Applications Now Open for RUX 2022/23 Cohort!
Application Opens & Review Process Benefits from KFW Partnership
We welcome applications to the 2022/23 cohort of the Kentucky Rural-Urban Exchange! The application is now open and will close on April 3, 2022. After two long years of pausing our in-person programming and going into virtual gathering spaces, we are excited to connect people, place, and partnerships as we travel to weekend Community Intensives in Muhlenberg County (May 27-29), Louisville (August 5-7), and Estill County (September 23-25).
Key 2022 Dates
April 3 – Applications Due
April 22 – Acceptance Notification
May 1 – Signed Commitment, Participation Fee, and Bio. Due
May 15 – Public Announcement of RUX 2022-2023 Cohort
Virtual Orientation for 2022/23 Cohort:
Saturday, May 14, 2-4 p.m. eastern
Our focus on equity in RUX will continue to manifest in our recruitment process, our weekend intensive programming, and in everything we do as an organization. We are offering two virtual application open houses to provide a chance for you to learn more about RUX and get your application questions answered.
Saturday, March 12 at 9am CST/ 10am EST - Register here.
Thursday, March 24 at 4pm CST/ 5pm EST - Register here.
In addition, RUX Program Manager Amelia Martens is also available for individual meetings to talk through applications steps.
Learning Through Partnership
We’ve long admired the thought and care that the Kentucky Foundation for Women applies to preparing their application reviewers.
RUX continues to learn and grow as an anti-racist organization; our application review process is one area we reexamined in our efforts to center equity and diversity in our work. Through a generous knowledge sharing session with our long-time partner, the Kentucky Foundation for Women, RUX was able to review, revise, and create a more equitable process for reviewing cohort applications.
RUX staff met with Avery Guess, KFW’s Grant Program Manager, and Sharon LaRue, KFW Executive Director, to identify key ways in which our application process could be amended to increase equity.
Here are some changes we have made to center equity in our application review:
Revised our application and website for accessibility and clear communication of core values: Connection, Openness, Diversity, and Inclusion.
Revised our scoring rubric to better align with our application and our values
Defined our priority constituent populations
Created a list of guiding questions to focus reviewers on the ideas expressed by each applicant and reduce scoring impact by issues of grammar, punctuation, spelling or syntax
Added two virtual open houses; and made appointments available with staff for individual support
Created a Reviewer Guide (to pull all together reviewer materials, including maps)
Selected a review team (Steering Committee Members plus 2 others) that reflects diversity
Elected to include an RUX alumni application reviewer
Elected to include a RUX application reviewer from Minnesota, the first state in which the Rural-Urban Exchange model has been adapted
Developed a clear Conflict of Interest policy for reviewers
Created a Facilitation Guide to clarify the decision day process, and center our values and supporting intentions as new cohort members are selected
Created an evaluation for reviewers of the review experience (to gather feedback and revise our processes for next year)
