FOA-Limited Submission – USDA/NIFA – Secondary Education, Two-Year Postsecondary Education, and Agriculture in the K-12 Classroom Challenge Grants Program (SPECA) – USDA-NIFA-SAECP-007855; February 4, 2021

 

Purpose:  The National Institute of Food and Agriculture requests applications for the Secondary Education, Two-Year Postsecondary Education, and Agriculture in the K-12 Classroom Challenge Grants (SPECA) program, which seeks to:

1.      Enhance the quality of K-14 instruction in order to help meet current and future national food, agricultural, natural resources, and human (FANH) sciences workplace needs

2.      Increase the number and diversity of students who will pursue and complete a 2 or 4-year degree in the food, agricultural, natural resources and human (FANH) sciences.

 

SPECA-funded projects encourage academic institutions, in partnership with organizations and employers to identify and address challenges facing the FANH sciences education and workforce community. As noted in the 2016 National Academies (NAS) Press Report, Barriers and Opportunities for 2-Year and 4-Year STEM Degrees and the 2016 NAS workshop on Creating the Future Workforce in Food, Agriculture, and Natural Resources, the talent pipeline for the agriculture workforce begins well before college admission and a focus on secondary programs holds tremendous potential to increase not only the number, but the diversity of students entering baccalaureate programs, a requisite for the innovation needed in the FANH sciences.

 

Accordingly, SPECA-funded project activities shall support the creation, adaptation, and adoption of learning materials and teaching strategies to operationalize what we know about how students learn. Many of these concepts are identified in the National Research Council’s publication: How People Learn. SPECA-funded projects shall also focus on imparting both technical knowledge as well as ‘soft’ skills such as communication, teamwork, and problem solving, as these are abilities expected by employers. These concepts may be found in the publication, Comparative Analysis of Soft Skills: What is Important for New Graduates? Note: A SPECA-funded project must focus on any of the K-14 grade levels. Projects with a target audience of baccalaureate or higher-level students or teachers should, instead, be referred to the Higher Education Challenge Grants Program offered through NIFA at HEC.

 

Application Types: Applicants may submit one of the following three types of projects: Regular, Collaborative Type 1, or Collaborative Type 2:

1.    Regular Projects:

•        Applicants may request up to $50,000 total for 2-3 years.

•        Applicant executes the project without the requirement of sharing grant funds with other project partners.

2.    Collaborative Grant Type 1 (CG1) (Applicant + One or more Partners)

•        Applicants may request up to $150,000 total for 2-3 years.

•        Applicant executes the project and must share grant funds with assistance from at least one additional partner. 

3.    Collaborative Grant Type 2 (CG2) (Applicant + Two or more Partners)

•        Applicants may request up to $300,000 total for 3 years.

•        Applicant executes the project and must share grant funds with assistance from at least two additional partners.  CG2 projects must support a multi-partner approach to solving a major state or regional challenge in FANH sciences education at K-14 grade levels. 

 

Funding Amounts: up to $50,000 for 24 to 36 months (regular projects), up to $150,000 for 24 to 36 months (CG1 projects), up to $300,000 for 36 months (CG2 projects)

 

Link to Funding Opportunity Announcement

 

Institutional Limit: 1

 

Internal Competition: To participate in the university’s selection process,please upload the following materials,assembled into a single PDF file, to the Office of the Vice President for Research via this portal  with a copy of the PDF file to your Associate Dean for Research by December 1, 2020:

 

·        Names and departments or affiliations of the Project Director and other key personnel or partners

·        Title of program and/or funding opportunity announcement number

·        Type of project (Regular, CG1 or CG2)

·        Brief project description (2 pages maximum);

·        Brief biographical sketch

 

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: February 4, 2021