The Smart Museum, the Enrico Fermi Institute, and the U of C charter schools are among the groups receiving a chunk of the $359,000 in University Women’s Board grants over the ’06–’07 year.

The Board will award a record number of grants to 15 University organizations that promote research, community outreach, student life, and cultural diversity. Funds will support the Smart Museum’s 2007 exhibit Cosmophilia, buy books to fill the charter schools’ libraries, and finance repairs to Fermi Institute equipment, among other campus initiatives.

One of the largest grants will back a new Family Resource Center to serve 600 University graduate students with children. The $42,037 endowment will renovate University Church space at 5655 South University Avenue, funding a group play space with books and toys, as well as private rooms where mothers can change and breastfeed their children.

The Career Advising and Planning Services will receive $11,280 to launch a Chicago Careers in Business program, which pairs M.B.A.–seeking undergraduates with mentors in the Graduate School of Business.