EXCEL Enterprise Fund

Funding Cycles & Deadlines

• Round 1: deadline: September 27, 2024 / notification date: October 11, 2024
• Round 2: deadline: November 1, 2024 / notification date: November 15, 2024
• Round 3: deadline: February 7, 2025 / notification date: February 21, 2025
• Round 4: deadline: March 7, 2025 / notification date: March 21, 2025 (Pending available funds)

EXCEL will not consider Round 2 applications until after Round 1 is completed. Likewise, if all funds are exhausted through Rounds 1-3, EXCEL may cancel Round 4.

Criteria for Projects

Projects must be SMTD-based and student-led and include the performing arts as a primary focus. Performance, research, and/or pedagogical projects are all eligible. We encourage projects that involve other units, including collaborations amongst students from both arts-related and non-arts disciplines. Projects that engage with professionals may be considered, as long as the lead applicant is a current SMTD student.

• This fund WILL NOT typically pay for:
  Attendance and/or travel expenses for conferences, festivals, competitions, apprenticeships, internships, or routine costs associated with curricular study abroad activities.
• Labor costs associated with work by UM student, faculty, or staff labor. For example, we will not award funding for the purposes of paying UM-affiliated individuals who are members of a project team (e.g. chamber musicians, dancers, theatre troupe team members, composers, design and production personnel, etc.). However, other expenses that are critical to the proposed project (e.g. production costs, supplies, materials, advertising, fees to non-UM professional collaborators, etc.) will be considered.
• We also typically do not fund recurring, annual activities that are hosted by UM student organizations.

Projects funded by the EXCEL Enterprise Fund should be realized by the start of the following academic year. Eligible projects should demonstrate:

• Clearly defined professional development impact for the applicant/team. Consider and articulate how the project advances the personal, professional goals of the lead applicant and, more generally, other team members involved.

• Social impact of the project; this can be framed around the U-M campus, another community or set of communities, and/or the applicant’s field of study. We follow a common understanding of social impact as “A significant, positive change that addresses a pressing social challenge.” Applications should address the specific issues, challenges, or problems this project addresses, the ways in which the project is oriented around specific social values and, where applicable, the degree to which the creative content of the project itself is informed by those goals. See these links for additional information on the complexities and implications of social impact from Americans for the Arts, “What is Social Impact?” Michigan Ross, and the Edward Ginsberg Center.
• Costs beyond the typical and ordinary costs of a curricular activity. For example, we will not award funding for basic costs of a senior recital or performance (e.g. the fee for a collaborative pianist, instrument or parts rental, recording/documentation costs, reception food, etc.) and typically do not award funding for the purposes of compensating U-M students involved in such activities. Costs that go beyond the typical and ordinary expenses of a curricular project, enhance it in a significant way with regard to professional and/or social impact may be considered. For example, costs associated with taking a senior recital on tour, collaborating with an external organization to host a special research presentation, or engaging other collaborators or resources to broaden the scope and impact of a project might be considered.
• Projects are expected to be student-led.
• Note on SMTD Facility Usage: EXCEL cannot guarantee space availability in U-M facilities, and all students who intend to use such facilities for an EXCEL-funded project must request space usage according to SMTD scheduling guidelines. We strongly recommend applicants do so prior to submitting an EXCEL funding application. Proposals that clearly show the applicant has already successfully reserved space according to SMTD guidelines, verified by written endorsement/support from appropriate SMTD faculty/staff, will see their funding requests more strongly considered. All requests for SMTD instrument usage must be approved by the appropriate faculty supervisors.
• Note on streaming: SMTD has a do-it-yourself live streaming system available to SMTD students, faculty, and staff. This system uses automated video encoders located in the Moore Building and Stamps Auditorium. Visit the SMTD Live Stream site to learn more, including how to access and reserve streaming kits.