Propose a Student Ambassador Award Project

Applications for 2025 Ambassador awards are now open. Contact the CIL Director Melanie Medeiros (cil@geneseo.edu) for more information.

We are seeking 2025 Student Ambassador projects: student-designed research or change-making projects that impact a wider community. Student Ambassadorships make possible a wide range of student projects that foster "integrative learning:"

• inquiring into real-world problems and issues;
• applying knowledge and skills drawn from multiple disciplines to make connections between academic programs, personal experiences, and co-curricular life;
• reflecting on their projects, Student Ambassadors have made lasting changes to communities in and beyond Geneseo and found paths forward for their own lives

How to Apply

Project Pitches are due via this Google Form by October 16th. We recommend you preview the pitch questions and example responses before you submit your pitch. In your pitch you will provide several short written responses telling us about a problem or issue you personally want to explore, your familiarity with the issue, your hopes for addressing it, and the resources you’ve got in your corner. Students are encouraged to submit their pitches before the deadline to receive feedback as soon as possible.

We provide feedback on all pitches. Those that most closely align with the Student Ambassadorships will be invited to submit a full proposal, including budget and timeline, due on November 25th. Students will be notified by mid-December as to whether they have been awarded an ambassadorship. 

Ambassadors will receive mentorship during the spring semester to prepare them to implement their projects. Projects can take place any time in 2025 though must be completed, including reporting back to the campus community, by the end of the Fall 2025 semester (or by the time you graduate, if sooner). 

Eligibility Criteria

Any student may propose a Student Ambassadorship. Proposals should demonstrate:

• the ability to work independently on a self-directed project and an interest in pursuing projects that are innovative, make connections across different types of academic and co-curricular experiences, and engage with members of the College and/or wider community. Ambassadors should be prepared to engage in public presentations of their work including information sessions and a contribution to GREAT Day. Student Ambassadors must be enrolled at Geneseo or in a college-approved study abroad or study away program during their project.    
• Successful proposals will explain in detail the innovative/creative elements of the project (including the ways that the ambassadorship creates an opportunity to pursue a project that is not possible in existing college programs), its feasibility (including discussion of the timeline, specific activities that will be pursued as part of the ambassadorship, and any mentors or community contacts that will be working on the project), and the public-facing component of the project (including discussion of how this project will benefit members of the SUNY Geneseo community and external constituencies.  

Meet Our Past and Present Student Ambassadors

Past and present ambassadorships include: 

The Keith '11 and Joanna '13 Walters Artist-in-Residence Ambassadorship

This ambassadorship provides funds for a student to create original artwork, in any medium, that engages a wider community in a meaningful way, either in the display or creation of art. This ambassadorship particularly seeks to support those who, through history or identity, have been marginalized or oppressed, made invisible or silenced. It also encourages projects that advance the public good in the Genesee Valley and internationally.

The Community Advocates Ambassadorship in Community Engagement

The local community can benefit from the intellect, creativity and drive of SUNY Geneseo students. The Community Advocates Ambassadorship Endowment adds vibrancy to the local community by providing resources that would not otherwise be available, while at the same time providing transformational educational experiences for talented students. Approved ambassadorship opportunities may focus on economic development, research, community planning and other worthy projects, and must clearly demonstrate the potential for consequential impact on the local community. This ambassadorship is generously supported by an endowment created by the Community Advocates for SUNY Geneseo.

The Ambassadorship in Diversity

This ambassadorship supports a project which manifests Geneseo’s Community Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, including but not limited to understandings of community in which people “inhabit multiple identities where histories of exclusion or injustice intersect” and where ”we commit ourselves to pluralism, cultivating a community that respects difference and promotes a sense of inclusion and belonging.”

The John A. '87 and MaryGrace '84 Gleason Ambassadorship in Student Affairs

This ambassadorship funds students working on projects in Student Affairs; preference is given to proposals emphasizing the importance of social responsibility and service to others as elements of a well-rounded education.

The James Houston '80 Ambassadorship in Innovation

This ambassadorship supports a project which matches the College’s core value of “Creativity: affirming a spirit of innovation that inspires intellectual curiosity and problem-solving.”

The Eddie Lee '76 Ambassadorship for First Generation Students

This ambassadorship supports a self-designed, innovative, and impactful learning experience for a Geneseo student who represents the first generation of his or her family in attending College. The Ambassadorship is open to students in all majors and disciplines and encourages projects defined by meaningful personal identity for first generation students coupled with civic engagement to answer the question: “How will my learning experience bring small change to the world?”

The Edward Pettinella '73 Ambassadorship in Business

This ambassadorship funds a defining learning experience for a student enrolled in the School of Business between their junior and senior years.

The Frank Vafier '74 Ambassadorship in Leadership

This ambassadorship supports a project which meets the Geneseo Learning Outcome (GLOBE) for Leadership and Collaboration: To engage others in developing collaborative solutions; to experiment, take risks, and learn from mistakes; to enable, encourage, and recognize contributions to collaborative efforts by all group members; to manage and share work fairly and respectfully; to envision, promote, consider, and respond to diverse viewpoints.

The CAS Ambassadorship in Entrepreneurship

This ambassadorship supports projects that consist of or could lead to a student “start-up,” whether a business or a tangible initiative that promotes social good through enterprise. This ambassadorship is no longer available.