(FOA)-Limited Submission – Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) – Inclusive Excellence Initiative; July 31, 2019

 

Purpose: The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) announces the Inclusive Excellence initiative’s third competition (IE3). These grants are helping US colleges and universities build their capacity to effectively engage students from all backgrounds through their undergraduate years, especially those students who belong to groups underrepresented in science. The new competition builds upon what is being learned from the Inclusive Excellence community, at present comprising the 57 schools awarded grants through the first two competitions (hhmi.org/IE). This initiative fosters a learning community of college and university faculty and administrators who are engaged in the process of increasing their institution’s capacity for inclusion of all students, especially students who belong to groups underrepresented in the sciences. Each school in the community commits to learning through reflection, sharing what is being learned, listening to feedback, and supporting other members of the community. Each grantee college or university will:

·         Develop an understanding of its institutional context and define what “inclusive excellence” means to the institution;

·         Identify the institutional barriers to inclusion and equity;

·         Support serious efforts to engage all faculty in making meaningful contributions to the institution’s growth in capacity for inclusion;

·         Build a context-specific theory of change with measurable milestones, establish meaningful methods to assess progress, and use evidence to continuously inform program design and implementation;

·         Continuously reflect on how the activities supported by the grant influence institutional values, rewards systems, the campus environment, and progress toward genuine capacity building;

·         Actively participate in the Inclusive Excellence learning community.

 

This initiative challenges institutions to begin with faculty learning and then to apply that learning to a specific challenge. In this competition, the proposer will select one of three challenges on which to focus, based on the priority their institution has identified. Those challenges are

·         Meaningful evaluation of effective and inclusive teaching

·         The content of the introductory science experience

·         Effective partnerships between two- and four-year institutions

 

Institutional Commitment: Adopting an inclusive excellence stance requires the commitment of the whole institution. Strong examples of institutional commitment include:

·         Alignment with current programs

o    Engaging the entire campus in defining its shared vision and cultivating distributed leadership is integral to capacity building.

·         Selection of the program director

o    The institution has the responsibility of selecting a program director who will bring not only experience in research, education, and grant administration, but also the strong interpersonal relationship skills required of a collaborative leader who cultivates authentic shared ownership of the program.

·         Sharing the financial responsibility

o    HHMI funds cannot be spent on the salaries of the program director and other members of the core leadership team who are already employed by the school.

 

Competition Timeline:

·         Intent to apply: July 31, 2019 (Schools are encouraged to submit the intent prior to July 31^st)

o    Identification of program director, confirmation of eligibility

·         Pre-proposal: January 14, 2020 

·         Finalist workshop: August 2020

o    Required attendance for the leadership team at a two-day, cross-institutional workshop

·         Finalist proposal: December 1, 2020

 

 

Note: UK faculty interested in participating, but not leading, a proposal team being selected through the VPR’s internal selection process may identify themselves via the ‘Join collaboration list’ feature on the HHMI IE3 memo page in the limited submission portal.

 

Funding Amount/ Project Period: $1,000,000 over 5 years (nonrenewable)

 

Link to Funding Opportunity Announcement

 

Institutional Limit: 1

 

Internal Competition: To participate in the university’s selection process,please upload the following,assembled into a single PDF file, to the Office of the Vice President for Research via this portal with a copy to your Associate Dean for Research by July 2, 2019:

• Names and departments or affiliations of the Project Director and other key personnel or partners;
• Title of program and/or funding opportunity announcement number;
• Brief project description (2 pages maximum)
• Brief biographical sketch
• Demonstrate the alignment of the HHMI expectations and the program director experience outlined in the institutional commitment section 
• Brief budget outline that demonstrates the institutional commitment to the project (see agency guidelines for details)

 

A committee will be convened to review the material and make a recommendation.

 

For questions or issues with submission through the portal, email the limited submission mailbox (limitedsubmissions@uky.edu), or call 257-2861.

 

Agency Deadline: Intent to apply - July 31, 2019