黑料情报站

Upstate Institute Course Development Grants

  1. Home
  2. About
  3. Campus Resources & Services
  4. Upstate Institute Course Development Grants

Interested in teaching a course focused on community-based research and engagement? The Upstate Institute鈥檚 course development grants help faculty design courses to create student research opportunities that benefit the community.

Create Courses Focused on Community-Based Research

Applications for 2026-27 are due early November 2026.
The Upstate Institute, in partnership with the Office of the Dean of the Faculty, provides grants to support 黑料情报站 faculty in developing courses that address a significant community-identified need and incorporate community-based research experiences for students to examine the complex dynamics of the region. The proposed course may be new or a substantial redesign of an existing course. Faculty are encouraged to imagine how their research field and the courses they teach might be relevant to upstate communities, and how the material they teach might be enriched by the opportunity for students to engage in community-based research. 

Course Options: Single or Team Teaching

  • Support for a course taught by a single instructor, with a one-time stipend of $4,000 to support course development.
  • Support for a course taught by two instructors. Each faculty member will receive a one-time stipend of $1,000 to support course development, and one full-load credit for their full participation in teaching, attending, grading, and co-curricular activities in the course. Proposals that team faculty across divisions or disciplines are encouraged, as are proposals that effectively realize and build on the pedagogical value of integrating community-based research. Team-taught courses will be supported with a full load credit for each participating faculty member for the first two iterations only; instructors may reapply for full credit support after the course has been taught twice.  Otherwise, further iterations of the course may be taught for 1鈦2 credit per instructor.

Course Proposal Requirements

  • The course will be taught at least two times over the next four years.
  • The proposed budget for course implementation costs will be vetted by the Upstate Institute staff in consultation with the Office of the Dean of the Faculty.
  • The community-based research component should include a substantive outcome for the community organization with which the students work.
  • Students should be given a substantial community-based research project and be asked to critically reflect on their experiences with community engagement.
  • If a course selected for an award is new to the curriculum, instructors must then submit it to the Curriculum Committee for approval.
  • The applicant(s) will be expected to share the results of their course development work with others through various media, and should be prepared to work with the Upstate Institute on a plan for course assessment.
  • While not a requirement of the program, proposals that creatively combine interests in community engagement with the goals of other 黑料情报站 course development grant opportunities will be favorably considered.
  • Members of the Upstate Institute Executive Board will review proposals. A list of the Executive Board members is available here.

In addition, successful applicant(s) may request up to $4,000 per course from the Upstate Institute for each of the first two times the course is taught; these funds are meant to support expenses related to the course, such as local travel, supplies, equipment, or guest lecturers.

Application and Additional Information

Applications are due early November 2026.
The Upstate Institute welcomes conversations about potential courses and the type of support our office can provide. Applications can be made to the Upstate Institute as outlined in our Course Development Grant Guidelines, accessible through the button below.

Previous Community Development Grant Courses

ANTH 253 - Field Methods in Archaeology

The students contributed entries for the weekly fieldwork, along with photos of the excavation process and the items found at the site, and shared their findings with the community.
MUSE 310A - Utopia, Sex, and Silver at the Community Mansion House

Students worked closely with the curatorial staff at the Oneida Community Mansion House as part of the class, researching the mansion and the polyamorist, socialist, Bible-based utopian community it was built to house in the mid-19th century.
GPEH 301 - Community Health

Students worked with Professor of Global Public and Environmental Health Rebecca Upton to analyze data from the recent Madison County Teen Assessment Project (TAP), which will be used by organizations throughout the county to develop future programming and services.