CARE Action Fellowship
What Fellows Will Do
The CARE Action Fellowship exists to help make caregiving and academic work feel integrated, not competing. The Fellowship supports participants in turning real challenges into professional development solutions that create awareness, build skills, strengthen connection, or increase agency within their academic spaces. By designing solutions that address these needs, Fellows contribute to a culture where people can grow professionally, reach their goals, and feel supported as both caregivers and scholars.
Program Outcomes
By the end of the Fellowship, participants will:
- Identify a caregiving barrier using the CARES Framework.
- Determine whether the need is awareness, skill building, connection, or agency.
- Create a project that involves and benefits the College of Engineering, while welcoming and valuing cross-college collaboration equally.
- Design and implement a professional development solution that reduces the barrier.
- Create a meaningful impact within the College of Engineering, with potential for expansion.
- Present results at the CARE Coalition Convening in November 2026.
Application & Selection
Faculty and staff interested in becoming a CARE Action Fellow will submit a short application describing:
- The caregiving barrier they wish to address,
- The caregiving population and academic group affected, and
- The professional development solution they intend to design.
Three projects will receive a $500 award. Each project may have up to four fellows as leads. Funds may be used for speaker honoraria, resource development, materials, light refreshments (as per policy), and software/tools necessary for delivery.
Applications will be evaluated using the following criteria:
- The project must involve the College of Engineering and provide benefits within the Engineering community. Projects may also be designed or delivered in collaboration with other colleges (for example, a workshop developed in the College of Sciences and offered to both Sciences and Engineering).
- Shows potential for use or adaptation across other colleges or campus units.
- Thoughtfully leverages existing partnerships or campus resources (for example, Engr OFDS support, HR policies, or the NASEM report).
- Introduces a new or forward-thinking approach to professional development.
- Involves multiple faculty or staff members leading the project and intentionally engages others in planning or delivery.
- Makes caregiving more visible and shifts academic culture by sharing stories, data, or resources.
- Applications due: December 19
- Fellows notified: January 2
To preview the application questions, see here.
Phase 1: Design (January – May 2026)
1. Choose the Barrier (January)
Fellows begin by examining the caregiving landscape in their department or unit. They review campus policies, relevant literature (including the NASEM Supporting Family Caregivers in STEMM report), and any available data or stories. Fellows then identify a caregiving barrier using the CARES typology:
- Affordability
- Availability
- Awareness
- Intersectionality
- Institutionalization
- Culture
Deliverable: A concise barrier statement supported by evidence.
2. Analyze the Professional Development Need (February)
Fellows analyze the barrier through a professional development lens to determine the type of learning or support that is needed:
- Awareness – People need visibility and understanding of the barrier.
- Skill Building – People need tools, knowledge, or strategies.
- Connection – People need community or shared language.
- Agency – People need confidence, power, or permission to act.
Deliverable: A Barrier Analysis defining the specific PD need (awareness, skills, connection, or agency).
3. Refine Who the Solution Serves (March)
Fellows define the intended audience by clarifying:
- The caregiving type (e.g., parents of young children, elder care, foster parents, sandwich caregivers).
- The academic group (faculty, staff, graduate students, postdocs, department leadership).
Using persona and empathy-mapping, Fellows articulate the lived experience of the audience and what success looks like for them.
Deliverable: Target audience persona (caregiving type + academic group) and success indicators.
4. Envision the Solution (April)
With the barrier, learning need, and audience aligned, Fellows design a professional development solution in one of the following forms:
- Resource (guide, toolkit, video, online module)
- Speaker/Story
- Workshop
- Community (learning circle, affinity network, peer support cohort)
Deliverable: A draft professional development proposal (title, learning objectives, engagement plan, expected outcomes).
5. Start the Change (May)
Fellows translate their proposal into an implementation plan for Fall 2026. They identify their first step using:
- One person to talk to
- One AI tool to support creation or efficiency
- One resource to begin developing
Deliverable: A launch-ready implementation plan and milestone timeline.
Phase 2: Implementation
Each Fellow receives two individualized 1:1 coaching sessions to support implementation:
- Coaching Session #1 (August–September): Finalize deliverables and launch the professional development solution.
- Coaching Session #2 (September–October): Collect early feedback, refine the approach, and prepare outcomes for the symposium.
During this phase, Fellows implement their professional development solution within the College of Engineering.
(Projects may involve other colleges, but must show clear impact on engineering.)
Phase 3: Share Impact (November 2026)
Final presentation at the CARE Coalition Convening.
Fellows present:
- The caregiving barrier they addressed
- The professional development solution they implemented
- Outcomes, stories, lessons learned, or evidence of early impact
This symposium highlights change led from within the College of Engineering and elevates successful approaches that can be scaled.