DIVERSITY & EQUITY INNOVATION GRANT
Sponsored by the Office of the President and the Office of the Provost in conjunction with the President’s Commission on Diversity & Inclusion
2020-2021 FUNDED PROPOSALS
Diversity & Equity Innovation Grant (DEIG)
The following proposals are receiving funding this year:
- Black Deaf Life in California
- Ethnic Studies Education Pathways Project
- Rap Folklorico Palenque CSUN WiFi Theatre
- EOP
- CSUN Afro-Latinx Project
- Expanding Oral History Collection for the Tom and Ethel Bradley Center
- Increasing Access to a Teaching Credential for a Diverse Workforce
- Essential Talks: Providing Brave Spaces for the CSUN Campus Community
- Transforming Faculty Teaching Through Culturally Responsive & Equity Minded Practices
- Collectively Understanding Carcerality & Learning Transformative Justice
- Bridge to the Future: Black Scholars Matter
- Asian American Peer Mentorship Through AASPP
- Black Matadors Rise Recruitment Initiative
- CSUN Indigenous Stakeholders & Their Epistemologies for Pedagogical Engagement
PURPOSE OF THE GRANT
The Diversity & Equity Innovation Grant (DEIG) was established to support educational projects, scholarly research, creative activities and other programmatic initiatives that promote diversity, equity and inclusion, anti-racism and social justice for the benefit of the CSUN community.
The Grant is administered by the President’s Cabinet in collaboration with the President’s Commission on Diversity & Inclusion. The Commission establishes the operating guidelines for the use of the monies awarded, develops procedures for implementing the guidelines, and selects grant recipients. The Office of Diversity & Inclusion provides administrative oversight to support the Diversity & Equity Innovation Grant.
SUCCESSFUL PROPOSALS
Grants will be awarded on a competitive basis and proposals will be selected based on such criteria as relevance to grant objectives, impact on the CSUN community, dissemination and assessment of results, and potential for successful continuation past the grant period. Proposals should be written in plain language without technical jargon and include a literature review where appropriate. Please note that projects with potential for broad institutional impact will be given special consideration, and sustainable and replicable projects are particularly encouraged. All submissions are considered part of the application process and become the property of the Diversity & Equity Innovation Grant.
Examples of proposals may include the following:
- Programs that support members of diverse populations in academic disciplines in which they are traditionally underrepresented.
- Scholarly research which integrates results of innovative studies and research projects on underrepresented groups into courses throughout curricula.
- Seminars or workshops on topics related to diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice.
- Creative endeavors such as exhibits or performances that illustrate aspects of diversity, equity, inclusion or social justice.
- Programs/projects which integrate research about underrepresented groups into the general curriculum.
- Programs/projects to promote diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice.
For its inaugural year, the Grant invites proposals in, but not limited to, the following 3 broad areas:
- Efforts to increase the recruitment and retention of African American/Black students
- Efforts to increase the recruitment and retention of African American/Black faculty and staff
- Efforts to create and support an inclusive campus and community environment
GRANT AWARDS
Funding Requests of all sizes are encouraged and will be considered, however, most awards will fall between $5,000 and $75,000.
The Grant can provide funding for student workers to assist with research, outside speakers or performers, printing costs and materials and the like.
Reassigned time and summer salary are not covered.
The Grant cannot provide funding to cover food or refreshment expenses associated with these activities.
The Grant does not cover such items as travel, office furniture, living and/or childcare expenses, laptops, computers, phones and/or other electronic equipment.
Requests that are for recurring funding will be considered as pilot programs. The Commission will reassess annually based on outcomes contained in the Final Report.
ELIGIBLE RECIPIENTS
All current members of the CSUN community (full and part time faculty, staff (including current auxiliary employees and students) may apply for grants. Proposals with matching funds will be considered, and supplementing this grant is strongly encouraged.
SUBMISSION DEADLINE & IMPORTANT DATES
- Grant proposals must be emailed to no later than September 30, 2020. Notification of decisions will be emailed on October 15, 2020.
- Projects can begin once grant recipients have been notified. The program runs through June 2021. Project award monies must be spent before the end of the fiscal year which is June 30, 2021.
- Recipients must submit a Final Report via email to after the conclusion of the project but no later than August 31, 2021. The Final Report should include how you have shared or plan to share your outcomes, findings, or research with the larger community, e.g., presentation at academic conference or publication in a peer-reviewed journal.
HOW TO APPLY
Please email your DEIG Proposal to as one PDF file or Word document. Proposals must contain all of the following:
- A single-page DEIG Proposal Cover Sheet including the names of the proposal writer, department and contact information.
- A two-page (maximum), double-spaced DEIG Proposal containing the following information:
- Project summary;
- Description of the project’s implementation plan, discussing how you envision this project being carried out from beginning to end;
- Description of project’s dissemination and assessment;
- Discussion of the project’s impact on students and/or the campus community, and potential for successful continuation past the grant period;
- Discussion of the anticipated benefits to underrepresented populations as it relates to the fulfillment of the Fund’s purpose;
- A detailed line-item budget outlining the use of the funds; Please check with the Office of Budget, Planning and Management if you have questions concerning appropriate expenditures for tax-levy monies.