Want the reviewers to believe you about the future? Resurrect the past and draw them a map.

Want the reviewers to believe you when your application says are going improve your CE institutionalization?

Simple: You need an overarching narrative.

Answer this question:

Where are you going (related to CE) and how is that related to where you've been (related to CE)?

FYI: Now's the time to name it because if you don't see it, your reviewers won't see it either. But if you help them see your current status framed as being "right on track" for the journey your campus is on, they will join you in your vision for the future.

Where should you start?

The reviewers are active SLCE scholars, so they respond well to literature.

Here is some inspiration. Think about what resonates with your campus trajectory.

• Is CE on your campus both deep and pervasive, so now you can shift your focus onto integration?

o The DPI Framework might be right for you! https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1137428.pdf

• Have you asked yourselves where you'd find CE institutionalization if you were really an engaged campus, and then focused on all those places to have now made some great progress and still have some ways to go?

o Building Capacity for Community Engagement might be the right framework for you!http://depts.washington.edu/ccph/pdf_files/self-assessment-copyright.pdf

Once you've found the narrative arc for your campus, bring it into your responses early in the application. Spell out your trajectory and let the reviewers know they will see evidence for it all throughout the application.