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Grants and Awards

Supporting people and communities whose projects and programs solve problems and support progress.

Community Engagement Scholarship Awards

The Carnegie Foundation describes community engagement as “the collaboration between institutions of higher education and their larger communities for the mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources in a context of partnership and reciprocity.”

As a Carnegie Community Engaged University and land-grant institution, engagement is among Colorado State’s most important core missions.  As articulated in its Strategic Plan, CSU will engage with people and communities to solve problems, share knowledge, and support progress, increasing the university’s relevance and value to the State of Colorado, the nation and the world.

The CSU Community Engagement Scholarship Awards, jointly established by the Office of the Provost and Office of Engagement and Extension, will be conferred annually in recognition of exemplary engaged scholarship by CSU faculty or academic staff members and their community partner(s).

 

Award Categories and Stipends

 

Distinguished Community Engagement Scholarship Award (one at $3,000)

In recognition of a collaboration, project or program with a long-term record of sustained impact, achievement and scholarship

Emerging Community Engagement Scholarship Award (one at $1,000)

In recognition of a relatively new initiative that has shown potential for long-term impact, achievement and scholarship.

Award stipends are to be used to support existing or proposed engagement activities of the selected program.  Award finalists and recipients will be honored at the annual Celebrate! Colorado State University Awards event.

The winner of the Distinguished Community Engagement Scholarship Award is expected to be eligible and competitive for prestigious national awards such as:

Eligibility

  • All current CSU faculty and instructors (including adjunct appointments) and staff (including program directors, Extension, and research appointments) are eligible.
  • It is expected that a major portion of the engaged scholarship will have been accomplished while the nominee served as a faculty or academic staff member at Colorado State University.
  • Nominees for the Distinguished Community Engagement Scholarship Award are expected to have collaborated with their partners for a minimum of three years.

Nominations

Faculty, administrators, colleagues, students, or community partners can initiate nominations; self-nominations are also welcome. It is expected that nominees will be aware of the nomination and will participate significantly in the preparation of the application.

Application materials will reside on the CSU Office of Engagement and Extension website, with links from the Office of the Provost website and college/department sites, as appropriate.

Nomination Guidelines and Format

Award guidelines have been adapted from guidelines for the prestigious C. Peter Magrath Community Engagement Award and modelled after university award programs at Michigan State University and Ohio State University.

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Review Procedure

Nominations will be adjudicated by a five-member selection committee; members will be appointed by the Provost and Vice President for Engagement and Extension.

The committee will provide feedback on submissions as a courtesy to all applicants by the end of the academic year.

The committee will also make a recommendation on whether either or both of the awarded partnerships should be submitted for consideration for any of the aforementioned national awards.  Should a partnership be nominated and is willing to submit, the Office of the Provost and Office of Engagement will provide application support.

Timetable

Nominations open: November 1, 2023

Nominations close: January 24, 2024

Awards presented: Celebrate! CSU Awards Ceremony 

Questions?

Please contact Sonali Diddi, Office of Engagement and Extension, at 970-491-6715 or Sonali.diddi@colostate.edu.

Previous Award Recipients

collage of people at Cocorahs
Small group gathered at table

Community Engagement Scholarship Awards

The Distinguished Award

The Distinguished award celebrates a collaboration, project or program with a long-term record of sustained impact, achievement and scholarship.

2020 Recipient: The Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network (CoCoRaHS)

CoCoRaHS is a unique, non-profit, community-based network of volunteers of all ages and backgrounds working together to measure and map precipitation (rain, hail and snow). By using low-cost measurement tools, stressing training and education, and utilizing an interactive website, their aim is to provide the highest quality data for natural resource, education and research applications. They are now in all fifty states. Learn more about CoCoRaHS here.

The Emerging Award

The Emerging award celebrates a new initiative that has shown potential for long-term impact, achievement and scholarship.

2020 Recipient: Colorado Blueprint for Food and Agriculture

The Colorado Blueprint for Food and Agriculture is an applied research and community engagement process that combines the collaborative efforts of CSU’s College of Agriculture, Extension and Ag Experiment Station, the Colorado Department of Agriculture, the Colorado Food Systems Advisory Council, and LiveWell Colorado.