Capacity Building Workshop for Two-Year Colleges Seeking U.S. National Science Foundation Funding

Abstract

ABSTRACT In this paper, we report the description and evaluation of an annual workshop titled “Capacity Building Workshops for Competitive S-STEM Proposals from Two-Year Colleges in the Western U.S.” which was offered in June of 2019, 2020, and 2021 with the goal of facilitating submissions to the NSF S-STEM program from 2-year colleges (2YCs). The two-day workshop was composed of separate sessions during which participants discussed several aspects of proposal preparation. Participants also received pre- and post-workshop support through webinars and office hours. To evaluate the program, post-workshop surveys were administered through Qualtrics™. The workshop and related activities received overall positive feedback with specific suggestions on how to better support participants. The paper discusses specific challenges faced by 2YC teams in preparing their proposals. Over three offerings, the program welcomed 103 participants on 51 teams from 2YCs. As of 2021, 11 teams total (from the 2019 cohort) submitted proposals. Among them, four were funded, which is approximately double the typical success rate. Six of the declined teams resubmitted and one of them is currently in negotiations.