Warren Wilson College Launches Innovation Grant Program
Ryleigh Johnson | February 18, 2024
In an email to students on Jan. 21, Warren Wilson College (WWC) President Damián J. Fernández announced the launch of an Innovation Grant Program. The program will provide faculty and students with seed grants of up to $5,000 to engage in research, entrepreneurship and creative projects related to climate change and its effects.
“We had established Climate Action Now as the focus for the college…” Fernández said. “We also got a lot of notoriety after the hurricane, clearly, and we've had a trajectory around resilience and environmental studies.”
These combined factors prompted the $25,000 donation from the Tracy H. Dickinson Foundation, which will fund the grant program.
“I think that the hurricane and our commitment to the environment came together and became very attractive for a number of donors to support us at that time to advance our mission,” Fernández said.
While this is the Tracy H. Dickinson Foundation’s first award to WWC, its sibling foundation, the Fairleigh S. Dickinson Jr. Foundation, has contributed to the college for the past four years.
A major aspect of the grant is its interdisciplinary push, intended to foster creativity and collaboration among many of WWC’s departments.
“This particular program is intentionally attractive to all disciplines, and it frames the climate problem as something that cannot be solved by a single field,” David Gliem, special assistant to the president for grants and innovation, said. “This is open to social sciences, the arts, the hard sciences. Anybody who cares about…the climate problem can approach it through their particular lens.”
This interdisciplinary ethos, beyond calling for greater college-wide collaboration, stems from the philosophy behind the grant program itself.
“We, as the members of the community, and as people, all have a responsibility,” Siti Kusujiarti, professor of sociology and chair of the social & cultural studies department at WWC, said. “The notion of climate democracy is so important. Climate solutions are all our responsibility…This grant is coming from that kind of bigger vision.”
The Innovation Grant Program will also act as a hands-on opportunity for students to gain important grant writing and implementation skills.
“If you're going to be a scientist, if you're going to work for a nonprofit, even if you work in corporations…everyone needs to be well versed in the art and science of grants,” Fernández said.
Proposals for the grant must meet specific qualifications, including:
Summary of the project and how it aligns with CAN
A specific plan for how the grant money will be used
Focus on real-world implementation and problem-solving
A letter of support from the appropriate department chair or supervisor
Connecting theory and practice through hands-on application
Involvement of both undergraduate students and faculty/staff
All grant proposals will be reviewed by the CAN Grants Committee, which will consist of relevant faculty and staff from a variety of disciplines. The application window will close on April 15, with decisions announced by May 12. Grant projects must be completed, along with a final report, by June 12, 2026.
Grant proposals, along with inquiries from students and faculty looking for support with proposal development, should be emailed to Kusujiarti.