General Course Information Pre-requisites, Corequisites,

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1 Course PA 6369: GRANT WRITING AND MANAGEMENT Professor Thomas B. Spencer Term Fall Semester 2015 Meetings Tuesday, 7:00-9:45PM Professor s Contact Information Office Phone Other Phone Office Location GR Address tland@utdallas.edu Office Hours By Appointment in Green Hall Other Information All correspondence must come from an official UTD address General Course Information Pre-requisites, Corequisites, & other No Prerequisites restrictions The goal of this course is to meet three primary objectives. First is to Course Description understand the theory and history of Grants and Grant Writing in America, past, present and future. The second objective is practitioner based, and will follow the process of locating potential grant opportunities, crafting a grant submission packet and ultimately, submission to an agency. We will focus on the federal and non-profit sectors of granting agencies. The final objective is grant management. Once a grant is awarded, researchers and academics must follow strict regulations and guidelines to provide the best ROI to your institution or agency. Learning Outcomes Students who successfully complete this course will have real-world grant writing and submission experience. 1) To provide an understanding of the history and development of grant making in both government and foundation settings. 2) To provide an understanding of differences in grants by type, including conditions and the method of allocation. 3) To convey knowledge of where and how to find information about available grants from public and private sources. 4) To determine how to evaluate a potential grant opportunity in light of organization goals and objectives. 1

2 5) To enhance understanding of inter-organizational collaboration and intra-organizational team building around the grants enterprise. 6) To provide technical knowledge and skills necessary to compile a grant budget according to required standards. 7) To provide knowledge of technical terms and concepts in the grant funded enterprise. 8) To learn how to write effective grant program narrative descriptions. 9) To learn how to organize and submit quality applications in a timely fashion according to agency expectations. 10) To understand key concepts associated with accepting and managing grant awards, including reporting, compliance, and auditing requirements and program evaluation. 11) And most important, learning when to say No to a grant opportunity. Textbooks Hall, Jeremy L Grant Management: Funding for Public and Nonprofit Programs. Sudsbury, Massachusetts: Jones & Bartlett Publishers Inc. ISBN: Karsh, Ellen and Fox, Arlen Sue The Only Grant-Writing Book You'll Ever Need: Top Grant Writers and Grant Givers Share Their Secret. Third Edition. Basic Books. ISBN: Required Texts & Materials Articles / Online Sources Carroll, Deborah A. (2009) "Diversifying Municipal Government Revenue Structures: Fiscal Illusion or Instability?" Public Budgeting & Finan 29, no. 1 (2009): Fountain, J "Challenges to Organizational Change: Multi-Level Integ Information Structures (MIIS)." Governance and Information Technology: From Electronic Government to Information Governm MIT Press. Cambridge, MA,. Grants.gov: Grants.gov. Grant Forms (accessed November 2013) Hall, Jeremy L The Forgotten Regional Organizations: Creating Cap for Economic Development Public Administration Review, 68:1, Hall, Jeremy L Assessing Local Capacity for Federal Grant-Getting 2

3 American Review of Public Administration, 38(4): Hall, Jeremy L The Changing Federal Grant Structure and its Potenti Effects on State/Local Community Development Efforts. Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting, and Financial Management, 20 (1): 4 NIH: National Institutes of Health. Frequently Asked Questions Resubmiss of NIH Applications (ac November 4, 2013) NIH 1: National Institutes of Health. NIH Budget About NIH (accessed November 9, 2013) Suggested Texts, Readings, & Materials Each Student will need to read and learn about the agency that is providing the grant opportunity. Assignments & Academic Calendar ASSIGNMENTS ***Note: It is advantageous to select a single program and use it throughout the written assignments (excluding management exercises) because the final project is cumulative. I. Seeking Exercise Report 7% Students will establish criteria for evaluating available funding and funding sources, and will then apply the rubric to generate a list of potential funding sources, listed in order of priority, for each topic. The report will include both federal and state government and foundation funding sections. Also, the report will include a concise narrative that describes the search process undertaken and how the criteria/selection was arrived at and executed. The report should divide funding sources into three categories: viable, possibly viable, and not viable, with justification for each. This is primarily a technical report, intended for use, not to be read, so it need not look pretty as long as it is usable. NOTE: Developing a useful format is expected as part of the assignment. Page limit: N/A II. Background and Need Narrative Report 10% Students will select a setting and a proposed program topic, subject to instructor approval. Once approved, they will then develop a narrative statement of need, including statistics, charts, graphs, and figures, that adequately documents the need for the program in the locale of interest. 3

4 Page limit: 10 pages, double-spaced including figures and tables. III. In-Class Report Demonstrating Need 8% Students will prepare and demonstrate an in class presentation covering their selected grant program and the need it will be serving. Students may utilize materials generated for Assignment 2. Time Limit: 15 min IV. Budget Exercise Report 10% Each student will select a program of interest and seek approval from the instructor. Once approved, the student will use the grantor regulations to conceive a general program description that will serve as the basis for the budget. The assignment is to generate an accurate, acceptable budget document and budget narrative using Microsoft Excel. The budget must be provided electronically in Excel format to assess the use of formulas. Page limit: N/A V. Program Narrative Exercise Report 15% Students will draft hypothetical program narratives for proposed programs given an organization, an RFP, a program idea, and other general information. Students may select the program, but it will be subject to instructor approval to ensure consistency of workload. This assignment calls on students to work with an idea and the details of the organization and the RFP to blend intuitive and sensing personality characteristics in developing a superior grant application program narrative. Page limit: 12 pages, double-spaced. VI. Indirect Cost Proposal Exercise 10% Students will be provided with the necessary data and documentation to develop an indirect cost proposal using UTD as a model. Using the provided data and knowledge of indirect cost rate agreements with the federal government, students will prepare a hypothetical indirect cost proposal. Due to the complexity of these exercises in practice, this exercise will be greatly simplified to provide familiarity with the content and process for developing and submitting the proposal. Page Limit: N/A. 4

5 VII. Grant Management Reporting Exercise 10% Students will compile and submit to the instructor a set of quarterly federal grant reports. Included in this assignment will be technical reports as well as financial reports and requests for reimbursement. Students will compile data and complete the documents using actual federal forms where applicable. Page limit: Technical report (5 pages double-spaced); forms (pages: N/A). VIII. In-Class Submission Proposal 10% Students will prepare and demonstrate an in class presentation of their grant submission proposal. The expectation is that the presentation will be targeted to the funding agency and will act as a verbal and visual representation of the final grant proposal. Time Limit: 20 min IX. Completed Grant Proposal 15% Students will demonstrate their skills by submitting to me, by 11:59:59 p.m. Central Time, a complete electronic application package consisting of a cover letter, forms, application narrative, budget, and other required documentation in the expected format. The application will be evaluated for quality as though it were an application for funding. Students are expected to use the programs on which previous assignments were based to make this a combination/revision/addition exercise rather than a start-from-scratch effort. Class Attendance and Participation 7% Includes in-class discussion, participation in exercises, and attendance. ACADEMIC CALENDAR 5

6 Week 1: Introduction to the Course (8/25/15) Course Introduction Review of Syllabus Overview of subject and topics Introduction to applied projects Week 2: Introduction to Grants, Grant History, and Grants Management (9/1/15) Hall 2010, Chapter 1: Introduction Karsh and Fox 2009, Lesson 1: Who am I? (and What in the World do I Want to Do?) Karsh and Fox 2009, Lesson 2: Wait a Second What is a Grant and Where do I Get One? Fountain, J "Challenges to Organizational Change: Multi-Level Integrated Information Structures (MIIS)." Governance and Information Technology: From Electronic Government to Information Government. MIT Press. Cambridge, MA,. (pages 80-87) Week 3: The Search: Tools and Processes for locating Public and Private Funding (9/8/15) Hall 2010, Chapter 2: The Search for Funding Karsh and Fox 2009, Lesson 3: Making (Dollars and) Sense of Grant-Application Packages Karsh and Fox 2009, Funders Roundtable 1 Carroll, Deborah A. (2009) "Diversifying Municipal Government Revenue Structures: Fiscal Illusion or Instability?" Public Budgeting & Finance 29, no. 1 (2009): NOTE: By this date students should have located a foundation or agency that meets their goals and signed up for notices. Week 4: Planning and Preparation (9/15/15) I: Seeking Exercise Report DUE Hall 2010, Chapter 3: Planning & Preparation Karsh and Fox 2009, Lesson 4: Getting Ready to write a Grant Proposal (all subsections) 6

7 Karsh and Fox 2009, Lesson 5: Foundations of Proposal Writing Karsh and Fox 2009, Lesson 8: Identifying and Documenting the Need. Grants.gov: Grants.gov. Grant Forms (accessed November 14, 2013) Week 5 Developing Grants Budgets (9/22/15) Hall 2010, Chapter 4: Developing the Grant Budget and the Budget Narrative Karsh and Fox 2009, Lesson 13: The Budget: How Much Will it Cost and Is the Cost Reasonable? Karsh and Fox 2009, Lesson 14: Sustainability: How will you Continue When the Grant Funds Run Out? NIH 1: National Institutes of Health. NIH Budget About NIH (accessed November 9, 2013) Week 6: The Application Narrative Part I (9/29/15) II: Background and Need Narrative Report DUE Hall 2010, Chapter 5: The Grant Proposal Narrative (pp ) Karsh and Fox 2009, Lesson 6: Writing (Proposals) with Style: Twelve Basic Rules Karsh and Fox 2009, Lesson 7: Writing (Proposals) with Style: Tackling the Blank Page Karsh and Fox 2009, Lesson 15: Capacity: Proving That You Can Get the Job Done Week 7: The Application Narrative Part II (10/6/15) III. In-Class Report Demonstrating Need DUE Hall 2010, Chapter 5 Continued: The Application Narrative (pp ) Karsh and Fox 2009, Lesson 9: Goals and Objectives: What do you hope to Achieve if you get the Money Karsh and Fox 2009, Lesson 10: Developing and Presenting a Winning Program Karsh and Fox 2009, Lesson 11: Funding Partners and Building Coalitions Week 8: Forms and Other Documents (10/13/15) IV: Budget Exercise Report DUE Hall 2010, Chapter 6: Miscellaneous Forms and Documentation 7

8 Karsh and Fox 2009, Lesson 16: Front and Back: The Cover Page or Cover Letter the Abstract, the Table of Contents and the Appendix Karsh and Fox 2009, Funders Roundtable 2 Week 9: Grants Application Submission and the Decision Process (10/20/15) Hall 2010, Chapter 7: Submitting your Grant Hall 2010, Chapter 8: The Decision Process and Beyond Karsh and Fox 2009, Lesson 17: The Site Visit Playing Host Karsh and Fox 2009, Lesson 18: So Now you Know What next? NIH: National Institutes of Health. Frequently Asked Questions Resubmissions of NIH Applications (accessed November 4, 2013) Week 10: Basics of Grants Management (10/27/15) V. Program Narrative Exercise Report DUE Hall 2010, Chapter 9: Basics of Grant Management Karsh and Fox 2009, Funders Roundtable 3 Week 11: Regulatory Requirements for Research IRB, IACUC and COI (11/3/15) The Nuremburg Code / The Belmont Report: Documentary: Inside Job (in class screening) Week 12: Grant Related Research (11/10/15) VI. Indirect Cost Proposal Exercise DUE Hall, Jeremy L The Forgotten Regional Organizations: Creating Capacity for Economic Development Public Administration Review, 68:1, Hall, Jeremy L Assessing Local Capacity for Federal Grant-Getting American Review of Public Administration, 38(4): Hall, Jeremy L The Changing Federal Grant Structure and its Potential Effects on State/Local Community Development Efforts. Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting, and Financial Management, 20 (1):

9 Week 13: Evaluation for Grant Programs and Grant Applications (11/17/15) Hall 2010, Chapter 10: Evaluating Grant Programs Karsh and Fox 2009, Lesson 12: The Evaluation Plan How Can you be Sure if Your Program Worked? Week 14: Grant Making from a Funder s perspective (12/1/15) VII. Grant Management Reporting Exercise DUE VIII. In-Class Submission Proposal: Part I Hall 2010, Chapter 11: Turning the Table: It Is Better to Give than to Receive Week 15 (12/8/15) VIII. In-Class Submission Proposal: Part II (if Necessary) IX. Completed Grant Proposal DUE Course Policies Grading (credit) Criteria Make-up Exams Extra Credit Late Work Seeking Exercise Report 7% Background and Need Narrative Report 10% In-Class Report Demonstrating Need 8% Budget Exercise Report 10% Program Narrative Exercise Report 15% VI. Indirect Cost Proposal Exercise 10% Grant Management Reporting Exercise 10% VIII. In-Class Submission Proposal 10% Completed Grant Proposal 15% Class Attendance and Participation 7% Late or make-up exams will not be given except under exceptional documented circumstances at the sole discretion of the instructor. N/A Written assignments are due at 11:59M on their due date. Assignments may be submitted via (attached file) by prior arrangement with the instructor if the student will not be able to attend class. Assignments that are one day to one week late: 10 points will be deducted (out of 100). Assignments that are one week to two weeks late: 20 points will be deducted. 9

10 Assignments will not be accepted more than two weeks late. Special Assignments Class Attendance Classroom Citizenship N/A More than two absences will affect your final grade. Any student who misses more than two classes should expect to receive a grade no higher than B+ in this course. Major professional obligations or personal emergencies will, of course, not be counted against students under this policy at the professor s discretion. Students should consult with the professor about such unavoidable absences before class begins. Tardiness and early departures will also lead to reduced participation grades. If a student must miss class, he or she is responsible for ALL material presented in class. There will be material presented in the classroom that cannot be found in the textbooks or course readings. It is your responsibility to get notes from students after an absence. The professor will not provide class notes to students. The course materials and course syllabus are available through elearning. Each week, the instructor will introduce the subject scheduled for discussion, connect it to broader themes and additional topics to be covered in the course, briefly present some material, and often pose some questions for discussion. However, a major portion of class meetings is devoted to a broader discussion, analysis, and critique of the topics, approaches, and readings under review as well as practical discussion of grants submission and management. Students have the responsibility to contribute to the scholarly interchange during this activity. Accordingly, it is expected that all participants will complete readings on schedule and be prepared regularly to comment on and assist in the analysis of the literature and issues under discussion. To ensure the development of a quality discussion, students may be called on to discuss topics from the weekly readings. Thus, attendance and participation is expected and integral for the full learning experience. Comet Creed This creed was voted on by the UT Dallas student body in It is a standard that Comets choose to live by and encourage others to do the same: As a Comet, I pledge honesty, integrity, and service in all that I do. 10

11 UT Dallas Syllabus Policies and Procedures The information contained in the following link constitutes the University s policies and procedures segment of the course syllabus. Please go to for these policies. The descriptions and timelines contained in this syllabus are subject to change at the discretion of the Professor. 11