SSU’s campus was rated #34 in The Best Colleges 2021 rankings for “100 Most Beautiful Campus in America.” Just minutes away from one of several of SSU’s wildlife preserves and nestled within acres of towering trees and includes lush lawns, ponds, and walking trails. The Copeland Creek, which participants will learn about when they visit the Fairfield Osborn Preserve, runs through campus. Walking and biking trails connect with a network of paths along the creek and through Rohnert Park.

Housing

Housing accommodations will be located on the SSU campus. SSU’s housing is rated #1 in the California State University system for dorms. Participants will stay at Beaujolais Village. This non-traditional housing includes suite-style and apartment-style accommodations with private rooms and bathrooms. A shared kitchen and living area are perfect for collaboration with Institute peers. And don’t forget a swimsuit! Northern California summers are typically mild in June and Beaujolais Village has a pool and hot tub.

Key SSU Housing Information

$79/night for a single room with a private bathroom

Linen pack (bedding) $10 one time fee

$6 per day per vehicle

You can choose to add on meals on specific days, or not at all. Attendees can bring their own dishware and utilize the kitchens in their housing suites.

Meals & Dining

Meal plans available with housing for The Kitchens.

Breakfast $15 per person/per meal

Lunch $16 per person/per meal

Dinner $18 per person/per meal

More Dining Options

Enjoy Lobos for lunch on campus between 11 AM and 2 PM. Sip is open for coffee and light bites.

Across the street from campus, participants can enjoy lunch and dinner at a variety of locally-owned restaurants, including Himalayan, Japanese BBQ, sushi, and Mexican cuisine, or grab frozen yogurt for dessert. A convenience store is in the shopping center, or visit Oliver’s Market just 2 miles up the road (7 minutes in an Uber or Lyft). We also suggest having groceries delivered from Whole Foods or Safeway. Apartments or dorm pods have kitchens.

Transportation: Getting to SSU

There are two major airports 45-60 minutes from Rohnert Park, California: Oakland (OAK) and San Francisco International Airport (SFO).

The Sonoma County Airport in Santa Rosa airport is 15-20 minutes from campus, but typically costs more than the major Bay Area airports.

Sonoma County Airport Express for transportation to and from the three area airports.

During your Stay at SSU

Public transportation is available from campus. The SMART Train is about 1 mile from SSU and connects to downtown Santa Rosa up north and south through key destinations like Petaluma and Sausalito. Participants can travel to San Francisco and the Bay Area via public transit on their free day or rent a car for a 45-minute drive to visit in the evening. Take the SMART train to Larkspur and catch a ferry to San Francisco’s famous Fisherman’s Wharf with a view of Alcatraz on the way!

We recommend renting a car to make the most of the area.

Our combined, hybrid experience will consist of approximately 100 contact hours of professional learning that will include virtual meetings in May of 2025, the two-week residential program with extensive field trips from June 15-27, 2025 on SSU’s campus as well as through field trips to various locations in northern California, and again virtually in August 2025 on four dates TBD by participants.

Also, per NEH requirements, we will reserve five of our 25 participant stipends for teachers who are in their first five years of teaching.

We anticipate the following time commitments:

May 19th, 2025, with dates and times TBD, we expect to host a 90-minute webinar (which will be recorded if needed).

Two weeks on-site, intensive professional development at Sonoma State University. Full stipends depend upon completing the onsite Institute. See the section on Participant Expectations & Stipends on this page.

Dissemination Plan

To reach a wider audience, we will film parts of the institute to demonstrate the process and tell the story of our forays into telling the Future Earth Story. This innovative approach to disseminating the transformative experiences of NEH K-12 Summer Institutes will be led by award-winning indie documentary film producer John W. Comerford.

NEH Participant Expectations

Please read the full Participant Expectations here.

Participants are expected to submit a project evaluation.

Project applicants who accept an offer to participate are expected to remain during the entire period of the program and to participate in its work on a full-time basis. If a participant is obliged through special circumstances to depart before the end of the program, it shall be the recipient institution’s responsibility to see that only a pro-rata share of the stipend is received or that the appropriate prorated share of the stipend is returned if the participant has already received the full stipend.

Once an applicant has accepted an offer to attend any NEH Summer Program (Seminar, Institute, or Landmark), they may not accept an additional offer or withdraw in order to accept a different offer.

Participant Stipend

Participants will receive a $2850 stipend (taxable) to offset all associated costs with attending the NEH Institute. Per NEH guidelines, the stipend will be paid after full attendance of the Institute.

If you choose to stay at SSU, the housing costs will be deducted from the stipend and paid directly to SSU at the end of the institute.

Please contact Fawn Canady at canadyf@sou.edu with housing questions.

Application Deadlines

Application deadline: March 5 2025, 11:59 PST:

Applicant notification date: April 2, 2025 applicant notification date

Deadline for selected applicants to accept or decline our offer: April 16, 2025.

NEH Applicant and Participant FAQs

NEH Principles of Civility

Our institute will adhere to the Principles of Civility for ALL NEH Professional Development Programs which include:

NEH Seminars, Institutes, and Landmarks programs are intended to extend and deepen knowledge and understanding of the humanities by focusing on significant topics, texts, and issues; contribute to the intellectual vitality and professional development of participants; and foster a community of inquiry that provides models of excellence in scholarship and teaching.

NEH expects that project directors will take responsibility for encouraging an ethos of openness and respect, upholding the basic norms of civil discourse.

Seminar, Institute, and Landmarks presentations and discussions should be:

1. firmly grounded in rigorous scholarship, and thoughtful analysis;

2. conducted without partisan advocacy;

3. respectful of divergent views;

4. free of ad hominem commentary; and

5. devoid of ethnic, religious, gender, disability, or racial bias.

NEH welcomes comments, concerns, or suggestions on these principles at questions@neh.gov.