Conference: A Virtual Workshop for Two-Year College Geoscience Faculty to Develop National Science Foundation Grant Proposals

This project aims to serve the national interest by building capacity in the two-year college (2YC) geoscience community to develop, write, and submit proposals to the National Science Foundation. To expand participation of 2YCs in leading externally funded projects, a seven-day virtual workshop will be convened to mentor 2YC faculty in the grant proposal development process and subsequent submission to relevant programs in the NSF Division of Undergraduate Education and Directorate for Geosciences. Part 1 of the workshop will be led by 2YC faculty with successful NSF proposal experience. This part is designed to increase participants’ familiarity with specific NSF programs, generate and clarify proposal ideas, and identify potential peer collaborators for proposal writing. Part 2 of the workshop is modeled after the successful SAGE 2YC Writing Workshop and will include structured writing and development sessions designed to move participants through the proposal writing process. Upon the conclusion of part 2, participants will have a complete draft of a planning grant, conference proposal, or full proposal and will have additional opportunities for consultations after the workshop to complete supporting proposal documents and receive final feedback before submitting their proposal to NSF. Proposals that receive funding will impact curriculum, faculty professional development, transfer, student career pathways, undergraduate research, and workforce preparation. Considering the demographics of students at 2YCs, greater participation by 2YCs in externally funded projects has the potential to enhance the number and diversity of geoscience majors and the geoscience workforce. This project also has the potential to aid in developing and strengthening relationships between 2YCs and four-year institutions and will improve undergraduate education in geoscience and other STEM fields. The project will introduce workshop participants to NSF grant opportunities that are particularly suitable for 2YCs as the lead institution, support faculty in developing, writing, and submitting NSF proposals, and provide a space for 2YC faculty to build a community of peer collaborators for single or multi-institutional grants, conference proposals, and planning grants. This workshop will also advance community understanding about effective mechanisms for (1) developing peer collaborations and collaborative proposals in an intensive workshop format, (2) addressing some of the major barriers to proposal preparation and submission faced by 2YC faculty, and (3) mentoring 2YC faculty as they progress from novice to experienced proposal writers. Workshop evaluation will increase knowledge about how workshop structure and post-workshop support influences the number of grants submitted by 2YC faculty. The NSF IUSE: Innovation in Two-Year College STEM Education (ITYC) Program seeks to advance knowledge and accelerate the impact of emerging and evidence-based practices in undergraduate STEM education at two-year colleges. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.