A mini-grant can be awarded at the discretion of the Center Director to a full-time faculty of Western Michigan University. The faculty member can apply for a mini-grant for up to two times per academic year, and the total amount of grants is limited to $1,500 per faculty per annum. The mini-grants are intended to support China-related activities and are expected to be duly acknowledged for outcomes resulting from the support (such as publication of books). The mini-grants can be used for, but are not limited to, the following purposes:
1. to pay for honoraria to distinguished guests invited to speak at China-related classes at WMU, with a maximum of $300 per occurrence, per semester.
2. to cover costs (transportation or otherwise) associated with attending related professional conferences, visiting other campuses, and fieldtrips (for example, to museums for research or teaching enhancement purposes). The faculty member is expected to first apply for the Faculty Travel Research Fund (overseen by the Office of Research and Innovation), as applicable.
3. to provide funding for hosting off-campus guests including visiting scholars (limited to one time per semester, per faculty).
4. to support teaching innovation and course development to benefit China-related courses.
5. to subsidize the publication and distribution of books (monographs and creative works) focusing on a China-related topic.
6. to defray costs of other academic, pedagogical or creative activities that are germane to Chinese studies.
Applications should consist of the following:
- Application cover page: project title, name, academic title and contact information (email, telephone, department, college).
- Proposal: including statement of purpose, timeline and expected outcomes (maximum 200 words).
- Itemized budget.
- Brief description of funds currently available, applied for, or that will be requested from other sources (internal and external) for the same purpose.
Completed applications must be submitted electronically to Dr. Ying Zeng at hige-lightcenter@wmich.edu.