Funding Guidelines & Criteria

All engagements supported by the Office of Engagement & Community Partnerships must involve the following key components:

  • Produce an expected outcome of positive university and community impact
  • Outcomes must directly link to at least one of five impact areas
  • Have an established or developing community partner
  • Be led by a TU faculty or staff member (Student-led programs or projects must be submitted by their faculty or staff liaison or lead.)
  • Show evidence of creating an enriched learning environment
  • Enrichment and transportation funding support must be spent and reimbursed in the fiscal year in which it is approved (July 1–June 30)
  • Financial support is not considered a grant or an award and will be allocated based on actual expenses related to engagement and partnership work.
  • Prior to submitting any request for support, they must first be shared and discussed with the appropriate Chair or Department Head. 

Frequently asked questions

  • Your engagement should first be captured in the Engagement Database. If you are unsure if your engagement is captured, contact Tess Heron at .
  • If your engagement is captured in the Engagement Database, you can make a request through the Ongoing Support Request Form. To complete the form, you will need to utilize your TUID, located at the bottom of your TU OneCard. 

Requests should be submitted at least 30 days in advance of the date funding is needed by. 

You will need to provide an event date, location, time, number of estimated attendees and a list of actual attendees after the event has concluded. If your request is approved, the Office of Engagement and Community Partnerships will purchase the meal tickets and have them delivered to the lead faculty or staff member.

  • For 20 or more individuals, we support the use of Towson University shuttles for all approved transportation requests in which buses are needed. We  coordinate shuttles directly with Transportation Services.
  • For groups under 20 individuals, we support the use of van rentals through Fleet Services.
  • For planning purposes, please keep the following in mind:
    • TU shuttles accommodate approximately 30 individuals
    • TU shuttles cannot leave the state of Maryland and travel should be kept within an hour from campus
    • Shuttles may have more flexibility on Fridays and over the weekend, though this is not guaranteed
    • Shuttles are not typically available on days of football games, commencement, move-in and Impact TU
    • Scheduling is typically more flexible, with more availability, during the summer months
    • For van rentals, faculty, staff and students who plan to drive vans will need to comply with Fleet Services policies, including completing a training course if needed
  • Activities that are solely for the recruitment of potential students to TU or when the primary activity is a campus tour or visit
  • Curricular enhancement activities such as field trips or experiential learning opportunities that are not focused on extending partnership or community engagement work
  • Faculty research not connected to community engagement or partnership projects
  • Off campus transportation not connected to community engagement or partnership projects
  • Transportation to public events on campus not connected to community engagement or partnership projects

Requests for funding support will be reviewed on a rolling basis with decisions made based on the criteria above. Notifications are made on a weekly basis.

  • Enrichment support is done via department transfers and faculty/staff members should coordinate with their departments to make any purchases or be reimbursed for purchases. We do not reimburse faculty/staff members directly. In the case of meal tickets, we place orders and have the tickets delivered to the faculty or staff member. 
  • After all related purchases are made or have been reimbursed by the department, any invoices/receipts must be submitted for review along with the Stratus cost center and account information for which the funds should be transferred to. Funding support is not a grant, so funds are transferred to the department based on actual expenses within the approved request. Transfers will only be made to state departments and will be submitted after all purchases have been made. 
  • For approved transportation support for requests that include groups of 20 or more individuals, we coordinate with Transportation Services to reserve TU shuttles, if they are available. If TU shuttles are not available, funding may support up to $1,000 to reserve a bus from an outside vendor. If an outside vendor is used and the cost exceeds $1,000, the faculty/staff member coordinates this trip with Transportation Services, and we submit a budget transfer up to $1,000 to the faculty/staff member's department after the event to support this.
    • For groups with less than 20 individuals, our office can support van rentals through Fleet Services to utilize either TU vans or a rental through Enterprise. The faculty or staff member works with Fleet Services to coordinate the rentals and provides us with the estimated cost. After the trip, we submit a budget transfer to the faculty or staff member's department to support the rental costs.

If a request is not approved for any reason, the Office of Engagement and Community Partnerships will make every effort to assist you in locating other institutional support for your efforts.

  • Yes, funding resources are meant to be used in conjunction with other resources to support community engagement and partnership work.
  • Individuals requesting resources through the Office of Engagement & Community Partnerships are obligated to report other sources of support for their project in the Engagement Database.

Yes, pending frequency, feasibility and budget limitations.