Background

The Gopikabai Sitaram Gawande (GSG) College is a rural academic institution located in the town of Umarkhed in the Yavatmal District, a rural and underserved region of Maharashtra, India. The College is located near the natal village of Dr. Atmaram Gawande. Since 1985 Drs. Sushila and Atmaram Gawande, longtime active community members and physicians in Athens, Ohio have supported GSG college through funding and service, often enlisting the help of friends, family, and civic organizations in the United States and India. In recognition of the Gawande family’s support, the College was renamed in honor of Dr. Atmaram Gawande’s mother.  Following Dr. Atmaram Gawande’s death in 2011, his family established a fund through Ohio University (OHIO) to support a partnership between the two universities. The partnership between OHIO and GSG College was officially initiated in 2012 on the occasion of Dr. Ram Gawande’s birthday celebration on the GSG College campus. Funds to support the partnership are made available through the GSG College Support Fund, established by the Gawande family to honor Dr. Atmaram Gawande. Oversight for the Fund is provided through the Office of Global Affairs.

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Purpose and Aims

Awards of up to $4,000 per applicant will be considered for each annual cycle of funding. The aims of the fund are to support faculty, staff or graduate student, projects that:

• Help build research and/or teaching capacity of Gawande College faculty members
• Enhance infrastructure to support education, research, teaching/learning, career development, and community service
• Ensure mutual learning, research, and service in content areas relevant to GSG College faculty and students and to the local communities near GSG College
• Enhance development of Gawande College as an educational institution
• Enhance awareness of India and of GSG College at OHIO

Successful applicants will travel to GSG College to carry out their proposed projects.  The duration of the on- campus stay at the GSG College is not dictated by the award; rather, it should fit the nature of the project proposed.

Eligibility

Applicants must hold a current full-time teaching, research, or administrative position or must have full-time status as a graduate student in good standing at OHIO.

Proposal Foci

Proposals may include:

• Specific service and teaching projects proposed to support the partnership, and
• Specific scholarly projects.

Proposals that address areas of high need may receive preferential consideration in the review process.  Areas of high need include:

• Understanding and addressing challenges faced in the region, such as related to global warming, drought, farmer suicide, food insecurity, poverty and women’s empowerment.
• Collaborating with existing projects seeking to address the above challenges, which include:
  • Transitioning farmers to regenerative agriculture through guided farmer study groups and trainings ,
  • Researching and documenting indigenous knowledge of food and farming practices,
  • Developing kitchen gardens and empowering women,
  • Establishing a model educational farm on one acre of the GSG College campus, and
  • Evaluating existing water supply and recommendations for water management for purposes of increasing water availability.
• Measuring existing circumstances and tracking changes annually in order to evaluate and strengthen the positive impact of current activities such as related to environmental, economic, psychosocial, and human health factors.
• English-language teaching/tutoring.
• Development of mental health tools and resources and student support services.
• Development of career services resources, including career counseling, graduate school application assistance, employment opportunities, employment application assistance.
• Development of alumni relations programming.
• Training of faculty, staff, and students in use of technology to enhance teaching and learning
• Collaborations with GSG faculty members to enhance research and publication in scholarly journals.

Proposal Contents

Download the Request For Proposals for complete proposal information. 

Proposal Submission

Proposals are to be sent as a single pdf by email to the Office of Global Affairs at globalaffairs@ohio.edu.

Contacts

For information about the partnership between OHIO and GSG College or all other proposal related questions, contact the Office of Global Affairs at globalaffairs@ohio.edu.

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