BEST PRACTICES

1. A Dozen Pieces of Tested Advice BEST PRACTICES by Gil Harootunian, PhD, Director, ORSP

2. #1: Program Guidelines • Read (then re-read) the sponsor’s Program Guidelines. • The guidelines clarify explicit ‘eligibility thresholds.’ • Research or teaching priorities • Funding ceilings, floors, or allowances • Standards for evaluation • Supplementary requirements or documents, etc.

3. #1: Program Guidelines • Entire‘Program Guidelines’: • National Endowment for the Humanities • Department of Education • National Science Foundation • Outline the critical requirements for complex grants. • Create a “Summary Sheet” of critical points and priorities. • “Summary Sheet” is a quick guide during planning and during submission.

4. #2: Past Awards • From past awards, you can deduce implicitexpectations (vs. explicit expectations in Program Guidelines). • What are they actually funding? • You are ‘reading between the lines’ of the Program Guidelines. • Discern Funding Trends. • Department of Education • NSF

5. #2: Past Awards • Other examples • National Endowment for the Humanities • National Science Foundation • Department of Education • Outline—then consult frequently.

6. #3: Touch Base w/ ORSP • We will— • Translate ‘sponsor-ese’ into plain English. • Share experiential knowledge of what gets funded (and what does not). • Explain both internal and external procedures. • Contact program officers on administrative / budget / technical issues

7. #3: Touch Base w/ ORSP • We will— • Elaborate on sponsor prerogatives like “positive accountability.” • Example: “GRPA” • Elaborate on most common reasons for declension of a grant application. • An excessive or poorly justified budget (NSF). • Why? Indicates that project is poorly designed. • (Repeat: We are happy to do budgets!)

8. #4: Touch Base w/ Program Officer • Example: After you have studied the program guidelines and talked w/ ORSP, contact sponsor’s program officer to see if your idea is competitive. • NSF requirement • NSF updates • Keep in touch w/ program officer between applications or between pre- and post-award.

9. #4: Touch Base w/ Program Officer • Cycle back: discuss w/ staff in ORSP the highlights of your discussion w/ sponsor’s program officer. • Share and store knowledge for future applications. • Verify program officer’s comments (no human is infallible). • Be careful you do not hear what you want to hear.

10. #5: Heed the Reviewers • Question: Whom should you heed? • Answer: Always heed the reviewers. • Team of experts reviews and—importantly—responds to your project. • Reviewers have more say than anyone else in the funding of your project. • That is why second-time submissions have the highest funding rate. • Most program officers (if asked) will repeat all this.

11. #6: Form Teams • Disciplinary • Interdisciplinary • Multidisciplinary • Readers • Mentors • “De facto team” w/ reviewers [who remain anonymous]

12. #7: Leverage, leverage, leverage • A.k.a., “Bang for the Buck” • Example: National Science Foundation’s “EarthCube” • Leverage ≠ Cost Share • Cost share = Commitment measured in cash • Leverage = Bringing resources to bear; being resourceful

13. #8: Network, network, network • Read notices in professional journals. • “How I Got My First Grant” tale • Ted Stevens’ Amendment • Visit sponsor booths at professional conferences. • If in D.C. area, try to talk w/ program officer(s). • If time and resources permit, go to federal agency workshops. • The feds are fast becoming the ‘gold standard’ in external funding.

14. #9: Be Resourceful • Use resources. • ORSP resources • Sample Budget Narratives • Evaluation guidelines • Letters of support guidelines and samples • Sponsor resources • NIH “OppNet” ―Basic Behavioral & Social Sciences Opportunity Network • Do not re-invent the wheel.

15. #10: Disseminate…. • Shows you are valuable member of the field. • Advances knowledge in field. • Assures sponsor of mileage (a.k.a., bang for the buck). • Does not apply to salary or proprietary information.

16. #10: Disseminate…. • Examples • Articles, conference papers, etc. • Fresno State’s ADCC • Faculty who deposit data in digital collections have higher # of citations • NSF: National Science Digital Library • NIH: Pub Med Central • NEH: Publicly accessible results

17. #11: Evaluation—Make It Good • Sponsor ensures it is getting what it wants through on-going evaluation. • So important, we have session on this. • Examples: • Department of Education • IMLS • NEA • NSF

18. #11: Evaluation—Make It Good • New standard = positive accountability (vs. old standard of negative accountability) • External vs. internal evaluator? • Formative and Summative • Formative = strategy to monitor project as it evolves to provide feedback • Summative = strategy to measure overall effectiveness and extent to which goals met

19. #12: Align w/ Sponsor’s Priorities • Examples • Scalability (a.k.a., Replication). • Does sponsor want a project that can be scaled up regionally or even nationally? • U.S. Department of Education • National Science Foundation • Sustainability • Does sponsor want projects that can be institutionalized? • The Council for International Exchange of Scholars (a.k.a., Fulbright Program)

20. #12: Align w/ Sponsor’s Priorities • Examples • Community Engagement • Does sponsor want more fluid boundaries between academy and surrounding community? • National Endowment for the Arts • Infrastructure • Does sponsor want to strengthen institution’s long-term capacity to support your work? • National Endowment for the Humanities

21. #12: Align w/ Sponsor’s Priorities • How can you be sure that you are aligning your project’s goals with the sponsor’s goals? • Cycle back: Re-read the program guidelines. • Talk w/ grants managers • Talk w/ program officer

22. Questions?

23. Follow-up Questions Gil Harootunian, PhD Director, ORSP 8-0863 gharootunian@csufresno.edu