Anne Radcliffe Trust Members Define Grant-Giving Process

Members of the Ann Radcliffe Trust yesterday approved a general structure for the group's grant-giving process, effectively establishing how Trust funds will be distributed.

With nearly $20,000 to allocate to student groups next year, the Trust decided that it will not fund groups' operating budgets, but will instead focus on funding specific events and programs like speeches and conferences.

The Trust committee's decision furthers the group's evolution as an event-funding organization.

"We've come a long way since the last meeting," said Assistant Dean of the College and Director of the Trust Karen E. Avery '87.

Avery emphasized, however, that in addition to supporting one-time events, the Trust will fund long-term projects that fit into the Trust's mission, like some student publications.

The grants will be made only for specific projects. Trust members said by allocating money in this method, the organization will get more bang for its buck.

"Budget operation grants become a dead amount of money," said Jotin Marango '01, who drafted the portion of the Trust's grant application that delineates the nature of the process. "Those types of grants do not immediately promote a project."

The committee did not decide last night whether the Trust should grant funds to individual applicants who are not affiliated with a student group, but Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis '68 said that he had qualms about such grants.

"I have a lot of reservations about accepting applications from individuals," he said. "We have standards for groups that individuals might not choose to adhere to."

Yesterday's plans call for student groups which receive grants to file a budget statement with the Trust after their event is completed and to return any unused grant funds.

In the weeks leading up to yesterday's meeting, each member of the Trust's grant subcommittee worked on a piece of the draft of the application.

Avery said that she and the committee will fuse the separate sections into a final version of the grant application in the coming weeks. The separate sections include the grant procedure mission statement, potential guidelines for applicants, a possible budget form, a timetable for the grant awards and a draft of a follow-up questionnaire for grant recipients.

Committee members agreed that the Trust would distribute grants three times in the coming calendar year.

Members said they were hopeful that the Trust will begin accepting grant applications this spring for funding that would start in the fall, and then accept another round of applications in September and February.

Julia G. Fox, director of the parents association and a member of the Trust committee also discussed plans for ways the Trust can encourage undergraduate women in the sciences.

Fox said that she, Lewis and Avery had met with the Faculty's ad-hoc committee on diversity to discuss establishing a mentorship program for women in the sciences, aimed at filling the gap created by the demise of Radcliffe College's Science Alliance.

Lewis suggested a proposal that would use Trust funds to pay a graduate student a stipend to lead her or his science department's mentorship program.

"Peer advising is good, but a student has to meet with women at various career stages," Lewis said. "This way, someone would be charged with making sure these events happen."

Avery said the Trust will look into creating a pilot mentorship program in one science department to explore the logistics of how such a Trust-sponsored initiative might function.

The Trust committee will next meet in early May.

Avery said the group will put the finishing touches on the grant application and will discuss how future Trust committee members will be selected.