CALS faculty and staff are invited to submit pre-proposals for funding to support research-focused projects, with an integrated outreach component, that engage existing and new local partners in the development of novel solutions to the challenges faced by rural communities and tribal nations in Wisconsin.

Faculty and staff may submit pre-proposals and should coordinate the outreach component of their project ideas with Extension funded faculty or staff with appointments in the Division of Extension, the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (CALS), or other schools or colleges. 

Deadline for Pre-Proposals: April 12, 2023

Questions can be directed to Doug Reinemann, associate dean for extension and outreach.

Full Rural Partnerships Institute Call for Pre-Proposals:

The creation of a Rural Partnerships Institute (RPI) is a 4-year, National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) funded initiative. The Division of Extension and CALS are partnering on Objective 1: To initiate community-based research, extension, and education projects that engage existing and new local partners in the development of novel solutions to the challenges faced by rural communities and tribal nations in Wisconsin. The following priority thematic areas were developed through discussions with key stakeholders:

• Community/tribal economic development
  • Attracting workers to rural and tribal communities by addressing
    • housing shortages,
    • daycare availability,
    • quality of K-12 education, and
    • other quality of life issues
  • Leadership development
  • Civic engagement and volunteerism

• Agriculture and natural resources:
  • Preparing farmers, tribal land managers, and their workforce for issues such as
    • digital agriculture
    • automation
    • response to changing climate
    • environmental quality
    • economic sustainability
  • Ground and surface water and other environmental quality issues
  • Forest management for recreation and forest products.

• Health and nutrition
  • Access to health care
  • Mental health
  • Supporting local food systems to create markets for local producers and improved nutrition in rural and tribal communities.

The total budget for RPI Objective 1 is $4.5M over 4 years.  We anticipate making awards of from $500k to $2M in this initial round of funding.  It is likely that additional funding will be added to the project and that subsequent RFPs will be issued. 

Proposals be research driven and include an integrated outreach and community engagement plan.  CALS faculty and staff are invited to submit pre-proposals and are encouraged to partner with Extension funded faculty and staff with appointments in the Division of Extension, CALS or, other colleges on the outreach component of the proposal.

Enter the following project proposal information into this Google form by end of day Wednesday, April 12.

• Project Title
• Project Lead (name, title affiliation)
• UW project team members (names, titles, affiliations)
• Rural community or tribal nation partner organizations
• Provide a brief description of your idea identifying the research question and outreach activity or K-12 education component.
• How does this idea contribute to one or more of the priority themes?
• What sector of the rural or tribal community will benefit and how will they benefit?
• What specific future funding opportunities would this work support?
• Approximate budget

Note that we have already had discussions with some faculty and staff in the process of developing the priority theme areas. If you or your group has already submitted ideas, please complete the google form to ensure that all the relevant information has been provided. If you have questions about the submission process, contact Travis Olson. If you have questions about the scope or structure of proposals contact Patrick Robinson or Doug Reinemann.

The CALS and Extension RPI leadership team in consultation with rural partners will use these ideas to select projects and request a more detailed proposal with a goal of making funding decisions by mid-May.

Following are the criteria that will be used to award funding:

• Match with one or more rural or tribal community priorities
• Strong rural or tribal partner engagement
• Soundness and novelty of the idea/program
• Probability of Impact
• Size of Impact / sectors affected
• Transferability to larger scale impact
• Match to UW Mission and capabilities
• Mutual support of state or local agency efforts
• Degree of campus and partner cross-disciplinarity
• Prospects for further funding