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Two Year College

Two Year College. Bert E. Holmes Carson Distinguished Chair of Science at UNC-Asheville and formerly Program Officer in Division of Undergraduate Education at NSF Grove Park Inn – Asheville, NC 12 September, 2011. Question 1 – Challenges to Submitting Grants.

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Two Year College

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  1. Two Year College Bert E. Holmes Carson Distinguished Chair of Science at UNC-Asheville and formerly Program Officer in Division of Undergraduate Education at NSF Grove Park Inn – Asheville, NC 12 September, 2011

  2. Question 1 – Challenges toSubmitting Grants 1. Challenges related to faculty time and incentives to develop proposals and manage grant projects – Competing priorities – colleges are focused on teaching mission 2. Lack of awareness of NSF grant opportunities and the process to apply – Limited access to successful proposal examples – Issue of innovation – colleges daunted by request for “innovation” in proposals and what’s required / expected – Understanding NSF solicitations • Money for equipment • Credentials of PIs • Diversity “requirements”

  3. Question 1 – Challenges toSubmitting Grants 3. Institutional capacity / lack of college infrastructure to apply for and manage federal awards – How to establish/manage Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) – Lack of Grants Management Office/ Sponsored Projects Office – How to establish / negotiate indirect cost rates 4. Lack of consistent support from college administration to go after and support federal awards – Institutional culture

  4. Question 1 – Challenges toSubmitting Grants 5. Lack of expertise in grant writing – College does not have grant writer – College has a grant writer – but there is a disconnect between subject matter experts/faculty and grant writer in communicating proposal needs 6. Establishing Internal and External Partnerships and Collaborations – External: • How to connect with business/industry • How to establish partnerships with other educational institutions – Internal: •How to assemble grants management team/collaborators from PI, Co-PI, evaluator, etc.

  5. Question 1 – Challenges toSubmitting Grants 7. Lack of understanding of grant review and award process – Insecurity of who exactly is reviewing proposal – Perception that some RFPs are geared more toward four-year universities – Perception that reviewers are hostile to community college submissions 8. Limited resources for colleges interested in submitting proposals and managing federal award – Mentoring programs for faculty interested in pursuing grants – Grant writing and grants management webinars – Professional development/leadership development for faculty

  6. Question 1 – Challenges toSubmitting Grants Others challenges identified: • Budgeting Knowledge: Lack of overall budgeting knowledge of PIs/Co-PIs – Challenges with working with college financial offices • Evaluation: Effective evaluation – how to develop an evaluation plan; find a qualified evaluator • Sustainability: Project sustainability, post grant-term • Technical Challenges: Challenges with technical portions of grant submissions; i.e. using FastLane, grants.gov • Institutional research capacity of community colleges – issues with tracking students, data management plans, and accountability • Intimidating Competition: Intimidated by competition of grants awards process • Unclear Return on Investment to College: Overall issue with college seeing value/return on investment for applying and receiving a federal award • Budget Challenges: Local/state budget challenges

  7. How can NSF address these issues? • How to find out about developing successful proposals – NSF Community College Days – Regular request of a PD to come do a funding opportunities and proposal writing workshop • Resources for Potential PIs – NSF PI Guide – deals w/ program management- http://govpiguide.org; – Other Resources: www.teachingtechnicians.org ; www.atecentral.net • Grant Review – Encourage CC people to sign up • Evalu-ATE – A resource for everyone involved in evaluation

  8. How can NSF address these issues? • Diversity requirements? – There is no specific requirement • Need for PhD degree for PI? – No. Principal Investigator needs to have necessary expertise to carry out project, but doesn’t need a PhD • ROI to Institution? – All projects build infrastructure & faculty expertise and increase institutional visibility • Equipment requests? – Careful read of solicitation. Some allow for purchase tied to project goals

  9. How can NSF address these issues? • Proposal Rules? – Two sources: • Grant Proposal Guide • Actual Solicitation • Can we make FastLane more CC friendly? – Start early and practice – Project reporting help sheets

  10. Question 2 – Key STEM Issues facing Colleges1. Improve student readiness (with proven math curriculum) and other promising practicesWhat can community colleges do?• Involve current K-12 teachers in professional development atcommunity colleges• Foster real science and math learning• Improve communication with K-12 students and families includingfirst-year experience• Support innovative strategies in developmental education• Put developmental education in STEM courses

  11. The END

  12. NSF• Proposal Rules?– Two sources:• Grant Proposal Guide • Actual Solicitation• Can we make FastLane more CC friendly?– Start early and practice– Project reporting help sheets

  13. How to Demonstrate a Strong Partnership Individuals from all institutions have clear roles and communication structures Management plan includes a description of how communication, meetings, roles, division of responsibilities, and reporting will occur Distribution of resources is appropriate to the scope of the work All partners contribute to the work and benefit from it Letters of commitment are provided from non-lead partners (consult the solicitation for which letters are required, and which are optional)

  14. What Makes a Proposal Competitive? Original ideas Succinct, focused project plan Realistic amount of work Sufficient detail provided Cost effective High impact Knowledge and experience of PIs Contribution to the field Rationale and evidence of potential effectiveness Likelihood the project will be sustained Solid evaluation plan

  15. Tips for Success • Consult the program solicitation and NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) (NSF 10-1) • Test drive FastLane • Alert the Sponsored Research Office • Follow page and font size limits • Be aware of other projects and advances in the field • Cite the literature • Provide details • Discuss prior results • Include evaluation plan with timelines and benchmarks

  16. Tips for Success Put yourself in the reviewers’ place Consider reviewers’ comments if resubmitting proposal Have someone else read the proposal Spell check; grammar check Meet deadlines Follow NSF requirements for proposals involving Human Subjects Call or email NSF Program Officers

  17. Return Without Review Submitted after deadline Fail to separately and explicitly addressintellectual merit and broader impacts in the Project Summary Fail to follow formatting(e. g. page limitation, font size, and margin limits) requirements Fail to provide describe mentoring activities for postdoctoral researchers if included in proposed budget

  18. Not ready to submit a proposal this year?Consider serving as a reviewer.

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