Innovation Grants funded at SLU for campus community projects

CANTON — Money from an Andrew W. Mellon Foundation grant awarded to St. Lawrence University President William L. Fox is helping fund Innovation Grants at the university this spring.

The St. Lawrence Innovation Grants Committee approved seven one-time grants April 11 for a variety of projects that aim to improve the quality of curricular, co-curricular or campus life. The grant process was open to faculty, students and staff in an effort to round up the best ideas from the college community.

"Innovation comes from all corners of the campus, so President Fox wanted to ask everybody on campus," college spokeswoman Macreena A. Doyle said. "They could be one-year efforts, or they could be the beginning of a multiyear or permanent program. This is kind of seed money to get a program going."

Mr. Fox received the Mellon Grant, which is awarded to new university presidents to fund an initiative of their choice, last summer. Ten Innovation Grants were awarded in November for amounts up to $2,500; the second round of grants allowed proposals of up to $5,000.

The seven-member grant committee received 20 applications from 38 people for the spring round of proposals and made its assessments based on a rubric that evaluated the impact on students' and employees' quality of life, the financial viability of the project and the number of people affected by the initiative. According to Lisa M. Cania, vice president for employee and community relations, the proposals encompassed a wide variety of ideas.

"It was an enormous range," she said. "It was as broad and creative as the breadth and creativity of the St. Lawrence community. Each has its own merits, and I feel so happy that we were able to fund them."

The seven funded projects are Campus Arboretum, sponsored by Marcus Sherburne, Louise Gava and Carol Cady; "Fruit for the Future," sponsored by Ryan Gillard, Cassie DiMarino and Amanda Lavigne; "Power of Pink," sponsored by Shelly Roiger and Joe Keniston; "Sound Installation," Richard F. Brush Art Gallery, sponsored by Michael Farley; Management 101, sponsored by Colleen Manley and Debra Mousaw; "Improving the Calling All Saints Center," sponsored by Fatima Sall and Dennis Morreale, and "the Next Generation," sponsored by Ellen Rocco, Dale Hobson and Martha Foley.

Ms. Cania is hopeful that SLU will be able to fund future rounds of Innovation Grants.

"We wish we could have funded many more than we did," she said. "It just shows we have some great ideas bubbling on the St. Lawrence campus."

Many of the funded projects will begin to take shape this spring. "Fruit for the Future," the brainchild of graduating senior Ryan D. Gillard and junior Cassie DiMarino, soon will be transforming a small portion of the campus scenery into an edible, self-sustaining landscape of fruit trees, perennial herbs, wildflowers and fruit bushes.

"There's a tremendous benefit to local ecology, especially if we're planting native species. From the human aspect, there is a great amount of food that could come for a project like this," said Mr. Gillard, Keene, N.H. "There are expenses for this project that wouldn't be covered unless facilities decided to take this approach to landscaping and build it into their budget."

Mr. Gillard, who is majoring in conservation biology, said the project will improve campus aesthetics and biodiversity and would not have been possible without the $4,600 Innovation Grant. Though new trees will not be planted until spring 2012, the smaller bushes, herbs and flowers will be designated to one or more areas totaling 0.75 of an acre under the guidance of Amanda Lavigne, assistant professor of environmental studies.

Mr. Gillard said he hopes that farmers as well as students learning about environmentalism, ethnobotany, landscape design and sustainable agriculture will be interested in monitoring the area and using it for workshops.

"It's an asset that the community of St. Lawrence will have for the next 30 years or more, and it's something that I would look forward to coming back and seeing," Mr. Gillard said. "I think it's something the campus really needs and could benefit from."

For more information about the spring 2011 Innovation Grants, visit the SLU website.

ON THE NET

Innovation grants: www.stlawu.edu/innovation