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Massachusetts Department of Higher Education
State University STEM Retention and Completion Program
Request for Proposals
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Massachusetts Department of Higher Education
One Ashburton Place, Room 1401
Boston, Massachusetts 02108
Contents
Summary 4
Grant Purpose and Priorities: 5
Student Success 5
Faculty Learning Communities and Networks 5
Program Alignment and Capacity 5
Promising Practices 6
Eligibility 7
Applicants: 7
Matching Funds: 7
Proposal Requirements 8
Project Abstract 8
Project Narrative 8
Applicant Information 8
Student Need 8
Project Characteristics/Structure 9
Educational Alignment 9
Budget Information 9
Submission Instructions 9
Awards 10
Policies 10
Grant Disbursement 10
Publicity 10
Solicitor Responsibility 10
Performance 10
Legal Disclaimer 11
Proposed Budget 12
Summary
The State University STEM Retention and Completion program is intended to promote the identification, replication and scale-up of best-practice initiatives across Massachusetts State University system with the goals to (1) increase the number of students who are recruited into STEM programs, (2) raise the percentage of students who persist to completion in these programs, and (3) successfully transition substantially more students into STEM jobs or graduate level STEM education programs.
The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) issued a report [1] in 2012 calling for 1 million more college graduates in STEM fields. The report cites that “fewer than 40% of students who enter college intending to major in a STEM field complete a STEM degree. Merely increasing the retention of STEM majors from 40% to 50% would generate three-quarters of the targeted 1 million additional STEM degrees over the next decade”. The report goes on to suggest that “retaining more students in STEM majors is the lowest-cost, fastest policy option to providing the STEM professionals that the nation needs for economic and societal well-being.” This challenge of increasing student retention and completion rates is a central focus of Massachusetts VISION project and is further reflected in goal four (4) of the Commonwealth’s STEM Plan to “Increase the number of students who graduate from a postsecondary institution with a degree in a STEM field”.
In FY13, the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) was awarded a STEM Pathways @Scale grant from the Department of Higher Education’s STEM Pipeline Fund to also collaborate with each of the state universities and begin to identify promising STEM retention and completion practices for replication and scale-up. As a result of this pilot project, the following practices have been identified and recommended as a framework for implementation across the state university segment:
• Supplemental Instruction (SI)
• Faculty professional development and curriculum enhancements
• Campus-wide and inter-campus STEM program coordination
• Summer Bridge experiential learning programs
The Commissioner of Higher Education, with the support of the Governor’s STEM Advisory Council, has authorized $360,000 from the STEM Pipeline Fund to launch a coordinated STEM Retention and Completion program across the nine state universities. Grants of $40,000 will be available to each institution predicated upon a qualifying response to the criteria of this Request for Proposals (RFP).
Grant Purpose and Priorities:
Student Success
The state university system serves the needs of many students, some of whom are well prepared for STEM programs and who succeed and progress in a wide array of STEM careers, and others who are or could be interested in STEM programs yet may lack role models to encourage their enrollment or who need academic and other support services necessary for success and persistence to completion. This grant program is intended to benefit all students who choose to explore STEM education and especially to benefit a more diverse population of students, who can and will succeed at greater rates when provided targeted “best practice” support services.
Faculty Learning Communities and Networks
Many initiatives are already in place across the State Universities in STEM programs to address and overcome barriers to student interest, success and career progression. However, resources constraints have too often limited the ability of faculty and administrators to collaborate across departments, let alone across institutions, and identify, replicate and scale-up best practices, building the capacity necessary to ensure success for greater numbers of students in STEM programs. By promoting cross-campus collaboration, the State University segment can better leverage the knowledge and expertise of faculty within and between disciplines and can conduct statistically valid data collection and analysis to assess program impacts and affirm student outcomes, thus defining evidence-based best practices. Based on initial work by faculty representatives from the State Universities, an objective of the State University Retention and Completion program is to develop a statewide STEM faculty network to share and enhance curriculum, pedagogy and instructional resources to further strengthen STEM education, promote faculty development and improve student outcomes.
Program Alignment and Capacity
Students across our State Universities are already encouraged to engage in a wide variety of high-impact learning experiences that deeply connect students with faculty, student peers and industry mentors. Such experiences include enhanced “hands-on” classroom curriculum, undergraduate research projects and industry internships, among others. The opportunity for students to apply or “DO” STEM work early in their academic programs is confirmed in research to have positive impacts on student retention and completion. However, this approach to STEM education comes with a cost in time and resources and too often the capacity to serve all students in this fashion has been constrained.
Summer Bridge programming is a strategy employed by many campuses to engage students in activities that expose them to the possibilities of STEM education, deepen their direct experience in STEM learning and provide “networking” opportunities to engage students with academic researchers and industry professionals. The State University Retention and Completion program is intended to promote the design and definition of experiential learning opportunities and for campuses to plan Summer Bridge programming and identify the resources needed to support a scale-up of these initiatives in FY16 and beyond.
Promising Practices
Based on MCLA’s @Scale STEM Pathways program and in collaboration with the other campuses, the following three practices have shown the most positive impact on student success and engagement and are recommended as models for implementation across the state university segment.
1. Supplemental Instruction (SI)
The Supplemental Instructor program is a model of faculty and peer student collaboration to facilitate a learning community and provide academic support in gateway courses. Student SIs are trained and compensated for their work, attend classes and hold weekly study sessions with students. SIs also support faculty in examining learning outcomes, normalizing them across sections, and create new course materials for use in the classes. The needs of transfer students are also addressed by SIs and links to local community colleges are strengthened with special attention to transfer advising.
2. Professional Development for Faculty
STEM faculty call for increased opportunities for inter-disciplinary collaboration and professional development experiences that will support curriculum/course modifications and sharing of best teaching practices. Faculty collaboration will also yield opportunities and identify necessary incentives to promote institutional change that will benefit students. The formation of a regional network led by STEM faculty of Massachusetts State Universities and associated with Project Kaleidoscope at The Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) has been suggested as a strategy to formalize a STEM faculty professional development.
3. Summer STEM Academy – Summer “Bridge” programming
Summer Academy or “bridge” programming introduce students to STEM disciplines and connects them with STEM faculty and employers in small, engaging learning experience environments. These experiences help to build student cohorts that are familiar with college and college expectations and intentionally create a community of learners, preparing entering students for college and reinforcing persistence and retention of upper-class students in STEM programs. In addition to academic sessions, educational lunches, lectures, laboratory, field work, and presentations from professionals in the field that provide students with an opportunity to engage in conversations with STEM professionals, career services and other academic support offices are recommended.
Note: Summer Bridge programming is a capacity building initiative that will require resources largely beyond the scope of this RFP. However, proposals should address planning and design activities during FY15 for Summer Bridge capacity building initiatives, predicated on available funding for those initiatives in FY16 campus budgets.
Eligibility
Applicants:
Applicants must be one of the nine Massachusetts State Universities.
Matching Funds:
As a requirement to secure grant funding from the STEM Pipeline Trust Fund to support models of Supplemental Instruction, Faculty Professional Development and planning for Summer Bridge programming, each State University must commit in-kind matching funds in the form of a STEM program coordinator to support Campus-wide and Inter-campus STEM Program Coordination.
The suggested level of support for this role is a faculty or staff member with a 50% alternative assignment to serve as the campus coordinator or liaison (STEM Program Coordinator). This could be as a faculty member receiving course releases to also lead faculty development locally, and assist in developing assessment tools for learning outcomes and program components. This coordinator would also further develop the inventory of STEM campus initiatives for replication and scale-up consideration. In addition, the STEM coordinator should work with their respective Institutional Research (IR) office regarding data collection, analysis and reporting for evaluation purposes.
Proposal Requirements
Project Abstract
Not more than one page. Include the following:
o Name of project
o Summary description of the project, including:
o Project priorities (Supplemental Instruction, Faculty Professional Development, Summer Bridge programming)
o Project timeline and planned outcomes
o Key project personnel
o Proposed matching/in-kind funds.
o Amount of grant request
Project Narrative
Not to exceed 10 pages, with standard 1” margins, 1.5 line spacing and 11 point font).
Applicant Information
o State University
o Contact Person
o Title
o Telephone Number
o Email Address
Student Need
Describe the demographics of the target student population anticipated to benefit from this grant in the current year and as a projection over the future three years. Provide a summary of students currently enrolled as first-time full-time students in STEM programs as a percentage of the overall first time full time student population. Provide the historical retention and completion rates (prior three years) for these students. Provide other descriptions of student need as appropriate to your proposal.
Project Characteristics/Structure
Describe the intended activities of the project and how these will address student barriers to enrollment, retention and completion of STEM programs. Describe the intended impacts on students and how you propose to assess intermediate and outcome measures.
Educational Alignment
Briefly describe how this project aligns with other student enrollment, retention and completion initiatives at your college, including but not limited to:
o STEM Guided Pathways for Success
o Performance Incentive Fund projects
o National Science Foundation or other federally funded projects
o Private foundation funded projects
Budget Information
o Please provide a proposed budget using attached Form 1.
o Please include a detailed narrative that supports each line item of your budget request.
Note: as a general guideline, approximately $20,000 should be allocated to the implementation of models of Supplemental Instruction and Faculty Professional Development, each.
Submission Instructions
Grant awards from this program will be awarded on a rolling basis.
Please submit your completed proposal via email to:
David Cedrone, Associate Commissioner of Economic and Workforce Development and STEM
Submission Email: dcedrone@bhe.mass.edu
Proposals will be evaluated on the basis of a common scoring process and rubric.
|RFP Timeline |
|Target Release Date |November 21, 2014 |
|Proposals Due |January 30, 2015 |
|Annual Report Due |December 15, 2015 |
Awards
The State University Retention Completion grant program commits $360,000 in FY15, grants of $40,000 will be available to each institution predicated upon a qualifying response to the criteria of this Request for Proposals (RFP).
As these funds are provided through the STEM Pipeline Trust Fund, expenditures may continue into the first quarter of FY16, however, campuses are encourages to initiate projects as quickly as possible in FY15.
Policies
Grant Disbursement
Following the applicant’s acceptance of the award letter, and the execution of the Standard Contract, or the Interagency Service Agreement, and any other required documents, the applicant can expect to receive disbursements on a schedule consistent to the needs of the project.
Publicity
Grant recipients are obligated to acknowledge the funding source in all print materials, websites and press releases. The acknowledgement of the funding source contributes to the overall name recognition and branding of the Rapid Response Incentive Program.
Solicitor Responsibility
Solicitors may not alter (manually or electronically) the grant application language or any grant application component files. Modifications to the body of the grant application, specifications, terms and conditions, or application which change the intent of this grant application are prohibited and may disqualify a response. All costs associated with responding to this RFP are the sole responsibility of the responding organization. The DHE reserves the right to use any and all ideas included in any response without incurring any obligations to the responding firm or committing to awards for the proposed services. Responses become the property of the DHE.
Performance
Any funds distributed to successful applicants are done so with the expectation that the college will deliver the programs as described and serve the numbers of participants detailed in the application. If the applicant is for some reason unable to fulfill the program described in the original proposal, we reserve the right to recover funds distributed.
Legal Disclaimer
This RFP does not represent a contractual agreement by the DHE to any applying organization. Selected organizations will enter into a contractual agreement with the DHE upon award.
THE DEPARTMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION RESERVES THE RIGHT TO REJECT ANY AND ALL RESPONSES AND THE RIGHT TO CANCEL THIS REQUEST FOR QUALIFIED PROPOSALS (RFP) AT ANY TIME PRIOR TO AWARD.
Proposed Budget
Please complete the table below with a breakdown of the requested funding from the Rapid Response Incentive Fund program. Upon completion of the table, please provide an additional Budget Narrative that includes specific details of each budget item in the table.
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