Our Faculty Fellows for Community-Engaged Learning program is a mix of facilitated discussions, panel presentations, readings from the field of community engagement, and review of sample syllabi and SL assignments. The schedule consists of one day-long retreat in January, one lunch session each in February, March and April, and a concluding day in May. Throughout, faculty will have opportunities to plan and workshop their own community-engaged course ideas with peers and mentors. Faculty from all units — and at all ranks — are encouraged to apply, including Lecturers; preference is given to applicants who have a specific course in mind for development as community-engaged learning. Applications are due in mid-November of each year.

Faculty Fellows Sample Curriculum

• December Lunch: Project Conceptualization – Identifying Hopes, Goals, Capacity and Constraints
• January Workshop: Project and Partnership Development
• February Lunch: Communicating SL to Students and Partners
• March Lunch: Preparation and Reflection
• April Lunch: Project Management and Communication
• May Workshop: Culminating Reflection and Assessment

Application Information

Applications open for the Faculty Fellows program every October. Email celo@uvm.edu to subscribe to our newsletter and stay up to date on this and similar programs and opportunities.

The Faculty Fellows for Community-Engaged Learning program offers a cohort of faculty and staff from a range of disciplines the opportunity to explore the high-impact practice of service-learning in their own teaching.

For questions related to the program or its content, please email Susan Munkres (susan.munkres@uvm.edu).Program Overview for our Spring 2025 Cohort

As UVM’s new Planetary Health Initiative, officially launched in 2024, CELO offers funding, training, and other faculty development resources to support the development and deepening of a Planetary Health focus in community-engaged learning courses. The principles of the Planetary Health initiative — environmental stewardship, whole health, relationships, and especially, reciprocity — align deeply with community-engaged teaching.

In particular, we are offering grants in two tracks:

• Track 1: For faculty already teaching designated service-learning courses. 

• Track 2: Supports faculty to develop a new service-learning course. 

Faculty of all ranks are invited to apply in the appropriate track.

We will offer at least 5 grants of up to $1,000, in each of the next four years, and while previously-awarded faculty can apply again in subsequent years, priority will go to faculty who have not yet received funds.

In AY2025, we invited proposals in the following tracks (future grant cycles will likely look similar):

Track 1: For experienced faculty teaching existing community-engaged courses

We seek proposals to bring or expand a planetary health focus in an existing designated course. Faculty can propose support for any aspect of the course, in amounts up to $1,000.Funds can support professional development in planetary health, partnership development, course implementation, relevant conference attendance or presentations, or other possibilities. For example, proposals could seek to:

• Gain additional training or knowledge in discipline-specific approaches to planetary health, through conference or workshop attendance
• Expand a partnership that would bring a stronger planetary health lens to the course
• Cultivate additional partners or projects with a stronger planetary health focus
• Compensate a partner for training or work to strengthen course
• Make projects/partnerships possible with transportation or equipment funding
• Strengthen course implementation with undergraduate or graduate Service-Learning TAs, with expertise in planetary health
• Present on planetary health integration into community-engaged learning at relevant conferences/meetings

Faculty will also participate in a convening in January and a paid day of professional development with other grant recipients in June. 

Track 2: For faculty new to community-engaged teaching

We seek faculty interested in developing a new service-learning course with a planetary health component. These faculty will participate in the Faculty Fellows for Community-Engaged Learning cohort, while also attending the same January convening and paid professional development day in June as described above. Faculty will receive up to $750 in PDF or supports for their participation in the Fellows. 

Application Information

Submissions for Planetary Health Service-Learning Grants for AY 2026 will open in Fall 2025. 
Email us to subscribe to our newsletter and stay up to date on this and similar programs and opportunities.

Faculty are welcome to contact Tom Wilson or Susan Munkres in CELO with questions. We encourage faculty to think creatively and we welcome inquiries and brainstorming opportunities.

Applying for Track 1

Applications will open in Fall 2025. Use the proposal template below. 

Proposal Template – Track 1

• Name
• Department
• Email / campus mail
• What would you like to do?
• How will this develop or expand the planetary health lens in your course?
• How much funding (up to $1000) are you applying for? Please give us a rough budget.

Applying for Track 2

Applications will open in Fall 2025. See our previous application form for the Fellows program.

In collaboration with the Leahy Institute, CELO piloted special Faculty Fellows program in 2025, for faculty teaching in areas that align with flooding-related needs around the state. The Fellowship is intended to explore how service-learning students and courses can strategically address flooding-related needs in impacted Vermont communities.

Issues

Faculty whose interests and teaching align with flooding resilience priorities — as identified by community partners in affected communities around the state — were invited to apply. Key identified areas of focus include (but are not necessarily be limited to):

• Flood Mitigation

• Damage Impact Assessment

• Grant-Writing

•  Envisioning Radical Alternatives

• Regional Coordination and Governance

Program Format

This new Fellows program operates on two tracks:

• Track 1: For faculty already teaching designated service-learning courses in relevant disciplines.

• Track 2: For faculty who wish to develop a new community-engaged learning course related to flooding resilience. 

Track 1: For experienced faculty teaching community-engaged courses

Faculty teaching service-learning courses that already address these topics are invited to participate as Resilience Faculty Associates; these faculty receive supports for their course and will support the mentoring of new faculty.  

Track 2: For faculty new to community-engaged teaching

Faculty who wish to develop a new service-learning course participate in CELO’s Faculty Fellows for Community-Engaged Learning — in a special flooding-resilience group — to develop a designated community-engaged course that works with selected partner projects.

Faculty participating in both tracks agree to:

1. Work with selected community partners on flooding-related projects in designated service-learning courses

2. Participate with students in a community showcase event to highlight the work, and

3. Collaborate with other Fellows, and CELO and Leahy Institute staff in developing recommendations and best practices for the program

Application Information

Submissions for the AY 2026 Flood Resilience Service-Learning Fellows will open in Fall 2025. 
Email us (celo@uvm.edu) to subscribe to our newsletter and stay up to date on this and similar programs and opportunities.

Faculty are welcome to contact Tom Wilson (tom.wilson@uvm.edu) or Susan Munkres (susan.munkres@uvm.edu) in CELO with questions. We encourage faculty to think creatively and we welcome inquiries and brainstorming opportunities.