Mentor Up: Supporting Preparation of Competitive Proposals to Improve Education of the Skilled Technical Workforce

根据国家教育统计中心的数据，美国有1252所两年制高等教育机构。然而，每年只有大约200个这样的机构向高级技术教育（ATE）计划提交提案，该计划支持熟练技术劳动力的教育。因此，大量可能从ATE计划中受益的机构和教师没有提交提案。该项目将支持一个指导计划，指导未来的主要研究人员起草并向ATE计划提交提案。该项目与为两年制院校的教师提供领导机会的ATE项目目标一致。它还将支持国家优先为保持美国全球竞争力的行业培养熟练的技术劳动力。该项目将利用其他NSF奖项中有前途的实践，这些实践侧重于指导和领导力发展活动。每年的奖励，项目团队将从16个社区和技术学院招募团队，团队成员包括来自该机构的两名技术教育教师，以及来自该机构的拨款作者，管理员或其他主要贡献者。具体活动将包括虚拟指导和网络研讨会，以及一个为期2.5天的面对面研讨会，在这个研讨会上，教授技术教育的两年制教师将学习撰写和提交竞争性提案的策略和NSF要求。适用于先进技术教育的所有学科的教师都将被考虑参加。目的是每个两年制大学团队将提交至少一份ATE提案。该计划亦会为培训导师提供专业发展机会，包括新获颁授的ATE首席研究员，他们将成为ATE的下一代领导人。该项目将帮助参与者解决社区学院教师在准备和提交NSF资助提案时面临的许多挑战，这些挑战通常是由于缺乏机构经验和资源来支持获得NSF奖励的努力。在研讨会上和之后，参与者将能够与他们所在机构的管理人员或其他关键人员接触，从而增加了解NSF及其ATE计划的社区学院的数量。通过这种方式，项目参与者将把知识和技能带到他们的校园，帮助促进和实施制度变革。该项目将面向城市、郊区和农村机构的不同群体，并为技术人员项目中代表性不足的教师和学生（如少数民族和妇女）提供参与机会。该项目由先进技术教育计划资助，该计划侧重于为推动国家经济的先进技术领域培养技术人员。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the United States has 1,252 two-year institutions of higher education. However, each year only about 200 of these institutions submit proposals to the Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program, which support education of the skilled technical workforce. As a result, a large pool of potential institutions and faculty who could benefit from the ATE program are not submitting proposals. This project will support a mentoring program to guide prospective principal investigators in crafting and submitting a proposal to the ATE program. This project aligns with the ATE program objective to provide leadership opportunities for faculty at two-year institutions. It will also support the national priority of educating the skilled technical workforce for the industries that keep the United States globally competitive.The project will leverage the promising practices from other NSF awards that focus on mentoring and leadership development activities. Each year of the award, the project team will recruit teams from 16 community and technical colleges, with the team members including two technician-education faculty from the institution, together with a grant writer, administrator, or other key contributor from the institution. Specific activities will include virtual mentoring and webinars as well as an in-person 2.5-day workshop where two-year faculty who are teaching technician education will learn the strategies and NSF requirements for writing and submitting competitive proposals. Faculty from all disciplines applicable to advanced technological education will be considered for participation. The intention is that each two-year college team will submit at least one ATE proposal. The project will also provide professional development for mentors-in-training, including newly awarded ATE Principal Investigators who will become the next generation of ATE leaders. This project will help participants address many of challenges faced by community college faculty in preparing and submitting NSF grant proposals, often due to a lack institutional experience and resources to support efforts to secure NSF awards. At the workshop and after, participants will be able to engage with their institution’s administration or other key personnel, thereby increasing the number of community colleges with knowledge of the NSF and its ATE program. In this way, project participants will bring knowledge and skills to their campuses that can help to catalyze and implement institutional change. The project will target a diverse group of urban, suburban, and rural institutions and provide opportunities for participation of faculty and students who are typically underrepresented in technician programs, such as minority populations and women. This project is funded by the Advanced Technological Education program that focuses on the education of technicians for the advanced-technology fields that drive the nation's economy.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.