Giving Back Endowment: Faculty Innovation Grant.
Apply for a $1,000 Faculty Grant
Application Deadline: 11:59 p.m. on February 12, 2023
The Faculty Innovation Initiative is a signature piece of the Nonprofit Leadership Program's long established commitment to high impact community engagement. With generous funding provided by the Giving Back Endowment, established by Dr. Robert and Patricia Long, the Initiatve offers a competitive grant funding of one-time initial support for faculty across campus seeking to incorporate innovative approaches to student-community engagement into their courses. These innovative approaches to classroom education, and the strategic actions that take our students out of the classroom and into our community is part of what makes Murray State such an exceptional university.
Past Award Recipients and Projects
Not sure how to blend philanthropy into your course content? See how past award recipients used their grant funds in creative and transformative ways.
2022 Recipients
Dr. Kimberly Bellah, Associate Professor of Agriculture Education, in the Hutson School of Agriculture received $1,000.00 for her AED 501 course for her work partnering with preservice agricultural education teachers with middle school students with moderate to severe disabilities from Henderson County Schools and 4-H agents from Henderson County. The goal of this program is to use the Henderson County 4-H dairy goat program and undergraduate Murray State University agricultural education students to teach exceptional learners how to bathe, groom, and show dairy goats in preparation for a livestock show. This also helps the preservice teachers learn compassion, patience, empathy, and teaching strategies for reaching exceptional learners in a project-based environment.
Dr. Brittany Wood, Assistant Professor of Political Science, in the College of Humanities and Fine Arts, received $1,000 for her POL 301 course, which partners Murray State students with high school students from Western Kentucky to hold a model UN conference. By hosting a local conference, MSU students are able to take a leadership role in Model UN. In this leadership role, MSU students are able to serve as committee chairs and secretarial positions to recruit, market, and organize the event. Local high school students have the opportunity to practice their Model UN skills and debate current global issues. There isn't a Model UN conference for high school students in Western KY, making this a unique opportunity for Murray State and high school students.
Dr. Megan St. Peters, Assistant Professor of Psychology, in the College of Humanities and Fine Arts, was awarded a $1,000 grant for PSY 415. Through this grant, students will observe and discuss brain-body connections, show techniques to control their bodies, and demonstrate use of a biofeedback game to children in an after-school program hosted at Murray Elementary School. This project empowers elementary school children to learn about the brain-body connection and better control responses to emotional events. This program helps the elementary school children, the after school program, and the Murray State students, as they work and learn together.