Advancing the Research Profile of Small and Mid-Sized Historically Black Colleges and Universities Through a Virtual Proposal Development Center

杰克逊州立大学将建立一个虚拟提案开发中心（VPDC），以支持中小型历史黑人学院和大学，为参与机构的教师提供建议前活动的指导，包括确定适当的资助机会和研究概念的发展。该项目与历史上的黑人学院和大学本科课程的目标一致，为社区提供援助，以提高教师的研究能力。该项目具有变革性影响的潜力，这既基于其作为支持小型资源贫乏机构的独特方法，也基于其为增加不同机构学者之间的合作所提供的承诺。 该项目的结构将鼓励机构之间以及科学，技术，工程和数学学科之间的合作。该基金会的具体目标如下：（1）确定目标院校在提交建议书前和准备建议书方面的具体需要;（2）建立机制，为目标院校确定适当的资助机会;（3）建立一个建议书准备材料库;（4）协助目标院校的教员根据已公布的招标书制定概念;及（5）在参与院校建立自我维持的建议发展机制，包括同侪辅导、同侪评审小组，以及参与院校教职员与获资助研究人员之间的辅导关系。 每一批教师和赞助研究人员将完成为期12周的在线课程，并参加至少一个为期三天的写作务虚会。 正在进行的一项评价将评估自愿人员发展中心是否满足参与机构的具体需要。

Jackson State University will establish a virtual proposal development center (VPDC) to support small and midsized Historically Black Colleges and Universities by providing guidance to faculty at participating institutions in pre-proposal activities, including identification of appropriate funding opportunities and development of research concepts. The project aligns with the goal of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Undergraduate Program to provide assistance to its community to increase faculty research capacity. The project's potential for transformative impact is based both on its uniqueness as an approach to supporting small, resource-impoverished institutions and on the promise it offers to increase collaborations between scholars at different institutions. The structure of the project will encourage collaborations between institutions and across science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines. The specific objectives of the VPDC are the following: (1) identifying the specific pre-proposal and proposal preparation needs of the targeted institutions; (2) developing mechanisms for identifying appropriate funding opportunities for the targeted institutions; (3) building a repository of proposal preparation materials; (4) assisting faculty at targeted institutions to develop concepts in line with published solicitations; and (5) establishing mechanisms for self-sustaining proposal development at participating institutions, including peer-mentoring, peer review teams, and mentoring relationships between faculty and sponsored research personnel at participating institutions. Each cohort of faculty and sponsored-research staff will complete a twelve-week online course and take part in at least one three-day writing retreat. An ongoing evaluation will assess whether or not the VPDC meets the specific needs of the participating institutions.