Wright State University Foundation launches Students First Fund

In an effort to bolster student success across the Dayton and Lake campuses, the Wright State University Foundation has created the Students First Fund — a new grants program designed to support innovative ideas that assist students to succeed, thrive, persist, graduate and begin their careers.

“Our Foundation Board of Trustees is 100 percent committed to the success of Wright State’s students,” said Rebecca Cole, vice president for advancement and president of the Wright State University Foundation. “The Students First Fund empowers the board to take a more active role in the success of our students and to provide valuable financial support for student success initiatives that might otherwise go unfunded.”

All Wright State students, faculty and staff with a creative concept to promote student success are welcome to apply for a Students First Fund grant. Grant applications must be submitted on the Students First Fund website by March 15.

The Students First Fund grants committee, which consists of members of the Foundation Board of Trustees, will review all applications and make the final decision on how to distribute the $50,000 in grants funding. Recipients of the Students First Fund will be announced in April, and the funding will be available for use in fall semester 2019.

“Ideally, we are looking for projects that will become self-sustaining,” Cole said. “The foundation board views the Students First Fund as one-time seed money to help launch a new program or initiative. We’d love to help these worthwhile projects get started, but then the ball’s in their court to keep the momentum going.”

Cole emphasized that it’s important for applicants to understand that the Students First Fund is a grants program, not a scholarship initiative.

“Our goal is to impact large groups of students, not an individual,” said Cole. “We have limited dollars to work with and want to touch the lives of as many students as we can.”

For more information on the Students First Fund, visit wright.edu/StudentsFirstFund.