Massachusetts Department of Higher Education Performance Incentive Fund Grant

The following is a limited submission opportunity with only one consortium proposal as lead institution allowed. If you are interested in this program please email Michelle Wonsey a single PDF by NOON on May 20, 2019 with the following pre-proposal requirements:

1.      A one to two-page summary that must include your research/project:

a.      goals
b.      objectives
c.       methods, and
d.      a short statement of competitiveness (i.e., what you think will discriminate your proposal from the competition, including anything you have done to pre-position yourself/your team for this funding opportunity)

 

Program Description:

The Massachusetts Department of Higher Education (DHE) is issuing a Request for Proposals (RFP) for Performance Incentive Fund (PIF) projects for FY20. 

As it has been since its inception, the primary objective of this grant is to seed and support new innovations and proven practices in public higher education specifically aimed at advancing the Commonwealth’s overarching goal to significantly raise success outcomes among underrepresented student populations.  This year’s request explicitly contextualizes the Department’s equity priority with funds supporting initiatives and activities that adopt an equity lens designed to increase college-going and completion rates for under-represented and under-served students, specifically students of color and/or students from low-income and/or first-generation backgrounds. For example, DHE analyses of four major indicators (high school graduation, college enrollment, public college graduation, and overall college attainment) reveal major disparities between Latino males and white females. When examining the overall college attainment rates, the Department found a 43% gap between Latino males and their white female peers. The Department looks forward to reviewing grant applications for programs and initiatives that adopt the equity lens and are supported by relevant data and evidence.

In order to maximize the capacity of the system and to promote collaboration among institutions of public higher education, the Department will focus on providing consortium grants in this funding period. Individual grants will not be awarded. Consortium grants are defined as grants shared among multiple higher education partners with the objective of participating in a common activity to achieve specific goals.

This RFP identifies three category areas for advancing the goal of equity in higher education.  These three categories for this FY20 PIF grant are:

  1. Supporting Low-Income Males and Males of Color (LIM-MOC) in Higher Education
  2. New Approaches to Assessing Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Competencies
  3. Transforming Student Success and Empowering Classroom and Campus Leadership