The HCC Foundation and the Chancellor’s Office established the HCC Innovation Grants to recognize and promote exceptional faculty and staff dedicated to experimenting with new strategies, techniques, and process so that they might enhance the student experience at Houston City College. 

Each year, the Innovation Grants program awards up to five HCC faculty and student support personnel with $5,000, enabling outstanding HCC faculty and student support professionals to implement individually designed plans which advance instruction and student support services at the College. Recipients of Innovation Grants will be designated as Distinguished Educators. The time period for the grant is April 2026 through March 2027.

The annual selection process will be coordinated by the Faculty and Staff Senates in collaboration with Innovation Fellow graduates. The selection committee will be comprised of faculty and student support professionals who conduct a blind review of all applications.

Applications are now open! The submission deadline is February 27, 2026, at 5:00 p.m.

The following criteria will be considered in selecting Innovation Grants project proposals:

Proposed Learning Experience:

The applicant’s proposal should address:A direct connection to two or more of HCC’s Strategic Priorities 

• Intended learning outcomes of the project 
• Associated contribution to student learning
• How funding will support project goal(s) regarding student learning and the College’s mission, vision, values 
• Plan for assessing the project’s learning outcomes

Excellence in Teaching and Student Support: 

The applicant’s record of significant contributions made to student learning and success and to the applicant’s department, campus, and/or the College in recent years.

The HCC Chancellor and Foundation encourage any interested, eligible faculty or student support professional to apply.

• Must be a full-time employee of the college, either faculty or student support professional who primarily engage in direct student teaching or support activities.  
• “Student support professionals” is intended to be expansive and is reflective of the belief that community college student success is dependent on meaningful support services as well as teaching excellence.  
• Adjunct Faculty and employees whose primary responsibility is administrative or supervisory are not eligible to apply for Endowed Chairs. 

The following resources are provided for applicants:

• HCC Innovation Grants Program Guidelines
• HCC Innovation Grants Budget Template
• HCC Innovation Grants Rubric

Should you need assistance and support developing your project, the following staff are available to meet with you:

• Jordan Carswell – available to assist with all aspects of project development

• Elizabeth Scherer – available to assist with budget development

• Melissa Miller-Waters – available to assist with navigating the submission process

• Christopher Burnett – available to assist with developing appropriate assessments for your project

• Tanya Onwuchuruba – available to assist with navigating the submission platform, Brightidea