Mission Micro Grant Program

Our mission is to be a university that is Catholic, Mercy, Jesuit, urban, and student-centered. See a UDM's mission statement.

Why have a program like this?

• Because we believe that our mission is something that lives most powerfully in the day-to-day lives and activities of our students, staff, faculty, and administrators;
• Because we believe there are many different ways to be Catholic, Mercy, Jesuit, urban, and student-centered;
• Because we believe that creative grassroots-level explorations and promotions of the mission are a lot more likely to happen with seed money.

What type of projects and activities can get funded?

You tell us! What are you doing or want to do? Some examples:

• Invite a guest speaker to your classroom
• Provide student kits to offer foot care to poor and homeless people
• Purchase a digital camera to record the life stories of elderly immigrants in Metro Detroit
• Provide scholarships for local middle school students to take a computerized writing workshop
• Purchase coffee for weekly student discussions of mission related matters at the Grounds Coffeehaus
• Take UDM students to a community lecture or arts exhibit
• Provide support for a baby crib design project for wheelchair access
• Cover the operating costs for a class project to provide energy audits to nonprofits
• Pay for the material costs for support workshops for local math teachers

Project Criteria

There are only four criteria a project or activity must meet to be considered for a Mission Micro Grant:

1. The project or activity must promote one or more elements of UDM's mission;
2. You must personally be involved in the project or activity (no pass-through funding of other people's projects, please);
3. The grant monies must be spent in the same academic year in which they are received;
4. You must be available to attend a working lunch in late August of the academic year in which you receive your grant. At this gathering you will meet with other grant recipients and the Micro Grant Program committee to discuss how your project/activity turned out.

How to apply

The application process is very simple:

Download and fill out the one-page application form (Word .doc), and e-mail it to Rosemary Weatherston, Mission Micro Grant Program Director, at weatherr@udmercy.edu.

Mission Micro Grant funds are available throughout the entire academic year. Applications submitted by the deadline listed below will have the greatest chance of being funded.

However, some of the best opportunities are discovered at the last minute. Therefore, you may apply for a Mission Micro Grant after the deadline listed below. If funds remain available, your application will be considered as quickly as possible. Please allow at least two weeks, however, for review of your application.

Deadline

For 2009-2010, all grant applications are due by Sunday, Nov. 15, 2009. Awards will be announced by Dec. 15.

All projects and activities must be completed by August 15, 2010. Early applications are welcome.