The EWU Foundation Start Something Big (SSB) Program seeks innovative proposals from faculty and staff that will enhance the university and its mission, support the university’s Strategic Plan, provide opportunities for development and research as well as increase student participation. Since 2010 Eastern Washington University Foundation has awarded more than $325,000 in grants to faculty and staff impacting student success.
Start Something Big 2019 - 2020 Snapshot
20 applications received for Category 1 ($1,000 - $5,000)
8 proposals awarded funding
2 proposals were fully funded, 6 received partial funding
Total amount awarded for Category 1: $25,451
Start Something Big 2018-2019 Snapshot
21 applications received for Category 1 ($1,000 - $5,000)
15 proposals awarded funding (2 proposals declined funding due to event cancellations)
3 proposals fully funded, 12 proposals received partial funding
Total amount awarded for Category 1: $28,048
21 applications received for Category 2 ($5,001 - $45,000)
5 proposals were asked to make a presentation to the Start Something Big Grant Committee
1 proposal was fully funded, 1 proposal received partial funding
Total amount awarded for Category 2: $42,295.24
Projects Supported by Start Something Big Grant Funds
| Quarter | Name(s)/Department(s) | Project Title | Project Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fall 2019 | Eric Abbey | Synthesis and Structural Characterization of Highly Crystalline PPN Borohydride Derivatives | These funds will be used to adequately supply research and help this project move toward completion. |
| Fall 2019 | Jonathan Johnson/Creative Writing | The Desk on the Sea: An Adaptation from the Memoir for the Stage | Funds will help develop and present a script, The Desk on the Sea, as a stage adaptation . Funds will be used to hire three actors and production management. |
| Fall 2019 | Merri Jones/Dental Hygiene | Using Education Videos in Community Health Education and Health Promotion | The project is part of a course in dental public health, where students provide education through community outreach in partnership with five community organizations. |
| Fall 2019 | Amber McConnell, Ashley Lamm, Viktoria Taroudaki/Chemistry and Math | Women at EWU STEM (WE-STEM) Symposium | The Women in Science student club of EWU will host a WE-STEM symposium in early March 2020. Symposium will be open to EWU students, high school students and local Cheney/Spokane school. |
| Fall 2019 | Uri Rogers/Engineering and Design | Student Projects in Autonomous Quadcopter Flight Control | These funds will allow this project to move forward and transition to buying hardware and equipment that EWU Engineering students will use for this course/project. |
| Fall 2019 | Susan Ruby/Psychology | Social Emotional Learning for Eastern Washington | The aim of this project is to fund the time and travel for a Social Emotional Learning (SEL) keynote speaker and consultant. |
| Fall 2019 | Michael Waldrop/Music | Joe McCarthy Concert/Clinic/Guest Residency | This funding allows the Music Department to bring in a guest artist to enable the percussion students to interact closely with a world class professional performer. |
| Fall 2019 | Tony Masiello/Chemistry | Construction of a Cavity Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy System | The goal of this project is to allow for the construction of a system that will facilitate the recording of high-resolution Raman spectra of gases. |
| Winter 2019 | Jason Ashley/Biology | Analysis of Protein Expression and Modification | The goal of this project is to better understand modification of and interactions between proteins under different conditions. Specifically glycosylation, the process by which sugar molecules are attached to proteins. In order to effectively analyze these proteins, funds will be used to purchase a digital Western blot imaging system. |
| Winter 2019 | Martin Garcia/Chicano/a Studies | 1st Annual EWU Cinco de Mayo Latino Forum | This funding will be used for the planning, facilitating and hosting of the 1st Annual EWU Cinco de Mayo Forum. This forum will increase the visibility of EWU within the Latino community in Washington, engaged Latino leaders, explore effective strategies for the recruitment, retention and graduation of Latino student populations, and develop a stronger nexus and collaboration with the Latino community and its partners. |
| Fall 2018 | Jenifer Walke and Jennifer Pfeifer-Probert/Biology | Bringing the Buzz: Community Education and Engagement for Pollinator Health | To expand the breadth and community access to the upcoming Pacific Northwest Bee Conference by offering a pre-conference luncheon for EWU students, faculty and staff, and a post-conference family outreach event for the local community. |
| Fall 2018 | Ann Van Wig/Education | Partners in Reading: On-Site Tutoring Clinic | The purpose of this proposed project is to collaborate within our community and create an afterschool reading clinic to improve K-6 student literacy skills and enhance EWU education students teaching methods. |
| Fall 2018 | Hani Saad/Mechanical Engineering | Improving MENG 242 through the use of in-class demos | The purpose of this project is to provide qualitative and quantitative class demonstrations for the MENG 242 Dynamics class. |
| Fall 2018 | Michael Waldrop/Music | Marko Djordjevic Concert/Clinic/Guest Residency | The EWU Music Department proposes bringing Marko Djordjevic, Professor of Music from the renowned Berklee College of Music in Boston. Professor Djordjevic is renowned as one of the finest jazz percussionist/drummers in the world. |
| Fall 2018 | John Gerber and Garth Babcock/PEHR | Clinical Preceptor Enhancement | The aim of this project is to improve the quality of the PEHR students' education during their clinical rotations in the athletic training setting. |
| Fall 2018 | Suzie Henning and Carissa Gran/Education | Tigers and Trauma Informed Practice | Trauma informed pedagogy in education involve critical conversations for all educators. Through this project, the goal is to bring together EWU teaching candidates, faculty and community partners to discuss this crucial work together. |
| Fall 2018 | Natalie Kusz/English | WITC Resource Library and Student Publication Launch | Writers in the Community (WITC) is an internship opportunity wherein graduate students gain both professional and public service experience, teaching creative writing in cooperation with community organizations that serve Spokane's most diverse populations. |
| Fall 2018 | Tracy McHenry/English | World Relief Refugee Simulation | As refugees and immigrants incresingly join our community, we strive to prepare students to understand and plan for the experiences that newcomers (especially refugees) bring with them to the classroom. World Relief is a Spokane non-profit that offers a refugee simulation, where 16-30 people are split up into refugee "families" and go through simulations mimicking medical screening, food acquisition, and an English class. |
| Fall 2018 | Cynthia Nasman/Music | Smithsonian Folkways Certification Course in World Music Pedagogy | Traditional artist-musicians, culture-bearers and experienced teachers will form the faculty for this one-week intensive workshp in world music pedagogy. This workshop will guide participants through experiences in music cultures via song, story, movement, dance, and instrumental music. |
| Fall 2018 | Judy Rohrer/Women's and Gender Studies | Women's and Gender Studies Course Marketing and Design | As part of an overall curriculum review, the Women's and Gender Studies program intends to work on their course marketing and design. For the core courses, Women's and Gender Studies would develop professional marketing materials that could be used for several years. |
| Fall 2018 | Naomi Yavneh Klos/Honors College | Honors First Year Experience: Coursework for the Common Good | This proposal seeks to support faculty development and collaborative work in the creation of new honors-specific First Year Experience seminars (FYE) that will fulfill one of three required breadth requirements while introducing civic responsibility and social justice concepts through a service-learning or community-engaged experience. |
| Fall 2018 | Ryan Parrey/Disability Studies | 2019 Pacific/Western Disability Studies | The Pacific/Western Disability Studies Symposium will be a two-day Riverpoint Campus event for approximately 100 attendees. The symposium will entail four to five breakout session each day, including paper workshops, panel discussions, and networking opportunities for students, professionals and scholars. |
| Fall 2018 | Terrance MacMullan/Philosophy | Public Philosophy Night at the Downtown Spokane Public Library | This event will share and celebrate philosophy and ideas through lectures, discussions, screenings and performances. It is organized by the EWU philosophy students and professors who created the Inland Northwest Public Philosophy (INPP), a cooperative project of professors and students committed to reclaiming philosophy's original role as a public practice focused on transforming communities through civic discourse and intellectual discussions. |