Overview

The Bates Center for Purposeful Work offers limited financial support (an annual budget of approximately $10,000) to students for professional attire, graduate school test prep & application fees, and interview and conference transportation costs, insofar as they relate to Purposeful Work. These funds do not have to be repaid.

Mini-Grant awards are available up to $300.00 for most purposes, or up to $150.00 for professional attire. Requesting and/or receiving support will not affect a student’s annual financial aid award, but may affect future Mini-Grant decisions.

While the budget is limited, we make every effort to fund each eligible request. The program supports, on average, 30-40 grants per year.

Expenses Not Covered by the Purposeful Work Mini-Grant Fund:

• Tuition for any course that could be considered for Bates credit
• Study abroad costs
• Personal bills such as utility, credit card, cable, cell phone, etc.
• Parking tickets, library fines, etc.
• Food Expenses
• Overnight Accommodations
• Purposeful Work Internship Funding: If you have an internship and would like to apply for funding, please see the Purposeful Work Internship web page.
• Purposeful Work Job Shadow Program transportation: College Key transportation grants are available for eligible students, please contact jobshadow@bates.edu with any questions.
• Requests that are academic and/or research in nature: We encourage students to apply to the Bates Student Research Fund.
• STEM students seeking travel grants for academic conferences and professional meetings: We encourage students to apply for STEM Travel Grants.
• Emergency requests: Pease visit the Student Emergency Fund web page.

If you are unsure whether your need fits within the Mini-Grant Program’s purview, please do not hesitate to complete this short application form for our consideration. Your answers to our application questions will remain confidential.

Process

Purposeful Work Mini-Grant Funding Rubric (used by the Mini-Grant committee to assist in making funding decisions)

1. Quality of Application

• Answered Questions Completely
• Spelling, Grammar, and Complete Sentences

2. Quality of Experience

• How would the grant contribute to the exploration of purposeful work?

3. Financial Need (as determined by financial aid status)

• High: 4
• Medium: 3
• Low: 2
• No Need: 0

4. Statement of Need (as described in the application)

• Extenuating Circumstances: 4
• Compelling Circumstances: 2
• No Demonstrated Need: 0

5. Academic Year Employment

• On-campus/Local Employment During Academic Year: 1

6. Prior Purposeful Work Mini-Grant Funding

• Sliding scale depending on size of prior grant(s)

Notification

Requests are considered every week during the academic year. Students will be contacted by a member of the Center for Purposeful Work staff via campus email.

Accessing Funds

Processing the Mini-Grant award decision and payment takes time. If awarded a Mini-Grant, our default process is to deposit funds into your bank account for you to pay for the expense with your own credit or debit card. In the event that your bank account is not set up for direct deposit with Bates, a paper check will be mailed to your student mailbox via Post & Print. If you do not have a bank account set up for direct deposit with Bates, and/or do not have a credit or debit card to pay for your expense, and/or cannot pay for the expense up-front while waiting for time-sensitive funds to arrive, please let us know in the “Plan Ahead” box at the bottom of the application form so that we can make alternative arrangements.

Reflection

Mini-Grant recipients will be required to reflect on their experience supported by the grant. Reflection will take the form of a virtual or in-person meeting with a Purposeful Work advisor, either during drop-in hours or by scheduling an appointment via Handshake.

Application Form