We want to fund your research on student voting

The Student Vote Research Network is awarding grants of up to $15,000 to scholars and community practitioners figuring out how to reach 100% student voter participation. Apply today!

Dear Friends,

We launched the Student Vote Research Network (SVRN) this April to uncover what it will take to reach 100% student voter participation. By weaving all of our ideas as scholars and community leaders together in this network we can go further than any of us could go alone.

That’s why I’m so excited to share the first SVRN call for proposals. The details on how to apply are below. We are making grants of up to $15,000 to support research projects that address three fundamental questions at the core of the movement for full student voter participation.

1. How do we strengthen grassroots leadership at every college and university? Our movement succeeds because we anchor ourselves in the leadership and vision of local campus vote coalitions. Over 500 campus vote coalitions developed full participation action plans in 2020 and over 900 have already committed to developing a plan for 2022. We want to understand more about how we can catalyze this kind of authentic leadership and strengthen their efforts. What kind of leaders are at the core of these efforts? What impact do interventions like trainings, external recognition, and statewide student voting summits have on the strength of grassroots leadership? My research team explored this issue last year with a mixed methods study of the Ask Every Student initiative. We found that campus vote coalitions are well known and welcomed on campus, and that grant funding helps build grassroots capacity. The p3 lab has begun a natural language processing analysis of past action plans. Research from the Institute for Democracy and Higher Education suggests that the grassroots leadership of faculty—especially political science professors—is essential in fostering campus climates where full student voter participation is the norm. We welcome proposals that build on this body of work and help us learn more about how to strengthen grassroots leadership!

2. How do we identify the most impactful tactics? Much of the research we have been elevating through this newsletter has been about tactics like learning management system integration and dinners for democracy. At our kickoff workshop in April we highlighted a key review paper from Elizabeth Bennion and David Nickerson that summarized the state of experimental tests of voter mobilization tactics targeted to students. We seek proposals to update and expand this body of work. We welcome proposals for experimental tests and qualitative evaluations of new initiatives; discovering innovative strategies for increasing student voter turnout is a central goal of our research network.

3. How does everyone else, especially local election officials, help grassroots campus leaders succeed in moving towards full participation? Our movement anchors its work in the vision and ingenuity of grassroots campus vote coalitions. But we know that these grassroots leaders need a lot of support to succeed in achieving 100% student voter participation. There is a robust conversation already brewing in the SVRN about this topic, building on Mike Hanmer and Jared McDonald’s review paper about the impact of various election administration policies, Jake Grumbach and Charlotte Hill’s assessment of same day registration and election day registration (helpful but insufficient!), Lia Merivaki and Mara Suttman-Lea’s survey of the social media presences of local election officials, and an important report from the SLSV Coalition and ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge about how grassroots campus leaders can engage local election officials effectively. We welcome proposals that build on this body of work around voting policy and election administration as well as proposals that explore how other entities in civil society (e.g., external non-profit partners or campaign entities) can help grassroots campus leaders move towards 100% student voter participation.

We will be evaluating proposals in alignment with our core movement values. This means prioritizing proposals working to answer these three questions in a way that centers community colleges, Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) including Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), and Asian American and Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs). Preference will also be given to proposals focused on institutions that serve high percentages of Pell-eligible students.

It also means we’ll be looking for proposals that engage students and grassroots leaders as experts in the research process and not just research subjects. Finally, we will be prioritizing proposals that help our movement contribute to the broader civic mission of higher education by connecting grassroots leadership for 100% student voting to college completion and cultivating inclusive campus cultures.

We can’t wait to see what you propose! Please forward this email far and wide to anyone who might have a great research idea.

Best,

Melissa R. Michelson

Dean of Arts and Sciences & Professor of Political Science, Menlo College

Chair, Student Vote Research Network Grant Committee

Student Vote Research Network Call for Grant Proposals

The Student Vote Research Network seeks to award grants of up to $15,000 for scholars and community practitioners seeking to advance our understanding of how colleges and universities and/or partnering nonpartisan nonprofit organizations can increase turnout among college students.

As noted at the SVRN workshop on April 27, 2022, considerable research has explored how best to increase student vote participation, but many gaps remain as we continue to move toward a goal of 100% student turnout. 

Preference will be given to applications from researchers and practitioners interested in growing our understanding of student voting on community colleges, Historically Black College and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), and Asian American and Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs). 

We anticipate that proposals will build on expertise shared at the 2022 State of the Student Vote workshop that was held on April 27, 2022. Grants will be awarded in early September. The grant period should be between September 1, 2022 and March 31, 2023. Funded teams will be invited to share their results and insights at a second annual State of the Student Vote workshop to be held in early 2023.

Academic faculty and graduate students enrolled in doctoral programs at higher education institutions are eligible to apply. Scholars can be from any relevant discipline, but preference will be given to political scientists. Applicants can also come from community organizations and advocacy organizations, but preference will be given to teams that include at least one academic. We anticipate making five (5) awards of up to $15,000. No more than 10% of the total grant budget may be allocated to overhead or other indirect costs.

Proposals should include:

1. A concise single-spaced proposal (3 pages maximum) describing the proposed work, proposed outcomes and assessment, and timeline for the project, excluding the bibliography (if included)

2. A budget and budget narrative (2 pages maximum)

3. An up-to-date abbreviated CV (5 pages maximum) for each member of the team.

All documents should be pdfs and in standard 11 or 12-point font, with 1-inch margins.  Applications are due online by 9pm PDT / midnight EDT on August 15, 2022 [submission portal].

Zoom office hours with members of the SVRN grant committee will be held on Wednesday, July 27, 1-2pm PDT / 4-5pm EDT. You can register for that Zoom session [here] 

If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Melissa R. Michelson (melissa.michelson@menlo.edu).