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)，通过在提案前活动中为参与机构的教职员工提供指导，包括确定适当的资助机会和发展研究概念，来支持中小型历史上的黑人学院和大学。该项目与历史悠久的黑人学院和大学本科生计划的目标一致，即为其社区提供援助，以提高教师的研究能力。该项目产生变革性影响的潜力既基于它作为支持资源匮乏的小型机构的方法的独特性，也基于它提供的增加不同机构学者之间合作的承诺。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。VPDC的具体目标如下：(1)确定目标机构的具体提案前和提案准备需求；(2)制定机制，为目标机构确定适当的资助机会；(3)建立提案准备材料储存库；(4)协助目标机构的教师根据公布的征求意见书开发概念；以及(5)建立参与机构自我维持的提案开发机制，包括同行指导、同行评审团队，以及参与机构的教职员工和受赞助研究人员之间的指导关系。每一批教师和赞助研究人员将完成为期12周的在线课程，并参加至少一次为期三天的写作休息。正在进行的评估将评估vPDC是否满足参与机构的具体需求。

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.