On August 4, 2023, ACHA was notified by its funder, CDC, that expected funding for CoVAC Initiative Year 4 program activities has been eliminated as part of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023. All program activities will end on September 29, 2023. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. Information on accessing support will be forthcoming. Please contact Claudia Trevor-Wright at claudiatw@acha.org with any questions.


About the CoVAC Mini Grant Program

Vaccinations are a crucial element of public health and are of particular importance on college campuses where students, faculty, and staff learn, work, play, and live. Vaccine policies, education, and monitoring are important components to a safe and healthy campus. But while COVID-19 vaccination has been highly successful, it has also brought about significant mis- and disinformation campaigns that threaten confidence in all vaccines. College health and well-being programs have an important and time-limited opportunity to help improve health literacy skills for their students as they become health care consumers and decision makers for the next generation.

To that end, the Campus COVID-19 Vaccination and Mitigation (CoVAC) Initiative Mini-Grant Program is designed to support colleges and universities in increasing students’ general knowledge about and confidence in vaccination and vaccines. The Mini-Grant Program will support ten institutions in developing, implementing, and maintaining effective and innovative vaccine-focused educational interventions. These interventions should focus on vaccines and vaccination in general, although applications that propose focusing on a specific vaccine will be considered.


Ten (10) mini-grant awardees will:

  • Receive a mini-grant of $4,000 for use in the academic year 2023-2024 to implement an effective and innovative vaccine-focused educational intervention.
  • Join a cohort of institutions of higher education and college health professionals that meets monthly to share experiences, knowledge, challenges, and successes in their efforts implementing such an intervention.

Based on our learnings from earlier mini-grant cycles, we encourage applicants to:

  • Meaningfully partner with students—in particular, populations that may face greater challenges in accessing accurate information regarding vaccines.
  • Find ways to collect student-level data
  • Partner with local or state health departments, if possible.
  • Think creatively about interventions that can be sustained rather than ones that focus on one-time events.
  • Ensure they understand their institution's administrative processes and timelines related to grant funding.


Mini-Grant Eligibility Requirements

Applicants must:

  • Be part of a two- or four-year degree-granting, not-for-profit institution of higher education (IHE) located within the United States and its Territories.
  • Agree to advance the mission and objectives of the CoVAC Initiative.
  • Secure the approval of an administrator (e.g., dean of students) to apply to the mini-grant program. If your program is selected, this administrator will be asked to sign a memorandum of agreement (MOA).
  • Disclose whether allowable administrative or overhead costs will be included in the budget proposal.
  • Agree to complete their work before May 15, 2024. IHEs on a quarter system may request a deferral until June 10, 2024.
  • Commit to finding creative solutions to meet the needs of your campus while grounding efforts in scientific evidence and public health theory.

Funding Requirements

Grantees must:

  • Review the CoVAC Initiative Health Equity Statement
  • Submit a W-9 form and an invoice to receive payment. No funding will be given directly to individuals. Grantees will be given 50 of the mini-grant funding at the beginning of the project and 50 at the conclusion of the project and upon receipt of the summary report.
  • Make a good faith effort to attend monthly cohort meetings from October 2023 through May 2024.
  • Design a program responsive to new or existing data on student attitudes and opinions toward vaccinations.
  • Agree to use the mini-grant funds for permitted uses only.
  • Complete an interim report by January 1, 2024, and a summary report by May 15, 2024, or June 10, 2024, if deferral is requested.

Funding Usage Requirements

PERMITTED USES

  • Hire employees/staff/student ambassadors to implement project
  • Purchase curricula or pay for professional training services
  • Pay for technology or services that support project communications (e.g., SMS/ texting service)
  • Purchase items (NOT GIFT CARDS) in recognition of program participant efforts
  • Campaign design and creation costs
  • Purchase advertising on social media, campus newspapers, etc.
  • Purchase visibility items or print materials (e.g., posters, handouts, banners, signage, buttons, stickers, etc.)
  • Procure services and non-food items to create a fun atmosphere at vaccination sites or outreach events
  • Purchase items to give away as part of program activities (e.g., parking or bus passes, event tickets, laptop stickers, water bottles, t-shirts or other apparel)
  • Pay overhead costs directly supporting the activity funded by the mini-grant, within institutional limits

NOT PERMITTED

  • Gift cards or gift certificates
  • Food or drink purchases
  • Items to be raffled
  • Overhead costs not directly supporting the activity funded by the mini-grant
  • Purchase of clinical items, included testing or vaccinator supplies

Application Timeline

August 7, 2023: Mini-grant application posted
September 8: Deadline to submit application is 8:00 pm ET/5:00 pm PT
September 15: Mini grant recipient notifications begin
Early October: First grantee meeting
November-May: Monthly meetings and implementation of programs
May 15, 2024: Summary reports due (unless deferral requested)


Additional Resources:



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