Project Vision, supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), announces their third cohort, comprised of 10-colleges. The goal of this project is to catalyze submissions of proposals from 45 two-year colleges. Not only will Project Vision’s team help each two-year college generate an innovative idea that aligns with Undergraduate Education (DUE) funding, but Project Vision supports capacity building at each college, so that these colleges can regularly submit proposals to NSF. Specifically, Project Vision’s staff and team of Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) work with local faculty and staff to create a comfort level in writing grants and looking for growth opportunities. In addition, Project Vision involves College Board of Trustees (BOT), which encourages new college Presidents to pursue DUE funding and thus help grow and sustain the DUE program.
“It’s an honor to be selected for this cohort with nine other community colleges from
different areas of the country,” said BRCC Chancellor Dr. Willie E. Smith. “For nearly
30 years, the National Science Foundation has offered its expertise and support to
community colleges to advance their STEM workforce education. Their partnership with
Project Vision will put us (BRCC) in a better position to grow our STEM program tremendously.
I'm looking forward to the Project Vision site visit and discussing some of the things
we already have in place and how we can continue to grow our STEM program to be one
of the best in the nation.”
Project Vision’s mission is to:
- Provide two-year diverse, small, rural colleges, and/or colleges with newer Presidents the expertise to generate innovative ideas that produce award-worthy NSF proposals.
- Offer support at all levels of a college ecosystem including Board of Trustees, president, administrators, faculty, and staff.
- Provide professional development activities for BOT, presidents, administrators, faculty, and staff by working with these entities to embrace the merits of the NSF Advanced Technological Education (ATE) Program and other Division of Undergraduate Education (DUE) programs.
- Provide each college the support needed to build up their capacity and to regularly submit proposals, as deemed appropriate, to the ATE Program and other DUE Programs.
- Lead this initiative by a seasoned team of ATE experts, a former college president/CEO, senior college administrators, and former NSF program officers who couple on-site analysis with follow up services to help each college build STEM and grant capacity.
The 10-colleges selected to participate are:
- Baton Rouge Community College
- College of the Muscogee Nation
- Glen Oaks Community College
- Lake Regions State College
- Laramie County Community College
- Northeastern Junior College
- Pueblo Community College
- Southeast Community College
- Tompkins Cortland Community College
- Wenatchee Valley College
About the National Science Foundation’s ATE Program With an emphasis on two-year colleges, the Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program focuses on the education of technicians for the high technology fields that drive our nation's economy. The program involves partnerships between academic institutions and industry to promote improvement in the education of science and engineering technicians at the undergraduate and secondary school levels. The ATE program supports curriculum development; professional development of college faculty and secondary school teachers; career pathways to two-year colleges from secondary schools and from two-year colleges to four-year institutions; and other activities. For more information about Project Vision, see: www.projectvis.org.