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Mary Gates Endowment for Students

Project proposal

An essay covering the project's purpose, its details and timeline, and how you'll measure its impact.

In an essay, give details about three things.

Purpose and context

  • the need for the project;
  • the community or communities it will affect — including who your community partners are, how you'll work effectively with them, and how the project will directly affect those communities;
  • why this project and these communities matter to you;
  • how your community partners and mentor will support you in meeting your project's outcome goals.

Project details

  • the specific goals and the activities you propose to meet them, including what you and any teammates expect to distinctly contribute;
  • how you'll carry the project out over your three-to-eight-month award, with a schedule or timeline for project tasks across that period.

Assessment and impact

  • specific, measurable target objectives and your methods for assessing impact, including what success and outcomes would look like for the community, your team, and yourself;
  • how the project and experience will challenge and affect you, and what you'll need to succeed;
  • the project's sustainability beyond your award.

Proposals should be a maximum of five pages (double-spaced, 12-point font, 1-inch margins), with in-text citations counting toward that limit. You may add one optional page for references, images, or figures, which is not counted in the limit.