Call for Proposals

In the fall of 2021, Wesleyan University enacted our ten-year strategic plan, Towards Wesleyan’s Bicentennial. This high-level plan was constructed based on feedback from our entire community. We are already working towards achieving the goals outlined in the plan, but there are still opportunities to develop and implement new ideas to accelerate our impact. To that end, we invite the entire Wesleyan community to help us generate new initiatives to drive us towards our bicentennial. As a community filled with innovators who think critically and creatively, we are poised to build upon our previous successes. Our open call for new ideas encourages all members of our community to imagine a brighter future for Wesleyan and the successful launch of our students.

Either individually or through team approach, all Wesleyan faculty, staff, and students are invited to submit a 1–3 page proposal in support of our strategic goals to better support our students' success during their time at Wesleyan and beyond. The strategic goals are to:

  • enhance our distinctive educational curriculum;
  • build on our reputation as a leader in pragmatic liberal education;
  • increase access and sustainability.

There will be funding provided to support these new initiatives.

 

BACKGROUND

This will be the third call for proposals initiative during President Roth’s tenure. Previous open calls were collaborative and impactful, and led to the successful implementation of the Fries Center for Global Studies, WesMass, summer QAC apprenticeship program, Eco Facilitator Program, creation of an emergency fund for low-income students, and our College of the Environment. 

 

CALL FOR PROPOSALS 2022-2023

Focused Initiatives

Launching Wesleyan University towards our bicentennial, we seek proposals with a focus to support the following: 

  • Launching Students into Wesleyan: What support do our students need to fully engage in the curriculum and successfully launch into Wesleyan? From pre-frosh year support to frosh year advising, programming, etc.
  • Curricular: What new programs, majors, minors, or degrees would help our students learn so they can better launch post-Wesleyan?
  • Co-Curricular: What can we do to better enhance the community and learning opportunities we provide so that our students launch into the world as stronger citizens, scholars, etc.

 

PROPOSAL PROCESS

Timeline

  • Proposals Due December 22, 2022
  • Initial Proposal Review Completed by January 31, 2023
  • Selected Proposals Round 2 Development and Submission Due March 15, 2023
  • Final Team Presentation to Advisory Committee by March 31, 2023
  • Proposal Selection by April 30, 2023  

Submission

First round submissions should be a 1–3 page proposal and may be submitted by an individual or team.   Submissions should be emailed to 2031@wesleyan.edu no later than December 22, 2022. Multiple submissions are permitted. Proposals should include a brief overview of the idea and how it will impact Wesleyan. Second round submissions of selected proposals are expected to be more detailed and include information such as proposed budget, timeline for implementation, measurement of success, and resource allocation.

Ideas that do not move on to the second round still help spark creativity and may be acted on at a later point.

Advisory Committee

A committee composed of faculty, staff, and students will review submissions and make recommendations to President Roth and his leadership team for further evaluation. The committee will provide feedback on all proposals.