|
|
AAMC Caring for Community Grant Program Requirements
Award Cycle and Deadline
One grant award cycle will be held during each calendar year.
- The 2009 application cycle is complete.
- The 2010 application cycle is currently on hold and will
not open in October 2009; more information will be available by
February 2010.
Review available funding amounts
Application Requirements
All applications should describe, in detail, the project for which
the application is being submitted. Of particular interest to the
selection committee will be the community's need as well as the
extent of student involvement in initiating and maintaining the
program. Applications should also include:
- An assessment of the need for the Caring for Community local
project and a demonstration of how project outcomes will address
those needs.
- A projected schedule and budget for the project (schedule should
include a synopsis how the project will run on a daily basis).
- A demonstration of how project continuity will be maintained
from one academic year to another and from one medical school
class to another.
- A plan for integration of the Caring for Community project into
local government/social services programs, if applicable.
- A plan for the gradual assumption of responsibility for support
of the Caring for Community project by the institution or additional
grants.
Costs not supported by CFC funding
- The CFC grant program does not support or reimburse institutions
for indirect costs associated with implementation of the Caring
for Community Grant Program funded projects such as personnel,
benefits, or institutional overhead costs.
- The CFC grant program does not support honorariums for speakers,
panels, conferences, staff, etc.
- The CFC grant program does not support student travel and/or
attendance to conferences.
- The CFC grant program does not support student stipends.
- The CFC grant program does not support international projects
or programs.
- The CFC grant program does not support research projects or
research required for a class, etc.
- The CFC grant program does not support the purchase of laptop
computers.
- The CFC grant program does not support the purchase of LCD projectors.
- The CFC grant program does not support the cost or purchase
of cell phones or cell phone service.
How Caring for Community Grant Proposals
are Evaluated: Advice for Applicants
When an institution submits a Caring for Community Grant Program
proposal, it enters into a competitive process whereby its proposal
is reviewed and evaluated for potential funding with all other proposals
submitted during the same award cycle.
Among the factors assessed in the evaluation of a proposal are:
- The value to the community of the proposed project. Does the
proposal include a needs assessment of the community? Is the service
unique among the institution's community service activities?
- The extent to which the stated project outcomes meet community,
institutional, and student needs. Are project outcomes clearly
stated?
- The extent to which the proposal includes specific plans for
collaborating with other local community service organizations.
- The extent of student participation in the development of the
proposal.
- The extent of student responsibility in everyday project operation.
How widespread are the opportunities for participation in the
service project for students from all four years? How are students
recruited for the project?
- The quality (stability) of the institutional base to the project.
Does the proposal include well-defined roles for the institution
and institutional representatives in providing a focus and administrative
support for the project?
- The quality of plans for ensuring project continuity over time.
Are the plans for continuing the project from one year to the
next reasonable and achievable? Are the roles of the students
and the institution clearly stated? Are the proposed costs of
the project within the guidelines noted in the program announcement?
- The narrative budget proposal should include explanation and
justification for individual proposed expenses. The Excel budget
proposal should include the individual type and cost for items
within budgeted categories. Do the proposed expenses directly
benefit the community for which the project serves?
Factors Negatively Influencing the Review
of a Proposal
- The proposal is primarily for salary support of a staff member,
consultant fees, or overhead institutional costs.
- The proposal does not indicate that projects in a clinical setting
administering medications, primary care, or medical procedures,
etc. have a licensed physician(s) overseeing all care and procedures.
- The proposal does not include a detailed budget by individual
type and cost that includes an explanation of expenses for the
proposed project.
- The proposed budget requests funding for items that are not
related to direct expenses for the project and community (direct
expenses include items such as medical supplies, office supplies,
and program supplies, etc.).
- The budget proposal requests significant funding for student
and staff meals or recruiting efforts.
- The proposal does not estimate costs for the second, third and
fourth years of the project (for new and supplemental project
grants only).
- The proposal is not clear (explicit) regarding the extent of
medical student participation, e.g., how many student participants,
the proportion of the student body represented, processes/procedures
for recruiting/seeking volunteers for future years of the project.
- The proposal is not developed, organized, or written by medical
students.
- Students participating in the project are doing so to fulfill
a class requirement or to receive credit at their medical institution.
[Top]
|
