Advancing Racial Equity Award Program
Call for Proposals Heading link
The Office of Diversity, Equity & Engagement is pleased to solicit applications for the Advancing Racial Equity Award Program.
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Launched in Fall 2020, the Advancing Racial Equity initiative is focused on the following five strategic priorities:
- Centering Student Equity & Inclusion
- Advancing Faculty & Staff Inclusive Excellence
- Collaborating with Community
- Promoting an Atmosphere of Care & Concern
- Ensuring Accountability
The Office of Diversity, Equity, and Engagement (ODEE) in collaboration with the Office of the Dean of Students created a template to help all academic units develop a plan to Advance Racial Equity. The template was designed to align with the five ARE strategic priorities listed above and asked units to identify specific short-term and long-term goals.
Academic units were asked to complete the template and share their plans with their deans in Fall 2021. Deans then compiled a summary report of their college’s plans to ODEE for review in Spring 2022. In Summer 2022, the ODEE Diversity Education team received and reviewed academic unit and college ARE strategic plans. Ninety-three academic units spanning all of UIC’s colleges submitted plans. In Fall 2022 and early Spring 2023, the team met with deans to provide feedback and learn about their process. The Academic Unit Advancing Racial Equity Report was released to the campus in Fall 2023.
In Summer 2023, the ODEE outlined the Advancing Racial Equity strategic planning process for non-college units. The non-college unit plans are due in Spring 2024.
In Fall 2023, Chancellor Miranda announced the creation of the Advancing Racial Equity Award Program at her State of the University Address. This program is designed to support units in making progress toward the goals outlined in their Advancing Racial Equity plans. Chancellor Miranda is interested in ensuring that in addition to the Advancing Racial Equity priorities, the awarded units’ proposals are aligned with her strategic priorities.
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The selection committee may award up to ten proposals. Budgets up to $15,000 will be considered.
Any allowable expenses will be considered, such as: surveys, hourly student assistants or research assistants, materials, honoraria, refreshments, and travel. The funded projects have to be completed during the fiscal year awarded.
Instructions for submitting a proposal
Proposals must include the following:
- Names, titles, role (e.g. student, faculty, staff), and email addresses of the proposal team. Please identify one or two members of the team as proposal leads. Communication from the award program will be directed toward the identified leads.
- Project abstract under 250 words (should the proposal be selected, the abstract will be shared on the Advancing Racial Equity webpage)
- A 3-page maximum narrative that includes the following:
- Project description including project goals, implementation and assessment plan
- The Advancing Racial Equity priority area(s) the proposals addresses (e.g. Collaborating with Community, Advancing Faculty & Staff Inclusive Excellence, etc.)
- Description of how the proposed project advances the unit’s Advancing Racial Equity goals.
- Explanation of how the proposal aligns with one or more of the Chancellor’s priorities
- Detailed description of how the respective college or fiscal unit will contribute to the project (funds, staffing, other resources)
- One-page budget with justification
- A signed statement of approval from the unit executive officer of the administering unit.
Proposals must be submitted as a single pdf or doc file to areplan@uic.edu, no later than 5:00 pm on Monday, May 20, 2024. Please title your email “ARE CFP Submission” and save your submissions as: Unit Name, Unit lead(s), ARE award program (e.g. Psychology, Sparky, ARE award program)
Award recipients will be expected to submit a 1-3 page written summary of their work by Monday, July 14, 2025 for inclusion in the Advancing Racial Equity Award Program annual report and the Advancing Racial Equity website.
Please keep the following in mind when developing proposals:
- Proposals must be approved by the unit executive officer (e.g. dean, vice chancellor, vice provost).
- More than one application may be submitted from a unit, but all must have unit executive officer approval.
- Students, faculty and staff are all welcome to submit proposals. Collaborations with students are especially encouraged.
- Preference will be given to proposals that have demonstrated commitment of matching support and the potential for a long-term impact on diversity, equity and inclusion in the unit.
- The award is not intended for projects typically funded through individual research, departmental or unit funds.
Questions about the award can be directed to Jess Joslin, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Diversity Initiatives, at areplan@uic.edu.