ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM

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TULANE UNIVERSITY WORKSHOP August 26, 2004
MR. JOHN WALLIN ASSOCIATE COMMISSIONER FOR
SPONSORED PROGRAMS ADMINISTRATION
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FOUNDATION OF THE BOARD OF REGENTS SUPPORT FUND
(BoRSF)

• Constitutional Amendment approved in September,
  1986
• Corpus of 540M placed into LEQTF
• 75 of Interest Earnings placed into LEQSF
  (remainder added to corpus)
• LEQSF divided evenly between BoR and BESE
• Higher Educations Portion (now known as BoRSF)
  to be spent for any or all of
• A. Carefully defined research efforts
• B. Endowment of chairs for eminent scholars
• C. Infrastructure enhancement (no athletics
  allowed)
• D. Recruitment of Superior Graduate Students

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CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGISLATIVE GOALS AND PROGRAMS
AUTHORIZED FOR HIGHER EDUCATION

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BoRSF PROGRAMS

• ENHANCEMENT (ENH)
• Traditional (TR ENH)
• Undergraduate (UG ENH)
• Education Enhancement
• Endowed Professorships (EP)
• Enhancement Program for Two-Year Institutions
• RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (RD)
• Research Competitiveness Subprogram (RCS)
• Industrial Ties Research Subprogram (ITRS)
• Regents Awards to Louisiana Artists and Scholars
  (ATLAS) Subprogram
• Postdoctoral Fellowships Subprogram
• RECRUITMENT OF SUPERIOR GRADUATE STUDENTS
• (RSGS or Graduate Fellows)
• Traditional (TR GF)
• Graduate Fellowships for Teachers (GFT)

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ENHANCEMENT SUBPROGRAMS INCLUDE

• Traditional
• Undergraduate
• Enhancement Program for Two-Year Institutions
• Education Enhancement Program
• Endowed Professorships

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ENHANCEMENT

• A competitive grants program to improve the
  quality of academic departments or units, thus
  enhancing the infrastructure of higher education
• Emphasis traditionally has been on the purchase
  of instructional and/or research equipment,
  although other types of enhancements (colloquia,
  symposia, curricular revision) are allowed.
• A total of 15 broad academic disciplines are
  eligible 5-6 per year, plus a multi-disciplinary
  category no preference is given to disciplines
  more closely aligned with near-term economic
  development. Education is eligible every year.
• Components and Annual Spending Levels
• Traditional (6M - 9M)
• Undergraduate Set-Aside (1.6M)
• Two-Year Institutions (1M) created in FY
  2002-03
• Education (1M - 2M)
• Endowed Professorships (2.6 - 2.8M)

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ENHANCEMENT Disallowed Budgetary
Items

• Ongoing operating costs
• Legislative monies shall not displace, replace,
  or supplant other appropriated funding for higher
  education
• Maintenance of equipment
• Excessive entertainment or training costs

• Construction of facilities, routine renovation,
  purchasing of ordinary office furniture or
  equipment, motorized vehicles
• Shortfalls/deficits in budgets, scholarships or
  tuition, or augmentation of salaries

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MONETARY AND TIME LIMITATIONS

• APPLICANTS MAY REQUEST FROM 5,000 TO 1MILLION
• AVERAGE TR ENH AWARD IS 85,000
• AWARDS HAVE RANGED FROM 2,000 TO 800,000
• NO PROJECT MAY REQUEST MORE THAN TWO YEARS OF
  SUPPORT
• NO PROJECT MAY RECEIVE MORE THAN 50,000 IN THE
  SECOND YEAR
• Applicants are limited only by their
  imaginations and ability to write a persuasive
  argument explaining the proposed enhancement.

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DISCIPLINE ELIGIBILITY
ROTATION GROUP I-Eligible
Award Year 2000, 2003, 2006 Computer and
Information Sciences Biological
Sciences Engineering B (Industrial, Materials,
Mechanical, etc.) Social Sciences Humanities
GROUP II-Eligible in Award Year 2001,
2004 Earth/Environmental Sciences Agricultural
Sciences Health and Medical Sciences Engineering
A (Chemical, Civil, Electrical, etc.) Arts
GROUP III-Eligible in Award Year
2002,2005 Chemistry Physics/Astronomy Mathemati
cs Business GROUP IV- Eligible Every
Year Education K
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ENHANCEMENT PEER REVIEW PROCESS

• Request for proposals is issued.
• Full proposals are submitted (October 24).
• Peer review panels of out-of-state experts are
  formed.
• Traditional Enhancement Program Panels are
  created for each eligible discipline. In most
  years 5 discipline-based panels and one
  multi-disciplinary panel are established.
• Panel members evaluate the proposals and convene
  in Baton Rouge to develop a final rank order.
• A written report containing rankings and funding
  stipulations is forwarded to the Regents.
• The Board of Regents makes final award decisions
  (April or May).

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KEY ELEMENTS OF SUCCESSFULENHANCEMENT PROPOSALS
NEED - Convince the Panel that your
Department/Unit really needs the proposed
enhancement, that it is not simply a wish list
of equipment or activities. EXPERTISE -
Convince the Panel that your Department/Unit has
the expertise to successfully operate/conduct the
proposed equipment or activities. IMPACT -
Convince the Panel that what you propose will
make a difference, especially if it will
positively impact the educational experience of a
significant number of students and/or enhance the
instructional/research capability of a
significant number of faculty. Proposals
requesting equipment or activities for relatively
esoteric or ephemeral purposes have little chance
of being funded. EVALUATION - The proposal
should contain a method for determining the
degree of success which a funded project will
have. This will convince the Panel that you have
thought carefully about what you are proposing,
and it will enable future panel(s) to know if you
were right.
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RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

• Research Competitiveness Subprogram (RCS)
• Industrial Ties Research Subprogram (ITRS)
• Regents Awards to Louisiana Artists and Scholars
  (ATLAS) Subprogram
• Postdoctoral Fellowships Subprogram

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GOAL OF THE RCS

• To strengthen the fundamental research base
  and competitiveness of Louisiana universities by
  assisting junior faculty members who are at the
  threshold of becoming competitive to attain
  competitiveness in the federal RD marketplace

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KEY ELEMENTS OF SUCCESSFUL RCS PROPOSALS
The applicant must fit the profile. The
proposal must have a basic (fundamental) research
component--purely descriptive or data gathering
efforts will not be funded. The proposed
research must meet national standards of
excellence in terms of scientific and technical
merit. The proposal must be submitted in an area
or discipline in which federal RD funds are
anticipated to be available. The proposal must
realistically assess any barriers to the
applicants attainment of national
competitiveness. The proposal must contain a
plan for the overcoming of said barriers. In
other words, If you fund me now, this is how
(and why) BoRSF funding will help me bring
federal RD money to Louisiana by the close of my
grant.
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RCS DISCIPLINE ELIGIBILITY
ROTATION

GROUP I-Eligible Every Year Computer
and Information Sciences Biological
Sciences Earth/Environmental Sciences
(TWO YEARS ON, TWO YEARS OFF) GROUP
II-Eligible in Award Year 2000,2003,2004 Physics/
Astronomy Mathematics Agricultural
Sciences Engineering A (Chemical, Civil,
Electrical, etc.) Social Sciences
GROUP III-Eligible in Award Year
2001,2002,2005,2006 Chemistry Health and
Medical Sciences Engineering B (Industrial,
Materials, Mechanical, etc.)
K
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RCS MONETARY AND TIME LIMITATIONS
APPLICANTS MAY REQUEST UP TO 200,000 OVER A
THREE-YEAR PERIOD, BUT THE AVERAGE AWARD IS
APPROXIMATELY 100,000, WITH YEAR-ONE AWARDS
AVERAGING 40,000. CONSULTANTS NOW RARELY ALLOW
MORE THAN ONE MONTH OF BoR-FUNDED SUMMER FACULTY
SALARY SUPPORT TRAVEL BUDGETS ARE NORMALLY
TRIMMED PRINTING AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS COSTS
ARE NORMALLY DISALLOWED OR SEVERELY
REDUCED--THESE MEASURES ARE TAKEN TO ENABLE THE
FUNDING OF AS MANY PROPOSALS AS POSSIBLE IN THIS
EXTREMELY COMPETITIVE SUBPROGRAM. NO PROJECT MAY
REQUEST MORE THAN THREE YEARS OF SUPPORT.
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GOAL OF THE ITRS

• To fund research with significant near-term
  potential for the development and diversification
  of Louisianas economic base
• Proposals must demonstrate tangible interest
  from industry or non-state public agencies.
  Ideally, research will result in establishment of
  a new Louisiana business or industry or enhance
  an existing Louisiana business or industry.

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ITRS TARGET AREAS

• Proposals are accepted only from the areas
  identified by the BoR Industrial Targets Advisory
  Committee as follows
• Medical and Biomedical
• Micromanufacturing
• Data and Telecommunications
• Environmental Technologies
• Food Technologies
• Materials
• Existing Principal Industries
• such as petrochemicals and
  agribusiness
• Louisiana Culture and History

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KEY ELEMENTS OF SUCCESSFUL ITRS PROPOSALS
Top-quality scientific and technical merit, with
a viable research component Evidence of
significant private sector support, preferably
from a Louisiana company--failing in that, a
plan demonstrating that the proposed research
will generate such support in the near future A
convincing argument that the proposed research
will lead to the near-term establishment or
enhancement of a Louisiana business or industry,
and thereby result in significant revenues for
the State.
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ITRS MONETARY AND TIME LIMITATIONS
APPLICANTS MAY REQUEST UP TO 350,000 OVER A
THREE-YEAR PERIOD (150K IN YEAR ONE AND 100K
PER YEAR THEREAFTER), BUT THE AVERAGE AWARD IS
150,000, WITH YEAR ONE AWARDS AVERAGING
55,000. NO PROJECT MAY REQUEST MORE THAN THREE
YEARS OF SUPPORT.
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RD PEER REVIEW PROCESS

• Request for proposals is issued.
• Notices of Intent are submitted ( September 11).
• Full proposals are submitted (October 31 for ITRS
  and November 7 for RCS).
• 
  
• Mail reviews from experts with knowledge in the
  specific field of application (1 to 3 per
  proposal) assess scientific and technical merit.
  RCS only.
• Subject-area panels (2 to 4 experts in each) are
  formed to prioritize all proposals in a given
  subject area--each panelist individually
  evaluates proposals and subject-area rank order
  is developed via conference call(s).
• Final Review Panel (has ranged from 3 to 10
  members) of out-of-state experts is formed.
• Panel convenes in Baton Rouge to develop a final
  rank order of merit for proposals.
• A written report containing the rankings and
  funding stipulations is forwarded to the Regents.
• The Board of Regents makes final award decisions
  (April or May).

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COMMON MISTAKES(All Programs)
1. Proposal (or applicant) does not fit
program criteria/profile 2. Proposal does not
contain a clear plan of attack with a mechanism
for measuring progress 3. Proposal does not
clearly address each item required in the RFP
4. Proposal is too long and essential items are
difficult to find or are missing 5. Proposal
is poorly edited with numerous grammatical and
spelling errors 6. Letters of support
documenting external commitments of personnel,
money, equipment, expertise, etc., are
unconvincing or absent altogether 7.
Institutional commitments of personnel,
equipment, and/or money are poorly documented
8. Budget is excessive and/or represents a wish
list, rather than needs applicable to clearly
focused goals BLOATED BUDGETS BESPEAK
BANALITY 9. Budget is poorly explained and/or
justified 10. Proposal is poorly assembled
e.g., pages are missing and/or out-of-order
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REGENTS AWARDS TO LOUISIANA ARTISTS AND
SCHOLARS SUBPROGRAM(ATLAS)
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GOALS

• Provide support for major scholarly and artistic
  productions with potential to have a broad impact
  on a regional and/or national level
• Strengthen educational, artistic, and research
  bases of Louisiana institutions
• Publication and/or presentation of supported work
  within a limited period of time

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FOCUS of PROPOSALS

• Scholarly and/or artistic merit of the proposed
  work
• Necessity, importance, originality, and
  academic/artistic impact of the proposed work

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ELIGIBLE FACULTY

• Established faculty members
• demonstrating exceptional creative ability
  and/or a strong capacity for productive
  scholarship
• possessing records of academic or artistic
  achievement
• showing exceptional promise for future
  accomplishment
• _____________________________
• Only individuals affiliated with Louisiana
  institutions of higher education may apply

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ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES

• Activities related to the completion of an
  important artistic or scholarly work with
  emphasis on the completion of substantive works
• Examples Major fine arts exhibitions,
  significant works of fiction, poetry, film,
  drama, and scholarly monographs
• Production of original works of art

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MONETARY AND TIME LIMITATIONS

• APPLICANTS MAY NOT REQUEST MORE THAN 50,000
• NO APPLICANT MAY REQUEST LESS THAN ONE SEMESTER
  OR MORE THAN ONE ACADEMIC YEAR OF SUPPORT
• APPLICANTS MUST BE GUARANTEED A MINIMUM OF ONE
  SEMESTER OF SABBATICAL LEAVE AND/OR ACADEMIC OR
  RESEARCH LEAVE WITH PAY FROM THEIR INSTITUTION

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ATLAS PEER REVIEW PROCESS

• Request for proposals is issued (August)
• Notices of Intent are submitted (October 7)
• Full proposals are submitted (November 21)
• 
  
• Mail reviews from experts with knowledge in the
  specific field of application to assess quality
  and relative merits.
• Subject-area panels (2 to 4 experts in each) are
  formed to prioritize all proposals in a given
  discipline/field--each panelist individually
  evaluates proposals and subject-area rank order
  is developed via conference call(s).
• Final Review Panel (ranging from 3 to 10 members)
  of out-of-state experts is formed.
• Panel convenes in Baton Rouge to develop a final
  rank order of merit for proposals.
• A written report containing the rankings and
  funding stipulations is forwarded to the Regents.
• The Board of Regents makes final award decisions
  (April or May).

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ELIGIBILE DISCIPLINES CREATIVE
ARTS HUMANITIES SOCIAL SCIENCES FOR DETAILS
SEE THE ATLAS RFP (APPENDIX B)
K
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SUPPORT FUND STAFF Kerry Davidson
Deputy Commissioner John Wallin
Associate Commissioner Ron Luckett
Enhancement Program Director Noreen
Lackett Enhancement Program Manager
Zenovia Simmons R D Program
Manager Carrie Roider Special
Programs Manager, Including ATLAS
-------------------------------------
---------------- Loretta Braud
Executive Secretary Vera Dear
Administrative Services Assistant
S
ee BoR website for e-mail addresses.
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SPONSORED PROGRAMS P. O. Box 3677 Baton Rouge, LA
70821-3677 Physical Location for hand delivery
or Federal Express Claiborne Building 1201 N.
Third Street, Suite 6-200 Baton Rouge, LA
70802 TELEPHONE NUMBER FAX NUMBER
225-342-4253 225-342-3371 INT
ERNET http//www.laregents.org Louisiana Online
Grant Administration Network (LOGAN) (Call Denise
Williams if you have any problems.)