Issue date: Nov. 6, 2003

MSU FACT Coalition to hold open forums; requests proposals

By Amanda Carra

The MSU Families and Communities Together (FACT) Coalition is hosting two open forums to facilitate participation for its 2003-04 Request for Proposals (RFP) for collaborative research on children, youth and family issues.

The purpose of the forums is to bring together potential partners for projects from on and off campus, to provide further details about the RFP and to address questions about the application process.

Innovations in university-community collaborations, the annual grant program, will award approximately five 12- to 24-month grants of up to $50,000 for multidisciplinary research that links MSU with Michigan communities.

Topics for this year are:

Family and community vitality -- In this area, FACT seeks to support research and outreach that furthers scholarship on community empowerment, leadership development and capacity building to meet child and family needs, particularly among vulnerable populations and communities.
Families, communities and schools -- In this area, FACT seeks projects that build community capacity to support children and youth, and link families, schools and communities. Topics may include: literacy, school reform, out-of-school time, youth assets, technology in education, youth-at-risk, youth leadership development, youth sports, recreation and family involvement in schools.
Family and community health -- FACT invests in research that supports healthy lifestyles for children, youth and families. Topics may include healthy eating, nutrition and health education, parenting and food, breastfeeding, eating disorders, obesity and food safety.

The FACT Coalition aims to increase participation in the grant program among faculty and MSU Extension staff by involving new faculty from diverse departments and reaching new areas of the state.

The forums will be held from 9-11 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 18, and from 1-3 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 19, in Room 102 of the MSU Kellogg Center. To register, call (517) 432-9207 or e-mail fact@msu.edu.

For more information about the grant program, RFP application materials and a searchable database of potential project partners, visit the Web at www.fact.msu.edu