MEMBER ADVISORY

December 13, 2017

NSF announces grant: Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program)

The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) highly encourages Hispanic-Serving Institutions to give this solicitation from the National Science Foundation (NSF) priority and share with campus liaisons that generate such proposals. 

Full Proposal Deadline Date: March 6, 2018

Link to a pdf version of the solicitation: https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2018/nsf18524/nsf18524.pdf

SYNOPSIS

To enhance the quality of undergraduate STEM education at Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs), the National Science Foundation (NSF) established the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program), in response to the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017 (P.L. 115-31) and the American Innovation and Competitiveness Act (P.L. 114-329). The HSI Program seeks to increase the retention and graduation rates of students pursuing associate or baccalaureate degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

The HSI Program is aligned with NSF’s commitment to increase access for underrepresented groups to the Nation’s STEM enterprise. Institutions should review the legislation before certifying their eligibility to this program [http://legcounsel.house.gov/Comps/HEA65_CMD.pdf].

 The HSI Program supports standard and continuing grants that will:

• Develop, implement, and test models for the retention of students advancing from lower-division courses to upper-division STEM coursework, including those transferring from a two-year to a four-year institution.
• Create evidence-based and evidence-generating approaches that increase the graduation rates of students pursuing STEM associate or baccalaureate degrees at HSIs.
• Enhance research that improves understanding of how to build faculty capacity and student opportunities to conduct STEM research or STEM educational research at HSIs through partnerships with other HSIs and organizations (e.g., federal laboratories, research centers, industrial or business organizations, non-profit entities, etc.).
• Increase knowledge about evidence-based approaches to engaged student learning and how to broaden the participation of undergraduate students majoring in STEM disciplines at HSIs.

Towards these ends, the HSI Program will accept proposals in two tracks: (1) Building Capacity and (2) HSIs New to NSF. The Building Capacity track funds projects from $500K to $1.5M for up to 5 years and is open to all eligible institutions and has three priority areas: Critical Transitions; Innovative Cross-Sector Partnerships; and Research on Broadening Participation in STEM. The HSIs New to NSF track funds projects up to $250K for up to 3 years and is open only to eligible institutions that have never received NSF funding, or that have not received NSF funding in the five years preceding the proposal deadline.

 The HSI Program will also fund one Resource Hub project up to $3M for up to five years. The Resource Hub will support the needs of HSIs with little or no prior NSF funding, such as assistance with proposal writing and financial compliance. In addition, the Resource Hub will facilitate networking and professional development that build and strengthen collaborations among HSIs.

 Click here for complete details on NSF website. Click on the Solicitation number (or the link here) to get a page with both a pdf and html link.

HACU Member Advisories are a service of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU)