matching funds and/or School/Responsibility Center contribution.

-- Office of the Provost