Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is the College Belonging and Connection for Families Initiative?

The purpose of the College Belonging and Connection for Families (CBCF) Initiative is to improve feelings of belongingness and connection for student parents in college and their families. This initiative seeks to better understand how improved belonging and connection among student parents may promote the healthy development and educational achievement of their children. This project has been co-designed with student parents, community college leaders, and experts in family systems, identity, belongingess, and the dual development of parents and children.

Who is eligible to participate?

Community colleges and technical colleges are eligible to apply to participate in the CBCF Initiative. Individual colleges, whether standalone or part of a larger district, must apply separately.

How many colleges will be selected?

We will select three colleges who have already identified student parents as a group of targeted interest and who are committed to further supporting them.

What is the length of the grant period?

August 2024 – June 2026

When are applications due?

Monday, July 1, 2024 at 11:59pm Eastern at tinyurl.com/CBCFapplication

When will applicants be notified of a decision?

Monday, July 29, 2024

What are the benefits of participating in the CBCF Initiative?

  • Each college will receive $30,000 and technical assistance from members of the CBCF Initiative Advisory Board, which consists of academic, program, policy, and advocacy experts
  • Technical assistance via monthly meetings will include co-producing an action plan to
    • create and implement innovative near-term activities for student parents and their children and
    • develop longer-term strategies to promote student parent leadership in addition to belonging and connection on their campus.
  • Each college will also participate in quarterly meetings with the two other selected colleges to share their experiences and learnings.
  • The CBCF Initiative Research Team will study each college’s near-term implementation process and student parent outcomes.
  • In partnership with the selected colleges, the Research Team will co-develop recommendations for future programs and policies to engage and support student parent success.

Is there a financial cost to participate?

No, there is no financial cost to your college to participate. Involvement will include the time of faculty, staff, and students. The total amount of time will depend on the type of activities and strategies each college undertakes.

How can we use our $30,000 budget?

The primary purpose of the $30,000 is to design and implement near-term activities and develop longer-term strategies that foster belonging and connection for student parents and their families. To promote innovation and creativity in achieving these central goals, the budget has no restrictions except that it may not be used to pay consultants or consulting firms. Examples of allowable budget categories include on-campus personnel (including compensation for Student Parent Advisory Working Group members) in addition to non-personnel costs such as meetings, equipment, travel, supplies, and childcare.

There are no indirect costs, i.e., each selected college will receive $30,000 as direct costs.

Could an entity other than the community college be a recipient of the grant funds, for example the college foundation?

Assuming the organization is a fiduciary entity and reflects the mission of the college, we are willing to support the most expedited use of the funds.

Should we allocate a portion of our budget for the implementation study that will be conducted by the CBCF Initiative Research Team?

No, all implementation study research costs (e.g., incentives, travel) will be covered by the CBCF Initiative Research Team. However, we do expect some assistance from each college with research-related tasks such as gathering email addresses for student parent online surveys, advertising focus groups to parents and children, and transferring administrative data.   

Does each college require their own IRB?

Northwestern will lead and be fully responsible for the IRB process. It is not the responsibility of the college. 

What is the difference between near-term activities and long-term strategies?

We expect the Student Parent Advisory Working Group to develop and implement near-term activities that promote belonging and connection for families during the grant period, ideally beginning in January 2025. We expect near-term activities to last roughly two semesters or an academic year. These activities should involve at least 30 student parents and their children. Examples include designing workshops, creating affinity groups, or adding course modules to existing curricula.

We expect the Student Parent Advisory Working Group to also develop longer-term strategies to promote student parent leadership in addition to belonging and connection on their campus. These strategies may be implemented 2-4 years after the grant period ends. Examples include amplifying student parent rights on campus and funding advocates for student parents.

What is your definition of “innovative”?

By innovative, we mean doing something that is beyond current practice in the field or has not been done to date, or an old practice done newly or creatively.

We also encourage applicants to approach student parent success through a socioecological perspective of sense of belonging. Colleges should consider activities and strategies that attend to individual, interpersonal, and institutional factors to promote belonging and connection among student parents and their families.

Can near-term activities evolve or change over time?

It is critical to identify realistic, do-able near-term activities in your grant application. However, the project will involve ongoing technical assistance and in that process, near-term activities may be modified over the grant period.

Who should be part of our Student Parent Advisory Working Group?

Each participating college is required to have a Student Parent Advisory Working Group of 3 to 6 members including at least one teaching faculty member with curricular interest and one student parent. We encourage larger Advisory Working Groups that represent the range of related department or functional areas across campus, including:

  • Administration
  • Student Services
  • Faculty/Academic Affairs
  • Financial Aid
  • Institutional Research
  • Diversity Equity and Inclusion
  • Campus-Based Childcare

What is our time commitment if selected?

To effectively launch the CBCF Initiative, the time commitment in the first year of the project includes virtual monthly technical assistance sessions and virtual quarterly inter-college meetings. Between sessions, Student Parent Advisory Working Group members should expect to spend 8-10 hours each month completing tasks and responsibilities to develop and implement activities and strategies that promote student parent success on their campus. We expect near-term activities for student parents and their families to begin in January 2025. Each college will continue receiving technical assistance after the first year of the project but with less frequency.

Further, selected colleges will assist in data collection efforts for the implementation study led by the CBCF Initiative Research Team. The Research Team will visit each institution at least once to collect in-person focus group and interview data. We expect research efforts to begin in December 2024. One member of the Advisory Working Group will act as the on-campus liaison for research activities, assisting the Research Team approximately 3-4 hours per month during active data collection.

Who should complete the application on behalf of our college?

We suggest that the person most involved with student parents on campus complete the application.

What documents are needed to complete the application?

  • One institutional letter of support from campus leadership such as the College President, VP of Academics, VP/Dean of Student Affairs, or the like.
  • A short survey completed by the student parent representative listed in the Student Parent Advisory Working Group.
  • All documents are due July 1, 2024 at 11:59pm Eastern

How will applications be evaluated?

The CBCF Initiative Advisory Board will review each application to evaluate:

  • Commitment to student parents on their campus
  • Institutional readiness and capacity
  • Innovation on near-term activities and longer-term strategies to promote increase belongingness and connection among student parents and their children
  • Realistic budget and timeline

When is the virtual informational webinar?

Thursday, June 6, 2024, 2:00-3:00pm Eastern. Register here.

I have more questions. Who should I contact?

Please email cbcfinitiative@gmail.com