Overview: The bLUeprint grant program has been established to encourage faculty, staff, undergraduates, and graduate students to develop innovative proposals that will both foster the acquisition of knowledge or skills included in the bLUeprint student success model and enhance the sense of community among students, faculty, staff, and the greater South Bethlehem area.
There will be two application cycles per academic year in which awards of up to $2500 will be available. A call for proposals will be issued each semester. All proposals will be reviewed by the Faculty Committee on Student Life (FCSL).
To Apply: bLUeprint application form
Review Criteria: Successful proposals should:
- Be innovative and distinctive with potential for being recognized as notable or best-in-class by peers, individuals, or groups beyond the immediate Lehigh constituency.
- Have measurable outcomes in light of bLUeprint foundational principles that impact both participants and others beyond the direct participants.
- Improve student life at Lehigh and enhance the sense of community among students, faculty, staff, and/or the greater South Bethlehem neighborhood.
- Hold promise to grow in influence and to be sustainable and replicable (rather than general supplemental funding for existing projects or organizations).
- Demonstrate intellectual collaboration between faculty and students in the design and execution of the activity.
Please note: bLUeprint Grants are not intended to fund class projects, student theses or dissertations, or individual travel, or to supplement existing research grants.
Deadlines for Proposals: Due Date Spring 2020: Friday, February 21, 2020. Future Due Dates: 5th Friday of Spring and Fall Semesters
Contacts:
If you plan to submit a proposal related to community engagement, we highly recommend that you first consult with Carolina Hernandez, Assistant Dean of Students and Director of Community Service Office (cah6@lehigh.edu), for advice on how best to formulate a plan to engage with the local community.
For more information on the bLUeprint grant program or for clarification or advice and suggestions to further improve the quality of your proposal, contact any of the Faculty Committee on Student Life members listed below:
Amanda Brandone, Chair, acb210@lehigh.edu, 85638
Beibei Dong, CBE, bed209@lehigh.edu, 83439
Ricardo Hall, VP for Student Affairs, Ex Officio, rih217@lehigh.edu, 83890
Kathleen Hutnik, Associate Dean for Graduate Student Life, Ex Officio, kaha@lehigh.edu, 83648
Katherine Lavinder, Interim Dean of Students, Ex Officio, kwl211@lehigh.edu, 84156
Shamim Pakzad, RCEAS, snp208@lehigh.edu, 86978
Mark Skandera, CAS at-large, mas906@lehigh.edu, 83786
All grant recipients are required to complete the bLUeprint Grant Evaluation online, which is due fifteen days after the completion of the project.
Examples of previously funded bLUeprint Grants:
1) Be Your Own: Art, Sexuality, and Self
Student(s): Emily Ryan (Class of 2018), Madison Williams (Class of 2018)
Faculty/Staff Advisor(s): Dr. Rita Jones (Director of the Center for Gender Equity)
“Be Your Own: Art, Sexuality, and Self” was an art activism event that engaged and challenged over 100 students, faculty, and staff to use art expression to share their stories with the Lehigh community. Consisting of 4 creation spaces across campus, the event asked participants to reflect on personal identities and experiences that connected to themes of sexuality/sexual identity, mental health/self-care, and gender violence. In addition to the personal reflection spaces that the creation sessions served as, a gallery opening reception of Lehigh student, faculty, and staff donated art was held to encourage a community wide dialogue. The gallery displayed on the 6th floor of the Fairchild Martindale Library and is a space to encourage open and constructive dialogue about the identities, experiences, and stories that many Lehigh community members share. Be Your Own aimed to be an opportunity for campus community members to take action on social issues from a personal and cultural level.”
Student(s): Shira Morosohk (Class of 2018), Natalee Castillo (Class of 2019), Arianna Pineiro (Class of 2020), Lauren Dodgen (Class of 2020), and Oliwia Krupinska (Class of 2020)
Faculty/Staff Advisor(s): Pamela Richey (Costume Coordinator, Zoellner Arts Center)
“We created portable sewing kits including scissors, needles, thread, small sewing machines, and various other ‘tools of the trade.’ With the sewing kits created, we traveled within the Lehigh/South Bethlehem community to do mending on clothing and textiles that people brought us. We had weekly times set up at the South Bethlehem Public Library and regular times at the UC and St. Peter’s Lutheran Church. We traveled to Easton to volunteer at the YWCA Prom Dress Sale, helping to make small alterations to the dresses the girls chose for their event. We also accepted donations of fleece to create warm hats, mittens, and socks for New Bethany Ministries. The sewing kits will last a long while as we continue going out into the community with the Mending Project.”
Student(s): Katie Morris (Class of 2018)
Faculty/Staff Advisor(s): Dr. Sarah Stanlick (Director for Center of Community Engagement), Dr. Bruce Whitehouse (Sociology & Anthropology, Global Studies)
“For my project, I hosted award-winning filmmaker Zach Ingrasci who showed his documentary, Salam Neighbor, which follows the lives of Ingrasci and another filmmaker during their time living in a refugee camp in Jordan. Ingrasci facilitated a discussion at the end of the event that left the crowd of about 100 people with a better understanding of what it means to be a refugee in today's world. In total, the event raised over $1200 that was donated to Bethany Christian Services, a local refugee resettlement group.”