Student Information

The SPARK Awards provide funding of up to $2,500 for initiatives that reflect CESRL’s mission and the SPARK framework. Applications are open to registered student organizations or student cohorts within the Broad College of Business. Each group may apply for funding once each semester, student groups will be issued grant funding only once an academic year. With limited funding, we aim to accommodate as many RSOs and cohorts of students as possible. We would like to fund a portfolio of activities that demonstrate different approaches to addressing ethics, social impact and leadership for the students of the Broad College of Business. Awards that are not funded will be offered feedback.

Examples of eligible initiatives include, but are not limited to:
Social Impact Projects: Partnering with organizations to volunteer, identify community challenges, and propose actionable solutions.
Purpose-Driven Activities: Hosting speakers or events that inspire action around global challenges such as climate change, sustainability, health equity, water risks in supply chains, or local manufacturing among others.
Ethical Leadership Workshops: Events or simulations that reinforce transparency, accountability, decision-making, and responsibility.
Knowledge-Building Opportunities: Creating resources or platforms to disseminate insights and skills for ethical and impactful leadership.

Funding priorities would be given to activities such as speaker fees, case competition registration costs, event planning logistics including room reservation costs, or travel accommodations for keynote speakers or authors. While we understand the importance of catering and refreshments for certain events and activities, we encourage applicants to limit spending on food and beverages to no more than 15% of the total budget. This will allow more resources to be directed towards other critical aspects of your projects such as materials, equipment, and other operational costs. Detailed justifications for budget allocations should accompany your proposals to ensure alignment with project objectives in order for the committee to receive consideration. CESRL will not fund travel by grant recipients.

Preferably programs/projects will be completed within one academic semester.

When programs/projects are selected for SPARK Awards, CESRL will work with group leadership to identify when the funds will be released based on program/project needs. CESRL prefers a reimbursement approach for expenses.

Evaluation Criteria Applications will be assessed using the SPARK framework, which evaluates how well a proposal embodies a minimum of one of the five elements detailed in the introduction.