Leadership Development and Outreach for ATE
Mentoring System, Phase I
Opportunity for NSF ATE Grant Preparation Assistance
(Updated April 2013)
+ Two-thirds of community colleges have never had
NSF funding
+ NSF ATE no longer accepts preliminary proposals
+ Complexity of “grantsmanship”
+ Need for highly skilled technicians
+ ATE Community sharing characteristics
+ Wealth of ATE resources
+ Experienced PIs willing to assist first-time
applicants
To help you compete for NSF ATE $ to:
+ Strengthen technician education to meet STEM
workforce needs
+ Develop STEM faculty leadership in technician
education
Mentor-Connect initially offers:
Proposal development assistance for Small Grants for
Institutions New to ATE
Mentor-Connect will also offer:
Guidance and resources for funded PIs.
Eligible Institutions and Faculty
+ Two-year technical or community colleges that have
not received NSF ATE grant funding in the past 10 years
+ STEM faculty who prepare technicians for the
American workforce
Especially encouraged to participate:
+ Rural colleges
+ Faculty from populations underrepresented in STEM
+ Increase the number and diversity of
successful first-time grant applicants to
the NSF ATE program
+ Enable new applicants to benefit from
mentoring by experienced ATE principal
investigators
+ Strengthen leadership skills among faculty
in advanced technological education
Teams of 2 STEM faculty members from 20 selected
colleges will receive the following support to develop
ATE proposals for the October 2014 submission:
+ A three-day workshop in January 2014 (with $ support
for travel)
+ An ATE-experienced mentor works with each team
during the workshop and for an additional ~36 hours of
consulting thereafter
And…
Participating colleges may send a grant writer or other
supporting administrator to the January 2014 workshop
with a faculty team (by paying registration fee and travel
expenses for the additional participant)
Mentors will:
+ Assist potential grantees during the three-day workshop
+ Provide additional ~36 hrs. customized mentoring/consulting
+ Provide feedback on grant proposal topics
+ Help proposal team refine ideas and strategies
+ Provide links to ATE resources
+ Work with potential grantees to ensure that proposals
address NSF and ATE requirements
Mentor-Connect support includes…
+ A wide range of online resources designed specifically
to support proposal development and grant
management
+ www.Mentor-Connect.org website coming soon!
Leadership Development for the Improvement of Technician Education: Mentoring System for the ATE Program
Mentor assigned
and provides
proposal
feedback**
Application for
Mentor
Potential Grantees*
 MentorLinks faculty
 Outreach workshops
 Targeted recruitment
 Self referral
 NSF Program Officer referrals
Mentors*
 Experienced PIs
 Former PIs
 MentorLinks Mentors
Intro to ATE
workshops
Referral to
on-line
resources
Mentoring Intro
 Opportunities
 Responsibilities
 Guidelines
Self Assessment: Do
you understand ATE
program solicitation?
New "how to" lessons &
ATE resources for
proposal development
Recruitment & Selection
for assigned mentoring
Mentor
Preparation
Mentor
Assigned
Facilitated Volunteer
Service for online &
one-to-many mentoring
ATE Proposal Submitted
Community of Practice
 Best practices
 Program
improvement
Mentor/PIs
 Expand leadership skills
 Control work load
 Refine online resources
Intro to ATE Mentoring
ATE Grantees*
 New to ATE
 New Center PIs
 Challenged PIs
 Referred PIs
Mentoring need
addressed
Resource referral—online, phone, FAQ’s
Application & needs
assessment for 1-1
mentoring
Mentor
Assigned
Customized, "as-needed"
PI support provided
Mentors/PIs
 gain experience
 build leadership skills
 mentor pool
expanded
*iterative evaluation feedback loops throughout
**with required level of "buy in" and preparation
+ Send email to Mentor-Connect@fdtc.edu to receive an invitation
+ First event: webinar in September 2013
+ Orientation to the NSF Advanced Technological Education (ATE)
Program
+ Orientation to the Mentor-Connect Opportunity
+ How to access application
+ Selection criteria and process
+ + And check out the Resources at www.TeachingTechnicians.org
for “Help for New ATE PIs”
Leadership Development and Outreach for ATE
NSF DUE # 1204463
Elaine Craft, Principal Investigator
Charlotte Forrest, Project Manager
SC ATE Center of Excellence
Florence-Darlington Technical College
Florence, SC 29501-0548