Advancing Community Engaged Learning Fund
The Advancing Community Engaged Learning Fund enables faculty and instructors to design, deliver and integrate community engaged learning practices and processes into courses and programs.
Funding and Eligibility: Up to $3,000 is available. At this time, funding is only available to faculty, academic administrators or staff at UBC Vancouver.
Optional ACEL advising
Applicants may opt into a brief ACEL advising conversation to help right-size scope, clarify outputs, or strengthen evaluation plans. Advising is optional and not required to apply
Funded Projects
The ACEL Fund supports work that strengthens face-to-face, online, and hybrid models of Community Engaged Learning. Strong requests will demonstrate one or more of the following:
- The project improves upon, or seeks to create resources, systems, and/or structural supports that hold potential for the transformative learning potential of various models of community engaged learning practice and initiatives.
- The project includes a demonstrable output that other practitioners can learn from and adapt for their practice.
- The project seeks to advance community engaged learning at the program, departmental and/or Faculty level through expanding understanding and appreciation of the value and impact of community engaged learning.
- The project takes an equity lens by proactively seeking the perspectives of historically marginalized populations throughout its development, implementation, and evaluation of outputs and/or outcomes.
Examples
Listed below are examples of projects that can be supported by the Advancing Community Engaged Learning Fund. They are not an exhaustive list, but we hope they inspire your ideas.
- Developing resources and tools to support student learning and engagement in CEL contexts (for example guides, scaffolding tools, reflection activities, or assessment rubrics).
- Developing a simple evaluation or assessment approach to better understand impact on teaching and student learning (for example a rubric, checklist, or structured reflection prompts).
- Developing reusable learning assets that strengthen teaching practice across courses or programs (for example a Canvas module, template assignment, facilitation guide, or knowledge mobilization format).
Reporting back (low-burden)
At the end of the project, funded recipients will receive a short Qualtrics form to complete as their report back. The form includes brief prompts and checkboxes to help CCEL share learning across campus and improve the fund over time.
Stories
Click the button below to view stories from past recipients of the fund.
Resources & Tools
If you would like to learn more about community engaged learning, CCEL has designed a self-directed course.
On this page
Ready to apply?
ACEL applications for 2026–2027 are accepted on a rolling basis until all funds are allocated. We encourage early applications, as funding is limited.
If funding is paused for the current fiscal year, we will post an update on this page.