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The National Science Foundation (NSF) Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program is specifically designed to support workforce development that primarily takes place in technician education programs offered at two-year colleges across the nation. Even so, NSF grant funding is infrequently or never pursued by most two-year colleges even though there is a need for funding to support high-cost, high-impact STEM programs. Since two-year colleges are focused on teaching vs. research, securing grants is seldom, if ever, required or even recognized as important as part of tenure and promotion processes at these institutions. As a result, technical/STEM faculty members typically do not have prior grant experience, nor do they have experience in managing a grant-funded project using industry-standard techniques. Guiding new grantees in applying Project Management skills as they implement NSF ATE-funded grants for the first time holds promise for improving project outcomes, reducing the frustration of a steep learning curve for new PIs, and encouraging follow-on grant proposals to the ATE Program. The first two principles of project management, (1) set clear objectives from the start and (2) create a project plan, are required to receive a first grant from NSF. When a grant award is received, two-year college faculty are invariably faced with working grant-funded activities into their already heavily-scheduled work weeks. Knowing about and employing project management skills can make a positive difference in the experience one has as a PI responsible for grant implementation and outcomes. These skills can help prevent chaos as workloads and competing demands for their time increase. To help new PIs learn and use project management skills within the context of NSF expectations so that they may maximize project outcomes and position themselves for subsequent NSF funding. A new professional development opportunity, PI 101, is providing instruction, mentoring, and technical assistance during the first year of project implementation. Based on PI 101 pilot year experiences and research, this support is being strengthened to specifically include the other three principles of project management: (1) organize and manage resources, (2) assess risks and changes throughout the project, and (3) monitor progress and performance on a regular basis. Mentor-Connect Forward, funded by the NSF ATE Program, added a newly developed component that addresses the critical need for first-time grantees to have instruction and support during their first year of project implementation. This professional development opportunity, called PI 101, is being offered to first-time, two-year college PIs to develop skills and help them build confidence by learning to apply proven strategies that can improve project outcomes so that their initial NSF ATE-funded work will build a worthy foundation for future grant awards and associated program improvements and innovation in technician education. PI 101 provides a collegial cohort environment for new PIs as they address issues such as grants management, budgets, and reporting expectations. New PIs can also get answers and receive direction on communication, building internal and external relationships, and developing industry partnerships. An important component of PI 101 is the introduction of the principles of project management as they apply to grant management. The pilot cohort of PI 101 participants received NSF ATE awards in 2023. The impact on the people involved, project progress, and outcomes are being monitored to inform improvements to PI 101 and future research questions. This paper explores the challenges and lessons learned in assisting a cohort of 15 two-year colleges so that they may effectively incorporate principles of project management and other grantsmanship strategies as they implement their first NSF ATE projects. 

Too few two-year technical and community colleges pursue funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Instead, they tend to rely on the U.S. Department of Education or the U.S. Department of Labor for federal grants. From the way grant funding opportunities are announced, to the processes used in reviewing proposals and making funding decisions, to the policies and procedures that govern submission of proposals and implementation of grants, NSF operates differently from other federal funding agencies that make grant awards. The Advanced Technological Education (ATE) Program is unique within NSF because of its focus on two-year colleges and workforce development, specifically for those who complete for-credit programs of study and earn credentials that enable program completers to enter the skilled technical workforce. NSF expects faculty to be involved in developing proposals and implementing projects funded by the agency. Meeting this expectation requires a paradigm shift for many community and technical colleges where the primary emphasis is on teaching and where there is seldom any expectation that faculty will contribute to college efforts to secure external funding from federal sources. In addition, in 2021, the overall NSF funding rate was 26% which presents daunting odds for success. However, 10 years of research demonstrate the effectiveness of an intervention that dramatically increases the funding rate for two-year colleges seeking funding from the NSF ATE Program. Since 2012, the Mentor-Connect initiative has been funded by the NSF ATE Program to help two-year college technician educators and related STEM faculty develop the grant-writing skills needed to meet NSF expectations and benefit from ATE funding. Over the past decade, 80% of Mentor-Connect participants have successfully submitted proposals. To date, the average funding rate for these proposals is 71%. This paper describes how the Mentor-Connect intervention works and for whom, what outcomes have resulted for participants who become grantees, and how two-year colleges and technician educators can benefit. 

The Hispanic Serving Institution Advanced Technological Education Hub 2 (HSI ATE Hub 2) is a three-year collaborative research project funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) that builds upon the successful outcomes of two mentoring and professional development (PD) programs in a pilot that translates foundational theory related to culturally responsive pedagogy into practice using a 3-tier scaffolded faculty PD model. The goal of HSI ATE Hub 2 is to improve outcomes for Latinx students in technician education programs through design, development, pilot, optimization, and dissemination of this model at 2-year Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs). The tiered PD model has been tested by two faculty cohorts at Westchester Community College (WCC), an HSI in the State University of New York (SUNY) system. In year one, Cohort A piloted the PD modules in Tier 1 which featured reflective exercises and small culturally responsive activities to try with their STEM students. In year two, Cohort A piloted the PD modules in Tier 2 and peer-mentored Cohort B as they piloted optimizations introduced to Tier 1 from Cohort A feedback. Three types of optimizations came from faculty feedback. The first considered feedback regarding delivery and/or nature of the content that influenced a subsequent module. The second involved making changes to a particular module before it was delivered to another faculty cohort. The third takes into account what worked and what didn’t to decide which content to bring into virtual webinars for the broader advanced technician education community. Dissemination of the tiered PD model has been achieved in annual webinars with the broader ATE community and at conferences for advanced technician educators to achieve broader impacts in the ATE Community. Longer term, providing professional development in culturally responsive pedagogy and practices can help existing and future faculty learn to productively engage their students in more inclusive ways. As faculty mindsets shift to asset-based thinking and a climate of mutual respect is developed, the learning environment for all students in technician education programs will improve. When students learn in a supportive environment, their chances for success increase. The professional development provided in the HSI ATE Hub 2 project will lead to longer term improvements in four ways: 1) Retainment of Culturally responsive practices by those directly engaged after the project ends; 2) Inserting top activities from the PD into national webinars to extend the reach of the training; 3) Strengthening grant proposals as faculty integrate culturally responsive strategies, knowledge and experience within their ATE proposals to the NSF; and 4) Meeting industry demand for a diverse technician workforce. This second paper in a three-part series describes ongoing progress and lessons learned in developing and piloting the 3-Tier PD model with two Cohorts of STEM faculty at a 2-year HSI. 

The Hispanic Serving Institution Advanced Technological Education Hub 2 (HSI ATE Hub 2) is a three-year collaborative research project funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) that builds upon the successful outcomes of two mentoring and professional development (PD) programs in a pilot that translates foundational theory related to culturally responsive pedagogy into practice using a 3-tier scaffolded faculty PD model. The goal of HSI ATE Hub 2 is to improve outcomes for Latinx students in technician education programs through design, development, pilot, optimization, and dissemination of this model at 2-year Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs). The tiered PD model has been tested by two faculty cohorts at Westchester Community College (WCC), an HSI in the State University of New York (SUNY) system. In year one, Cohort A piloted the PD modules in Tier 1 which featured reflective exercises and small culturally responsive activities to try with their STEM students. In year two, Cohort A piloted the PD modules in Tier 2 and peer-mentored Cohort B as they piloted optimizations introduced to Tier 1 from Cohort A feedback. Three types of optimizations came from faculty feedback. The first considered feedback regarding delivery and/or nature of the content that influenced a subsequent module. The second involved making changes to a particular module before it was delivered to another faculty cohort. The third takes into account what worked and what didn’t to decide which content to bring into virtual webinars for the broader advanced technician education community. Dissemination of the tiered PD model has been achieved in annual webinars with the broader ATE community and at conferences for advanced technician educators to achieve broader impacts in the ATE Community. Longer term, providing professional development in culturally responsive pedagogy and practices can help existing and future faculty learn to productively engage their students in more inclusive ways. As faculty mindsets shift to asset-based thinking and a climate of mutual respect is developed, the learning environment for all students in technician education programs will improve. When students learn in a supportive environment, their chances for success increase. The professional development provided in the HSI ATE Hub 2 project will lead to longer term improvements in four ways: 1) Retainment of Culturally responsive practices by those directly engaged after the project ends; 2) Inserting top activities from the PD into national webinars to extend the reach of the training; 3) Strengthening grant proposals as faculty integrate culturally responsive strategies, knowledge and experience within their ATE proposals to the NSF; and 4) Meeting industry demand for a diverse technician workforce. This second paper in a three-part series describes ongoing progress and lessons learned in developing and piloting the 3-Tier PD model with two Cohorts of STEM faculty at a 2-year HSI. 

HSI ATE Hub is a three-year collaborative research project funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) that joins two successful programs. Mentor-Connect mentors 2-year college faculty to develop competitive proposals for the NSF Advanced Technological Education (ATE) Program, and KickStarter facilitates strategic STEM assessment and planning to drive competitive STEM proposal development at 2-year Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs). The goal of HSI ATE Hub is to build capacity and leadership at 2-year HSIs for developing competitive ATE proposals to elevate 2-year HSIs as drivers of their community’s economic success via technician education. Data sets from three annual HSI ATE Hub Cohorts, four prior KickStarter Cohorts, and nine Mentor-Connect Cohorts have been aggregated to assess the following research questions about 2-year HSIs: Are there unique opportunities/barriers/challenges related to STEM program development and grant-writing endeavors for advanced technological education? How do we build capacity to pursue the opportunities and address the barriers/challenges? How do mentoring efforts/styles related to STEM program development and grant-writing need to differ for HSI faculty? What types of resources are relevant to the HSI ATE Community? This third paper in a series will report new data and incremental results from Year 3 of the HSI ATE Hub and a summary of results from the prior two years [1] [2]. These results include interactions with the HSI ATE community through intentional, expanded engagement to enhance learning from Latinx Advisory Council members and training webinars to develop educators’ acumen of culturally responsive instruction and high impact practices. Feedback from interviews and surveys with faculty at 2-year HSIs in HSI ATE Hub Cohorts 1-3 will be discussed to address research questions 1, 2, and 3. Evolved staging of resources relevant to the HSI ATE Community and related research directions for extending the project will address research question 4. 

HSI ATE Hub is a three-year collaborative research project funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) that joins two successful programs. Mentor-Connect mentors 2-year college faculty to develop competitive proposals for the NSF Advanced Technological Education (ATE) Program, and KickStarter facilitates strategic STEM assessment and planning to drive competitive STEM proposal development at 2-year Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs). The goal of HSI ATE Hub is to build capacity and leadership at 2-year HSIs for developing competitive ATE proposals to elevate 2-year HSIs as drivers of their community’s economic success via technician education. Data sets from three annual HSI ATE Hub Cohorts, four prior KickStarter Cohorts, and nine Mentor-Connect Cohorts have been aggregated to assess the following research questions about 2-year HSIs: Are there unique opportunities/barriers/challenges related to STEM program development and grant-writing endeavors for advanced technological education? How do we build capacity to pursue the opportunities and address the barriers/challenges? How do mentoring efforts/styles related to STEM program development and grant-writing need to differ for HSI faculty? What types of resources are relevant to the HSI ATE Community? This third paper in a series will report new data and incremental results from Year 3 of the HSI ATE Hub and a summary of results from the prior two years [1] [2]. These results include interactions with the HSI ATE community through intentional, expanded engagement to enhance learning from Latinx Advisory Council members and training webinars to develop educators’ acumen of culturally responsive instruction and high impact practices. Feedback from interviews and surveys with faculty at 2-year HSIs in HSI ATE Hub Cohorts 1-3 will be discussed to address research questions 1, 2, and 3. Evolved staging of resources relevant to the HSI ATE Community and related research directions for extending the project will address research question 4. 

Applying for grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF) requires a paradigm shift at many community and technical colleges, because the primary emphasis at two-year colleges is on teaching. This shift is necessary because of the NSF expectation that a STEM faculty member will lead the project as Principal Investigator. Preparing successful NSF grant proposals also requires knowledge, skills, and strategies that differ from other sources from which two-year colleges seek grant funding. Since 2012, the Mentor-Connect project has been working to build capacity among two-year colleges and leadership skills among their STEM faculty to help them prepare competitive grant proposals for the National Science Foundation’s Advanced Technological Education (NSF-ATE) program. NSF-ATE focuses on improving the education of technicians for advanced technology fields that drive the nation’s economy. As an NSF-ATE-funded initiative, Mentor-Connect has developed a three-pronged approach of mentoring, technical assistance, and digital resources to help potential grantees with the complexities of the proposal submission process. Grant funding makes it possible to provide this help at no cost to eligible, two-year college educators. Mentor-Connect support services for prospective grantees are available for those who are new to ATE (community or technical colleges that have not received an NSF ATE award in 7 or more years), those seeking a larger second grant from the ATE Program after completing a small, new-to-ATE project, and for those whose first or second grant proposal submission to the NSF ATE Program was declined (not funded). The Mentor-Connect project has succeeded in raising interest in the NSF-ATE program. Over a seven-year period more than 80% of the 143 participating colleges have submitted proposals. Overall, the funding rate among colleges that participated in the Mentor-Connect project is exceptionally high. Of the 97 New-to-ATE proposals submitted from Cohorts 1 through 6, 71 have been funded, for a funding rate of 73%. Mentor-Connect is also contributing to a more geographically and demographically diverse NSF-ATE program. To analyze longer-term impacts, the project’s evaluator is conducting campus site visits at the new-to-ATE grantee institutions as their initial ATE projects are being completed. A third-party researcher has contributed to the site-visit protocol being used by evaluators. The researcher is also analyzing the site-visit reports to harvest outcomes from this work. This paper shares findings from seven cohorts that have completed a grant cycle with funding results known, as well as qualitative data from site visits with the first two cohorts of grantees. Recommendations for further research are also included. 

This paper is the second in a series of annual papers about the role 2-year Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) have in educating technicians from underrepresented groups and how the National Science Foundation (NSF) sponsored HSI Advanced Technological Education (ATE) Hub program supports faculty at HSIs in improving Hispanic/Latinx student success. The goal of the HSI ATE Hub project is to build capacity and leadership at 2-year HSIs for developing competitive ATE proposals to NSF to prepare technicians in advanced technologies that drive the American economy. Funded by the NSF ATE Program, the HSI ATE Hub is a three-year collaborative project implemented by Florence Darlington Technical College in South Carolina and the Science Foundation Arizona Center for STEM at Arizona State University. Last year’s paper described the research need, provided a project overview, included baseline and initial data, and discussed early lessons learned and their implications for future research. This paper describes continued fostering of the HSI ATE community (2-year HSIs with grant prospects and awards from the NSF ATE Program), resource dissemination, usage, perceived value to the community, and additional data gathered during the first and second cohorts of HSI ATE Hub, including adjustments based on learnings from year 1. Emphasis will be placed on HSI ATE Community building and resources. Lessons learned and implications for future research are also described in the paper. 

This paper is the second in a series of annual papers about the role 2-year Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) have in educating technicians from underrepresented groups and how the National Science Foundation (NSF) sponsored HSI Advanced Technological Education (ATE) Hub program supports faculty at HSIs in improving Hispanic/Latinx student success. The goal of the HSI ATE Hub project is to build capacity and leadership at 2-year HSIs for developing competitive ATE proposals to NSF to prepare technicians in advanced technologies that drive the American economy. Funded by the NSF ATE Program, the HSI ATE Hub is a three-year collaborative project implemented by Florence Darlington Technical College in South Carolina and the Science Foundation Arizona Center for STEM at Arizona State University. Last year’s paper described the research need, provided a project overview, included baseline and initial data, and discussed early lessons learned and their implications for future research. This paper describes continued fostering of the HSI ATE community (2-year HSIs with grant prospects and awards from the NSF ATE Program), resource dissemination, usage, perceived value to the community, and additional data gathered during the first and second cohorts of HSI ATE Hub, including adjustments based on learnings from year 1. Emphasis will be placed on HSI ATE Community building and resources. Lessons learned and implications for future research are also described in the paper. 

Applying for grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF) requires a paradigm shift at many community and technical colleges, because the primary emphasis at two-year colleges is on teaching. This shift is necessary because of the NSF expectation that a STEM faculty member will lead the project as Principal Investigator. Preparing successful NSF grant proposals also requires knowledge, skills, and strategies that differ from other sources from which two-year colleges seek grant funding. Since 2012, the Mentor-Connect project has been working to build capacity among two-year colleges and leadership skills among their STEM faculty to help them prepare competitive grant proposals for the National Science Foundation’s Advanced Technological Education (NSF-ATE) program. NSF-ATE focuses on improving the education of technicians for advanced technology fields that drive the nation’s economy. As an NSF-ATE-funded initiative, Mentor-Connect has developed a three-pronged approach of mentoring, technical assistance, and digital resources to help potential grantees with the complexities of the proposal submission process. Grant funding makes it possible to provide this help at no cost to eligible, two-year college educators. Mentor-Connect support services for prospective grantees are available for those who are new to ATE (community or technical colleges that have not received an NSF ATE award in 7 or more years), those seeking a larger second grant from the ATE Program after completing a small, new-to-ATE project, and for those whose first or second grant proposal submission to the NSF ATE Program was declined (not funded). The Mentor-Connect project has succeeded in raising interest in the NSF-ATE program. Over a seven-year period more than 80% of the 143 participating colleges have submitted proposals. Overall, the funding rate among colleges that participated in the Mentor-Connect project is exceptionally high. Of the 97 New-to-ATE proposals submitted from Cohorts 1 through 6, 71 have been funded, for a funding rate of 73%. Mentor-Connect is also contributing to a more geographically and demographically diverse NSF-ATE program. To analyze longer-term impacts, the project’s evaluator is conducting campus site visits at the new-to-ATE grantee institutions as their initial ATE projects are being completed. A third-party researcher has contributed to the site-visit protocol being used by evaluators. The researcher is also analyzing the site-visit reports to harvest outcomes from this work. This paper shares findings from seven cohorts that have completed a grant cycle with funding results known, as well as qualitative data from site visits with the first two cohorts of grantees. Recommendations for further research are also included.