Higher Education Challenge Grants Program
Grant: Higher Education Challenge Grants Program (HEC)
Agency: United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
Department: National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA)
Deadline: The deadline was February 8, 2013.
Description: The Higher Education Challenge Grants program strives to stimulate and enable colleges and universities to provide the quality of education necessary to produce baccalaureate or higher degree level graduates capable of strengthening the Nation’s food and agricultural scientific and professional workforce.
HEC funded projects improve the economic health and viability of rural communities through the development of degree programs emphasizing new and emerging employment opportunities. Projects also focus on the national challenge to increase the number and diversity of students entering other food and agriculture-related STEM disciplines.
With a focus on five priority areas including: food security and hunger, climate change, sustainable energy, childhood obesity and food safety, proposals submitted to the HEC grant program must state how the funded project will address the following two program goals:
- To increase the number and diversity of students who will pursue and complete a postsecondary degree in the food and agricultural sciences, and encourage study in areas that contribute to any of the five NIFA priority areas listed above.
- To enhance the quality of secondary and postsecondary instruction in order to help meet current and future national food and agricultural sciences workplace needs.
All HEC funded projects should focus on improving the quality of academic instruction within the postsecondary system in order to recruit and retain a greater number of qualified and diverse graduates who are: (a) capable of entering the agricultural sciences workforce with occupational competencies expected by employers, and (b) encouraged to pursue a baccalaureate or advanced degree in disciplines supported the five NIFA priority areas.
Examples of funded activities include, but are not limited to, developing, evaluating, and disseminating:
- Educational materials for any postsecondary level course, laboratory, or related curricula that encourage study in areas that contribute to any of the five NIFA priority areas.
- Instructional delivery methods to improve student retention of academic content.
- Professional development approaches to improve the capacity of faculty and teaching assistants to provide effective and updated instruction.
Educational instrumentation and equipment requests are appropriate expenses in HEC funded projects, but must directly support the specific student learning outcome proposed by the grant application.
More details concerning program areas and funded activity examples can be found in this program notice.
Fit for public broadcasting: Let your university partner take the lead here. Stations active in professional development, curriculum development and distance learning may make a good match. Additionally, those stations targeting a rural audience will intersect nicely with NIFA’s focus on improving the economic health and viability of rural communities through better education practices at the post-secondary level. Examples of funded projects under the Higher Education Challenge include expanding the geographic reach of relevant agricultural courses through internet based distance learning technologies, curriculum development and the creation of digital enhanced electronic educational tools including a web portal, accessible by students and teachers in both formal and informal educational settings.
Eligibility: Eligible applicants include any U.S. public or private nonprofit colleges and universities; land-grant colleges and universities; colleges and universities having significant minority enrollments and a demonstrable capacity to carry out the teaching of food and agricultural sciences; other colleges and universities having a demonstrable capacity to carry out the teaching of food and agricultural sciences. For greater details on eligibility requirements, see the program notice.
Each grant recipient is required to match 25 percent of the USDA funds awarded. Matching funds must come from non-federal sources, and are not required to come in any particular amount from any one source.
Anticipated funding: NIFA anticipates approximately $4.77 million will be available to fund applications in FY 2013, and has no commitment to fund any specific number of awards.
How to apply: Applications must be submitted electronically using Grants.gov. Online submission requires registration, a process that usually takes three to five business days but can take as long as four weeks. Be sure to visit Grants.gov and begin registering well in advance of the grant deadline.
Resources:
Program notice
Program website
Previous funded abstracts
