
Kickstarter Program for Community College Hispanic Serving Institutions
Improving recruitment and retention of Hispanic students at Community College Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) in STEM-related fields by enhancing their participation in NSF-funded initiatives
Program Results
View Results and Impacts of the KickStarter Program.
Application Deadline
Email Interest to Participate:
November 2, 2018
Full Application Due Date:
December 21, 2018; 6pm MST
The Science Foundation Arizona (SFAz) Center for STEM at Arizona State University (ASU) issued this Call for Applications to Community College HSIs within the United States to participate in an intensive, comprehensive technical assistance program to prepare and position them to compete successfully for federal funds focused on student recruitment and retention in STEM fields.
Call for Applications
Download the Call for Applications
View the Webinar Video
Download the Webinar Slides
Who Can Apply?
- Applicants must be designated (with at least 25% Hispanic student enrollment) Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) within the United States.
- The HSI must be a 2-yr institution or Community College.
- It is strongly preferred that Applicants have active or recent (within last 5 years) Title V (or Title III HSI STEM) funding that pertains to: (a) recruiting and retaining students in STEM, (b) updating and streamlining STEM courses and degree/certification attainment and/or (c) expanding federal funding competitiveness. Newly designated HSIs (within the past 12 months) or other HSIs without a Title V (or Title III) grant, must show they have sought a Federal Grant in the five years preceding the KickStarter application deadline, have foundational infrastructure that supports STEM related programs already underway, and have the ability to pursue federal grant funding in support of STEM educational research.
- Eligible institutions are those that have never had NSF funding, or that have not had NSF funding in the five years preceding the KickStarter application deadline. It is permitted to have a sub-award under another institution of higher learning that is the lead organization for an NSF award.
- Institutions are NOT ELIGIBLE to apply if they are, or have been, the lead institution of an NSF grant within the past 5 years preceding the KickStarter application deadline
WHAT'S THE COHORT #4 TIMELINE?

Introduction
The KickStarter Program, led by the SFAz STEM Center at ASU, is a technical assistance program that prepares and positions Community College HSIs to compete successfully for federal funds with focus on student recruitment and retention in STEM fields. The KickStarter (KS) Process provides HSIs with a blueprint to build and sustain a strong STEM foundation, augmented with innovations in STEM education to enable Hispanic STEM student success. This process begins immediately with this KickStarter application that includes NSF principles to guide and support applicants on their paths to developing sustainable approaches grounded in STEM plans aligned to the college strategy. For STEM planning the program uses the STEMxTM nationally endorsed STEM Pathways Model and Guide (refer to STEM Pathways Guide) to assist community colleges in assessing their STEM capabilities, developing strategies that take into account these capabilities, and increasing recruitment and retention of students in STEM career and transfer pathway programs. Proposals to NSF that are built upon college-wide STEM plans designed to improve student recruitment and retention are more likely to show greater potential for sustainability, suggesting a wiser investment of NSF funding, and therefore are more likely to be competitive and funded. Assistance is provided for developing these proposals to NSF. This program is made possible with support from National Science Foundation (NSF). Please refer to Award Abstract #1450661.
Program Goal
To improve the federal funding participation and competitiveness of participating institutions in NSF-funded STEM initiatives by providing a wide range of technical assistance services.
Program Objectives
To address the needs of each participating institution in a customized fashion, involving administration, faculty and staff, and community partners: feeder schools, regional universities, workforce employers, researchers, and other investigators who have been previously funded in similar studies. The SFAz STEM Center’s Technical Assistance Team will assist the institution to utilize the STEM Pathways Model and Resource Guide to develop their pathways strategies, identify areas in their pathways plan that need attention, and prioritize the programs that are most ready for funding. The Technical Assistance Team will assist the institution in developing proposals to federal agencies whose funding objectives can be met by these programs. Proposal requests for funding to support the priorities of a strategic STEM Pathways plan will demonstrate a quality investment for the funder and compete more favorably with the review panels.
- Objective 1: Increase the number of Community College HSIs who compete successfully as lead grantees on NSF projects
An External Review Panel will evaluate KickStarter applications and select the institutions to participate with the SFAz Technical Assistance Team based on the extent to which they meet the selection criteria of readiness. Selected institutions agree to work through the KickStarter process, including STEM assessment and planning, concept development, and guided proposal preparation to produce a competitive NSF proposal(s) from different faculty members/ departments.
- Objective 2: Strengthen the institution’s STEM infrastructure (i.e., their capacity to increase recruitment and retention success rates among Latino students)
Many organizations that fail to receive or effectively implement federal funded projects do so because they have not built an internal infrastructure (i.e., capacity) to plan and/or carryout the proposed project. Through the formation of a STEM Planning Team, colleges will be guided by the SFAz STEM Center Technical Assistance Team to engage in activities such as: STEM program identification, facilitation, evaluation and technical support; data improvements; extended partnership building; and industry-supported internships for students and/or teachers.
- Objective 3: Engage institutions with a broader range of partners in K-12, industry, four-year institutions, and researchers to help sustain STEM programs and improve community college HSIs’ federal program competitiveness
The project will leverage the SFAz STEM Center’s existing, robust networks to develop a collection of KickStarter networks. These associations will serve to jump-start KickStarter institutions and can become idea factories for future projects and proposals. As institutions move through the KickStarter process, they will help each other become grounded in and grow these networked platforms. The Arizona STEM Network, led by the SFAz STEM Center, is an online collaboration between businesses, educators, government and philanthropy and will be used as a networking platform for community college HSIs (http://stem.sfaz.org).
KickStarter Program FAQ's
We were a sub-grantee on a Title V (or Title III) program. Does that disqualify us? Do we need to have had our own award?
You are eligible to apply for the KickStarter program having benefited from a Title V or Title III sub-grant. However, the Title V grant must “be focused on (a) recruiting and retaining students in STEM, (b) updating and streamlining STEM courses and degree/certification attainment and/or (c) expanding federal funding competitiveness.
If you don’t have a Title V or Title III grant or sub-grant, you will need to show that you have sought a Federal Grant in the five years preceding the KickStarter application deadline, have foundational infrastructure that supports STEM related programs already underway, and have the ability to pursue federal grant funding in support of STEM educational research.
What are the budget conditions of the application? Are there any matching requirements, and what can the participating schools expect in the way of financial support?
Budget conditions of the application do not include any matching requirements. Since this is not a monetary grant per se, there will be no transaction of funds. However we will provide the following:
- Technical expertise of our Community College Field Representatives to assist and guide the college in a self-analysis of its STEM Pathway programs and strategies, develop a STEM Pathways strategic plan, and create a competitive research proposal strategy and develop the research concept.
- Research Concept Development experts will follow up to match the concept to the appropriate federal funding program, and provide direction for the proposal development, preparation, and submission process. The KickStarter goal is to assist colleges in preparing at least two competitive research concepts for proposal development and submission.
- We will also pay the travel/hotel/per diem costs for two members of your Internal Team to attend the Kickoff meeting in Washington DC during the week of April 23-25, 2019 including travel days.