Office of Research
Educating Character Initiative (ECI)
Note: This is not a limited submission and is being announced as a courtesy only.
In 2027, the Educating Character Initiative (ECI) will award grants to U.S. colleges and universities that are committed to developing the moral, civic, and/or intellectual character of faculty, staff, students, and institutions.
Programs include:
- Institutional Impact Grants between $100,000 and $1,000,000
- Capacity-Building Grants of up to $50,000
These grants provide institutions with the time, resources, and support to discern how character education works best in their context.
Potential project activities could include, but are not limited to, some or all of the following:
● The launch of a new major, minor, certificate program, or curricular requirement and/or a co-curricular center, institute, or program related to character.
● New faculty, staff, or postdoctoral fellows whose time is committed to character education efforts.
● Course or time buyouts, salary replacement, and/or summer salary for faculty or staff to devote time to develop a program, initiative, or course at their institution.
● Credit-bearing courses and/or co-curricular programming such as speaker events, discussion groups, retreats, and/or workshops for students, faculty, and/or staff.
● Efforts to build alignment at the institution around an approach to character, including faculty/staff seminars bringing together key partners across the institution to discuss the opportunities and challenges of character education.
● Honoraria for visiting scholars, educators, or experts to generate interest in character education, lead a faculty workshop on character and related pedagogical strategies, and/or provide insight on how character might be integrated at their institution. (Note: Individual workshops and consulting may be requested by grantees for free from the 5 staff and fellows of the ECI.)
● Books and materials for faculty/staff seminars, reading groups, and research on character education.
● Wages for student assistants to contribute to literature reviews, data collection, or other tasks.
● Survey administration and participant incentives to collect data from students, faculty, and staff related to the impact or viability of projects or initiatives.
● Professional development support, such as travel and registration for relevant workshops that focus on character or character education or funds to host “train the trainer” events at the institution. (Note: The ECI team may be able to provide some staff support for faculty or staff development workshops at your institution, but travel costs for ECI staff attendance should be incorporated into your proposal.)
Application Instructions
Download the full RFP:
Apply via the funder's portal.
Inquiries and Contact Information
Investigators who identify a grant, award or fellowship program that restricts the number of applications that can be submitted from an Institution should immediately contact their Chairperson, Associate Dean for Research (or Dean, if no ADR) and the Office of Research (see below) if they intend to prepare a response. Failure to do so, or to meet the deadlines for submission of pre-proposal, will preclude submission of the application through the Office of Sponsored Programs.
For general inquiries, or to request a listing of a limited submission opportunity that should be but is not already listed, please email us at limitedsubs@uw.edu.