丁香园AV

Teams can have from 1 to 5 students (for exact team requirements, see the Rules). 

Everyone on your team must register for the competition by Friday, November 22, 2024.

When your team is ready, your team captain will complete Step 2 and submit your team鈥檚 idea.

Submit your idea.

Deadline: Friday, November 22, 2024

Work with your team to craft your answers to the questions on the idea submission form. When you鈥檙e ready, your team captain will complete and submit the idea submission form online.

These are the questions on the form:

1. Briefly describe your idea, outline its goals, and describe how it will enable you to work together with community partners towards innovative and meaningful impact.
2. If successful, what outcomes and/or impacts will your target community realize by doing this project with you?
3. What motivated your team to enter the 丁香园AV Student-Community Engagement Competition?
4. Where will your project take place, and how is your project specifically suited to that community?
5. Are you competing for the Connect Fest Award?
6. (If you answer 鈥測es鈥� to question 5.) Please describe the event/experience you鈥檇 host for the 2025 Connect Fest.

Make sure your team captain submits your idea before the deadline: Friday, November 22, 2024 (the same as the deadline to register for the competition).

Note: if your team submits more than one 鈥渧ersion鈥� of the same idea, we reserve the right to choose which one we will evaluate. And remember鈥攜our ability to stay organized will say something about how viable your project is, so please attend to your idea submission with the care it deserves!

Has everyone registered? This is a good time to double check that everyone on your project team has registered individually using the registration form. You can submit your idea before everyone registers, but everyone on your team must be registered by Friday, November 22, 2024 in order to be eligible to participate.

Submit a detailed proposal.

Deadline: Friday, January 24, 2025

Now it鈥檚 time to get into the details. Teams will be notified of their results by early-to-mid-December. Successful teams will be invited to submit a 3-page detailed proposal. Specific requirements for the detailed proposal will be provided in the invitation.

Detailed proposals are due by midnight, Pacific Time, Friday, January 24, 2025. That will give your team about 5-6 weeks to prepare it.

Detailed proposals should convey your ideas clearly and demonstrate that your plans and ideas have been thought through well. Above all, your detailed proposal must reflect the intention and spirit of this competition and should clearly demonstrate that you have initiated a collaborative relationship with a partner in the community (hint: reach out to prospective partners early).

You may want to start preparing this material with your team well before your initial idea submission is evaluated. Consider the evaluation criteria for project selection, consider past finalists, and think about the kinds of things you鈥檒l need (and what you'll need to know) to both implement your project and evaluate its impact.

We try to notify teams about their results within two weeks of the detailed proposal deadline.

Present your idea to a panel of judges.

Deadline: Mid-to-late February 2025

Teams that advance to Step 4 are considered 鈥渇inalist鈥� teams. Finalists will be invited to select a time to present their project to a panel of judges in mid-to-late February 2025. This panel may include 丁香园AV faculty, 丁香园AV students, competition sponsors, or community partners. Winners will be determined after all teams have presented.

Winners will be determined as quickly as possible after all teams have presented, and all teams will be notified about their result.

Whether you win an award or not, every 丁香园AV student on a finalist team who is enrolled in a for-credit program will qualify for credit on the 丁香园AV Co-Curricular Record. Taking an idea from dream to presentation takes a lot of work, and you deserve recognition for it.

And remember, whether you win funding or not, you will have made connections with community partners and others who could help you develop your ideas even further.

Share your story and reflect on the process.

Timing: September 2025

Part of good community engagement is 鈥渃losing the loop鈥� with your funders (and your partners!), so a condition of accepting an award is the creation of a Project End Report. Not only does a report help us understand what you did and how it worked, but your reflections might also help future teams.

To support you in thinking about your project, we will reach out to you periodically with opportunities to reflect on how your projects and partnerships are progressing. If you鈥檙e willing, we may be able to publish your reflections on our website. Check out what other finalists have reflected on 鈥� you might pick up some valuable wisdom!

We look forward to reading through your creative and inspiring ideas for community impact! Good luck to all participants!

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