Step One: Submit a Letter of Intent
Applicants should submit their online Letter of Intent by the close of business (5 p.m.) on Tuesday, April 18. Letters of Intent are invited from students, staff and faculty, individually or in groups, keeping in mind that individuals will not be eligible for funding for more than one project in any given funding cycle.
Application Criteria
In preparing your Letter of Intent, we ask that you adhere to the following Round 2 application criteria for the President’s Fund for Excellence and Innovation (the “Fund”):
- Projects must align with the strategic priorities of the College and should address one or more of the following Fund strategic priorities:
- Improve retention to double degree completion rates, and increase successful transfer and baccalaureate attainment;
- Enhance learning through culturally responsive and sustaining pedagogy and support;
- Expand career development leading to meaningful work with family- sustaining wages;
- Achieve equity in these outcomes in a college community in which all members can thrive;
- Foster a receptive and compassionate college culture where students feel valued, encouraged, supported, and hopeful; and
- Strengthen BMCC’s role in creating an equitably thriving NYC.
- Projects should demonstrate innovative approaches in addressing these thematic needs.
- Projects that take a team approach and engage students, staff, and faculty in a collaborative effort are particularly encouraged. Students should consult with a faculty member or staff member before submitting a Letter of Intent and, ideally, this person will serve as a partner for the grant.
- Projects should focus on ideas that can be replicated on a larger scale.
- Projects that are currently being funded from other external funding sources will not be considered.
- Project/Program proposals cannot NOT be submitted or funded if any members of the PF/PFEI organizational structure, including committees, are participants in the preparation of the proposal and/or members of the project structure/planning/implementation.
- Projects selected for funding must be completed within two years of the award.
- Projects that are eligible for funding from other college sources will not be considered.
- Projects that are selected for funding will need to submit periodic reports to the college describing progress towards the achievement of goals and objectives.
- Project activities must be measurable, only proposals that have a direct impact on student retention and success will be considered for funding.
- The focus of the funding effort is to provide seed money for new programs and initiatives and the goal is to support projects that directly connect to the Donor’s intent, the strategic plan, and student success.
- Projects funded in the first phase will not be funded in the second phase, however, lessons learned can be applied to modified projects that can be considered.
- As with the first phase, while there is no guarantee that applications will be funded, the steering committee has determined that the process should encourage all potential projects.
Step Two: Submit a Proposal
Applications determined to be the best match given the stated criteria will be invited to submit a formal grant application to the appropriate review committee for further consideration. An invitation to submit a grant proposal will be extended by Wednesday, April 26, 2023. The proposal must be submitted by the close of business (5 p.m.) on Monday, May 8, 2023. A proposal writing workshop will be sponsored for those applicants in need of technical support during the week of May 1, 2023.
Review Process
Letters of Intent and formal grant proposals will be reviewed by members of the PFEI Proposal Review Committee. The Review Committee will be comprised of (faculty and Staff) and will be Co-chaired by members of the President’s cabinet. Applications will be evaluated by the Steering Committee chaired by the President on the basis of the criteria described in this process, including creativity, feasibility (of implementation), and potential impact on student retention and success. Consistent with the basis for establishment of the Fund and the Fund’s purpose, the final decision with respect to priorities and projects to be funded, is the President’s. Formal notification of a grant award will be made by Wednesday, May 31 with all projects being fully funded by June 30, 2023.
Round 2 PFEI LOI and Proposal Timeline
| Announce: Applications Open |
3/22/23 |
| Announce: Applications Closed |
4/18/23 |
| Notifications made: Preliminary Proposals Accepted and Proposals Not Accepted |
4/26/23 |
| Revised Proposals Due to Review Committee |
5/8/23 |
| Select submitted proposals sent to Steering Committee for final review |
5/15/23 |
| Announcement of Final Proposals |
5/22/23 |
| Announcement of Funded Programs/Projects to BMCC Community |
5/31/23 |
