Colorado School of Mines Assessment Mini-Grant Guidelines
The Assessment Committee, with the support of the Office of the Provost, is pleased to make available
financial resources to fund faculty members’ efforts to engage in student learning outcomes assessment.
We are launching a mini-grant process to support school-wide, multi-department, or program/department
assessment efforts. The funding can be used to support efforts related to developing new and innovative
components of a complete cycle of assessment, as described on the assessment website at
http://inside.mines.edu/assessment. The application form is on page two.
Funds may be awarded to faculty who review portfolios, for the purchase of standardized exams, for
payments to students who assist with data entry or analysis, etc. Funds are not intended to support
assessment activities that are currently operational in the department. Only full-time faculty are eligible to
participate in this program. Only faculty in programs that have submitted undergraduate and graduate
assessment reports for the current year are eligible to receive grant funding.
Typically, the maximum award will be $1,500 per project per fiscal year but justifications for larger
amounts will be considered. Funds do not carry over from one fiscal year to the next. All awardees are
expected to submit a final written report upon completion of the project. Departments that do not submit a
report are not eligible for additional funding. This one to two-page report should include the following:
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A description of accomplishments resulting from the grant.
A list of project participants.
A description of plans for continuing the project.
An explanation of how the project can serve as a model for other programs at Mines.
Alternatively, sharing lessons learned regarding approaches that were not as successful as
hoped is also very useful. To facilitate institutional learning and sharing of best practices,
recipients may be asked to share (via workshops, websites, or other appropriate mechanisms)
the knowledge gained as a result of the grant-funded activity.
The Assessment Committee will review the applications, which should be sent via email to Kay Schneider
(kmschnei@mines.edu) for review. Applications will be reviewed as they are received; there is no
application deadline but funding is limited. Questions about this process may be directed to Kay via email
or by phone at 303-273-3087.
Colorado School of Mines Assessment Mini-Grant Application
Please provide the following information about your project:
Project title:
Contact name:
Contact department/Program:
Contact email address:
Project start and end dates:
Amount of funds requested:
Project description: Describe the proposed project and its importance to the program’s or
school’s efforts to improve and assess student learning outcomes.
How do you anticipate that this project will improve student learning outcomes?
Which element(s) of the CSM complete cycle of assessment will this project address? (Please
check all that apply.)
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Establish program objectives and student outcomes
Develop assessment plan
Conduct ongoing assessment
Use results to improve student learning
Prepare annual assessment report
Other: please describe
Budget: List the estimated expenses you will incur related to this project.
Description of Expense
Estimated Cost