The Dean’s Office, in collaboration with the Macaulay Scholars Council, is launching a new initiative to enhance the experience of our graduating seniors, all of whom were in their freshman year when the COVID-19 pandemic began. Because of the disruption to their in-person learning, this year’s seniors would otherwise graduate from Macaulay without receiving the full benefits of our engaged community. We are calling on the entire community to help us change that.
The Dean’s Office at Macaulay Honors College awards grants to enhance community-building and collaborative learning for graduating seniors. Projects and activities must contribute to our college mission by providing students with a powerful, memorable, experiential learning event, exemplifying Macaulay’s approach to engaged, real-world, collaborative pedagogies, encourage seniors to identify and plan elements of their Macaulay education that they will continue into their future educational and career plans, or introduce them to a new status—that of Macaulay alumni who are connected to the college, committed to its future, and cognizant of the advantages it has provided to them.
Grants may fund activities that involve groups of seniors and are not limited to in-class events. Given the vast impact of the pandemic on the social and emotional wellbeing of our seniors, we are especially interested in creative, fun, and engaging experiences. Activities that include some element of experiential learning or mentoring with alumni or special guests are welcomed. Though not required, we encourage applicants to explore opportunities for cross-campus collaborations and will increase budgets accordingly if submitted by two or more campuses.
All Macaulay Honors Directors, advisors, staff, and faculty are eligible to apply, regardless of whether your job function is related to your proposed idea. Awards cannot be used to fund equipment unless of direct benefit to the graduating senior experience you are proposing.
The Dean’s Office will award up to $15,000 in the Spring 23 award cycle, either as a multi-campus award or as several smaller awards, depending on the applicant pool. The goal is to distribute these resources across the community. As such, we recommend budgets of up to $2500 if the proposed activity does not involve a multi-campus collaboration. Awards will only be granted for activities that take place in Spring 23.
Enhanced Activities for Graduating Seniors Information Form
Deadline: December 29th, 2022
Questions? Contact Dara Byrne, Dean, at dean@mhc.cuny.edu