Guilford College

Nine proposals have been selected to receive a total of $15,000 through Guilford College’s new Innovative Grants Program. 

The program was established by President Kent Chabotar to tap the creativity and expertise of the Guilford community for ideas that can increase enrollment, boost revenue and cut costs.

The successful proposals were contributed by students, faculty and staff, and reflect the kinds of innovative and practical thinking the College needs to move forward. They are as follows:

Guilford Mediation Certification Program, Amal Khoury and Jeremy Rinker. The Conflict Resolution Resource Center plans to further develop the theory and practice link in the field of Peace and Conflict Studies at Guilford College by expanding and institutionalizing a mediation and conflict intervention certificate program.

Researching Green Burials at Guilford, Grace Chafin ’13 and Bennett Christian ’12. Conservation and revenue? It is possible through green burial. This project examines what it might look like for Guilford to offer sustainable interment options for those who would like to choose our campus as their final resting place.

Identifying Prospective Guilford Students, Steven Shapiro. A proposed computer program that would make use of available data associated with successful Guilford students in combination with the Neural Network technique to improve the college’s ability to identify prospective students.

SPROUT Summer Leadership Academy for High School Students, Rashawn Edmond, Erin Fox and Alan Mueller. A nine-week experiential leadership program for high school juniors and seniors that builds on Guilford’s SPROUT Emerging Leaders Experience, a collaboration between the Career Development Center and the Office of Student Leadership.

Global Guilford Viewbook, Jack Zerbe. A “take-away” full-color mini-magazine of 12 pages that highlights students’ engagement in and the impact of international education. This publication will feature written testimonials and photos of returning study abroad students and international students in residence at Guilford.

Academic Recruiting Initiative, Heather Hayton, Jim Hood and Steven Shapiro. This project examines the possibility of supplementing traditional admissions work with focused academic recruiting across the disciplines. Academic recruiters would search for and enroll students who are good matches with Guilford’s academic program.

Research for Possible Guilford Autumn Term, Tammy Alt, Barbara Boyette, Erin Dell, Aaron Fetrow, Jim Hood, Andy Strickler. Research into the possibility of designing and implementing a three-week Autumn First Year Experience term for entering traditional age students. This term would combine orientation activities with a sound introduction to the academic expectations of Guilford students and foster student success.

Comprehensive Experiential Learning Program, Jen Agor, Tammy Alt, Erin Fox and Jacob Reardon. A co-curricular experiential learning component that builds on current programs and over time will work to establish a foundation for all leadership involvement outside of the classroom. This program will bring external training in-house and develop a program component available on a fee basis to local high schools, churches and other groups.

Marketing Liberal Arts Business Administration Program Grounded in Quaker Values of Integrity, Community and Stewardship, Betty Kane. A plan to recruit students to Guilford’s unique liberal arts business administration program grounded in Quaker business values. The plan will take advantage of Guilford’s core strengths and reach out to students otherwise not in the College’s admissions pool.

Grant applications were judged based on the following criteria:

• INNOVATIVENESS
  The proposal offers something novel, original, inventive.
  The innovation is an improvement over what exists now.
• IMPACT
  The number of people the proposal may reach.
  The innovation meets an existing or future need.
• FEASABILITY
  The timeline is reasonable and can be implemented within one year.
  The innovation appears to be feasible.
  The budget for the project is detailed, fully explained, reasonable.
• EFFECTIVENESS
  The innovation meets the purpose of the Innovative Grants Fund: to increase enrollment, boost revenue or cut costs.
• SUSTAINABILITY
  The innovation shows capacity for sustainability, future development, and application.