I Engage

 

Contact the I Engage Award Committee

Attn: Joslyn Krismer

Box 19167

Arlington, TX 76019

Phone: 817.272.0298

Email: gradstudentservices@uta.edu

Intellectual Engagement:

The term used to describe activities that allow students to bring their disciplinary training and intellectual capital to bear on problems in the community, region or nation.

Programs in the UT Arlington Office of Graduate Studies I Engage initiative are intended to encourage an intellectual focus that connects students and faculty with the University, the local community and our society by providing opportunities for mentoring, research and teaching. The I Engage philosophy recognizes that knowledge is intellectual capital that educated persons can invest to address and solve problems found outside of the formal classrooms and textbooks. By contributing skills and knowledge in service of academic, social, cultural and entrepreneurial needs, engagement encourages the sense that the full expression of scholarship is an empowering, vital agency and it engenders an appreciation of one’s potential to make positive contributions to one’s profession and one’s society. Programs and funding opportunities exist for both students and faculty under the I Engage umbrella.

 

I Engage Mentoring Program

The IM Program will provide doctoral and doctoral-bound students who have completed 30 hours of graduate study an opportunity to gain teaching and mentoring experience by serving as a research mentor to a UT Arlington undergraduate. The program is open to all junior-senior level undergraduate students but minority and underrepresented and first generation undergraduates are particularly encouraged to participate. Graduate students will receive a $400 stipend during the term in which they participate in the project. Undergraduates will receive a scholarship for 3 semester credit hours of independent study in the term in which they participate in the project.

Undergraduates will be expected to work closely with a graduate student mentor on either the mentor’s research/creative project or on their own research/creative project. The undergraduate is expected to gain research experience, learn more about an academic discipline, network with other students and faculty and refine skills critical for academic and professional growth while the graduate student exercises and develops mentoring skills and benefits from progress made on the research/creative project. Part of the undergraduate’s experience must be “hands on” in nature, but the mentor will be expected to help the undergraduate develop his or her academic understanding related to the selected project.

The graduate student mentor-undergraduate trainee pair must self identify at the time of application to the program and submit a complete application with appropriate faculty approval in order to be considered.

 

I Engage Sustainability in the Curriculum Program

The ISC Program for Doctoral Students was developed jointly by the Office of Graduate Studies and the Curriculum, Research and Community Engagement workgroup of the University Sustainability Committee. The funds will be used to support the development and/or implementation of a course component that addresses sustainability in the community. The component should allow students in the course use their disciplinary training and intellectual capital to address problems in the community, region or nation related to sustainability. Sustainability represents societal efforts to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Eligibility Information

Eligible participants are UT Arlington students admitted to a doctoral or doctoral-bound program who are eligible to hold appointments as instructors-of-record in the course involved, or as teaching assistants assigned to an instructor-of-record. Collaboration of the doctoral student with a faculty mentor is encouraged. The substantial role of the student in the instructional activities of the course involved must be clearly articulated in the proposal. Faculty mentors may be current holders of a Faculty Fellowship on Sustainability and proposals linked to the mentor’s project are welcome. However, this is not required.

Activities supported by the ISC for Doctoral Students Program

ISC grants for developing course components addressing sustainability through community engagement will be awarded to support the following:

  1. Development of a course that includes a component addressing sustainability through community engagement.
  2. Addition of a component addressing sustainability through community engagement to an existing course or improvement upon such a component that already exists within a course.
  3. Successful proposals will provide new opportunities to explore and develop a course’s conceptual and theoretical content in real-world “laboratories.” Proposals must provide meaningful experience(s) for enrolled students that present opportunities for direct participation, experience and observation in the community. Student evaluation of and reflection on their experiences and observations as they relate to the learning objectives of the sustainability component of the course are expected to be an integral part of the proposed curriculum.

These grants provide one-time funding for component development in a course to be taught during a Fall, Spring or Summer term.

Available Funds and Size of Award

The award includes a $1,500 fellowship to support the applicant and up to $1,500 of additional funds for other costs associated with the project (see Allowable Use of Funds.) Therefore, the total request must not exceed $3,000. Up to 3 grants will be awarded during the funding cycle. Grants are not renewable.

Grant Deliverables

Awardees will be required to do the following:

  1. Provide a final report including an overview of the project and actual expenditures, due by end of the term in which the course containing the ISC sustainability component is taught. A cover sheet will be provided.
  2. Make a brief oral presentation to the working group on Curriculum, Research and Community Engagement of the University Sustainability Committee in the term following that in which the course containing the ISC component is being taught or a presentation at the next available “Sustainability Across the Curriculum” event at ACES that occurs each Spring term.

Award recipients and students participating in their classes are encouraged to submit an abstract for a presentation or poster related to the ISC for Doctoral Students experience to the ACES selection committee.

Allowable Use of Funds: Grant funds are to be used to support the development of an ISC component in a course. Up to $1,500 may be used supplement the salary of the Doctoral Student awarded the grant. Addition funding of up to $1,500 may be applied to the purchase and preparation of course materials, travel costs or other resources associated with this course component. Funds may not be used to buy food or refreshments.

Proposal Format

  1. Title Page – template provided (DOC, 50KB)
  2. Proposal Narrative – template provided (DOC, 50KB): In 1-2 pages, single-spaced, 12 point font, your narrative should address the following:
    1. Describe the I Engage Sustainability in the Curriculum component of the course or curriculum. How will the component be integrated with the academic content? How will the experience address sustainability and engage the larger community? Is the experience optional or required? What is the projected number of hours students will spend in working on their project (directly or indirectly?) Attach a syllabus including objectives and a reading list.
    2. Describe the reflective component that will be used to assist students in their ability to integrate theory and practice. For example: How will the reflective component of the course allow the student to gain a deeper understanding of the theories, methods and issues presented in class in light of their ISC experience? What form will the reflection take, such as journal, paper(s,) oral debriefing, artistic format, other? Describe how reflection will be assessed.
    3. What is the intended impact of the project upon the student, the community, the region or the nation? How will the impact be assessed?
    4. Budget Narrative: The budget narrative must include how funds will be spent to support development of the ISC component of the course. This section must also include the amount of department funding secured for the project.
    5. Statement of support to be provided by the Chair of the Department in which the doctoral student is appointed as instructor or teaching assistant, verifying that the applicant will be assigned to the course in question.

Review of proposals

Proposals will be reviewed jointly by the working group on Curriculum, Research and Community Engagement of the University Sustainability Committee and the Office of Graduate Studies. Applicants will be provided with copies of reviewer comments.

Funding Source: Funds for these Grants have been made possible through funding from the Office of Graduate Studies.

 

I Engage Mentoring Network

The IMN Program provides small grants to support projects which build mentoring networks. Current research underscores the importance of multiple mentoring relationships in successfully meeting the academic, professional and personal challenges of graduate study, research, and career. One-time support of $1000 will be awarded for mentoring projects cultivating mentoring networks with UT Arlington faculty, faculty from other colleges or universities, retired faculty, industry leaders, advanced graduate students, or peers. All doctoral and doctoral-bound students and students earning a Master of Fine Arts or Master of Architecture are eligible to apply.

Mentoring projects should create new opportunities that are not available without support and occur outside the scope of current relationships with advisors or supervising professors. Applicants are encouraged to develop proposals that meet their unique needs. Examples of fundable projects are provided in the IMN Program Description (PDF, 102KB) under Project Examples.

Eligibility

All doctoral and doctoral-bound students and students enrolled in the Master of Fine Arts or Master of Architecture program are eligible for this award. Applicants must have completed a minimum of 18 graduate hours in their degree program at UT Arlington and be in good academic standing at the time of application and funding. Students must be enrolled during the Fall and Spring semesters during the award period; Summer enrollment is not required.

Past recipients are not eligible to apply.