The Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities (CUMU) is pleased to announce a new fellowship opportunity for an individual from a CUMU member institution.

CUMU has long focused on the collaboration of urban and metropolitan campuses and their cities, working together to identify, implement, and evaluate innovative strategies to address regional opportunities and challenges. This fellow will lead key initiatives related to measuring and communicating the impact of institutional and/or regional efforts.

CUMU Impact Fellow opportunity

One CUMU Impact Fellow will be selected for 2025. During the fellowship period, the awardee will produce a report on the state of the field related to a key topic related to community engagement, regional impact, and/or social and economic mobility. Prospective fellows should bring their own expertise and experience to bear in order to propose a project that leverages their strengths.

Suggested topics include, but are not limited to:

  • Metrics for tracking a campus’ impact as an anchor institution
  • How regional anchor collaborations measure, report, and improve impact
  • Community engagement impact: how data is collected, maintained, analyzed, and communicated
  • The role of data and analytics in advancing the urban mission in higher education
  • Key frameworks or populations in community engagement or regional impact work

Fellowship deliverables

  • Present a webinar for CUMU membership on report topic
    The webinar will take place in August or September 2025, prior to the publication of the final report. CUMU will work with the fellow to coordinate the best day/time.

Funding and support

Fellows will receive an award of $4,000, which consists of $2,000 at the initiation of the project and an additional $2,000 upon submission of the report which should occur no later than November 10, 2025. Funds may be used at the awardee’s discretion. The fellow will count on planning and consultation support from CUMU.

Application process

In order to be eligible for this award, applications must be from faculty, staff, a post-doc, or a graduate student from a CUMU member institution. Fellows should have experience writing for audiences of non-specialists and scholar-administrators. We are open to a wide range of approaches and thematic focuses for this fellowship. Applicants who are familiar with previously published CUMU reports are encouraged to apply and to make their CUMU connections explicit in their application.

SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION HERE

We will require the following as part of your application.

  • A CV detailing your experience and expertise
  • A proposal not to exceed 1,000 words that includes:
    • Proposed topic to be explored during the fellowship and significance of this topic to the field
    • How this topic fits into the interests, background, and prior research of the fellow
    • Description of the fellow’s previous leadership roles related to this topic (whether in CUMU, in higher education, in the community, or in other settings), and how they prepared the fellow to do this work
    • Links to writing samples which may include public-facing websites, reports, or projects or PDFs of published works.

Decision and award

  • One Impact fellow will be selected by a panel of reviewers
  • The selected fellow will be awarded $2,000 at the initiation of the project and an additional $2,000 upon acceptance for publication of the report. Use of funds is at the discretion of the awardee.
  • The timeline for the Impact Fellowship is as follows:
    • Proposals accepted until March 31, 2025
    • CUMU sponsored webinar on topic in August or September 2025
    • CUMU Conference in Baltimore, MD October 26–29, 2025 (Fellows are encouraged but not required to attend)
    • Submission of report by November 10, 2025

Proposals accepted until March 31, 2025. For questions regarding the 2025 CUMU Impact Fellow, contact us at info@cumuonline.org.

SUBMIT YOUR PROPOSAL HERE