The purpose of the OUWB Compass Community Service Mini-Grant Program is to encourage and support students, faculty, and staff as they engage with the broader community through service, supporting the mission and vision of the school of medicine.

Individual faculty, staff, students, and student organizations are invited to submit a Compass community service mini-grant application. The mini-grant program is designed to encourage students, faculty, and staff to design and implement innovative service programs with the communities surrounding OUWB.

Compass seeks to facilitate opportunities for meaningful service in the community while addressing community needs.

These grants, ranging from $50 - $500, are available to fund the continued delivery of ongoing service projects or the development and implementation of new service initiatives. Grants will be awarded on a rolling basis until May 1, 2027 or until funds are exhausted. All monies awarded must be used by June 15, 2027.

Special consideration will be given to projects addressing:

• K-12 mentoring
• OU - Pontiac collaborations
• Collaborative community interprofessional activities with Oakland University
• Health careers exploration
• Addressing health disparities

Grant Review Team

All applications will be reviewed by the OUWB Compass Center for Community Engagement. Additional faculty, staff, or community partners may be invited to serve as reviewers or provide feedback when appropriate. Mini-grants will be evaluated using the Compass mini-grant proposal scoring rubric. Applications will be reviewed monthly.

Review Notification

Applicants will receive notification of the funding decision following the review meeting. When applicable, recommendations will be provided to strengthen future submissions.

Selection Criteria 

The Compass mini-grant program seeks to support best practices in community engagement and mutually beneficial campus/community partnerships. 

Mini-grants will be awarded to support community engagement efforts that meet the following criteria:

• The project must demonstrate the use of community engagement best practices, including:
  • a) a reciprocal planning process with the community partner(s);
  • b) the integration of the community partner’s mission, OUWB mission and Compass foci into the service experience; and
  • c) demonstrable sustainability
• Community engagement projects must have well-defined learning objectives explicitly tied to the OUWB mission and objectives of the grant program. Efforts that include assessment or measurement of outcomes, including feedback from students and partnering organizations, will be considered.
• Community engagement projects must target a community-defined need and contribute to a positive impact for the community.
• Communication between the requestor(s), Compass, and faculty involved in the grant program should occur throughout the semester.

Budget and Allowable Expenses

Applications must be accompanied by a line-item budget. A budget template can be found on the Oakland University William Beaumont SOM GivePulse page under More Tools/Documents and on the Compass website at Oakland.edu/medicine/service-and engagement-programs/compass. 

Mini-grants can include funding for:

• Supplies and materials for programmatic efforts
• Supplies and materials for sustained initiatives (e.g. community garden) 
• Donation items related to the community engagement project
• Materials for educational demonstrations
• Educational giveaways related to the community engagement program

Funding cannot be approved for:

• Salaries, compensation
• Travel related expensive (gas, mileage reimbursement)
• Capital expenses (buildings, structures, etc.)
• Political messaging

Funding must be spent by the end of the Fiscal Year and conform to guidelines for the use of funds.

Notes on purchasing/payments for programs

Please note it takes a MINIMUM of two weeks from when the paperwork is submitted to the business office to when a product or payment is made. Please account for this when planning your mini-grant application and your project date. The paperwork is not submitted to the business office until AFTER the application is approved by the review team.

Recipient Requirements

• Publicity and print materials include the language “Supported by an OUWB Compass mini-grant”
• Submission of a mini-grant completion report that will include a community partner evaluation component
• Participation in an end of the year Community Engagement Showcase

The 2026-2027 mini-grant cycle will open August 31. The application and instructions for submission are available on the GivePulse platform. For more information, please contact compass@oakland.edu.