Student engagement opportunities like internships and community-engaged learning courses offer reciprocal opportunities for communities seeking support, and students seeking hands-on learning and community engagement experiences. Community-engaged learning and internships can be integral components of implementing solutions in rural communities, ranging from building flood resilience to supporting the integration of data for planning and decision-making.
In February 2026, the Leahy Institute for Rural Partnerships announced its inaugural SERV grant, which supports the development of new or existing community-engaged learning courses at the University of Vermont that support rural communities across the state and are rooted in partnerships.
Today, six grants have been awarded that highlight innovative faculty-community partnerships in support of student experience and rural community development. The projects include:
- A partnership to create a sustainable plant nursery
- Support for grant writing for non-profits
- Capacity building for local organizations through data
- Boosting plant diversity
- A new data assessment tool for rural development
- Field research on culverts and flood resilience
“As Vermont’s land grant institution, our mission is to serve Vermonters. The inaugural SERV grant recipients embody this mission and offer our students opportunities to have a real impact on communities across Vermont.” — Tricia Coates, Director of the Leahy Institute for Rural Partnerships.
The SERV grant was co-created in partnership with the Office of Community Engaged Learning (CELO) at the University of Vermont. Director Susan Munkres notes that the SERV grant “provides unparalleled opportunities for faculty to develop more expansive partnerships, whether traveling further afield in the state of Vermont, developing the infrastructure for new collaborations, or sustaining ongoing projects that otherwise would suffer during a faculty member’s sabbatical. We know that investing in faculty and student capacity increases what UVM can offer the state."
