“Seeking the Funding to Expand Your Horizons” Part II Fall 2014 Flex Day Workshop

1. “Seeking the Funding to Expand Your Horizons”Part IIFall 2014 Flex Day Workshop Deidre Sullivan, MATE Center Director Beccie Michael, MPC Foundation Executive Director

2. Presentation Outline Getting Started Pre-proposal Planning Starting a Proposal Outline The Anatomy of an RFP (Request for Proposals) Grants.gov Sample RFP Grant Project Ideas What’s Next… Questions & Answers

3. How do you get started? • What do you do well in education? • What would you improve if you could? • Add new activities into existing programs to improve student access (diversity), improve student success, improve pedagogy, improve the program (new courses, certificates, equipment, alignment with workforce needs, etc.) • Develop new programs… • What existing resources and programs can you leverage?

4. What needs to happen before the proposal is written? STEM Center Needs Analysis - Identify strengths and weaknesses. Define the problem. Develop a strategy to improve the situation. Build institutional support for the idea: talk to colleagues, department chairs, and especially the administration. Improve the strategy based upon broad support from colleagues and administration ( it takes a village). Learn from successful projects at other colleges. Reach out and talk to people!!!! (learn from successes and failures)

5. What needs to happen before the proposal is written? What existing resources can be leveraged? (models, expertise, resources) Don’t reinvent the wheel. What are the needs of the people whose resources you want to use?? (Create a win-win situation). Read education literature relevant to the problem. Research funding opportunities and find a good match. Read already funded abstracts and proposals. Read every word of the solicitation or RFP (request for proposals). Have a plan for how these efforts will be sustained after funding ends.

6. How to start a proposal outline • Compelling Rationale Project Description • Problem 1, Problem 2, Problem 3… • Solution 1, Solution, 2, Solution 3… • Goals and Objectives • A goal is something you strive for, generally it is never fully attained. • An objective is the actual work that will be done in support of the goal. • Deliverables (Anticipated Impacts) • Project Management and Timeline (who will do the work & when) • Evaluation Plan (How will success be measured?) • Sustainability (How will these efforts be continued?)

7. Writing and implementing successful grants is a scholarly endeavor Know the literature and the grants already funded related to your area of interest: • www.nsf.gov/awardsearch • Contact grant recipients and collaborate – dissemination • Read education literature in your area/discipline • Attend grant-funded professional development workshops and conferences • Attend grant writing workshops • Serve on a proposal review panel

8. The Anatomy of an RFP • Most RFP’s follow a basic structure: • Overview/Background (where the funding is coming from, deadlines/dates, purpose/goals of the program, etc.) • Award information (how many and how much) • Eligibility information (types of organizations that can apply) • Proposal Requirements – typically includes: • Statement of Need/Project Justification • Project Description • Goals/Objectives • Evaluation Plan • Budget (sometimes includes a Budget Narrative) • Standard forms/appendices (sometimes letters from partners) • Selection Process & Criteria (how your proposal will be scored) • Submission Requirements (how and when to submit) • Award Administration (what happens after you get the grant, if funded)

9. www.Grants.gov THE website for finding and applying for Federal grants. Organizations must be registered to apply; need to work through appropriate channels to submit. Search by eligibility, keyword, categories, funding agencies. Browsing RFP’s can be a good tool to “see what’s out there” and get familiar with what is required to write a grant proposal. Remember: Finding a grant opportunity is pointless unless we are prepared to apply. It takes a LOT of work to write a grant, and even more to implement one! We cannot overstate the importance of going through a planning process before you write a grant proposal.

10. Sample RFP:Bridging Cultures at Community Colleges http://www.neh.gov/files/grants/bridgingcultures-communitycolleges-aug-21-2014.pdf • NEH Bridging Cultures at Community Colleges grants are intended to strengthen and enrich humanities education and scholarship at community colleges. Grants are used to enhance the humanities content of existing programs, develop new programs, or lay the foundation for more extensive endeavors in the future. • NEH Bridging Cultures at Community Colleges grants: • create opportunities for community college faculty members to study together while improving their capacity to teach the humanities; • enhance or develop areas of need in an institution’s humanities programs; and • give community college faculty access to humanities resources through partnerships with other institutions with appropriate resources.

11. Grant Project Ideas • During our initial grants network meetings, the following needs/ideas were identified: • Increasing the number of paid internships in both CTE and academic disciplines • Flipped classrooms/technology integration • Computer/technology labs • Expanded wifi access on campus • Increased/updated articulation agreements • New programs for healthcare careers • Extended library hours • CTE specific academic advising/counseling • STEM Center

12. What’s Next? Based on a high degree of interest from faculty and staff during our initial grants network meetings, Beccie & Deidre will be facilitating a STEM Center Workgroup starting in the fall. First meeting will be October 17th at 8:30am in LTC 216; open to everybody on campus. We will be implementing the process we’ve discussed today – building a strong foundation through research, analysis, and collaborationthat will position us to apply for grants in the future. This will be a launching point for building a grant-seeking culture at MPC. Other needs/areas on campus can follow the same model.

13. Questions & Answers Thank you for coming today! Beccie Michael rmichael@mpc.edu 831.655.5506 Deidre Sullivan dsullivan@mpc.edu 831.646.3081