Rackham Faculty Allies and Student Allies Diversity Grants

Rackham Faculty Allies Diversity Grant

The Faculty Allies Diversity Grant provides Faculty Allies with funds to organize and host activities, events, and programming that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion among graduate students within their departments. The purpose of this financial support is to improve DEI at the program level in meaningful ways.

In order to calibrate proposed activities with their program’s current DEI challenges or concerns, we urge Faculty Allies to engage their graduate students and colleagues in discussions about the needs of the program in relation to diversity, equity, and inclusion. This grant is an opportunity to experiment with new and innovative activities, events, and initiatives that foster diversity and address the concerns of increasingly diverse graduate student cohorts. Proposals that seek to improve the following areas of the graduate student experience are especially welcome: climate; retention and completion; academic and professional development; career outcomes; and alumni engagement.

Grant Guidelines

Any graduate program at the University of Michigan that has designated a Rackham Faculty Ally may apply for the Faculty Allies Diversity Grant.

The grant application must be submitted by the program’s Faculty Ally. Since programs often rotate Faculty Allies as a service position, it is generally useful to name on the application a second faculty member who is serving in a longer-term leadership role (director of graduate studies or chair), as well as the department chief administrator.

Grants are for specific activities, events, or programming; they are not meant to serve as an open-ended fund for ad hoc graduate student needs.

Faculty Allies applying for the Faculty Ally Diversity Grant may request a Student Ally Supplemental Grant to support one or more Student Allies who will collaborate with the Faculty Ally in planning, hosting, or executing the activities proposed in the Faculty Ally Diversity Grant. Student Ally Grants may be used to support students in the spring/summer or during the academic year, depending on the specific projects.

Grants cannot be used to pay faculty or staff salaries and benefits, or U-M tuition or fees.

Rackham Graduate School reimburses the actual spent costs of authorized activities, events, and/or initiatives at the conclusion of the project. In other words, all grant funds are disbursed at the end of the grant period. To receive funds, Faculty Allies must submit a report on the grant activities that details expenditures, includes a basic budget reconciliation, and explains the progress toward DEI goals laid out in the original proposal.

Evaluation Criteria

• Fit between the graduate program’s DEI needs and the proposed activities, events, programming
• Likelihood that the proposed innovations will make a significant, lasting difference to students in the graduate program
• Number of students impacted
• Demonstrated commitment of the faculty, program, and department leadership to the proposal, including willingness to share costs and to create structures to support the proposed initiatives beyond the period of the grant

Application Procedures

Proposals are due on February 24, 2025, by 1:00 p.m., and must be submitted through the online application portal.

Narrative

Please address the following issues as prompted by the online application portal:

• Current status of DEI climate and work: What are the DEI issues that are currently front of mind for your program? What work has already been done?
• Proposed activities: What activities, events, programming are you applying for a Faculty Allies Grant to support?
• Gaps or challenges around DEI in your program: How are the proposed activities designed to meet particular DEI challenges in your program?
• Student Ally Supplemental Grant: If you are seeking funds to support one or more Student Allies as collaborators in executing the Faculty Allies Diversity Grant, please explain how they will contribute to the activities proposed, including the specific work, time commitment, and estimated timeframe for the project.
• Evidence of commitment: What ways will your faculty, leadership, and department contribute to supporting DEI efforts in your program and the activities for which you are seeking Rackham funding?

Budget (One Page)

Please use the budget table provided to list the proposed activities (i.e., invited speaker, summer writing workshop, career panel) and provide a cost break-down (i.e., activity, number of students involved).

If you are applying for a Student Ally Supplemental Grant, please include the student work as a budget line item.

Be sure to include a total budget amount up to a maximum of $8,000, or $13,000 if you are requesting Student Ally support.

Letter of Support (One Page)

Please provide a letter of commitment from the department chair, director, or dean with responsibility for the graduate program.

If you are applying for a Student Ally Supplemental Grant, please provide a letter of support from the student’s advisor or graduate program director.

Award Notifications

Awardees will be notified in April 2025.

2024–25 Rackham Faculty Allies Diversity Grant Awardees

Asterisks indicate a recipient of an additional Student Allies for Diversity Grant.

• Benjamin Allen, Cellular and Molecular Biology*
• Amanda Arreola, Dermatology
• Patrick Barry, Clinical Research—Law*
• Andrea Bolivar, Women’s and Gender Studies*
• Kevin Cokley, Psychology*
• Jessie DeGrado, Middle East Studies*
• Tom Duda, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology*
• Mara Duncan, Cell and Developmental Biology*
• Robert Duncan, Neuroscience*
• Megan Ewing, Germanic Languages and Literatures*
• Paul Fleming, Health Behavior and Health Education*
• Christine Freeman-Basmajian, Immunology*
• Anna Freidin, Ancient History*
• Irene Hwang, Architecture*
• Sean Johnson, Astronomy and Astrophysics*
• Yasmina Laouar, Microbiology and Immunology
• Larissa Larsen, Urban and Regional Planning*
• Mike Liemohn, Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering
• Rob Mickey, Political Science*
• Chauncey Monte-Sano, Educational Studies*
• Jayakrishnan Nandakumar, Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology*
• Alison Narayan, Chemical Biology*
• Rushika Patel, Nursing*
• Acrisio Pires, Linguistics
• Yatrik Shah, Cancer Biology*
• Elizabeth Speliotes, Medical Scientist Training Program*
• Deborah Watkins, Environmental Health Sciences*
• Addie Weaver, Social Work and Social Science
• Brian Weeks, Communication and Media*
• Chase Weidmann, Biological Chemistry*
• Jenny Wilson, Mathematics
• Jason Young, History*