URBS 4/553—Grants Administration

Term: Fall, 2009

Instructor: Tony Filipovitch, 106d Morris Hall, (507) 389-5035, 388-2264 (home)

Office Hours: My office hours are posted here. I am available in my office at those times (or other times by appointment). I also check my e-mail daily (usually several times during the day), and have an answering machine on both my home and office phone. There is no reason to flounder around, unsure of what “he wants” or confused about what you are doing; and even if everything is going fine with the coursework, there is more to learning than completing the assignments. I encourage you to visit me, in person or at a distance by phone or e-mail, many times during the course.

Text:

Soraya M. Coley & Cynthia A. Scheinberg. 2007. Proposal Writing: Effective Grantsmanship. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Course Overview:

This course is designed to teach you how to raise resources for public and nonprofit organizations, from needs assessment through obtaining funding to managing the grant after it is awarded.

Learning Outcomes:

By the end of the course you will be able to:

1. Identify and research potential funding sources

2. Develop an effective problem statement

3. Design a program model to meet the identified needs

4. Create a management plan and a proposed budget, including a system for monitoring and reporting on the grant after it is awarded.

Assignments:

1. Readings:

Students are expected to read and understand the readings assigned for each unit. I have included my notes for each unit, but they are not a substitute for your own reading. There will not be any tests or quizzes over the material in the readings; rather, you will demonstrate how well you have understood the readings through regular discussions and written assignments.

2. Class Discussion:

This class will be primarily discussion and project based, although I may indulge in the occasional lecture and demonstration. You are expected to come to class prepared to discuss the readings on the assigned date. Attendance at all class meetings is presumed.

3. Projects:

The proof of what you have learned in this course will be your ability to apply what you have been learning in practical situations. Specifically:

· You will complete 8 project assignments, 3 for grant prospecting, 3 for the elements of planning and managing a grant, and 2 essays on post-award and grant review. You will e-mail your work to me.

· Besides the 8 projects, the final project for the course will be to write a complete grant for an RFP (which I will provide). You will post your final proposals to the D2L site. The graduate students will constitute a peer-review panel for the grants (they will abstain from reviewing their own proposal, of course), using review criteria which I will provide. The winning proposal will receive an automatic “A” for the course.

4. Graduate Students’ Duties

Graduate students will constitute a peer-review panel for the grants submitted at the end of the course. In addition, they will be expected to demonstrate a deeper understanding of the organizational dynamics and managerial issues involved in program development.

Course Calendar

Due	Unit	Reading	Projects
Prospecting for Grants
8/24	Intro to course/syllabus Notes from Dubose, Developing Successful Grants	Minnesota Giving; Text, Ch. 1
8/30	1. Prospecting for Funds	Text, Ch. 2 & Appendix B Grants Information Collection	Prospecting I : Program Notes
9/14		Text, Ch. 3	Prospecting II : Individual grants
9/21		MCF Principles for Grantmakers	Prospecting III : Prospecting Worksheets
Preparing a Grant Proposal
9/28	2. Problem Statement	Text, Ch. 4 & 5; “The Way We Write Is All Wrong” (D2L Content)	Explaining yourself
10/5	3.The Program Model a. Logic Models & Mission Statement	Text, Ch. 6
10/12	b. Tasks	Text, Appendix A
10/19	c. Evaluation	Text, Ch. 7	Defend yourself!
10/26			Begin writing Second RFP
11/2	4. Project Budget	Text, Ch. 8	Tell me again
11/9	5. Packaging the Grant	Text, Ch. 9 “How to Improve Your Score”
Post-Award Grant Management
11/16	6. Performance Management	Guide for the Perplexed
11/23	7. Financial Management	MCF Common Grant Form; MCF Common Report Form	Post second RFP to D2L Post Award Essay
11/30	8. Reviewing Grant Proposals		Reviewer Essay
12/7	Finals--Grant Reviews due; Course evaluations due

Course Expectations:

Attendance & Class Participation:

Students play an important role in educating and challenging each other. This can only happen if there is consistent attendance. I expect you to attend, and I may take the class roll. Unexcused absence (prior notification is required—even if I am not available, voice mail and e-mail always are) can result in loss of points toward one’s grade. You are paying for this class—make sure to get your “money’s worth.” Most importantly, this is an excellent foundation of knowledge for future activities, and it is a chance for you to learn, teach, and grow with others.

Grading:

The points for the course are divided as follows:

Undergrad Grad

1)Projects (8 @ 9 pts.) 72 72

2) Final RFP 28 28

3) Grant Review 20

The final grade may be based on a curve, but students canexpect at least an A if they achieve 90%, a B with 80%, etc. (Grad students will be graded on a 120-pt. scale; undergrads on a 100-pt. scale).

Other Matters:

All assignments (including discussion) are due on the assigned date. Partial credit may be given for assignments that are less than one week late, unless other arrangements have been made in advance.

Written reports are expected to be free of grammatical, spelling, and content errors. They should be submitted in typewritten, standard formats (APA, MLA, URSI Style Sheets). You must familiarize yourself with the University’s Academic Honesty Policy. I encourage you to draw on the ideas of others—but you must also identify when you do so (you gain “brownie points” for citing the work of others!). Plagiarism is a serious breach of academic behavior and will result in an F for the course.

I will help you in whatever manner humanly possible. However, once the semester is over, there is not a great deal I can do. If there is something that you don’t understand, are having problems with, or need help on, please get in touch with me as early as possible.

Every attempt will be made to accommodate qualified students with disabilities. If you area student with a documented disability, please contact us as early in the semester as possible to discuss the necessary accommodations, and/or contact the Disability Services Office at 507-389-2825 (V) or 1-800-627-3529 (MRS/TTY).

Bibliography

This is a selection of books & articles I will be referring to in the course. It could serve as a starting point for your own further reading & research:

MSU