The purpose of 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 visions 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 for the  community 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, 2026 or until funds are exhausted. All monies  awarded must be used by June 15, 2026.

Special consideration will be given to projects addressing:

• K-12 mentoring
• OU - Pontiac collaborations
• Collaborative community interprofessional activities with Oakland University
• Supporting area BIPOC and immigrant populations
• Health careers exploration
• Addressing health disparities

Grant Review Team

All applications will be reviewed by a team of professionals from the OUWB Compass Center for  Community Engagement. The team meets monthly to review and approve submissions. Grant  requests must be submitted one week prior to the review meeting, otherwise it will be  reviewed the next month. The remaining 2025-2026 mini-grant review meeting dates are:

Friday, May 1, 2026

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.
• Requestor(s) have attended or reviewed a Compass mini-grant virtual informational session
• Communication between the requestor(s), Compass, and faculty involved in the grant program should occur throughout the semester

Budget and Allowable Expenses

Project proposals must include a narrative (3-4 sentences) justifying the budget (this space is  included in project proposal template) in addition to submitting a line-item budget. These  templates can both be found on the Oakland University William Beaumont SOM GivePulse page  under documents and on the Compass website at Oakland.edu/medicine/service-and engagement-programs/compass. Funding must be spent by the end of the Fiscal Year and  conform to guidelines for the use of funds.

Mini-grants can include funding for faculty and students:

• 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

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 note 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 2024-2025 mini-grant cycle is now open. The application and instructions for submission  can be found at www.oakland.edu/medicine/service-and-engagement-programs/compass. For  more information, please contact [email protected].