Broadening Institutional Participation in the NSF Advanced Technological Education Program

The National Science Foundations' Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program has supported many U.S. community colleges to collaborate with industry in developing educational programs for the nation's skilled technical workforce. This project aims to broaden the diversity of institutions supported by the ATE program. Specifically, the project aims to catalyze submissions of ATE proposals from 45 two-year institutions that have not previously or not recently received ATE funding. The project will mentor and support the colleges to generate ideas for projects and to develop the infrastructure, knowledge, and expertise that are needed to submit high-quality proposals to ATE and to other NSF funding programs. By providing access to well-paying careers as skilled technicians, growth of community college STEM programs can help increase social mobility, as well as advance diversity and inclusion in the nation's STEM enterprise.

This project aims to encourage the participating community and technical colleges to submit proposals to the ATE program, as a source of funding to innovate and grow STEM programs in advanced technological areas. In this effort, the project will engage the college Presidents and Boards of Trustees, to leverage their influence on the efforts to pursue ATE funding. The project will support capacity building at each participating college, assisting the college to develop the infrastructure needed to submit proposals to NSF and to manage NSF awards. The project team will work with local faculty and staff to help them identify growth opportunities within their institutions and region, and to prepare proposals to support these opportunities. Through its activities, the project team expects to support innovation and growth in technology areas that might otherwise be neglected, thus supporting existing and emerging industry needs for a skilled technical workforce.