{"id":67458,"date":"2019-05-01T10:13:34","date_gmt":"2019-05-01T14:13:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/?p=67458"},"modified":"2021-07-09T16:37:16","modified_gmt":"2021-07-09T20:37:16","slug":"wright-state-university-foundation-awards-students-first-fund-grants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/2019\/05\/01\/wright-state-university-foundation-awards-students-first-fund-grants\/","title":{"rendered":"Wright State University Foundation awards Students First Fund grants"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/2019\/05\/01\/wright-state-university-foundation-awards-students-first-fund-grants\/student-first-logo-15-2\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-67470\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-67470\" src=\"http:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/files\/2019\/05\/student-first-logo-15-508x226.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"460\" height=\"205\" \/><\/a>Livescribe pens that will help students with disabilities take notes in the classroom, an on-campus closet with donated professional attire for students, and a peer mentoring program for nursing students at the Lake Campus are among the projects that have been approved in the current year for Students First Fund grants.<\/p>\n<p>Launched in January 2019, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wright.edu\/giving\/students-first-fund\">Students First Fund<\/a> was created by the Wright State University Foundation Board of Trustees to be proactive in seeking and funding innovative ideas that enhance the Wright State student experience.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe were absolutely thrilled with the initial response to the Students First Fund,\u201d said Rebecca Cole, vice president for advancement and president of the Wright State University Foundation. \u201cOur students, faculty and staff clearly embraced this opportunity and put a great deal of time, effort and thought into crafting their proposals.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Cole said 39 grant applications requesting more than $211,000 in funding were received. Cole was especially pleased that a nearly equal number of students, faculty and staff applied for Students First Fund grants.<\/p>\n<p>Members of the foundation\u2019s grants committee thoroughly reviewed all applications, but they ultimately could only fund one-third of the projects.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis was a highly competitive process,\u201d said Dave Deptula, chair of the Students First Fund grants committee. \u201cWe had only $50,000 available for this first round of funding. We worked very hard to stretch the money as far as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The following 13 projects were approved for Students First Fund grants, with awards ranging from $1,000 to $6,000:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Accessible Ink<\/strong> \u2014 The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wright.edu\/diversity-and-inclusion\/disability-services\">Office of Disability Services<\/a> will purchase 20 Livescribe pens, protective cases, paper and ink to help students with disabilities take notes in the classroom. Along with promoting stronger study skills, these tools will be especially beneficial to students who struggle with traditional note taking.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>STEM for All<\/strong> \u2014 As part of a community outreach project, education students at the <a href=\"https:\/\/lake.wright.edu\/\">Wright State University\u2013Lake Campus<\/a> will develop a curriculum for a series of STEM Days for second grade students at Parkway Local Schools and St. Marys City Schools. With fewer than 10 percent of students in rural counties enrolled in a dedicated STEM class, this program will help promote STEM equity in lower-income communities.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Raid-Our-Closet<\/strong> \u2014 An on-campus, donation-based closet, managed by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wright.edu\/residence-life-and-housing\">Residence Life and Housing<\/a>, will offer professional attire for Wright State students entering the workplace. By removing the monetary barriers associated with acquiring a professional wardrobe, the goal of Raid-Our-Closet is to empower students to secure and maintain employment.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Seal the Deal<\/strong> \u2014 To help build community pride and tradition, a 48-inch bronze plaque of the Wright State University seal will be installed at Hamilton Hall plaza. Spearheaded by the \u201967 Society of the Student Alumni Association, the goal is to unveil the plaque on October 1, which is Wright State University Founders Day.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Raider Camp<\/strong> \u2014 The <a href=\"http:\/\/www.wright.edu\/student-affairs\/student-life\/student-activities\">Office of Student Activities<\/a> will develop an optional three-day, on-campus, outdoor adventure and college-prep experience for incoming first-year students. The program will help new students get to know their classmates, better prepare them for college life and encourage them to be engaged on campus throughout their Wright State experience.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Decreasing the Runaround: Serving Students Where They Are<\/strong> \u2014 Registering for classes can be frustrating for students who do not attend Orientation. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wright.edu\/student-success\/academic-advising\">Academic Advising<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wright.edu\/raiderconnect\">Student Enrollment Services<\/a> will install a computer near each of the academic advising units so students will have the option to register for courses before they leave campus. The goal of the project is to accelerate class enrollment, decrease student runaround and increase student satisfaction.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Campus Safety Preparedness Training<\/strong> \u2014 The Red Cross Club will work with the Office of Emergency Management to increase awareness of where automated external defibrillator (AED) units and first aid kits are located across campus. In addition, 245 students will be trained in basic first aid, CPR and how to use an AED.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Raiders Mentoring Young People<\/strong> \u2014 The Raiders Mentoring Young People program will give Wright State students the opportunity to develop their counseling skills by mentoring low-income, elementary school children. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wright.edu\/center-for-service-learning-and-civic-engagement\">Center for Service-Learning and Civic Engagement<\/a> has a longstanding partnership with the Westwood PreK\u20136 Neighborhood School Center. Students from Westwood will be bused to campus so they can meet with and learn from their Wright State student mentors.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>The Wright Leader Podcast<\/strong> \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/education-human-services.wright.edu\/leadership-studies-in-education-and-organizations\">Organizational leadership<\/a> faculty will develop a series of podcasts to showcase real-world examples of leadership within the Wright State community and the Miami Valley. Each podcast will align with leadership concepts presented in organizational leadership\u2019s community-based learning course. Students will be required to provide a written analysis of these podcasts as part of their coursework.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>The Gratitude Project<\/strong> \u2014 Led by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wright.edu\/student-affairs\/health-and-wellness\/counseling-and-wellness\">Counseling and Wellness Services<\/a>, an inclusive community art piece will be designed and painted by the campus community in the outdoor amphitheater. The project is intended to express gratitude for all identities represented on the Wright State campus, celebrate diversity and create a sense of belonging among students, faculty, staff and alumni in a communal space that can be freely enjoyed by all.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Research Toolkit<\/strong> \u2014 Learning to do academic research is one of the biggest challenges that students face in college. The process of doing quality research is complex, and many students come to college having never written a research paper. In 2014, <a href=\"https:\/\/libraries.wright.edu\/\">University Libraries<\/a> created a series of eight workshops to help students learn how to do academic research. The Students First Fund grant will support the creation of two additional workshops that will be made available as online modules.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Many Faces of Addiction<\/strong> \u2014 The <a href=\"https:\/\/medicine.wright.edu\/\">Boonshoft School of Medicine<\/a> will create a series of videos to educate college students and young adults about the opioid epidemic. The videos will be succinct to allow time for discussion with a moderator after each segment. Data will be collected through a questionnaire that asks participants questions before and after the training in order to better gauge their knowledge, opinions and stereotypes about addiction.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Nursing Success Program<\/strong> \u2014 The Lake Campus will begin offering peer mentoring for students enrolled in the <a href=\"https:\/\/lake.wright.edu\/academics\/business-education-nursing-and-technical-academic-unit\/nursing\">Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program<\/a>. Juniors and seniors will mentor sophomore students and help them with stress management, social support, time management and organizational skills.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u201cWhile we received many outstanding applications for Students First funding, the grants committee felt that these 13 initiatives best represented the intention of the Students First Fund, which is to support projects that promote student success, community engagement and leadership development,\u201d said Deptula.<\/p>\n<p>Cole said the foundation board has committed to funding the Students First grants program for at least two more years.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf their project was not selected for this first round of funding, we encourage them to apply again next year,\u201d said Cole. \u201cWe\u2019re also planning next year to post the grant application much earlier, so everyone will have more time to work on their proposals.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Along with their grant, awardees will be given a plaque to display in their office or near the project location to signify that they received support from the Students First Fund.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Students First Fund supports projects that promote student success, community engagement and leadership development. <a href=\"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/2019\/05\/01\/wright-state-university-foundation-awards-students-first-fund-grants\/\" class=\"morelink\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":55649,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[722,729,2041,2104,2040,2017,744,725,731,2114,2016,715,4296,2117,4843],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-67458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-around-campus","category-office-of-disability-services","category-teacher-education","category-giving","category-nursing-health","category-education-human-services","category-home-news-sidebar","category-lake-campus","category-libraries","category-medicine","category-news","category-residence-life-housing","category-service-learning-and-civic-engagement","category-students-first-fund"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67458"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67458\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":67498,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67458\/revisions\/67498"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}