Developing a Competitive Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) Application
2011
Council on Undergraduate Research 2011 Annual Meeting
Deconstructing Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) Guidelines
Developing Competitive FIPSE Proposals
Presented by Claire D. Cornell
The Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE)
FIPSE is unique because it funds all levels of higher education; it funds all disciplines and it supports a
broad array of services in postsecondary institutions.
FIPSE provides seed capital for innovative projects.
FIPSE starts new initiatives. FIPSE launches unusual projects.
FIPSE does not support existing programs.
FIPSE does not fund ongoing efforts.
FIPSE supports projects that continue after grant funding ends.
Applicants must explain and document their plans for institutionalization.
FIPSE Funds Unique Initiatives that Successfully Address the Program’s Selection Criteria.

Align (write) your proposal to the Selection Criteria.
Write clearly and concisely provide only what Selection Criteria request. If you write about your
institution’s location in the Need Statement you will consume precious space.

Provide a response to each element in each of the five criteria.
Tear the Selection Criteria apart—write a response to each distinct segment.
Note the selection criteria in bold type and note that the application guidelines discuss the particulars of
each criterion in standard text.
Using these criteria, external proposal reviewers will develop ratings (point scores).
Applications that address a competitive priority or priorities, or an invitational priority or priorities must
write proposal narratives that substantiate this priority focus—and align all proposal elements to those
priorities.
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FIPSE may establish Annual Priorities or Preferences
There are Three (3) Types of Annual Program Priorities:
1. Invitational Priority or Preference

Congress or the Executive Branch invites proposals that address a particular priority.
The Secretary of Education invites applications that address Invitational Priorities.
Applications that meet any Invitational Priority receive no points, no weight, and no
special consideration or preference over other applications.
2. Competitive Priority or Preference

Congress or the Executive Branch has indicated that it will award extra points to
applications that address Competitive Priorities. The Secretary of Education may award
all or some bonus points to applications that meet the Competitive Priorities.
3. Absolute Priority or Preference

Congress or the Executive Branch has indicated that it will award grants to applications
that meet the Absolute Priority (ies).
FIPSE Designs its Guidelines to Focus on Selection Criteria
Proposals will be considered in light of the following five, equally-weighted criteria and their factors
(sub-criteria):
In the text below, I have created elements of a mock proposal. I have tried to show that a strong
proposal reflects directly mapping the proposal to each element in the Selection Criteria. Moreover, a
strong proposal provides specific details that substantiate the applicant’s responses to each criterion
and sub criterion.
Of course, this is not a model proposal—but, I have written it to indicate the level of detail that makes a
proposal competitive--and I have written sample (and ridiculous) responses to many elements in the
Selection Criteria. Successful applicants must address all of the Criteria—and each sub-criterion.
Finally, if in its proposal, an applicant institution addresses a particular Preference Priority (see above),
that applicant should incorporate a brief – but consistent reference to that priority in most—if not all—
sections of the application.
Finally, please note—a strong proposal is not an essay. It is a prose narrative response to specific
questions—regardless of the strength of your project idea, if you do not address the Selection Criteria,
you will lose points.
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1. The need for the project, as determined by the following factors (20 points):

The project addresses a problem. Discuss the problem’s magnitude or severity.
In a May 15, 2010 article, U.S. News and World Report indicated that by 2015, 87% of U.S. jobs will
require undergraduate degrees in STEM fields or social science disciplines that integrate
mathematics and statistics. Despite this imperative for American advancement in the sciences and
mathematics, in 2011, 256,476 U.S. undergraduates failed calculus, an essential subject in any
engineering, natural or physical science, statistics, economics, political science, sociology,
geography, mathematics, or architectural program.
The Blah Blah Institute of Educational Statistics reported that in 10 years, our country will face a
shortage of scientists and engineers that will have dire economic impact. This can be foreseen by
American high-tech companies’ push for the liberalization of H-1B Visa rules—that would allow U.S.
companies to hire more foreign nationals for high-skill jobs. In March of 2010, Bill Gates testified to
this effect before the House. . Committee. The shortage of well-educated American students can
undermine our economy, our strength in the global arena, and our national security (offer a quote).
In 2010, 25% of Reverie University’s declared STEM majors failed to complete the mathematics
sequence required for the following majors: A, B, C. . . . .
Worse, since 2005, the Geography Department, which for 100 years was the centerpiece of our
institution, failed to graduate a single major. In the past six years, it has seen its enrollment
plummet to 2 undergraduates, while it continues to employ 43 faculty members—who do not have
terminal degrees, do not publish, do not attend professional meetings, but who do play
championship bridge online.

The problem’s roots and repercussions.
Although we can blame this problem on the K-12 system, on children’s home lives, or on a variety of
sociological and economic factors, every year, U.S. colleges and universities must educate XXXX
thousands of undergraduates. When they cannot secure jobs, when they cannot go to graduate
school, when they drop out, it is our fault. It doesn’t matter who is to blame, we still must address
this serious problem.
That we allow students to drop out, to fail mathematics, to pursue English literature majors,
redounds to the serious failings in American Higher Education.

The problem’s relevance to the applicant institution’s vitality.
If by 2020, Reverie University does not succeed in graduating 85% of its students with STEM
degrees, we will declare bankruptcy. In a dramatic and dire report, our finance office (see attached
YIKES report in Appendix XX) has indicated that without employment, 70% of students will default
on loans, 65% will fail to pay their overdue tuition, 87% of our donors will withdraw their pledges,
and our endowment (which we will have to use to compensate for these shortfalls) will shrink by
half.
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Developing a Competitive Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) Application
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In our 2009 review, the North/East/South/West Accrediting Agency indicated that without major
improvements in retention rates, student performance, and national rankings among peer
institutions it will withdraw Reverie’s accreditation.
Popeye the Sailor Man, President, of Reverie University, has indicated that if the University does not
quickly improve, he will have himself committed to the Wasilla, Alaska mental institution, disinherit
his wife and children, send all funds in the Reverie accounts to his cousin in Almaty, Kazakhstan, and
remand Jason Borne, the University’s Acting Provost, to the Wildwood Correctional Complex, near
Kenai, Alaska (from which Alaska’s former governor released him in 2008). This will leave the
institution rudderless, and penniless.

The problem’s relevance to the applicant institution’s educational services.

The problem’s local and national implications.
Similar problems distress the 57 member institutions in the National Organization of Totally
Hopeless Institutions of National Geography (NOTHING). Our membership in this organization
extends back to our founding in 1922. Every member institution (see Appendix XX for letters of
commitment) has pledged to adapt the innovation that we propose in this application.

The problem’s specific impact on other U.S. institutions.

The applicant institution’s or other institutions’ previous attempts to remedy the problem.

The local and national consequences of the proposed project’s successful completion.
1. The significance of the project, as determined by applicants’ discussion and documentation of the
following factors (20 points):

The proposed project’s national significance.
Although to many students, geography is a relatively unfamiliar field, in truth it is a high-prospect,
high-tech, high employment field. Geography graduate students secure positions in the oil and gas
industries, in environmental engineering companies, in government, in high tech companies. B.S.
Geography graduates have excellent employment prospects in urban planning, GIS, climatology,
transportation management, environmental management, cartography, a recent National Science
Foundation report indicated that only 12 geography majors graduated in 2010 and only one (1) U.S.
citizen secured a Geography PhD that same year.

The change that the project will yield among U.S. institutions of higher education.

The extent to which the proposed project involves innovative strategies and interventions.
In order to transform our institution into a STEM-grad producing engine, Reverie University
proposes to install four major interventions—recruitment conversion, content transformation,
pedagogy revolution, and coerced graduation that together yield Project Ruse.
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First, Recruitment Conversion—by virtue of totally duplicitous advertising, Reverie will recruit a
cohort of 5000 incoming freshmen. By installing the Deception Phase of Project Ruse, the University
will entice students with false promises of full scholarships, a full complement of disciplines, and
intense tutoring and mentoring programs. We will launch an aggressive media (and social media)
campaign, placing Twitter feeds, Facebook pages and video game advertisements that promise a
free college education—to anyone who can button a shirt. In order to accomplish this, our Project
Director, Dr. I. M. Demented will threaten every recruiter and academic advisor with dismissal.
Those who remain on the payroll will learn the particulars of Dr. Demented’s recruitment strategies
(see page XX for Project Design-specifics on the recruitment makeover).
Second—Content Transformation--Reverie will compel all English, Spanish, Philosophy, and History
majors to enroll in Geography—and to successfully complete the prerequisite calculus sequence
that geography requires. Regardless of which courses freshmen students select, they will be taught
mathematics. Every course on campus will be part of the math sequence. To prepare them for this
transformation, in October of 2012, all non-mathematics faculty will be hypnotized by Dr. Lala
Palooza, a longtime student of James Braid and a descendent of Franz Mesmer, who in the early 19th
century, developed the notion of natural energetic transference in Iznang, on the shore of Lake
Constance in Swabia, Germany. Using her vibathon technique, Dr. Palooza will enable faculty of all
disciplines to learn mathematics. Thereafter all faculty will teach mathematics in every classregardless of its listing in our catalog. Replicating the success of Edgar Allen Poe’s notorious villain,
Montefor in The Cask of Amontillado, Project Director Demented will immure faculty who complain
or who fail to comply with the new regimen. These noncompliant faculty members will be detained
in the central Wasilla wine cellar, where they will stay until they agree to the new curriculum
protocol.
Third—Pedagogy Revolution--Our entire faculty will force students to perform well by using the
strict Amy Chua humiliation and yelling strategies popularized in the recent bestseller, Battle Hymn
of the Tiger Mother. Students who do not score A or higher on mathematics examinations will be
marched 30 miles with 75 pound packs on their backs. Sergeants from the nearby Marine Corps
Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape Training Center at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska will
manage and implement this pedagogy component. Students who do not subsequently secure A
grades will be sent to parachute water survival training at the southern Alaska Naval Air Station in
Sitka.

The project’s replicability in a variety of settings and on a large scale.
As we mentioned earlier, all 57 member institutions in the National Organization of Totally Hopeless
Institutions of National Geography (NOTHING) will adapt Project Ruse on their respective campuses.
We have appended letters from each of their presidents, promising to donate faculty time and
effort ($150,000 in-kind contribution on each campus) to the project. In order to immerse each
campus leader in Project Ruse’s methodologies, Reverie proposes to offer the adapter institutions a
$15,000 contract that brings key administrators and faculty to our series of Dissemination Séances.

Evidence that the proposed project differs from existing and previous efforts.
Our extensive review of institutional transformation efforts on 78 campuses—chronicled in the
January 2011 edition of the Journal of Higher Education Blunders (JHEB 39 (2003): 295-308), Reverie
reviewed the efforts undertaken by other colleges and universities as they tried to emerge from
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Developing a Competitive Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) Application
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academic and financial distress. We can assure the reader that none of these institutions attempted
the extreme efforts that we propose in this application. College A deployed faculty to sabbaticals
that immersed them in interdisciplinary research. This failed miserably. College B offered faculty
$500 bonuses for every ten students who secured “A” grades in mathematics. This intervention
succeeded, producing a 75% rate of mathematics grade improvement, until College B descended
into financial chaos. In Appendix XX, we have included a full review of other college improvement
efforts that have yielded modest results. Ruse will result in a 95% change in our enrollments,
graduation rates, financial stability, and future successes. Using a do or die strategy, Reverie
promises to surpass all other interventions in student performance, retention, graduation, and
overall institutional strengthening recorded on American campuses over the past 50 years.
2. The quality of the project design, as determined by the following factors (20 points):

The proposed project design addresses identified needs/problems.

The proposed design includes an exhaustive, high-quality literature review.

The proposed design includes a detailed project implementation plan.

The proposed project design includes an explication of methodological tools that address
project objectives.

The project builds capacity and yield results that will extend beyond the period of federal
financial assistance.
In the Project Design Section, successful applications cover:

The “who,” “what,” “where,” “why” and “how” of a project.
Key Personnel (be sure to include the Project Director’s time percentage or FTE assignment)
Dr. Popeye the Sailor Man, Project Progenitor
Dr. I.M. Demented, Professor, Mathematics Department, Project Director @ 50% time
Faculty: Professor Woe Is Me, Mathematics Department
Professor I. M. Miserable, English Literature Department
LIST ALL NAMES
Student Recruiters: LIST ALL NAMES
Student Advisors: LIST ALL NAMES
Partner Personnel: LIST ALL NAMES AND INSTITUTIONAL AFFILIATIONS
Please see resumes attached in Appendix XX
Activities
Project Location(s)
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Project Rationale
Because to date, no efforts (see list of efforts on page ## in the Project Design Section) have
succeeded in increasing Reverie University’s retention or graduation rates, and because the
University now sits on the precipice, in November 2010, Reverie engaged a coven of witches to
cast a spell over our key administrators. During a two-month charrette, while consuming vast
quantities of V8, the President, Provost, three Deans and twelve members of the Faculty and
Student Senates (see resumes in Appendix XX) developed Project Ruse. In so many ways, it is
the institution’s last gasp—and it reflects the creative energies of desperate academics, many of
whom were previously employed in public institutions.
Project Methodology

Clear, measurable goals and objectives.

Specific personnel responsibilities, activity timelines, and milestones.
The appendix must include materials that document personnel qualifications.

The qualifications of key personnel, including the project director, project co-director, evaluator,
and major consultants or subcontractors.
Standard curriculum vitae are not appropriate for this purpose. Provide a brief (one page
maximum) bio of each individual's background, with a special focus on those experiences
related to application topic. (Vitae for key personnel will be requested from successful
applicants after awards are announced.)
3. The quality of the project evaluation, as determined by the extent to which applicants address
the following factors (20 points):

Evaluation methods are thorough, feasible, and appropriate to the project goals, objectives, and
outcomes.

Evaluation methods include objective performance measures that are clearly related to the
intended outcomes of the project and that will produce quantitative and qualitative data.

The evaluation will provide guidance about effective strategies suitable for replication or testing
in other settings.

Provide an easy to read plan for solid quantitative and qualitative evaluation that indicates that
you will measure the extent to which your project succeeds.

Provide the reviewers with clear lists of personnel responsibilities, project timelines, and
milestones.
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In addition to providing project-specific objectives, the evaluation plan must include an
explanation of how the applicant will address the two FIPSE performance indicators discussed in
the section on the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA). The plans must also
include measures of the two indicators (these may change): 1) replication (the extent to which a
project is being adopted in full or in part by others, or its materials are being used by other
institutions) and 2) sustainability (the likelihood that a project will be continued and
institutionalized beyond federal funding).
4. The adequacy of resources for the proposed project, as determined by the extent to which
applicants address the following factors (20 points):

Relative to objectives, design, project significance, the costs are reasonable.

Project partners are critical to the project, and committed to the project.

The applicant demonstrates post-funding support for the project

The applicant demonstrates project partners’ commitment to project continuation.
A budget summary (SF 524 A and B) and budget narrative (SF 524 C) attached to your proposal should
itemize the requested FIPSE support and the Non-Federal support (cost share) you expect to provide
and secure from other sources.
Your proposal narrative should mesh with your budget request. Together they should demonstrate your
capacity to attain your goals and objectives.
Provide evidence (letters of commitment) that proposed project has support from your authorizing
officials and from your target audience.
In an appendix, your proposal may include letters of specific commitment and support from:




The host institution’s senior administrators
Project partners
Other key constituents
National experts on the issues addressed in the proposal
The quality, of letters of commitment and support is important. Applicants should have letters
from all critical administrators and partners (collaborators, adapters/adopters).
When planning for long-term institutionalization, applicants may create a project budget that
demonstrates increasing reliance on institutional resources and gradually decreasing FIPSE support.
FIPSE expects applicants to demonstrate significant financial support of proposed projects. Applicants
may provide prose narrative on support specifics in the Adequacy of Resources section.
FIPSE expects funded projects to continue after FIPSE funding ends.
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Developing a Competitive Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) Application
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Proposals requiring grant dollars for equipment, student financial aid, or faculty and student incentive
payments are rarely competitive.
FIPSE expects projects requiring equipment, student financial aid, or faculty and student incentive
payments to secure funding from in-kind or institutional cash contributions.
FIPSE grants cannot be used for the purchase of real property or for construction. See the section above
on “Cost Sharing/Institutional Support.”
The 2010 FIPSE Comprehensive Application Package:
http://www2.ed.gov/programs/fipsecomp/2010-116b.pdf
The 2010 FIPSE Comprehensive Competition Selection Criteria: pages 48-51 of 82 pages.
Claire D. Cornell
Program Officer
FIPSE
Office Of Postsecondary Education
U.S. Department of Education
1990 K Street NW FL 6
Room 6151
Washington, DC 20006-8544
Telephone: 202-502-7609
Fax: 202-502-7877
E-Mail: claire.cornell@ed.gov <mailto:claire.cornell@ed.gov>
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