The College of Education invites applications from experienced community-engaged learning instructors to serve as Senior Faculty Fellows for the Alma Project. Three fellows will be selected for the September 2026 to June 2027 term. Each fellow receives $8,000 in project funding. For more information, see the About the Fellowship section below.

The goal of the Alma Project is to create, support, and sustain a culture of neighborliness at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign through community-engaged learning courses. To learn more, view the project summary.

In collaboration with the College of Education team, the Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues, and the Educating Character Initiative at Wake Forest University, 2026-27 fellows will participate in monthly in-person planning meetings to design neighborliness reflections and workshop content for future fellows. Fellows will pilot newly-developed neighborliness content into an existing community-engaged course during the spring 2027 semester.

Full-time tenure system or specialized faculty at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign across any discipline or college are eligible to apply.

Apply to be a part of the inaugural cohort by August 28, 2026, at 5 p.m. CST.