Charles R. Bantz Chancellor’s Community Fellowship Award

Check out the previous recipients of this award!

What is Community-Engaged Research?

See: https://engage.indianapolis.iu.edu/research/community-engaged-research/index.html. For the purposes of IRB at IU, community-engaged research is defined as research that "includes the meaningful involvement of community partners in the research process, including but not limited to topic development, need identification, research design, conduct of research, and/or sharing of results."

The Bantz Community Fellowship initiative: the Charles R. Bantz Community Fellowship Award ($40,000). The award is funded through charitable gifts and campus funding. The award is supported by the Office for Translating Research into Practice (TRIP), Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Office of Community Engagement.

The Bantz Community Fellowship Award provide up to one year of research support for a collaborative research team made up of IU Indianapolis faculty and students, which may also include staff. Working with a named Community Partner organization, the team will be brought together to address a pressing community issue, primarily in Central Indiana or in the awardee’s campus region.

See below for further details about Bantz Community Fellowship Award.

 

The Bantz Community Fellowship Award is intended to support and advance the work of established researchers with significant connections in the community. Bantz Community Fellowship awardees should have a body of research and history of working in/with the community that have led to the proposed project, and be able to demonstrate established partnerships within the community and with the named community partner(s).

This award is intended to provide support to a research team to build upon an existing body of research and deep connections in the community, and ideally with the named community partner(s). Because this award will support a researcher team to deepen existing research, it is expected that after one year of research, Bantz Fellowship awardees will have achieved significant advancement of the proposed research agenda and be able to demonstrate impact in the community. Impact may be defined as and include the adoption of innovative policies, measurable increases in awareness, implementation of programs and services, and/or changes in attitudes among stakeholders.

Bantz Community Fellow Designation. The Bantz Community Fellow must be an IU Indianapolis faculty member who serves as the Primary Investigator on the project. The team must include student researchers and community partners, and may include expertise and leadership from a Co-PI. The Faculty Fellow may (but is not required to) name one student with significant responsibility on the project as the Student Fellow, and one community organization (usually the primary community research partner) as the Community Fellow on the research team.

Bantz Community Fellowship and Community Award Proposals
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Eligibility:

To be eligible to serve as Faculty Fellow and PI on a Bantz Community Fellowship team, the faculty member must have a primary academic appointment as Tenured, Tenure-track, Clinical Faculty or Lecturer. Bantz Fellowship Awardees must maintain residency on the IU Indianapolis, Columbus, or Fort Wayne campus during the award year.

Collaborative teams must include one or more students (graduate and/or undergraduate students or both) who are enrolled full-time enrollment in an IU Indianapolis program and are in good academic standing, AND at least one designated Community Partner*. All members of the research team and the community partner(s) should be actively engaged in shaping and achieving the proposed research goals and activities.

The Bantz Fellowship Award requires an additional cash or in-kind match (minimum 20%) from the school, community partner, and/or other grants and partners.

Application Terms and Guidelines:
  1. Applications and proposal materials for the Charles R. Bantz Chancellor’s Community Fellowship Award must be submitted to the online application portal no later than 11:59 p.m. on the advertised deadline date. No paper or emailed applications or portions of applications will be accepted.
  2. Troubleshooting and tech support for the application portal may not be available on the day of the deadline, so applicants are strongly encouraged to submit materials at least 24-48 hours in advance of the deadline.
  3. Applicants must complete all sections of the application form and upload the requested materials through the online application portal and/or via the links provided:
    • Curriculum vitae for the Applicant/PI (and co-PI if appropriate).  
    • Professional bio photos of the Applicant/PI (and co-PI if appropriate).
    • Project budget using the form provided here.
    • Project timeline.
    • Names of at least two (2) community partners who will be closely involved in the proposed research. Named community partners will be prompted to complete a survey.
    • Applicant’s Dean or Department Chair name and email who will be prompted to submit a letter of support.
Use of Funds: 

The Charles R. Bantz Chancellor's Community Fellowship Award grant period is from July 1 through June 30 of each year. Funding may be used to support the research as indicated in the proposal and accompanying budget to pay for personnel including IU faculty, staff, and student time while working on the project and in the form of partial salary and release time; direct project expenses such as software, hardware, and event costs; and limited travel costs.

Funding may not be used to support salaries or indirect expenses for external or community partners. The proposal may include funds to provide in-kind services and support to the community organization as part of the collaborative work to address a specific problem. The funds also may be used to reimburse community partner organizations for allowable expenses incurred by the organization as part of the project.

Award Process and Recognition:

The Bantz Fellowship Award decisions are made through a competitive selection process on an annual basis. The selection committee is comprised of faculty and community-engaged scholars, campus administrators, prior Bantz awardees, and community experts.

Bantz Awardees and their deans are notified of the awards by the IU Indianapolis Chancellor in spring of each year. Awardees are honored at the annual Fall TRIP Showcase. Awardees will also receive a 5 minute video that explains their research.

Awardee Responsibilities:

Bantz Community Fellow Awardees are expected to provide public presentations to the community, campus, and donors; communicate broadly about the Bantz award and project; issue appropriate informal and formal reports upon request; exhibit at relevant and appropriate campus research colloquia and community events including but not limited to the annual TRIP scholars event and OVCR research events; share community-engaged research with others in traditional and open-source formats; serve on Bantz Fellowship Award Judging Committees after the completion of their award year; and advise and mentor future Bantz Fellows as appropriate.

Awardees are expected to use the Bantz Fellowship Award to leverage new and additional funding and respond to annual requests for information about advances in the work and impacts in the community.

Questions?

Contact the following individuals from the Charles R. Bantz Fellowship Advisory Committee: