Mini Grants

Summer 2026 Call for Proposals

Assessment Practice and Discovery Mini Grant

Application Window: March 3 - April 10, 2026  

 

Purpose: To support and advance faculty work in assessment of student learning outcomes within academic degree programs, as well as GE and IGE. These mini grants are intended to help faculty engage in sound program-level assessment practices leading to meaningful results and informed decision-making. Programs are encouraged to build program-level assessment capacity by engaging more than a single faculty.

Award: Grants will be awarded in the $500 - $1,500 range per project. 

Use of Funds: Funds may be used for project costs (e.g., purchase of assessment books, external speaker fees, etc.) and/or faculty stipends (e.g., to norm and score student artifacts, develop new SLOs and corresponding rubrics, update assessment plan, etc.)

Eligibility: Stipends will be awarded only to continuing tenured/tenure-track faculty and lecturers. We are unable to support faculty who are currently FERPing or moving into FERP status in Fall 2026. Priority will be given to first time applicants. Department chairs and program directors who receive a summer stipend for their role may be ineligible for a stipend under this grant depending on the timeframe of the proposed work. 

Special Consideration: Grant applications that address one of these themes will be afforded priority this year:

  1. Closing the Loop on assessment findings
  2. Civic Literacy 
  3. Oral Communication

Exclusions: Funds may not be used for assessment work that is being funded by other sources or for projects that have been previously supported through this program.

Application Deadlines: Applications will be accepted online using this web link. Applications will open on March 3rd, 2026 at 12:01am, and close on April 10th, 2026 at 11:59pm.

Grant Applications: All applications must include the following; incomplete applications will not be considered.

  1. Title of the Summer Assessment Mini Grant Project
  2. Academic Department and Degree Program
  3. Name of lead faculty member responsible for the proposed assessment work
  4. Name(s) of additional faculty member(s)
  5. Description of project, including:
    • Rationale and purpose for this assessment project (maximum of 150 words)
    • Learning outcome(s) to be examined
    • Assessment cycle stage (e.g., development, closing the loop, other)
    • Timeline with action steps
    • Other
  6. Impact of this assessment project on:
    • Students
    • Faculty
    • Other
  7. Key deliverable(s)
  8. Budget for project presented as a list of planned expenditures, including any stipends
  9. Brief statement from the department chair indicating how the proposed assessment project will contribute to the department’s assessment work (PDF of email statement showing email headings and thread is accepted.)

Review Procedures:  Submit applications online using this web link. A working group including faculty from the Academic Assessment Committee (AAC) will review the applications and select the projects to be funded.

Award Notification: Recipients will be notified via email by May 8th, 2025.

Mini grant work period: May 23rd - August 16th, 2026 (before Fall 2026 faculty contracts begin)

Grant Responsibilities:

  1. Grant Summary: The lead faculty will submit a grant summary by September 15th, 2026. A Qualtrics link will be emailed to the faculty project lead by July 31st, 2026.
  2. Build Assessment Capacity: Faculty are encouraged to share their work and subsequent outcomes. 

For more information: Please contact Jocelyn Chong in the Office of Assessment and Program Review (apr@cpp.edu)

Past Awards