Graduate Credit Assignment:
Grants Notebook
Assignment:
For this assignment, you will need to develop a research notebook for
keeping track of grants and funding in your own area of interest. You
will need to collect and organize as many RFPs and general descriptions
of funding agencies that fund research/non-profits/etc. in your own area
of interest. Your project will include:
- a compilation of your research.
- a write up: a one-page introduction outlining your area of research, the sorts of funding agencies you found, your method of organization, etc.
- a calendar listing important dates for grants in your research notebooks (dates materials are posted, due dates, notification dates.
Audience:
The audience for this document is really yourself–it is intended
for your own use. Therefore, it can be organized in whatever way is best
for you–an electronic site of links to funding agencies with your
own notes, etc.; a blog; a set of file folders in a portfolio; a notebook.
However, even though you’re the audience, to fulfill the assignment,
you’ll need to organize the material somehow so that it is quickly
accessible to you.
Purpose:
The goal of this assignment is to help you begin to find potential funding
sources for your own interests. Search widely–print materials, on-line
sources, e-mail lists, etc.
Planning and Drafting:
The following steps may help you as you plan and draft this assignment,
but feel free to use whatever strategies will best help you with your
project:
- Research. Begin with careful research to give you a good idea
of what sorts of funding is available in your area of interest. Begin
with the links from our class web site and work outward. Be sure to
check foundations, internal and local grant money, and federal grants
programs.
- Worksheets. You may find that the proposal opportunity worksheet
will help you evaluate RFPs and the Questions/Answers worksheet will
help you evaluate the overall situation. I strongly suggest you find
some way of standardizing and cataloguing the material you find. Moreover,
the additions of a calendar worksheet of some sort to organize due dates
would help your notebook project a lot.
- Planning. Just start collecting RFPs and create some sort of template for organizing and standardizing the information. Use note cards, etc. if you like. Just be sure to try to define fields in the same place on each card and fill them all.
- Turning this in. Whatever you decide to do, just do a thorough search, develop a consistent method for cataloguing and organizing, and turn it all in an appropriate container (please no loose files or note cards).
Criteria: The "notebook":
- Shows wide-ranging research.
- Demonstrates careful attention to organization.
- Has a clear focus or area of research (not random RFPs).
- Provides a rationale for the research.
- Contains a calendar with important dates.
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Elizabeth Birmingham |
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