Research

Fielding Graduate University seeks to support researchers in obtaining external funding for their research.  We have been pleased to receive funding from several federal and private agencies over the past ten to fifteen years.  Currently, Fielding holds external grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and AmeriCorps.

The Center for the Advancement of STEM Learning (CASL) (NSF New grant award #)

Fielding Graduate University – in partnership with the University of the Virgin Islands, North Carolina A&T State University, and the American Association of Colleges and Universities — has hosted the NSF-funded Center for the Advancement of STEM Learning (CASL) since 2018, with a previous planning grant beginning in 2016.

With a recent new award lasting until 2029, Fielding will have received over $4.7 million for the planning, development, and implementation of CASL.

CASL seeks to broaden the participation of students who have been marginalized from STEM higher education CASL’s work is grounded in research on leadership practices at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and understanding how this leadership has resulted in broader participation in STEM.

Link:    https://www.advancingstemleadership.net/

The Leadership Colloquium (NSF HRD2037514)

In collaboration with the Society of STEM Women of Color (SSWOC) and GPRA Inc, Fielding Graduate University is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to offer a Leadership Colloquium to participants at the SSWOC annual Conclave, which is attended by a significant percentage of women of color in the STEM disciplines from universities across the nation.

Under a grant which will continue until the end of 2023, Fielding has received over $2 million since 2016 to support activities related to the development and operation of a Leadership Academy which supplements the personal, professional, and career development activities of the Conclave.  The Leadership Academy provides presentations, group discussions, case studies, and other activities for STEM women of color in leadership.  Speakers and panelists represent a diversity of experiences and leadership perspectives many of whom are nationally prominent individuals with documented knowledge and experience in the art, science, and delivery of effective leadership in higher education in STEM academic units and in colleges and universities throughout the United States.

Link:  https://www.conclave-swoc.net/about

The Folk School Alliance Network: Strengthening a distributed network through participatory approaches (AmeriCorps 22REACA001)

Fielding Graduate University’s AmeriCorps-funded project, led by David Blake Willis and Dawn Jackman Murphy, a community-based participatory action research project that involves community partners: Folk School Alliance, the African American Craft Initiative, Village Fire Coming Singing, and the LifeSchoolHouse.  The project is funded through September 2025 and has received funding since its inception in 2018.

Background: The university and community partners will study how social cohesion and collaboration between loosely linked independent local organizations may be supported by participatory research approaches. This research will also investigate how to scale these participatory approaches to strengthen a decentralized Folk School Alliance Network comprised of over 90 organizations that support the craft economy across the US.

Link:  https://www.fielding.edu/office-of-research/americorps-research/