The University is providing grants for students who want to make their ideas a reality. The Bright Idea Grants Program gives students the opportunity to submit an idea that will create positive social change in the community.

“Through the program, students who have a great idea for a program or model that will create positive social change in the community can take the first steps of making this idea a reality,” said Bobby Wassel, manager of the Community Outreach Program.

Students first apply at the beginning of the academic year and present a rough idea of their project. The students then hone their ideas through a series of workshops led by various business professionals from SLU and the community.

This year, students in the program have been to three out of the five sessions available. The first session called innovation and assessment, focused on realizing the difference between the symptoms of a problem and the actual problem. Students in this session gain a better understanding of the problem so they learn not to waste resources and get to the root of the problem.

The second session is called sustainability and social value. In this session students learn the basic components of sustainability and how they can build their ideas to generate a larger impact. This session also teaches students to determine how much good they would be creating.

The third session is called marketing your idea. Students learn how to gather support for their idea and how to communicate their goal.

“Much of the learning in these sessions takes place through peer interaction, reflection and learning form others failures [or] successes,” said Tyler Brownfield, a senior involved with the program.

The student’s final ideas are then presented to the board in the spring. Only two groups are chosen to receive up to $2,000 in grants. The following school year, the students are then expected to implement their idea. The process is designed to give groups the knowledge to apply for larger national grants or even become sustainable on their own.

“Our program serves as a stepping-stone that helps students reflect on their ideas and integrate basic principals such as assessment, metrics, innovation, budgeting and support marketing in order to create more sustainable and impacting ideas,” Brownfield said.