Writing Successful Grant Proposals

This seminar is designed for both beginner and intermediate grant writers across disciplines from STEM to the Arts. It is also for academic administrators, student affairs personnel, and professional staff. Structured like a workshop, this seminar will introduce some of the most helpful grant writing resources available online and will include readings on how to construct a grant.

Are you a faculty member who needs release-time or sabbatical support to pursue your research or artistic endeavors? Do you want to equip a lab with sophisticated equipment? Are you a department chair or academic administrator seeking to expand a successful program or secure support for undergraduate student research or a new student activity? Are you an IT specialist or librarian seeking additional resources? All these needs can be satisfied if you can learn to write competitive grants.

We will examine the components of a successful grant proposal: finding a potential funding source, analyzing an RFP (Request for Proposals), researching and stating the need for the grant, writing appropriate goals and objectives, describing the proposed activities and methods, and developing a credible evaluation plan and a realistic budget. The presenters will share their experience and accumulated wisdom, however, at the heart of this week-long seminar, there is the opportunity for each participant to make substantial progress in developing their own idea into an actual grant proposal.

Each participant is asked to bring an idea for a grant proposal. We want you to write a one-page concept paper outlining your idea for a grant that either supports your research or a program on your campus. Tell us about (1) why your project is needed, (2) your goals and objectives, (3) what you plan to do, (4) how you would evaluate your project, and (5) how much money you estimate it would take. By sharing your specific ideas with the conveners, they will be able to offer personalized, targeted guidance.