Student Affairs
Fund Your Cardinal Course
Resources for new Cardinal Courses are provided through Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education in partnership with departmental curriculum initiative funds. Faculty are invited to apply for up to $3,000 awards to support the design and development of undergraduate courses that combine public community service with academic study. This includes proposals that add a significant community-engaged learning component to an existing course or those that create a new course with a notable community engagement component.
What is a Cardinal Course?
A cardinal Course (i.e., service-learning) is a course that includes:
- Engagement with a community to address societal needs
- Intentional integration of learning objectives and experience
- Student preparation, ongoing reflection, and critical analysis
- Reciprocal benefits for students, community, and campus partners
- Opportunities to critically examine public issues or explore one's civic identity
Am I Eligible?
Though all faculty are invited to apply for service-learning funds, priorities for selection include:
- completion of Faculty Development Seminar.
- sustainability: the course is required in the major, an Introductory Seminar, a Thinking Matters course, or has become a part of the instructor’s normal teaching program
- best practices: the design of the proposed course is consistent with the principles of ethical and effective service.
- innovation: the addition of a significant community-engaged learning component to an existing course or creation of a new service-learning course
- ongoing commitment to teaching the service-learning learning course: funding is requested to further develop course and/or its partnerships
What Does Funding Cover?
- recognition for community partner, e.g., honoraria, supplies and materials
- local student travel to community project sites
- funds for project dissemination locally and/or through conferences and public venues
- community engaged learning project supplies
What Is Expected of Me?
Faculty who are awarded funds will participate in a collegial network and support campus Community Engaged Learning efforts. All recipients will submit a brief report on their courses at the end of the year, including high-resolution photos and excerpts from student assignments and/or community partner feedback.
Cardinal Course Grant Proposal Form
What about Continued Funding?
Continued funding of your Cardinal course will be determined annually based on the following:
- an ongoing commitment to teaching the Cardinal Course: funding is requested to further develop course and/or its partnerships
- contributions to the field: applicants will describe how they are enhancing the scholarship, professional practice, or collegial network of service-learning practitioners at Stanford or nationally, either within the service-learning field or their discipline
