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Innovation Grants

The UC San Diego Basic Needs Committee is offering Innovation Grants in support of campus activities addressing Basic Needs initiatives.

Basic Needs refers to the most essential resources required for students to thrive, which includes access to nutritious food, stable housing, and financial resources.

The Basic Needs Committee intends to use these grant funds to leverage support for existing student organizations, or departmental programs addressing the topic of Basic Needs security. The purpose of these grants is to promote basic needs to constituent groups through creating materials, programs and activities that can be replicated or sustained. Grant amounts may vary based on evaluation of application.

To learn more, or apply for a Basic Needs Innovation Grant, please click here.

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Requirements:

Application due date: at least four (4) weeks prior to start of program being requested.

Prior to allocation of funding The UC San Diego student organization, or campus department requesting funds will provide the following to the UC San Diego Basic Needs Committee for review and approval:

  • Brief synopsis of the programmatic request, including a brief description of the event, targeted audience, date, intended use, connection to wellness/counseling/counseling services 
  • Learning outcomes for the event, for example: one learning outcome could include: “I am aware of how to access Basic Needs Resources at UC San Diego.”
  • Proposed program assessment methods, for example: evaluations, questions, quizzes, etc.
  • Proposed budget, including prospective vendors - UC San Diego approved vendors highly recommended!

Post-program report due date: two (2) weeks following the event, or by the Wednesday of 10th week of the quarter, if an ongoing event/program 

Program evaluations should include the following information:

  1. Date(s) and Title of the Program
  2. A DETAILED description (3 – 4 sentences)
  3. Number of attended and/or number of students reached
  4. Targeted audience
  5. Brief (500 words or less) description of how these funds were used to identify efforts to sustain these types of programs.
    • Example: a training manual was created; relationships were developed with the following departments, etc. 
  6. Results related to learning outcomes and additional assessment information if applicable

Items Not Funded:

These are items that we can't fund:

  • Events that charge admission fees to any individual, including all UC San Diego students, general public, university staff, etc.
  • Alcohol, alcoholic beverage services, or controlled substances
  • Payment of fines, violations, or late fees
  • Flammable items (example: candles, propane)
  • Chemicals
  • Paint (specifically house paint or canned paint)
  • Styrofoam (such as Styrofoam plates, cups, etc.)
  • Purchase or rental of firearms
  • Association/membership fees
  • Travel costs (except tournament and competition events)
  • Services or labor provided by any UC San Diego student
  • Services or labor provided by any UC San Diego student organization at an event being hosted/co-hosted by the same organization
  • Prizes and other items perceived as items for students’ personal gain or use
  • Scholarships or direct monetary donations
  • Items deemed hazardous by UC San Diego Risk Management
  • Off-Campus events
  • Gas reimbursements, or rental vehicles driven by students (see the Triton Community & Tournament Competition Funding page for more details)
  • Third party legal and financial services
  • Website hosting
  • Any events occurring at the UC San Diego Hillcrest Medical Campus
  • Any events held at a UC San Diego Property or location where uninformed undergraduate foot traffic could not easily access the event
  • Any non-listed item that violates university policy