Application tips

CEI application & submission process

The application process will require you to a) download and complete an application form document, and b) submit that document as a PDF via a two-step online submission form. Full instructions will be available on the APPLY NOW page.

Deadline to apply: April 5, 2024

Do you have a budget code? If not, will you need a new one to be created?

In PART A of the online submission process, you will be asked for your SFU account codes – project or non-project. Please have these ready as you will not be able to submit your application without them.

If you do not have a budget code yet, but know you are going to need a new one, the Office of Community Engagement will make the request for you. To facilitate that process, you will be asked to provide a name for the new account during PART A of the online submission process.  You must also provide your 4-digit department code and the name of the Account Holder for the new account.  If you do not know your department’s 4-digit department code, ask the manager/director of finance/admin for your faculty, school or department.

Failure to provide this information may be grounds for rejection of your proposal, so please plan enough time to prepare this information before you submit. Thank you!

Does the CEI require internal approval?

No: Applying for funding from the CEI does not require a signature sheet approval through Kuali.

Have you considered What's Next: The SFU Strategy and SFU’s Strategic Community Engagement Plan?

The CEI Application will ask you to explore your project’s alignment with SFU's Strategic Community Engagement Plan and What's Next: The SFU Strategy, and how it exemplifies the practice of community engagement.

Please explore these pages and documents before preparing your application.

Who should tell the story of your project? If it's you, do you have permission?

Question #10 of the 2024 application form requires you to craft a short paragraph describing your project in readable and compelling terms. Please consider whose voice should be telling that story: often it is the community partners who may best describe the significance of their partnerships with SFU, and on whose terms that story should be told.

When providing a story summary of your project, please also keep in mind that it will be publicly displayed on our website, and we may even promote it (and your project) to exemplify the power of working equitably with community partners. So if you are going to name anyone or provide identifying pictures, please ensure you have appropriate consent to do so.

About additional sources of expected funding

We strongly encourage all applicants to pursue additional sources of funding concurrently, if/where permitted to do so – doing so will not harm your CEI evaluation, and it might strengthen a case where partial funding is under consideration.