Requests for Proposals

This initiative provides one-time funds to develop or pilot an idea that enhances environmental experiential learning. More specifically, this initiative supports faculty in developing, delivering, or enhancing experiential learning opportunities within existing, or via creation of new, curriculum. Although not required, projects that enable or involve building community partnerships are encouraged. When possible, projects should foster interdisciplinary collaboration and align with program-level learning outcomes.

Experiential learning (EL) is proven to be a high-impact instructional practice that leads to enhanced student success and retention. Therefore the goal of this initiative is to enhance students’ academic experience and success by providing EL opportunities through which students can connect their academic training with practical application of their skills and knowledge.

This initiative also seeks to provide support for faculty to build partnerships across disciplines and/or with community partners. Partnerships should align with the experiential learning project and have the potential to be successful beyond the duration of the proposed project. Collaborative proposals are encouraged but not required.

Below we provide a few examples to help get your creative juices flowing. These examples are not meant to be directive or exhaustive, but rather to provide some additional context for the type, scope, and scale of projects SoE is envisioning.

Interdisciplinary and interprogram collaboration: Combine across disciplinary foci to create a new experiential learning outcome. Example use of funds: Travel support to off campus sites, purchase of equipment necessary for the EL project, lodging for overnight travel (as necessary), etc. For example, a recent collaboration between the Departments of Media, Biological Sciences, Geosciences and History combined Faculty and student expertise in science, the humanities, and documentary film making with opportunities to engage with some of the exciting field work our faculty and students are doing (a playlist of all of the videos is linked here).

Service, learning, and community engagement: Rework a module in a course such that students visit a particular landscape and complete a project desired by a partner. Example use of funds: Provide transportation, essential materials or equipment to perform a project with a partner, course buyout to provide time for course revision and project planning with community partner, etc.

Summer course development/delivery: Add a summertime follow up section to a successful service learning course. Use that summer session to expand on (or complete) an existing project or relationship with a community partner. Example use of funds: Travel, operational or equipment support as needed to support targeted project outcomes. Summer stipend for faculty to analyze course and project outcomes that lead to course improvement and development of a plan for future delivery of the EL opportunity.

Campus as a living lab: Develop an experiential learning component for an existing course or develop new learning opportunities that use the University as a living laboratory. Example use of funds: Support for course development, material/equipment acquisition necessary to accomplish learning outcomes, partnership development with Campus operations, etc. Secondary example: Develop course materials that employ the Boise River as an instructional tool, that draws on expertise across programs and provides project-based learning opportunities for students across programs.

• Open to all full-time faculty from all disciplines.
• Proposals must emphasize experiential learning and student success.
• Proposals must align with one of the SoE thematic areas described above.
• Interdisciplinary collaboration and/or collaboration with a community partner is encouraged.

• Project title and brief overview of what you intend to do (maximum of 150 words).
• Project description (maximum of 500 words). The project description should include the following:
  • Outline of the experiential learning activities (e.g., course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE), community-based projects, internships, etc.).
  • The project objectives and how they relate to student success, skill-building, and/or community engagement.
  • How the project aligns with a specific SoE thematic area(s).
  • How the project uses structures already in place (existing courses, VIP, labs, projects, service learning, etc.). Depending on the mechanism proposed, PIs are encouraged to connect with the appropriate Boise State offices to collaborate and/or leverage each other’s efforts (i.e. Boise State’s Service Learning group for service learning projects, iFITS for VIP, etc.).
  • A statement of what group(s) of students will be recruited or targeted (i.e. program, class standing, major, etc.) and a plan for engaging those students and fostering a sense of belonging.
  • Anticipated outcomes and how success will be measured/determined.
  • A statement of how the project could be sustained over the long term (i.e. from staffing and financial perspectives).
• Budget request (up to $5,000) with justification (maximum of 200 words). The justification should include the following:
  • A description of how the funds will be used (e.g. O/E, travel, stipend, course buyout, etc.) as well as a brief rationale for why the funds are proposed to be used in the proposed way.
• A letter of endorsement from the appropriate Department Chair or program lead.

• Implemented experiential learning and quantification of effects on students (e.g. measures of changes in self-efficacy, retention, satisfaction, etc.)
• Participation in storytelling efforts supported by the SoE and assistance with disseminating project outcomes.
• A plan for how the project could be sustained beyond the scope of the requested SoE support.
• A budget report including a description of all expenditures.
  • Please use the budget template linked here to prepare your budget request.

• Funding is available for up to 5-6 projects depending on support requested.
• Projects should be completed and funds expended by the end of FY25. However, longer time lines will be considered based on submitted proposals.

SoE will assist with storytelling to highlight project outcomes. This will include providing resources for documenting and sharing success stories to be used by the PIs and the SoE.

This initiative strives to build community partnerships and to provide opportunities to see Boise State and SoE as a resource for partnership and progress. In addition to specific project-level outcomes, we seek to build awareness among community members regarding where and how they can find willing campus partners.

Importantly, this initiative is in coordination with The President’s Office of Community Engagement and provides an opportunity for the campus community to help us understand where we can invest our time and expertise to lay the groundwork for future collaborations and immediate needs. As noted above, SoE employs a broad definition of community that is inclusive of a variety of non-Boise State partners; SoE encourages proposals supporting a range of interactions with community organizations, government agencies, or other external stakeholders.

These grants will work to foster or sustain partnerships and community relationships that will build towards environmental research goals, student training, and/or yield experiential learning opportunities for students. They emphasize mutual respect among academic and community partners and recognize that expertise comes in many forms.

Proposals should focus on building sustainable partnerships with community organizations, government agencies, or other external stakeholders. Proposals should also articulate the opportunity or challenge they are addressing and how the partnership(s) will realize the opportunity or address the challenge.

Below we provide a few examples to help get your creative juices flowing. These examples are not meant to be directive or exhaustive, but rather to provide some additional context for the type, scope, and scale of projects SoE is envisioning.

• Gather a team of Boise State investigators and community stakeholders to co-develop research or other projects.
• Host a series of community meetings about wildfire response and recovery. Take the feedback and reframe it into a restoration or policy proposal.
• Work with external partners to develop new opportunities and pathways to grow and sustain graduate or undergraduate student training.
• Develop a farmers-market-based research plan involving students interested in sustainable agriculture.
• Work with an agency to empower graduate students to learn facilitation and public meeting strategies; target a specific area in need of attention.
• Set up protocols for water quality testing in a known area under development
• Develop partnerships with the City of Boise to make progress on mutually beneficial goals.

• Open to all full-time faculty across campus. Although not required, proposers are encouraged to engage SoE faculty in their team development (as interests and expertise align).
• Proposals must include collaboration with external partners and demonstrate a clear pathway to sustainable engagement.

• Project title and brief overview (maximum of 150 words).
• Project description (maximum of 750 words). The project description should include the following:
  • Overview of the project goals and who is involved in the partnerships.
  • How the partnerships align with at least one SoE thematic area of interest.
  • Specific outcomes expected from the partnership(s) (maximum of 500 words). In this section describe what the partnership will result in. For example,
    • Will the partnership lead to future research or project collaborations and if so what are the potential targets and timelines?
    • Will the partnership result in new experiential learning opportunities for students (i.e. internships, field training, CUREs, etc.) and if so how many students will potentially be impacted?
    • What are the targeted impacts on the external partner and/or research goals (co-development of research or implementation of prior findings, etc.)?
    • Is there a plan for student involvement (theses, projects, internships, service learning, community-based projects, etc.)?
• Budget request (up to $7,500) with detailed justification (maximum of 200 words). The justification should include the following:
  • A description of how the funds will be used (e.g. O/E, travel, stipend, etc.) as well as a brief rationale for why the funds are proposed to be used in the proposed way.
• A letter of support from the external partner(s).

• Demonstrated team/partnership building
• Demonstrated progress towards identified project outcomes (e.g. project development, internship creation, training opportunities for students, CURE creation/implementation, research or project proposal development, etc.).
• A plan for how the project will be sustained beyond the scope of the requested SoE support (e.g. identification of external funding targets, integration into curriculum, etc.).
• A budget report including a description of all expenditures.
  • Please use the budget template linked here to prepare your budget request.

• Up to $7,500 for individual projects.
• Number of awards expected to be made: 2
• Projects should be completed within 12 months of the award being made.

SoE will assist with storytelling to highlight project outcomes. This will include providing resources for documenting and sharing success stories to be used by the PIs and the SoE.

To support the development of large-scale, interdisciplinary research initiatives that build upon established partnerships or launch new interdisciplinary teams.

Proposals should be aimed at advancing research in one or more of SoE’s thematic areas, yielding tangible research outcomes, and engaging students in research activities. Proposals should focus on building capacity for, and producing, proposal submission(s) for extramural support, generating research outcomes, and fostering student success in research environments.

Projects that involve societally impactful and/or community engaged and co-developed approaches are encouraged, but not required. Proposals could include support for a variety of investments, including but not limited to data collection required for proposal development, support for graduate students that align with student matriculation and proposal development, team building, project management, etc.

• Open to SoE faculty and faculty in environment-related programs in the College of Arts and Sciences and their collaborators across campus and in the community.
• Proposals submitted by collaborative teams should provide evidence of prior team-building efforts or collaborative work/products.
• Proposals should focus on interdisciplinary collaboration and align with at least one SOE thematic area.

• Project title and brief description (250 words).
• Project description (maximum of 1500 words). The project description should include the following:
  • Overview of the research goals and objectives, including a clear connection to an SOE thematic area.
  • Description of the interdisciplinary team, roles of team members, and how they will collaborate.
  • Expected research outcomes (e.g., grant proposal submissions (target and scale of proposal), student matriculation, publication, etc.). PIs are encouraged to identify future grant proposal targets as part of their SoE investment initiative proposals. If needed, SoE will work with PIs of supported projects to provide flexibility in determining the target a future proposal is submitted to (e.g. if the proposed target becomes unavailable during the duration of the SoE supported work).
  • If and how students will be involved in the research (internships, undergraduate research opportunities, graduate student mentorship, etc.).
• Timeline for implementation and expected milestones (max 1 page, a gantt chart is encouraged to illustrate proposed timeline and milestones).
• Plans for sustainability or continuation of the research effort after the initial funding period (maximum of 250 words).
• A detailed budget request (up to $25,000), with justification for each expenditure.
  • Please use the budget template linked here to prepare your budget request.
  • Provide a narrative description of how the funds will be used (e.g. O/E, travel, stipend, etc.) as well as a brief rationale for why the funds are proposed to be used in the proposed way.

All supported projects must achieve one or more of the following deliverables.

• Submission of a minimum of one proposal for external support with total project costs exceeding $1,000,000. SoE will work with PIs to support the submission of these proposals.
• Matriculation of one or more graduate students.
• Dissemination of one or more scholarly products with potential to yield demonstrable societal impact.

In addition, all supported projects must submit a budget report including a description of all expenditures.

• Up to $25,000 per project.
• Number of awards expected to be made: 2
• Projects should be completed by the end of FY26 (end of June 2026).

• SoE will partner with CRCA and the COAS RCA Hub to provide research development and pre-award support for proposal preparation.
• SoE will assist with storytelling to highlight project outcomes. This will include providing resources for documenting and sharing success stories to be used by the PI, community partners and the SoE.