The TCI Collaboratory is a partnership program that brings together community members, faculty, staff, and students to tackle pressing social challenges through research, solution building, and education. Our goal is to strengthen collaboration by recognizing partners’ strengths and sharing resources to build welcoming, safe, and healthy communities.
Membership Levels
Affiliate
Community members, faculty, staff, and students who participate in TCI’s initiatives
Associate
Community members, faculty, staff, and students who actively engage and contribute to TCI’s initiatives
Fellow
Community members, faculty, staff, and students who lead and make significant contributions to TCI’s initiatives
Involvement Examples
Partners will be involved in at least two activities at respective levels during the year. This is not an inclusive list.
Affiliate
- Attend networking and training events
- Serve as a member of a community partner panel to help guide projects
- Promote TCI events and initiatives
- Review one manuscript for the Transforming Communities journal
Associate
- Act as a mentor for student or affiliates
- Serve as a co-author, co-presenter, co-investigator on a project, manuscript, report, and/or presentation
- Lead a training/professional development event
- Serve as an expert and regular contributor on a project
- Serve as a regular peer reviewer (2-3 times per year) for the Transforming Communities journal
Fellow
- Lead a research, solution building, and/or professional development project
- Serve as a principal investigator on a major grant proposal for TCI
- Lead a committee for institute strategy or programming
- Serve as a regular peer reviewer for community-engaged proposals
- Serve as a TCI ambassador for community-engaged principles
Benefits of Membership
Membership in the TCI Collaboratory offers access to a network of community-engaged scholars and practitioners, along with opportunities for collaboration, mentorship, and resource sharing. Benefits vary by membership level:
- Fellows receive priority access to funding, administrative support, and leadership roles in projects.
- Associates gain access to shared research and teaching resources, mentorship, professional development, and featured profiles.
- Affiliates can participate in TCI initiatives, receive mentorship, and access limited research support as available.
Collaboratory Mini Grant Program
Small, flexible awards up to $1,000 to support high-impact, community-engaged initiatives across Utah. Exclusively for TCI Fellows and Associates, the program aims to reduce financial barriers, spark innovation, and strengthen reciprocal partnerships among faculty, staff, students, and community partners.
Eligible Projects
Funding is available for projects benefitting Utah communities, such as:
- Community-engaged research or evaluation projects
- Course-based or student-led projects with a community partner
- Pilot projects or proof-of-concept initiatives
- Community events, workshops, or trainings
- Development of public-facing products such as toolkits, reports, or educational resources
Eligible Uses
Costs associated with community-engaged research and solution building initiatives, including but not limited to:
- Partner or student compensation
- Research participant incentives
- Creating public-facing education materials
- Event costs
Grant Requirements
Grantees are required to submit a Project Impact Report withing 30 days of project completion and present about the project on a TCI-sponsored platform, such as the Utah Conference on Community Engagement, a TCI Continuing Education session, or through a submission to the TCI Solutions Playbook (more information coming soon). Read more about the grant requirements in the program guidelines.
Apply for Funding
Applications are accepted on a rolling basis until funding is exhausted. Decisions are typically made within 1-2 weeks. Please contact Erin Jensen with questions.