By 
By: RACHEL NUNER
Staff Writer
Rnuner@iusb.edu
Each school year, the Vision 20/20 grant program offers funding for research teams comprised of IU South Bend students, staff and faculty. While the teams only require the participation of one staff member and one faculty member, it is suggested to include students, and larger groups are preferred.
Initiated in 2013, the Vision 20/20 grant program heavily focuses on increasing student success. It supports and provides encouragement to project teams that have well-planned ideas for increasing student learning, engagement, retention and timely graduation.
Each separate team is eligible for a total of three years of funding if their research data is proved successful at the end of the pilot year and also at the end of their second year.
In order to receive this financial support, existing research teams must have their data and new proposals ready by Feb. 1 for grant renewals, while new research teams must have their initial proposals ready by March 1 in order to begin their pilot year. Two grant cycles have already passed and teams are now preparing for the third cycle.
On average, there are usually around eight separate teams each cycle.
“We’re allotted approximately $35,000 per year, so each team has about $5,000 more or less available,” said Gwen Mettetal, coordinator and workshop leader for the grant program. “But often times, they don’t utilize the full $5,000.”
Past research projects and topics have included: Assessment of Alcohol and Drug Educational Programs at IU South Bend; Disability Support Service Summer Workshops; Internships in the Liberal Arts and Sciences; IUSB Brave bringing recovery, awareness, voices and engagement for a campus free of sexual assault and violence; The Successful Scholar-Athlete Class; Summer Bridge Program; Tiny Shelves Student Concert Series; and Increasing Student Retention through High Impact Practices for EDUC-U 100.
“The [grant] program is looking for us to synergize and ultimately come up with some successful, informational data that will end up benefiting our campus,” said Kathleen Sullivan, head coordinator of the Increasing Student Retention through High Impact Practices for EDUC-U 100 team.
All of the mentioned groups, except for one, provided successful research data at the end of their pilot year and were eligible for grant renewals.
Some of the projects and topics eligible for funding in the 2015 school year include: The COEUS Award to Recognize High Impact Practices, Judd Leighton Living Learning Community, Mentoring through Storytelling: The Road to Graduation, Playful Learning, Re-thinking First-Year Writing through Co-Requisite Instruction, Support Our Students SOE and WGS Peer Mentoring Program.
New proposals for the next cycle will be due March 1.
For further information regarding the Vision 20/20 grants, please visit http://www.iusb.edu/vision-2020/ or contact Gwen Mettetal at gmetteta@iusb.edu.
