UVM Leahy Institute for Rural Partnerships

Calling all student artists!

The Leahy Institute is hosting a competition to select the signature art for our 2026 RISE Summit. Art should center around this year’s theme of “Rural Prosperity”. This competition is open to UVM juniors and seniors, and submissions are due April 3rd. The selected artist will receive $250, and their work will be featured across summit materials (notebooks, tote bags, posters, stickers, and much more).

Follow the link below to learn more and submit your work:
https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=WHcXHGtN3EOq6zucQlYpZyPuhJlRf41Ci5QAutGlUs1UN1NYVDkwSVIxMklPVEFNUjE3MFdFWUQxUy4u&route=shorturl

As the weather gets warmer and the semester comes to a close, UVM students are preparing to make an impact across Vermont. The Leahy Institute’s fourth Statewide Internship Cohort is traveling to Brattleboro and the White River Valley to support the Southern Vermont community and New Americans living in the region.

To learn more about this program or apply to be one of the interns, please visit the links below.

Learn more and apply:
https://www.uvm.edu/ruralpartnerships/statewide-summer-internships

Full article: https://www.uvm.edu/career/news/leahy-institutes-statewide-summer-internship-cohort-heads-brattleboro

Registration is now open for the 2026 RISE Summit! This year’s theme, Partnerships for Rural Prosperity, will guide a full day of workshops, panels, and discussions focused on advancing community-university collaboration.

Join us on June 16, in person or virtually.

Learn more and register at the links below.

Register now: https://na.eventscloud.com/ereg/newreg.php?eventid=875133&
Explore: https://www.uvm.edu/ruralpartnerships/rise

The Leahy Institute is thrilled to be co-hosting the fifth annual Vermont Capital Planning Forum with the Vermont Bond Bank on April 9th Hula. This is an event for Vermont public officials and professionals to explore best practices in capital planning. Students are welcome, too!

You can register for the forum here: https://www.cognitoforms.com/VTBondBank1/VermontBondBankUVMLeahyInstitute5thAnnualCapitalPlanningForumRegistration

Access to healthcare can be challenging for many people living in Vermont’s rural communities. The VITAL-VT project (Virtual Integration for Telehealth Access through Libraries in Vermont) is exploring whether local libraries could serve as trusted telehealth hubs.

To help guide this work, the VITAL-VT team is gathering input from Vermonters through a short community survey. By entering the survey, you are eligible to enter a raffle for a $25 gift card.

Your input can help shape the future of telehealth access in Vermont communities. Learn more about VITAL-VT and take the survey at the links below.

Survey: https://redcap.med.uvm.edu/surveys/?s=LELRPTLK7JXNLD84

Learn more: https://www.uvm.edu/ruralpartnerships/vital-vt-virtual-integration-telehealth-access-through-libraries-vermont

Join us this Friday March 13th for the UVM Entrepreneurs Forum panel. We’ll be discussing the innovation hubs that support business growth and development across Vermont. We will be hearing from VCET, Hula, BRIC, Do North, and The Hub CoWorks, and learn about the services they provide to founders and entrepreneurs, from mentoring to investment support and accelerator programs designed to launch businesses to the next level!

Visit the links below to learn more and join the virtual panel:

Virtual panel: https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_ZTBmNjRkNDctYTg0ZC00YWYyLWE0NjEtZGI0YTc4Y2FkOTlk%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%221c177758-4d6b-43dc-aaeb-3b9c42562967%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22d739c204-6607-43bd-b6d7-04694cc9bf95%22%7d

UVM Entrepreneurs Forum: https://www.uvm.edu/ovpr/e-forum

Join the Leahy Institute for Pitch Night at 4 PM on March 31st at Hula. Our 2025 grant partners will share the outcomes of their research, projects, and student-led work and “pitch" their project to audience members. Please visit the links below to RSVP and learn more about our 2025 Grant Round 2 partners.

RSVP here: https://forms.microsoft.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=WHcXHGtN3EOq6zucQlYpZ7qQ8-yKhj1LqKaTtFe73N5URE5PUlJWTUROQThDRlVXWjE3WkRFVjBNMSQlQCN0PWcu&route=shorturl

Grant Round 2 partners: https://www.uvm.edu/ruralpartnerships/grant-round-2-2025

The Leahy Institute for Rural Partnerships is now offering the Student Engagement for a Resilient Vermont (SERV) grant. This grant will provide up to $10,000 for faculty and community members to build applied learning opportunities targeting challenges in rural Vermont.

“This grant will allow faculty to explore how they can support students to engage in communities outside Chittenden County. We are eager to support faculty in expanding what is possible.” — Susan Munkres, Director of UVM’s Office of Community-Engaged Learning (CELO).

Proposals for the grant should be submitted by faculty, explicitly engage a community partner, and align with the objectives of an existing UVM course. Links to more information and proposal submissions can be found below. All proposals are due May 1st.

Apply for a SERV grant: https://submit.uvm.edu/ /2007118

Read more on our website: https://www.uvm.edu/ruralpartnerships/serv-student-engagement-resilient-vermont