Internal Award
Term Length: 1 year
Needs Institutional Endorsement
US Citizenship Not Required

• Applicants must be at least 18 years of age at the time of admission.
• Applicants must be enrolled at least part-time in an accredited institution of higher learning.

The application consists of a few components: an online application, PDFs of a narrative proposal (see elements below), a field survey, a line-item budget, résumé(s). Each of these components is described in detail below and will be completed separately. Students should use our online application to submit their proposals and budgets. The elements of the application are:

The Online Application Form

This section will contain:

• Title of project.
• Name(s) of the student applicant(s).
• Major(s) and degree(s) sought.
• Year(s) of graduation.
• Project dates.
• Amount of funding requested.
• Brief project commitment summary that details for a general audience the purpose, significance, methods, and anticipated outcomes of your commitment.
• Other details.
• CGI U Attendance and Meeting Notes

DO NOT INCLUDE THIS INFORMATION OR A COVER PAGE IN THE PROJECT COMMITMENT PROPOSAL — we collect all of this information in the ONLINE APPLICATION.

The Narrative Project Proposal (2 pages)

The proposal should be both concise and written for an audience of educated non-specialists. This portion should be 2 pages. Do not include a cover page. The proposal must contain the following elements:

Purpose and Outcomes

This section should describe:

• A brief but specific statement of the original question or challenge that the student seeks to understand and address in their commitment to action.
• Relevant background information for the project, with proper citations, to contextualize the project within similar work done related to the commitment to action.
• A list of objectives for the proposed commitment to action.
• A list of expected outcomes from the proposed commitment to action.

Significance and Originality

This section should:

• Clearly and concisely convey why the project is important, to you and the relevant communities impacted by the issues you are addressing in your commitment.
• Address how the project is expected to contribute to the generation of new information, scholarship, knowledge, or creative work.

Methods and Project Design

This section should contain:

• A specific description of the methods being applied in the project.
• An assessment of resources required for project planning and implementation.
• A consideration of potential project challenges.
• An explanation of when and for how long the various stages of the project will take place.
• Human Subjects: If the project involves human subjects or personal data, there should be clear evidence of the Institutional Review Board’s approval, waiver or anticipated approval. Append the IRB approval documents or waiver to the end of your proposal. (IRB approval must occur before project begins.)
• Vertebrate Animals: If the project involves working with non-human vertebrates, there should be clear evidence of the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee’s approval, waiver or anticipated approval. Append the IACUC approval documents to the end of your proposal. (IACUC approval must occur before project begins.)

Community Engagement

This section should describe the communities or organizations with whom you plan to work and a rationale for engagement. We are particularly interested in how you plan to engage with the above and ensure that their needs and thinking are reasonably incorporated into your commitment. What structures do you have in place for communication throughout the project? What is your understanding of how to ethically engage with the communities impacted by your commitment?

Evaluation

This section should describe how you plan to evaluate the project’s progress and outcomes. This section should specify milestones, benchmarks, and criteria that will be used both to assess and, if necessary, adjust the project while it is in process, as well as to evaluate the final outcomes.

An Annotated Field Survey (1-2 pages)

Here, we ask that you locate and analyze at least five project-related articles, works, organizations, or data sources. We want to understand how you are locating your project within existing community of practitioners doing this work and your relationship to established best practices in the field of your endeavor.

Budget (1 page)

Students must include a detailed, itemized budget of estimated project expenses and available resources, prepared using the Award Budget Template. Only budgets prepared using the template will be accepted.

These awards do not fund travel to present completed research at conferences. Do not include conference travel in your budget.

These awards do not fund stipends or wages for undergraduate researchers. Please make sure that this is legible and print this to PDF sideways!

Résumé (1 page)

Include a current résumé for the applicant and for each group member (if applicable).

• CGI U’s social impact curriculum, hosted on edX
• Interactive trainings and group mentorship
• Identification and growth of entrepreneurship and workforce development skills
• Development of early-stage social impact ideas into scalable projects and businesses
• Peer collaboration with a global exchange of ideas, comprised of diverse students from over 80 countries and across all types of higher education institutions
• Invitations to virtual events with best-in-class speakers

Complete the application linked to apply for the CGI University opportunity, the CGI Fellowship opportunities or both.