Internal Grant Opportunity

Projects should either support what is unique and effective at WSU, or create new points of distinction for us as a community of learners.  The most powerful proposals will be those that find the intersections between and among areas of interests.  Collaborative, cross-unit/department/college, and/or cross-disciplinary projects are encouraged.
 

Requests

  • to $15,000.  Option 1 – Submitted by a team of 2-3 faculty, staff and/or students requesting funding of up
  • Option 2 – Submitted by a team of 4 or more faculty, staff and/or students requesting funding of up to $30,000.  (A very limited number of Option 2 grants will be awarded.)
  • Note:  For both options, student applicants must have a faculty or staff sponsor

Allowable Expenditures

Funds may be used for resource materials, summer duty days, student stipends, Special Initiative Awards (SIA) (available to only Administrative Service Faculty (ASF) members as per collective bargaining agreement), staff support, or other relevant expenses.  Funds for salaries and stipends will not be released until the final reports are submitted and approved.

Assistance

Applicants are encouraged to contact various offices for assistance and advice in preparing applications, such as the Community Liaison office; Educational Improvement and Leadership; Grants & Sponsored Projects; Teaching, Learning & Technology Services (TLT); Institutional Planning, Assessment & Research (IPAR); Grants and Sponsored Projects (G&SP), and the Statistical Consulting Center.

Reporting Requirements

Awardees’ final reports are due Monday, June 28, 2013. All reports are to be submitted to Kenneth Janz, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs and Chief Information Officer (CIO), kjanz@winona.edu.  The final reports will include a narrative and financial report.   The narrative in the final report should provide a substantive record of the accomplishments of the project including:

  • activities conducted during the project;
  • how you met the goals set forth in your proposal or
  • if goals were not met, what lessons were learned and some discussion on reasons the goals were not achieved.

The final reports will be published on the HLC Next Chapter website.

Proposals

All proposals must address each of the following criteria.  If any criterion is missing, the proposal will not be considered. Point values shown will be used during the evaluation of the proposal.

  • Rationale:  An explanation of how this initiative will benefit the University and its mission, including connections to HLC Next Chapter Areas of Interest (on page 1), HLC Accreditation Criteria (on page 7), and/or MnSCU Strategic Framework (on page 7). (20 points)
  • Distinctiveness/Adaptation:  An explanation of what is innovative about this project and how it will make WSU distinctive or how the project could enhance the student experience or strengthen the University’s academic programs.  This could be an adaptation of promising approaches or programs that have been initiated at Winona State University or elsewhere. (15 points)
  • Goals:  A list of measurable desired outcome(s).  (15 points)
  • Timeline:  A list of project tasks and expected completion dates. (15 points)
  • Assessment Plan:  Plans for measuring the outcomes of the initiative and disseminating the results. (20 points)
  • Sustainability: Plans for continuing this project after funding has ended.  In this section please describe how the project will be incorporated into the on-going procedures and programs of the University. Some projects will lead to additional phases or stages.  Please describe in this section of the proposal what potential next steps may exist for the project after completion of this initial round of funding. (15 points)

 

Review Process

Proposals will be reviewed by a sub-committee of the HLC that will invite/include representatives of constituency groups and members of the local community.  Because of contractual requirements, proposals including ASF applicants who are requesting SIA awards will also be reviewed by the Special Initiative Award Committee.  (See Regulation WSU 3-36.)

Timetable:

Monday, April 2, 2012 – Proposal submitted electronically and signed cover sheet delivered to Kenneth Janz, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs and CIO, kjanz@winona.edu, Information Technology Services, Somsen Hall 111 by 4:30:p.m.

Monday, April 30, 2012 – Awardees notified


30 days after project completion or no later than Monday, June 28, 2013 – Final reports submitted to HLC Steering Committee and SIA Committee if appropriate.