MEMBER ADVISORY

June 16, 2022

HACU to host webinar with NASA’s Minority University and Research and Education Project

The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities will host an informational meeting with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)’s Minority University and Research and Education Project (MUREP) on Thursday, July 14, 2022, at 2:00 p.m. ET.

The discussion will inform HACU members about the advantage of having a capability statement in the Minority-Serving Institutions (MSI) Exchange, a webtool that curates individual MSI profiles to showcase capabilities that are critical to NASA’s mission. HACU members will also receive an overview of opportunities for faculty and students, funding, and how to stay connected to NASA through the bi-weekly MSI Engagement Newsletter.

To register for the webinar, click here.

U.S. Department of Education to host webinars for the Open Textbooks Pilot Program

The U.S. Department of Education will host several pre-application webinars for the Open Textbooks Pilot Program grant competition. The webinars will be held on the following dates:

• Thursday, June 23 from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. ET via Microsoft Teams
• Wednesday, July 13 from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. ET via Microsoft Teams

Additionally, there will be a live Q&A session on Wednesday, June 29, from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. ET. Questions can be submitted in advance to OTP@ed.gov. Click here to join this session.

The deadline for applications is July 25, 2022. The Open Textbooks Pilot Program funds projects to make textbooks for postsecondary courses more financially accessible to low-income students. Access to open textbooks and open educational resources creates a more equitable learning environment: institutions can freely distribute these resources and provide students access to high-quality, up-to-date, and relevant content and materials; and access to open resources can empower faculty to customize learning materials to better meet the needs of their students.

Ideal projects will identify existing gaps in the open textbook marketplace, demonstrate how consortia of schools could collaborate to close those gaps, and how access to open textbooks would improve student success. Awards for this program range from $500,000 to $2,000,000.  Applications from Minority-Serving Institutions and community colleges will be prioritized.

For additional information, contact:

Kurrinn Abrams

Education Program Specialist

400 Maryland Ave, SW, 2nd Floor

Washington, DC 20202

Telephone: (202) 987-1920

Email: kurrinn.abrams2@ed.gov.

U.S. Department of Labor Announces additional grant opportunity for equitable teaching at Community Colleges

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)’s Employment and Training Administration has announced a third round of funding of its Strengthening Community Colleges Training grants.

According to a DOL press release, the grants “will enable community colleges – individually or collectively – to address equity gaps and meet the skills development needs of employers and workers more effectively.”

The department is giving special consideration to applications from Minority-Serving Institutions, including Hispanic-Serving Institutions. Applications are due on Oct. 14, 2022.

DOL will award grants of up to $1.6 million for single institutions and up to $5 million for consortiums, with up to $5 million designated to fund at least one affinity consortium grant. This round of funding is being made available immediately.

For additional information, contact:

Matthew Carls

Grants Management Specialist

Email: carls.matthew.l@dol.gov.

National Science Foundation announces grant competition for HSI Program Network Resource Centers and Hubs

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has requested solicitations to establish its Hispanic-Serving Institutions Program Network Resource Centers and Hub (HSI-Net). This funding opportunity is specifically for HSIs.

A letter of intent is required for this award, due on Nov. 14, 2022. Full proposals are due on Dec. 15, 2022.

Through this solicitation, the NSF will invest in the development of infrastructure to support the following:

• Up to two centers: an HSI Program Center for Community Coordination, and an HSI Center for Evaluation, Research, and Synthesis— both awarded as cooperative agreements that are national in scope, represent the breadth of activities important to HSIs, and amplify the range of activities in the HSI Program.
• Up to five HSI Program Resource Hubs— awarded to serve as resources for innovative initiatives organized around key issues that are designed to effectively serve the HSI community and its stakeholders.

For additional information on this opportunity, click here.

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