Established in 2016, the Ted Bradshaw Student Engaged Scholars Program honors one of the CRC's original visionaries, Ted Bradshaw, who served as a colleague, teacher, mentor, and friend, to a generation of community development scholars and practitioners. Professor Bradshaw envisioned the CRC as a hub for innovative, interdisciplinary, and engaged scholarship that could inform the building of healthy, prosperous, sustainable, and equitable regions in California and beyond. He conducted research to improve the quality of community life, and prioritized building relationships between the university and the surrounding region. In addition to being a respected scholar and teacher, Professor Bradshaw was best remembered for his kindness, generosity, enthusiasm, and positivity. He connected with students on the deepest level and modeled for them what it means to be a serious, committed, and ethical professional.
We honor Ted Bradshaw’s legacy through the Bradshaw Student Engaged Scholars Program. The goal of the Bradshaw Scholars Program is to create opportunities for students to deepen their leadership, applied research, and communication skills through hands-on experiential learning. As Bradshaw Scholars, select UCD undergraduate and graduate students spend 6-10 hours per week during Winter and Spring quarters, working on applied and policy-oriented research projects with community partners and UCD faculty. Students receive mentoring and professional development and contribute to high-impact regional change projects. Recent projects have included the development of a documentary about water justice, a curriculum to train youth to use mapping and data for community empowerment and change, a report on state affordable housing policies, and articles on urban gardening and environmental justice.
Applications for this program open in October and Scholars are selected and notified before the end of the Fall quarter. Competitive applicants demonstrate interest in building a professional career in a pathway related to community development and/or regional change. Please check at the beginning of Fall quarter 2024 if you are interested in applying to be a part of the next cohort of Bradshaw Scholars.
Support the Ted Bradshaw Scholars Program
This award has been made possible thanks to the generous support of donors invested in honoring Ted's memory and his values on student mentoring and empowerment. Community Development master's program alumna, Kamaljeet Singh-Khaira and her husband Ravi Khaira, have made a generous gift which has been the primary support for the Ted Bradshaw Engaged Student Scholars Program and who have made it possible for the CRC to support the next generation of regional change makers. We invite you to join us in sustaining this impactful program by making a donation here.
Student Application Process
2025 Applications are closed. Please check back in Fall 2026.
To apply, current undergraduate and graduate students at UC Davis must please submit:
- Online application form
- Your resume or CV
- 2 page proposal that includes:
- Your name
- What regional and social issues are most important to you and why?
- How does the Bradshaw Program align with your major, professional goals, and/or personal interests?
- How do you hope this experience will expand your understanding of community development?
- How do your future professional or learning goals relate to community engagement and development?
Award Amount: $1500
Host Organization Application Process
Host organizations are community-based organizations or UCD faculty members conducting community-based research and/or working in partnership with communities to translate scientific insights into actionable programs and policies.
Host Organizations have been selected for the 2025 season. If you are interested in hosting a Bradshaw Scholar for 2026, please check back in late summer/ early fall 2025.
Overview of the process:
- Host organizations and students apply for the Bradshaw Scholars program in September and October.
- Host organizations are selected based on the quality of the placement, goodness of fit with a highly qualified student, and available funding resources. We cannot guarantee that every organization will be matched with a student. The matching process begins in November.
- December - matched scholars and organizations establish a schedule for Winter and Spring quarters.
- January - June, Bradshaw Scholar meets regularly with Mentor and works 6-10 hours per week with host organization.
- May, Bradshaw Scholars and Mentors attend celebration event where Scholars present the work they have been doing.
There is an online application to apply to host a scholar. You will be asked to provide the following information:
- The contact information for the primary supervisor
- A description of your organization and the project the Bradshaw Scholar will be working on.
- The skills you would like the Scholar to have coming into the project.
- The skills the Scholar will gain working on this project.
If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to absuleiman@ucdavis.edu and/or crcinfo@ucdavis.edu.