Academic Consortium Grant Program Request for Proposals 2024-25

Purpose
The American Athletic Conference Academic Consortium ("American Academic Consortium" or "Consortium") will promote academic excellence by developing opportunities for collaboration and professional development for faculty, students, and administrators from the 15 member institutions. The core focus of the Consortium will be research and programming related to student well-being, with a particular focus on issues related to student-athlete well-being. The development of a Consortium will create a structure, processes and programming that fosters partnerships among member institutions and develops initiatives that advances the academic mission of each school.
 
Objectives

1. Highlight well-being research and programming being conducted at member institutions with a particular focus on topics related to student-athlete well-being.

 

2. Be a national leader in research and programming related to well-being and disseminate this knowledge to appropriate stakeholders.

 

3. Engage in research activities and programming consistent with the mission of the Sport Science Institute of the NCAA leading to collaborative efforts between the two entities.

 

4. Advance the academic reputation of member institutions beyond their traditional regions.

 

5. Provide opportunities and a structure that fosters scholarly collaboration between faculty, students and staff from different member institutions.

 

6. Advance research and programs that are achieved more efficiently and effectively by institutions-acting-in-concert.

 

7. Establish a structure that promote internship, study abroad, and service learning opportunities for student-athletes at member institutions.

 

8. Create a structure that supports the dissemination of information which results from Consortium activities at the institutional and national level.

 

9. Develop and support productive relationships between academics and athletics and communicate the outcomes of these efforts to relevant constituent groups.

 

10. Increase the amount and type of visiting scholar and education abroad opportunities available for faculty and students.

   
Activities

1. Research Symposium

An annual academic symposium will be hosted by a member institution that will bring together scholars and students engaged in research related to student-athlete well-being. A specific topic area of well-being can be identified and serve as the focal content area being addressed at the symposium. Faculty, students, and staff engaged in related research, from a variety of disciplines, could participate in this symposium and present research centered on the selected topic. This symposium would promote sharing of information that would likely foster the development of scholarly collaborations among schools.
 

2. Research Grants

The Consortium will award five $10,000 research grants to support inter-institutional research teams that that engage in student-athlete well-being research. The research groups should include faculty, staff, and student scholars from a minimum of two different member institutions. Institutions represented within these research teams are able to supplement funding received from the Consortium with institutional based funding. Research teams will present study findings at the annual American Academic Consortium Symposium.