Social Justice Grants
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Application Instructions
Applications due February 20, 2025.
Diversity and Social Justice grants offer a current faculty member a $7,000 grant for the development of educational practices, research, or initiatives that support and enhance diversity and social justice in and beyond the classroom at WWU. The grant can be received as:
- $7,000 toward a course release, with additional cost covered by applicant’s department
- $7,000 in salary, provided appointments do not exceed 100 percent FTE (typically taken during the summer)
- $7,000 toward project costs, provided a WWU department manager will manage the costs and funds
Collaborative projects between faculty, students, staff, community, and/or others are encouraged. Proposals from all disciplines are invited and welcome.
Grantees will be invited to participate in learning labs to share their work with one another, as well as participate in a public colloquium to share about their experience and effects of their work upon completion of their project.
Applications should be submitted by the faculty applicant by February 20, 2025, via email to sjec@wwu.edu with the subject line “SJEC Grant Application: [Insert title of project].” Applicants may be asked to meet with members of the review committee for a short interview during the review process. The committee anticipates finalizing decisions and notifying applicants by the end of winter quarter.
If you have questions prior to submitting an application, email SJEC@wwu.edu.
Application Format
- Cover page
- Title of proposal
- Author (and co-authors if relevant)
- Department
- Rank
- Phone number
- Narrative proposal (no more than two pages single-spaced (excluding citations))
- Description and goals of project
- Budget and budget justification
- Project timeline
- Names and contact information for collaborators or significant stakeholders on the project
Narrative Proposal Guidelines
Please include the following sections in your proposal, addressing all prompts. Sufficient and substantive responses to each prompt will form the basis of evaluation for selection by reviewers.
Description and goals of project. Applicants should address the following questions:
- What is the proposed project plan and desired outcomes?
- What is the context of the proposed project in your field, unit, and/or for the community? (Do not assume reviewers are familiar with the details of individual programs.)
- What are your efforts so far to engage community members, collaborators, or other significant stakeholders in your project?
- How is the proposed work centered around diversity and social justice, as defined below (under Purpose)?
- How does the proposed project significantly enhance existing programming and offerings or address gaps in programming at WWU?
- In what ways is the proposed project transformational and impactful for the WWU campus and/or the community?
- In what ways does the proposed project contribute to sustainable structural changes?
- How does the proposed project enhance your scholarship or creative work, teaching, and/or service?
Budget
- Is the proposed project feasible with available resources and grant funding?
- What is the applicant’s preferred grant type ($7,000 summer salary vs. $7,000 toward a course release or project costs) and why?
- If applying for funding toward a course release, estimate the full cost of a course release for your course and unit. If additional funding is needed beyond the $7,000, how will you secure additional funding?
Timeline
- What is the proposed timeline, process, and deliverables for the proposed project?
- Is the proposed timeline feasible within the timeframe of the grant?
Eligibility & Conditions
- All WWU Faculty are eligible and encouraged to apply.
- Collaborative projects between faculty, students, staff, and/or community are strongly encouraged. All projects must have a WWU faculty member as the point person, sponsor, or co-author.
- Applicants must be employed by WWU for the current academic year and have a contract for next year.
- Previous grantees may apply, including for continued funding of their SJEC project.
- No summer appointments combined may exceed 100% effort.
- Faculty members may not hold a Summer Teaching Grant or a Summer Research Grant concurrently with an SJEC Grant.
- Faculty members with other grant funding concurrently must clearly explain how the SJEC grant project is distinct from other grant projects.
- If the grant would immediately follow or precede professional leave, faculty members must clearly explain how the SJEC grant project is distinct from their professional leave project(s).
- Applicants must demonstrate efforts to engage with relevant collaborators, including community partners. All projects should enhance diversity and social justice in the campus community, and preference will be given to those that also include impact within the broader community.
- Grant funds must be used within one academic year.
Grants Committee Membership, 2024-25
- Neah Ingram-Monteiro (Western Libraries), co-chair
- Natalie Baloy (Anthropology), co-chair
- Charlene Montaño Nolan (Early Childhood Education)
- Stephanie Gomez (Communication Studies)
- G McGrew (Chemistry & Critical Disability Studies)
- Mia Rodarte (Anthropology), graduate student representative
- Niko Fung Chen Pen (CFPA), undergraduate student representative
About the Diversity and Social Justice Grants Program
On behalf of the University Provost’s Office, the Diversity & Social Justice Grants support Western Washington University’s strategic goals for the enhancement of equity, inclusion and diversity. The grant provides resources to actively develop educational practices that support and enhance diversity and social justice in and beyond the classroom. These projects also advance scholars’ professional development, research, and/or creative work.
Key Terms
Diversity, conceived broadly, refers to typically underrepresented cultures, groups, or identities and their relationships to structures of power. (Underrepresented identities might include, but are not limited to, race/ethnicity, ability, religion, sexual orientation, language, gender, gender identity, national origin, socioeconomic status, age, or intersections across these categories.)
As queer education scholar Heather Hackman explains, “Social justice education does not merely examine difference or diversity but pays careful attention to the systems of power and privilege that give rise to social inequality, and encourages students to critically examine oppression on institutional, cultural, and individual levels in search of opportunities for social action in the service of social change” (2005: 104).
Previously funded Social Justice Grants
| Name & Department / College | Project |
|---|---|
| Dr. Dustin O’Hara, Department of Computer Science | Empowering autistic and neurodivergent students at WWU through online mentorship |
| Dr. Norda Stephenson, Department of Chemistry and SMATE | Learning assistants in general chemistry for more active and equitable teaching and learning |
| Cori Lovejoy College of Business & Economics | Heart-Led Leadership |
| Adrian J. Villicana Psychology | Empowering Change: Transforming psychological approaches to social justice education |
Professor Theresa Warburton, English Professor Josh Cerretti, History | Transformative Justice Learning Lab |
| Kirsten Jensen Woodring College | Implementing STI curriculum with local Lummi artists and educators |
| Jill Davishahl and John Misasi Engineering and Design Department | Engineering a culture overhaul (ECO) at WWU - Phase 2 |
| Name | Department / College | Project |
|---|---|---|
| Ciao, Anna | Psychology / CHSS | Engaging student leaders in community-centered change: Creating a community learning course for psychology students. This project supported the creation of a new experiential learning class within Psychology. It was conceptualized as a way to create more equity and access to the mental health field, providing students with opportunities to gain skills within class instead of asking that they volunteer time outside class to gain helping-related experience (which is required to enter the field). In a pilot of this course in winter 2024, 15 psychology students participated in 20 hours of training and planned for and led a series of diversity-focused body image intervention groups while conducting implementation research. Students read about and discussed culturally-informed and culturally-adapted mental health prevention programs and considered career pathways within the mental health field. Thirty-one students applied for the 15 seats in this class, and course evaluations and other feedback show that students viewed the course very positively and felt it helped to support their career development and skill-building within mental health intervention implementation in real-world settings. |
| Johnston, Christine | History / CHSS | Colonial Legacies and Ongoing Inequities: Archaeology and Mediterranean History |
| Laso, Francisco | Environmental Studies / CENV | Mapping Access and Disability at Western |
| Montaño Nolan, Charlene | Early Childhood, Elementary, and Multilingual Education Dept. / Woodring | Developing Social and Environmental Justice-Oriented Science Programming with Kitsap Children’s Museum: This project provides opportunities for WWU undergraduate students in the Early Childhood Education program, in partnership with the Kitsap Children’s Museum, to produce family and community-oriented educational materials, build relationships with families and community organizations, and learn key concepts and practices in socio-environmental justice STEAM-work. The Social Justice and Equity Grant supported initial design collaborations with KCM including time and resources to integrate curriculum in ECE coursework and field experiences to sustain this partnership beyond the initial grant funding. |
| Pfeiffer, Allison | Geology / CSE | Unlearning Racism in the Geosciences: Building department consensus to envision and enact URGE 2.0 |
| Sas, Mai | Geology / CSE | Unlearning Racism in the Geosciences: Sustaining the momentum of an existing, transformative, but inadequately supported organizationReceipt of this grant (along with the sibling grant to Dr. Allison Pfeiffer) helped reshape the Geology Department’s Unlearning Racism in Geoscience (URGE) Pod working model. Since March 2023 the Pod has been remodeled to rid of thematic working groups, which were essentially sub-groups with members working on action items, and instead focus on 2-3 tasks per year as a comprehensive group. These tasks get voted on by the larger group with individuals signing up to assist with task completion and allows for more group-wide meetings to focus on anti-racism readings and discussion versus updates from the working groups. This format has already proved to be more successful and has resulted in a geology course focused on DEI topics (offered in AY 24-25 by Dr. Pfeiffer), a website for the WWU URGE Pod with community blogs (e.g., events, GeoHeros, etc.), a K-12 community outreach event that is set to take place on May 4, and more sustainable distribution of tasks among Pod members. |
| Schwartz-Dupre, Rae Lynn | Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies / CHSS | Creating a Transition Report for a Women, Gender, & Sexuality Studies Department |
| Stephenson, Norda | Chemistry and SMATE / CSE | Exploring the Participation and Persistence of Underrepresented Women in Chemistry |
| Name & Department / College | Project Title | Project Description |
|---|---|---|
| Christine Espina, Department of Health & Community Studies; Amy Rydel, Whatcom County Health Department | Healthy Whatcom and Western Washington University Partnership for Community Health Improvement | Building a More Equitable Whatcom County: Healthy Whatcom (HW) and Western Washington University (WWU) Collaboration (Fall 2022 - Spring 2024) This report summarizes collaborative efforts between Healthy Whatcom (HW)--a cross-sector community group convened by Whatcom County Health and Community Services (WCHCS)--and Western Washington University (WWU). The focus was on improving early childhood well-being in Whatcom County, emphasizing racial justice and community engagement. Laying the groundwork (Fall 2022—Mid-2023): HW focused on securing resources for the Community Health Improvement Plan through the Healthy Children’s Fund (HCF) passage. Discussions with WWU faculty in early-mid 2023 explored potential partnerships, laying the groundwork for future collaboration, though it was determined that capacity was limited. Therefore, Dr. Espina focused on strengthening HW's infrastructure by developing an equity toolkit and communication tools to enhance community education and engagement in the HCF implementation plan. Community Engagement and Capacity Building (Late 2023—Winter 2024): HW contributed to drafting the HCF Implementation Plan. Two HW members, including Dr. Espina, joined the Public Health Advisory Board and the HCF implementation team. Dr. Espina strengthened the collaboration between WWU, HW, WCHCS, and community organizations by facilitating relevant RN-BSN student projects, including increasing doula access for Medicaid clients and investigating evidence-based communication tools for pregnant women with substance use disorder. Our work positions HW and WWU to effectively address community health needs and build pathways for future collaboration. |
| Katie Rupe, Department of Mathematics | Supporting New Elementary Teachers to Challenge Inequity and Create Humanizing Mathematics Classrooms | The SJEC Grant supported the development of a pilot group of first-year elementary mathematics teacher who were recent graduates of WWU. This project was designed to support first-year elementary teachers (FYTs) who are committed to the equitable teaching and learning of mathematics. The grant funded the first cohort of FYTs in the 2022-2023 school year and has now expanded to multiple cohorts from both WWU and Oakland University in Michigan in the 2023-2024 school year. Through the development of a community of practice (CoP) among FYTs in Washington and Michigan, FYTs’ conceptions about equity-based teaching practices are centered. Equity-based teaching practices are instructional practices that support all students, in light of their humanity, to learn rich mathematics fostering sensemaking, empowering decision making, and transforming inequalities and injustice (Aguire et al., 2013). FYTs are positioned as those with knowledge and expertise foundational for understanding the teaching and learning of mathematics. We draw from their expertise, as well as grow from the challenges that they face, throughout their first year in the classroom. The research questions guiding this project are: How do FYTs’ visions of equitable mathematics teaching change over their first year teaching? What support do FYTs need to enact equity-based teaching practices in the mathematics classroom? What does it mean to be MTEs supporting FYTs to enact equity-based practices in their classrooms?
|
| Norda Stephenson, Department of Chemistry and SMATE | Exploring the Participation and Persistence of Underrepresented Women in Chemistry | This proposal is a two-phase qualitative research study to enquire into the experiences of undergraduate Black, Hispanic and Native American women in chemistry, with a view to understanding the complexities at the intersection of their race, gender, and other identities. |
| Nicole Torres, Dept. of Human Services; Maverick Tang, Northwest Youth Service | Two-Eyed Seeing:” Ecopsychology, Service Learning, and Decolonial Praxis | This proposal is intended to further investigate how ecopsychological and decolonial practices can be applied in a community-based social service agency, with a goal to create a rich service-learning opportunity for both Master’s level clinicians and WWU students in Human Services. |
| Cameron Whitley, Dept. of Sociology & Environmental Studies Dept. | Coming Out on the Farm: Connecting WWU LGBTQ+ Students, Faculty and Staff with Animal Rescues and Sanctuaries to Enhance Community and Support Mental Health | Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning (LGBTQ+) youth are among those most at risk for mental health challenges, largely due to a lack of social and structural support. Research suggests that animals are essential to our daily lives and can be particularly important in enhancing the mental and physical wellbeing of underrepresented communities. Along these things, a growing body of literature asserts that animals can be an important resource in providing support to LGBTQ+ youth and encouraging community development. Drawing on this literature, the goal of this project was to create a program that connected the WWU LGBTQ+ community to the local animal rescue and sanctuary community in the development of a targeted program designed to build community through the interaction and support of rescued and sanctuary animals. The first event was held in early 2024. It was a huge success with fifteen individuals attending. The attendance was capped at this event as a pilot program. All who attended, reported enjoying the event and felt a stronger sense of community at the end. More events are being planned. The implementation of the program and research components were delayed when the targeted animal sanctuary abruptly closed, and a new community partner had to be obtained. This project also inspired a new line of research into assessing how animals are important to LGBTQ+ people broadly and an LGBTQ+ student research team was developed. |
| Name & Department / College | Project Title | Project Description |
|---|---|---|
| Mayer A., & Kodner R. MBA & Arts Enterprise and Cultural Innovation/Biology | Underrepresented Student Needs Assessment Project | Supervised by SJEC members Aric Mayer and Robin Kodner, four research groups that included faculty, staff and students documented the needs of minoritized populations. This work was done by almost 30 faculty and student researchers who represent marginalized communities at Western. Collectively over 3500 hours of work went into the projects. The collective results highlighted that our students from minoritized populations, and in particular our Black students, are frustrated and suffering under the current structure and culture of our university. Many of these students' basic needs are not being met and they look to the university for support that would help them achieve basic academic goals. In order to meet students' needs, dramatic changes are needed in terms of the structure and function of university programs. This report has been sent to multiple levels of WWU leadership they will use it to defend structural change. See final project. |
| Coleman, Brett Human Services/Woodring | The needs of underrepresented students at Western | This group focused on the need of underrepresented groups and specifically the anti-blackness mentation in WWU community. They concluded that increased resourcing for spaces and mentors that BIPOC students rely on is essential. These spaces tend to be incubators of innovation born out of struggle, and the knowledge and skills developed in such spaces can be useful for equity and inclusion initiatives that are transformative of individuals and institutions alike. |
| Hayes N., & Mehary E Environmental Studies & Education/ College of the Environment and Woodring | The experience of Black students at WWU | This team assessed the needs of Black, African, and/or African American students at WWU during the pandemic. Their findings determined that Western administration needs to do a better job supporting Black students (staff and faculty). Black students are exasperated from reiterating their needs again and again while university officials nod their heads, pay lip service, then take actions that are not what Black students have previously identified. A good example is that earlier in the summer, Black student leaders on campus drafted a list of demands. |
| Brandon, Joseph Counseling, Health, & Wellness | Talking circles with students from underrepresented communities | This research team hosted three talking circles with students from underrepresented communities concluding the following: 1) racism in Bellingham and on campus is pervasive, and causes anxiety and stress to students and they feel the university administration is unresponsive or slow to respond to their concerns for safety; 2) lines of communication from the university were not working to communicate important information to students and much of students’ knowledge and support came from their community; 3) the university has not been willing to provide broad transformative institutional support for Black students, faculty or staff; 4) there is a need for academic related support that includes a need for faculty cultural competency training for white faculty and support for BIPOC faculty and staff, especially Black faculty and staff who provide support and mentorship for BIPOC student community. |
| McGrew, G. Chemistry & AMSEC/ CSE | Undocumented students, Disabled and chronically-ill students, and LGBTQIA2S+ students | This team completed three distinct projects focusing on different target populations: Undocumented students, Disabled and chronically-ill students, and LGBTQIA2S+ students. This research team concluded Undocumented students report a compounding set of additional challenges that they face in pursuing an education at Western. Disabled and chronically-ill students are experiencing multiple acute health, safety and survival crises. This is amplified by the perception that they are unwelcome, unsupported, and unsafe. The move to online or remote teaching heavily disrupted campus operations and with that, disrupted LGBTQIA2S+ student communities and support systems and more campus-wide initiatives are needed to acknowledge, support and advocate for Indigenous identity, presence and positionality on Western’s occupied land. Increased mentorship is needed. |
| Name & Department / College | Project Title | Project Description |
|---|---|---|
| Ives, Tleena Woodring | Since Time Immemorial Tribal Sovereignty Curriculum: Community Partner Development | This project is intended to further (P-3) lessons to develop incorporating local tribal history and culture through videos and multimedia recordings with tribal leaders. Lessons developed through this project will focus on family engagement by using the PhotoVoice to attract a high parental involvement because it captivates parents’ interests of their willingness to share their dynamics of family, culture, traditions, and values (Dave, 2015). Additional curriculum development will focus on documenting the local boarding and day school history. The painful history of assimilation through education for local tribes impacts the high rates of disproportionality tribal children face in educational attainment. The project will center around tribal community voices, provide an anti-racist framework for additional curricula, and counter the erasure of tribal history. |
| Schulze-Oechtering, Michael Fairhaven | Introduction to Ethnic Studies and Research Justice: The Whatcom County Rebel Archive | This grant is to create the Whatcom County Rebel Archive, a digital collection that will archive the freedom dreams of local activists, both past and present. He imagines the archive containing three forms of content: primary documents, oral history interviews, and student research. The Whatcom County Rebel Archive serves three important strategic goals set out by the Ethnic Studies Faculty Collective, of which I am a member. One, it will introduce students to community-engaged research methodologies. Two, it will provide an important classroom resource for teaching local social movement history, which will be linked to American Cultural Studies (AMST) 301: Comparative Cultural Studies. Third, it will provide opportunities for Western faculty, staff, and students to develop meaningful partnerships with social justice organizations in Whatcom County. |
| Osborne, Melissa Sociology/CHSS | Research and Program Development to Better Understand and Support the Experiences and Needs of First-Generation Students at Western | This grant will be used to produce data that will help communities at WWU to better understand the lived experiences of first-gen students and develop the programmatic interventions needed to meaningfully impact their trajectories through our university. Osborne will also capture a representative sample of the first-gen population on campus with an oversampling of BIPOC, first-gen students to ensure a robust representation of the intersectional experience of students within this positionality in our community. |
| Ruiz Guerrero, Margarita Woodring | Sustaining a ‘Grow Your Own’ (GYO) Latinx Early Childhood Teacher Pathway | This grant is intended to strengthen the pathway from Skagit Valley College to Woodring’s ECE program, drawing on a study that found that once at WWU university, Latinx students struggled with increased financial strain, entrance requirements into teacher education, and commuting. Guerrero will collaborate with Skagit Valley College faculty and community field experience partners. She will align course content in two courses and add Skagit Valley schools that be accepted into the WWU-ECE professional program as transferable credit, in addition to the direct transfer degree which meets all WWU general education requirements. The reciprocal sharing of strengths will improve the aligned courses, and importantly will offer SVC transferring students an opportunity to take fewer credits in their first two quarters while them are adapting to commuting, meeting requirements, and finding a campus Latinx community at WWU. |
| Abel, Troy College of the Environment | Interdisciplinary Mentoring for Environmental Justice (IM4EJ) Experience for Undergraduates | This grant will be used to engage two undergraduate environmental justice minors from Huxley as mentors in the “Youth Leadership, Learning, and Stewardship for Environmental Justice” education program supported by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Abel is collaborating with four Seattle community nonprofits: 1) the Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition; 2) El Centro de La Raza; 3) the Coalition of Immigrants, Refugees, and Communities of Color; the South Park Area Redevelopment Committee; and 4) Just Health Action. Over the next two years, Troy aims to develop, deploy, and disseminate a place-based Environmental Justice curriculum for South Seattle youth that responds to community needs and enriches diversity, equity, and inclusion in environmental education. |
| Engebretson D., O'Hare D., & El-Glaly Y. Internet Studies/CSE, Computer Science/CSE | Paving the Path for an Inclusive Learning Environment to Students with Disabilities | This grant is intended to provide students with disabilities (SWD) a smooth transition from their Individualized Education Plan (IEP) in public school systems to Western and minimize frustration. They will conduct a study to determine accessibility problems that students with disabilities face at Western, understand the differences in support that SWD receive during their pre-college education, as compared with the accommodations they receive at Western. Their published findings will and help aid SWD at WWU as well as SWD at other colleges and universities. |
| Ferreras-Stone, Jessica Woodring | Teaching Inclusive Social Studies | This grant is intended to help 540 elementary teachers in Skagit county retell this nation’s history in a way that does not advance a narrative that promotes settler colonialism and instead advocate a tribal sovereignty curriculum is called Since Time Immemorial (STI). Ferreras-Stone will also use the newly created units with practicing teachers as examples in her ELED 425 to deepen WWU student understanding as well as support their own creation of STI units. She will also bring together WWU student to meet with Skagit elementary schools to practice their STI training in the classroom. |
| Name | Department / College | Project |
|---|---|---|
| Nicholas, Trula | Woodring | Black Feminist Epistemology Course |
| Lee S., Dahlberg L., Miner B | Biology/CSE | Support for Organizing Fraser Events Dedicated to Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity in STEM |
| Giffen A., & Lucchesi A. | English/ CHSS | Disability Studies: Developing Curriculum and Courses |
| Brown, Nicole | English/ CHSS | Sehome (Lummi: Six"o'm) Hill |
| Rivera, Lysa | English/ CHSS | Interstate Activisms: Tracing El Movimiento from L.A. to Seattle |
| Cueto, Desiree | Woodring | Crossing Borders through Books/Cruzando fronteras con Libros |
| Barber DeGraaff R., Romo L., Le | CSE | CSE Community Ambassador Program Evaluation - Cohort Building and Resources Sharing |
| Coleman, Brett | Health & Community Studies/CHSS | The Systemic Racism Curriculum Project |
| Warburton, Theresa | English/ CHSS | Treaty and Totem Workbook |
| Name | Department / College | Project |
|---|---|---|
| Kamel, Nabil | Huxley | Implementing a Diversity Plan for Huxley College of the Environment (continued) |
| Darby, Kate J. | Huxley | Create an Environmental Justice Minor |
| Matthews, Geoffrey | Computer Science/CSE | Outreach program to the Hispanic community interested in Computer Science |
| Karlberg, Michael | Communication Studies/CHSS | Public memory website of racial injustice |
| Lees, Anna | Early Childhood Education/Woodring | Northwest Indian College Early Learning Center |
| Vélez, Verónica | Secondary Education/Woodring | Education and Social Justice Minor |
| Varges, Chris | Art/CFPA | Transgender Hirstory in 99 Objects |
| Name | Department / College | Project |
|---|---|---|
| Coleman, Brett | Health and Community Studies/Woodring | Systemic racism into three separate WWU courses |
| Brown, Andrew | Fairhaven College | Racial injustice and their continued relevance in Bellingham |
| Name | Department / College | Project |
|---|---|---|
| Ó Murchú, Niall | Fairhaven College | Redesigning FAIR 210A World Issues |
| Lee Spira, Tamara | Fairhaven College | Black feminist lesbian and queer feminist interventions into US imperialism in Chile |
| Ceretti, Josh | History/CHSS | Decolonizing Bellingham Tour |
| Friday, Chris | History/CHSS | WWU’s curricular offerings related to Indigenous/Native American experiences |
| Youmans, Greg | English Department, Film Studies/CHSS | Expand the frame of queer and transgender studies at WWU |
| Kamel, Nabil | College of the Environment | Develop a comprehensive diversity plan for Huxley |
| Barber-Degraaff R., Kodner R., Dahlberg L. | Physics & Astronomy, Biology, Biology/CSE | Inclusiveness workshops for WWU faculty in science |