Guilford College prides itself on its creative faculty and staff. The Innovative Grants were created to harness this creativity in the best way possible: for the college itself.

Innovative Grants are exactly what the name states; it is a program that will fund innovative proposals that benefit the community in some way.

In June, President and Professor of Political Science Kent Chabotar proposed the idea of awarding money to students, faculty or other school organizations to stimulate them to think creatively about ways to better Guilford.

Chabotar said that he created the Innovative Grants “to spur ideas that will increase enrollment, cut cost or add revenue, particularly given the financial situation of the state and the cutbacks that all private schools got in financial aid from the state of North Carolina.”

There has been $15,000 set aside specifically for Innovative Grants — but not to worry — this amount was not taken from student tuition, but instead from a special endowed fund.

However, getting a grant is not as simple as just asking for money. You must submit a detailed proposal and application by Oct. 12 at 5 p.m. to be considered. If you are a student, you need a faculty or staff advisor to assist you and handle the funds awarded.

The proposal guidelines and application are accessible through a link in the Guilford Beacon’s article about Innovative Grants.

Once submitted, Jeff Favolise, assistant to the president for planning and management, will review your application along with a subcommittee of the Strategic and Long Range Planning Committee, called The Grants Fund Award Committee. After this initial review, the committee will recommend projects to Chabotar, who has the final say in who gets the grant.

The award consists of an honorarium — basically pay for the work and research that you did for the idea — of $250 for individual applicants and $500 for collaborative projects.

The grant will also fund proposed projects, and Guilford may provide additional and ongoing support for successful ones.

Michelle Cole, grant writer and coordinator, also helps with the reviewing process. She told the Guilfordian the most important part in applying is “to read the packet and read the packet thoroughly.”

Chabotar also has recommendations for applicants.

“Definitely keep it narrow, specific and feasible,” said Chabotar. “You have to be excited about it to propose it because you are going to have to do the work.”

“I’m really excited to see what people have to suggest, because you guys are really creative,” said Cole.