Integrated Learning Experience: Exploring partnerships between community-based organizations and academic institutions in grants and fund development
Abstract
The Department of Public Health at Mercer University is accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH). Among the vast requirements for such a designation is student engagement in an “Integrative Learning Experience” (ILE) where each MPH student demonstrates command over select foundational competencies. As this is an academic requirement, there is little evidence community-based organizations are aware of the potential for collaborations. This workshop will describe an ILE that requires student teams to complete competitive grant proposals for community-based organizations (CBOs) associated with the Live Healthy Dekalb Coalition.
Since 2018, member leaders within the Live Healthy DeKalb Coalition were recruited to participate in the ILE that focused on addressing an identified need of a target population and one for which additional funding was needed. The University assigned master’s level (MPH) graduate students enrolled in a grant proposal writing course to participating organizations. The course professor provided instruction on proposal writing during the first five weeks of the semester, and student teams were assessed on individual and team assignments over the remaining eleven weeks of the semester. The final product of the ILE was a grant proposal draft that could be submitted for funding by the organization. From Spring 2018 to Fall 2024, thirty CBOs participated in the ILE. Seventeen CBOs demonstrated capacity to host student teams. The remaining thirteen CBOs were assisted by the course professor in improving administrative capacity for grant management. To date, student-written proposals have been awarded more than $2,400,000 in federal and corporate grants. Additionally, one CBO will receive $100,000 over the next 5 years. This opportunity is replicable and will help strengthen the links between public health practice and academia and dismantles the separation between the education of public health professionals and community-based practice by engaging students in real-world public health practice.
Keywords
Integrative Learning Experience, grant proposal writing, community-based organizations
Conflict of Interest Form
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Integrated Learning Experience: Exploring partnerships between community-based organizations and academic institutions in grants and fund development
The Department of Public Health at Mercer University is accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH). Among the vast requirements for such a designation is student engagement in an “Integrative Learning Experience” (ILE) where each MPH student demonstrates command over select foundational competencies. As this is an academic requirement, there is little evidence community-based organizations are aware of the potential for collaborations. This workshop will describe an ILE that requires student teams to complete competitive grant proposals for community-based organizations (CBOs) associated with the Live Healthy Dekalb Coalition.
Since 2018, member leaders within the Live Healthy DeKalb Coalition were recruited to participate in the ILE that focused on addressing an identified need of a target population and one for which additional funding was needed. The University assigned master’s level (MPH) graduate students enrolled in a grant proposal writing course to participating organizations. The course professor provided instruction on proposal writing during the first five weeks of the semester, and student teams were assessed on individual and team assignments over the remaining eleven weeks of the semester. The final product of the ILE was a grant proposal draft that could be submitted for funding by the organization. From Spring 2018 to Fall 2024, thirty CBOs participated in the ILE. Seventeen CBOs demonstrated capacity to host student teams. The remaining thirteen CBOs were assisted by the course professor in improving administrative capacity for grant management. To date, student-written proposals have been awarded more than $2,400,000 in federal and corporate grants. Additionally, one CBO will receive $100,000 over the next 5 years. This opportunity is replicable and will help strengthen the links between public health practice and academia and dismantles the separation between the education of public health professionals and community-based practice by engaging students in real-world public health practice.
