How to Collaborate and Writea Successful URM STEM Program Proposal

Barbara A. Fink, O.D., Ph.D.J. Tyler Cole, M.Ed.

The Ohio LSAMP Alliance

The Ohio LSAMP Alliance

Barbara A. Fink, O.D., Ph.D. J. Tyler Cole, M.Ed.

How to Collaborate and Writea Successful URM STEM Program Proposal

• Description of the LSAMP Program• Decision to Apply for NSF Funding through

LSAMP Program• First Submission• Responding to Reviewers’ Comments• Resubmission of The Ohio LSAMP Alliance

Proposal• First Steps in Carrying Out Proposal

Description of the LSAMP Program

• Purpose• Eligible Students• Eligible Partners• Types of Alliances• Levels of Funding for New Alliances

LSAMP Program Purpose

• Increase the number of underrepresented minority students who complete quality degree programs in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)

Eligible Students

• URM: African-Americans, Alaskan Natives, Native Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Native Pacific Islanders

• Citizens or permanent residents of the US or its possessions

• STEM majors

Eligible Partners

• One or more graduate degree granting institutions

• President of provost of lead institution should serve as PI

• 2-4 year degree-granting institutions

• An institution may be a member in only one alliance

President Michael Drake, OSU

Types of Alliances

• New Alliances– Have not received previous LSAMP Alliance funds– Commit to significantly increase in baccalaureate

production in STEM within 5 years– Emphasis on pre-college, freshmen, and

sophomore persistence– Not necessary to include community college

partners– Not eligible for Bridge to the Doctorate support

Levels of Fundingfor New Alliances

• Annual award is based on how many STEM baccalaureate degrees awarded to URM annually by alliance– 500 degrees: $700,000 - $1 million– 300-500 degrees: $500,000 - $700,000– <300 degrees: $500,00 or less

Decision to Apply for NSF Funding through the LSAMP Program

• Discovery of NSF LSAMP Program• Discussions with OSU Administration, Faculty,

and Staff• Discussions with Dr. A. James Hicks, Senior

Program Director, LSAMP• Discussion with and Visitations to Prospective

Partners

Decision to Apply for NSF Funding through the LSAMP Program

• Joint Annual Meeting• Models for The Ohio LSAMP Alliance• Initial Thoughts on Programming• Meetings with OSU Advisors

Discussion with OSU Administrators, Faculty, and Staff

• Previous LSAMP Alliance in 2003: Lessons Learned

• Other NSF Grants at OSU• ODI Programs• Undergraduate Research Office• Programs in the College of Engineering• College of Medicine Pipeline Programs• Honors and Scholars Programs• Courses in Study Skills

Lessons Learned

• The 2003 Ohio LSAMP Alliance was not an alliance:– Alliance partners did their own things in isolation

from other members of the alliance.– There was no collaboration of efforts in

recruitment or programming– There was insufficient sharing of information and

resources

Lessons Learned

• 15 partners was unwieldy• Funds were insufficient to provide the

infrastructure and programming needed• Data collection, tracking of students, and

program evaluation were inadequate• No plans were presented for

institutionalization of programming

Lessons Learned

• Alliance office should be housed in the Office of Diversity and Inclusion (not the Graduate School)

• A committed, enthusiastic, capable team of faculty and staff must be identified at all partners institutions to carry out recruitment, programming, and data collection

• A comprehensive, centralized data collection and evaluation plan must be in place from the start of the program

Lessons Learned

• Strict guidelines and requirements should be in place for selecting students to participate in undergraduate research (GPA, major, research experiences, reporting)

• Parallel programming should be established at each of the partner institutions in undergraduate research, summer bridge/early arrival, tutoring, and mentoring

• Changes in leadership occurred after grant was awarded (PI and program director left OSU)

Discussion with OSU Administrators, Faculty, and Staff

• Previous LSAMP Alliance in 2003: Lessons Learned

• Other NSF Grants at OSU• ODI Programs• Undergraduate Research Office• Programs in the College of Engineering• College of Medicine Pipeline Programs• Honors and Scholars Programs• Courses in Study Skills

Discussion with OSU Administrators, Faculty, and Staff

• Previous LSAMP Alliance in 2003: Lessons Learned• Other NSF Grants at OSU

• ODI Programs• Undergraduate Research Office• Programs in the College of Engineering• College of Medicine Pipeline Programs• Honors and Scholars Programs• Courses in Study Skills

Discussion with OSU Administrators, Faculty, and Staff

• Previous LSAMP Alliance in 2003: Lessons Learned• Other NSF Grants at OSU• ODI Programs

• Undergraduate Research Office• Programs in the College of Engineering• College of Medicine Pipeline Programs• Honors and Scholars Programs• Courses in Study Skills

Discussion with OSU Administrators, Faculty, and Staff

• Previous LSAMP Alliance in 2003: Lessons Learned• Other NSF Grants at OSU• ODI Programs• Undergraduate Research Office

• Programs in the College of Engineering• College of Medicine Pipeline Programs• Honors and Scholars Programs• Courses in Study Skills

Discussion with OSU Administrators, Faculty, and Staff

• Previous LSAMP Alliance in 2003: Lessons Learned• Other NSF Grants at OSU• ODI Programs• Undergraduate Research Office• Programs in the College of Engineering

• College of Medicine Pipeline Programs• Honors and Scholars Programs• Courses in Study Skills

Discussion with OSU Administrators, Faculty, and Staff

• Previous LSAMP Alliance in 2003: Lessons Learned• Other NSF Grants at OSU• ODI Programs• Undergraduate Research Office• Programs in the College of Engineering• College of Medicine Pipeline Programs

• Honors and Scholars Programs• Courses in Study Skills

Discussion with OSU Administrators, Faculty, and Staff

• Previous LSAMP Alliance in 2003: Lessons Learned• Other NSF Grants at OSU• ODI Programs• Undergraduate Research Office• Programs in the College of Engineering• College of Medicine Pipeline Programs• Honors and Scholars Programs

• Courses in Study Skills

Decision to Apply for NSF Funding through the LSAMP Program

• Discovery of NSF LSAMP Program• Discussions with OSU Administration, Faculty,

and Staff

• Discussions with Dr. A. James Hicks, Senior Program Director, LSAMP

• Discussion with and Visitations to Prospective Partners

Advice from Dr. A. James Hicks

• Visit to OSU, April 13-14, 2011• Advice on Consultants and Contacts• JAM• Contacts for other LSAMP alliances• Resources– Revitalizing the Nation’s Talent Pool in STEM (2006)– LSAMP Literature– NSF Literature

Advice from Dr. A. James Hicks

• Institutions that Make Up an Alliance– Number– Types– Cross state lines?– Community colleges?– New alliance?– Governance– Division of funding among alliance partners

Advice from Dr. A. James Hicks

• Types of Programs– Tinto Model: academic and social integration– Disciplinary Socialization– Stipends, not scholarships– Undergraduate research is mandatory– Eliminate leakage in gate-keeping courses– Must not be pipeline programs to health

professions– Prepare students for graduate school

Advice from Dr. A. James Hicks

• Logic Model– Inputs activities outputs impact

• Evaluation Plan• Accurate enrollment and graduation data• STEM CIP codes for LSAMPhttps://www.lsamp.org/help/help_stem_cip_2010.cfm

Decision to Apply for NSF Funding through the LSAMP Program

• Discovery of NSF LSAMP Program• Discussions with OSU Administration, Faculty,

and Staff• Discussions with Dr. A. James Hicks, Senior

Program Director, LSAMP

• Discussion with and Visitations to Prospective Partners

Discussions with Partners

• Who should the partners be?• Visited many Ohio institutions, gave

presentations about LSAMP, listened to ideas• Synthesized information gathered from visits:– Programming already in place– How partners might use funds– Identification of committed, capable people– Identification of 2 individuals from each institution

for LSAMP Steering Committee

Decision to Apply for NSF Funding through the LSAMP Program

• Joint Annual Meeting• Models for The Ohio LSAMP Alliance• Initial Thoughts on Programming• Meetings with OSU Advisors

Joint Annual Meeting

• 2011, 2012, Washington, D.C.• Keynotes, breakout sessions, posters• “Evaluation 101: Basics for Principal

Investigators”

Decision to Apply for NSF Funding through the LSAMP Program

• Joint Annual Meeting

• Models for The Ohio LSAMP Alliance• Initial Thoughts on Programming• Meetings with OSU Advisors

Models for The Ohio LSAMP Alliance

• One lead institution• Two lead institutions• Quads/Regional

Decision to Apply for NSF Funding through the LSAMP Program

• Joint Annual Meeting• Models for The Ohio LSAMP Alliance

• Initial Thoughts on Programming• Meetings with OSU Advisors

Alliance-Wide Activities: Governance, meetings Recruitment efforts Web site Data evaluation Workshops, conferences

Faculty Development: Workshops on Mentoring Diversity Sensitivity Training NCBI Workshops MCC Workshops UCAT Workshops

Academic and Social Integration: Summer Bridge/Early Arrival Living/Learning Communities First Year Courses Monitoring/Early Warning Tutoring Peer Study Groups Skills Building Workshops Community Outreach Cluster Courses

Disciplinary Socialization: Mentoring Research Experience with Stipend Workshops Online Courses Conferences

Meeting with OSU Advisors

• Determine number of URM STEM graduates at Ohio institutions

• Decided not to partner with community colleges for first submission

• Decided on 7 institutions• Developed objectives• Discussions on how funds should be spent and

division of budget

First Submission

• Partner Meetings• Objectives and Logic Model• Programming• Other Partners/Letters of Support• Budget Discussions• Collection of Items• The Grant Proposal

Objectives• to create a partnership among alliance institutions, working

with industry and community partners, that results in programming that is sustainable and collaborative;

• to heighten the awareness of opportunities in STEM disciplines and increase the recruitment of underrepresented minority students to STEM majors at partner institutions;

• to provide early and sustained programs to facilitate the critical transition from high school to college at each partner institution;

• to increase the retention of first- and second-year underrepresented minority students in STEM disciplines;

• to improve the disciplinary socialization of underrepresented minority students in STEM disciplines.

Programming

• Alliance-wide activities:– Annual Ohio LSAMP Alliance Conference– Web Site– Online Courses– Workshops in Undergraduate Research– Faculty Development• Diversity Sensitivity Training Workshops• Online Courses• Mentoring and Diversity Handbook

Programming

• Alliance-Wide Activities:– Collaborative Mentoring– Tutoring Certification Program– Mentoring Certification Program– Collaborative Bridge Program– Faculty Mentoring for Freshmen and Sophomores– Brochures– Steering Committee Meetings– Data Evaluation and Sharing of Best Practices

Programming

• Activities at Each Institution– Advisement and counseling– Bridge/early arrival program– Peer mentoring– Faculty mentored undergraduate research

Institutional programming was specific to the needs of each institution.

Other Partners/Letter of Support

• Industry• Ohio STEM High Schools• Ohio STEM Learning Network, Ohio College

Access Network, STEM Equity Pipeline, Alumni Associations

• Individuals: Congressman Louis Stokes, Senator John Glenn, University Personnel

Budget DiscussionsInstitution URM STEM

graduates

Central State University 14University of Cincinnati 68Cleveland State University 16Miami University 27The Ohio State University 142Wilberforce University 21Wright State University 48Total 336

$700,000/year Funding Level

• Alliance-Wide Activities: $350,000– Program manager– Data Evaluation Team– GTAs– Retention Counselor– Conference– Certification programs– Online courses and workshops– Etc…..

Funding for each Partner Institution: $350,000

Base Programming # Students TotalCentral State U. $30,000 $23,400 $2,800 $56,200U. of Cincinnati $30,000 $0 $13,400 $43,400Cleveland State U. $30,000 $13,400 $3,200 $46,600Miami University $30,000 $13,400 $5,400 $48,800The Ohio State U. $30,000 $0 $28,400 $58,400Wilberforce U. $30,000 $23,400 $4,200 $57,600Wright State U. $30,000 $13,400 $9,600 $53,000 $364,000

Collection of Items

• Letters of Support• Name and contact information for Office of

Sponsored Programs office• Letter of Institutional Commitment• NSF-formatted Biographical Sketches for provost

and members of Steering Committee• Current and Pending Support form for all key

personnel• Budget and Budget Justification

The Grant Proposal: 15 pages

• Overview• 2003 Ohio Science and Engineering Alliance• Ohio’s Resources and Need for STEM

Education• Objectives• Program Approach• Organization• Evaluation Plan

How to Collaborate and Writea Successful URM STEM Program Proposal

• Description of the LSAMP Program• Decision to Apply for NSF Funding through

LSAMP Program• First Submission

• Responding to Reviewers’ Comments• Resubmission of The Ohio LSAMP Alliance

Proposal• First Steps in Carrying Out Proposal

Reviewers’ Comments

• 5 Reviewers and Summary• “Fair” to “very good”• Reviewer 1 did not like the proposal at all and

seemed to write the summary• Dr. Hicks warned us that a negative decision

was coming and wanted us to be committed to resubmitting the proposal before reading the comments.

Area of Concern #1

• Numerical Goals (tables of baseline demographics, numbers involved in programs)– Put data tables from appendix into body– Estimate number of participants in each activity– Put summary of logic model in proposal• Discussed program components to support each

objective, along with specific outcomes/impacts

– Add an external evaluator (wrote the evaluation section, included tables for logic model and evaluation plan)

Area of Concern #2

• Budget Allocation (budget did not reflect emphases of proposal—students in first two years)– Allocate more funding to freshmen and sophomores– Partners agreed their funding would be exclusively

for stipends– Eliminated many expenses (salaries, training,

reduction in conference expenses, etc.)– Divided budget evenly among the 11 partners

Area of Concern #3

• Programmatic Delivery (not described in enough detail)– More details provided– Task Forces to carry out alliance-wide programs• Articulation Agreement and Credit Transfer Task Force• Mathematics Curriculum Reform Task Force• Cyber-Sharing Task Force• Industry and Community Partner Task Force• LSAMP Conference Task Force• Ancillary Study Task Force

Area of Concern #4

• Lack of Attention to Upperclassmen– Specifically mention LSAMP activities for

upperclassmen– Increase funding for stipends for undergraduate

research– Clearly mention activities directed toward

professional development

Other Concerns from Reviews

• Lack of attention to pre-collegiate recruitment activities

• Sharing of results beyond The Ohio LSAMP alliance

• Institutionalization of LSAMP programming• No inclusion of community colleges

Discussions with Partners

• Mathematics curriculum reform (bottleneck for progression in STEM fields)

• Supplemental instruction vs. tutoring• Training of peer mentors and tutors• Types of bridge programs

Resubmission of The Ohio LSAMP Alliance Proposal

• Must address reviewers’ concerns, partner concerns, and institutional change

• Added external evaluator• Modified budget• Modified objectives, included logic model• Added 4 community colleges• Included tables in body of proposal

September 15, 2013

Award Notification

• “We are pleased to notify you regarding a recent National Science Foundation (NSF) award made to Ohio State University with an intended total amount of $3,499,631.00.”

First Steps

• Notification of Personnel– Steering Committee– Governing Board– External Evaluator– Other partners of The Ohio LSAMP Alliance

• Meet with Office of Sponsored Programs– Create subawards

First Steps

• Hire Program Coordinator• Set Up Task Forces• Develop Web Site• Brochures and Logo• Organize Kick-Off Event– Congressman Louis Stokes– Dr. Mae Jemison– Meeting of the Governing Board

First Steps

• Steering Committee Meeting• Set Up Programming at Each Institution– Many started with summer bridge, 2014

• Work on other Materials for The Ohio LSAMP Alliance– Mentoring and Diversity Handbook for faculty

mentors– Peer Mentoring Handbook for peer mentors

First Steps

• Case Statement to seek additional funding• Write IRB application for ancillary studies– Baseline survey– Surveys for Mathematics Curriculum Reform Task

Force– Authorization agreement forms drafted for each

partner– Amendments written as additional studies present

How to Collaborate and Writea Successful URM STEM Program Proposal

• Description of the LSAMP Program• Decision to Apply for NSF Funding through

LSAMP Program• First Submission• Responding to Reviewers’ Comments• Resubmission of The Ohio LSAMP Alliance

Proposal• First Steps in Carrying Out Proposal