FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

We intend to review all applications in April and May, and our goal is to communicate results and offer funding in June of the competition year. For any updates on this process, please ensure you subscribe to our newsletter.

Whether your application is successful or not, you will be contacted about the result.

To receive funding from SFU’s CEI, your project must meet the criteria set out in an active Call for Proposals as well as some general criteria. The proposals received are weighed against one another. Those selected advance a priority area of What’s Next: The SFU Strategy and most closely align with SFU’s Strategic Community Engagement Plan, furthering relationships with SFU communities through rigorous community engagement. 

SFU endeavors to make available a total of approximately $100,000 each year to seed projects developed with community partners that strengthen relationships and have meaningful impact. We typically receive approximately 50 proposals each year. On average, we are able to fund these at an average level of approximately $5,700 each. The range of disbursements in most years is from $1,000 to a maximum of $10,000. Those selected advance a priority of What’s Next: The SFU Strategy and are most closely aligned with SFU’s Strategic Community Engagement Plan, furthering relationships with SFU communities through rigorous community engagement. The quality of proposals has been increasing each year.

Detailed information about the process, the review criteria and how to seek out further information is provided in the material on the Criteria and Eligibility page, the Funding Process page, and in each year’s Call for Proposals. If you have additional questions, please contact Matthew Grant, Director, Community Engagement, at ce-initiative@sfu.ca.

A complete list of CEI-funded projects is available under the Funded Projects section.  Approximately 15 projects are funded each year.

1. Seed funding for new collaborative community engagement projects and programs featuring the mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources within a context of partnership and reciprocity.
2. Seed funding for the development of programs or capabilities that can support or enhance SFU’s capacity to collaborate with its communities, provided that these are consistent with SFU’s definition of community engagement.
3. One-time costs to expand ongoing initiatives to other campuses or communities and to secure longer-term funding for activities, provided that these are consistent with SFU’s definition of community engagement.

No. The CEI review committee does not meet individually with applicants. If you wish to discuss your project prior to the shortlist process, please contact ce-initiative@sfu.ca

Proposals that are aligned with SFU's Strategic Community Engagement Plan are highly ranked, especially those that strengthen relationships and partnerships with community and include robust opportunities for community-engaged learning, community-engaged research, and knowledge mobilization.

We would be pleased to speak further with you about the story of your project.  If this is of interest to you, please connect with us at ce-initiative@sfu.ca

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 may strengthen a case where partial funding is under consideration.

No. You do not need a signature sheet approval for the CEI.