Richard Sebastian

The digital home of Richard Sebastian

Category: CIF Grants

Announcing the 2014-15 CIF Awards

October 29, 2014 / / 0 Comments

Sticky_Notes_2 Congratulations to the following projects selected to receive awards from the 2014-15 Chancellor’s Innovation Fund. The 21 winning proposals below were selected from a total of 37 submissions from 21 different VCCS colleges. Due to limited funding, the CIF Review Committee, made up of both academic and workforce staff, was faced with the difficult task of judging the best projects from among many very worthy proposals.

The winning proposals include the development of a mobile 3D printing lab, several open educational resource (OER) projects, as well as many other compelling projects, including one that explores innovative financial aid processes and another that will create competency-based instruction for developmental math.  Once completed, these openly licensed projects can be used by any of our 23 VCCS colleges.

You can read more about each CIF project by clicking on the word Link beside the project titles below.

Link Project Title College Credit Award
Link Educacion Para Todos/Education for All LFCC Credit $13,748.00
Link Enhancing Learning through Early Academic Intervention Strategies VWCC Credit $16,130.00
Link GET CONNECTED with Pathway Connection: “Connecting high school completion to college and career readiness/success” NVCC Non-Credit $5,214.00
Link Faculty Inquiry Groups (FIG) – A Collaborative Approach to Hybrid Certification NVCC Credit $13,250.00
Link LEAD Academy: Leadership, Education, Engagement And Development to Increase Student Success through the GEC VHCC Credit $29,250.00
Link Expansion of Paul D. Camp Community College's Trades Programs (Fast-Track Facilities Maintenance Technology CSC and HVAC CSC) PDCCC Credit $10,700.00
Link Expanding Student Access and Success Through New Financial Aid Initiatives PDCCC Credit $25,320.00
Link Charlottesville Area Advanced Manufacturing Program (CAAMP) PVCC Non-Credit $14,820.00
Link Fabricating a Fast Track Credentialed Welder Pipeline through a K-12 and Industry Partnerships DSLCC Credit $50,000.00
Link Jump Start to College Success MECC Credit $46,575.00
Link Innovative Student Success Strategies NRCC Credit $13,600.00
Link ACT-4 Scholars Program RCC Credit $10,200.00
Link Capstone for Learning Online and Universal Design (CLOUD) JSRCC Credit $13,470.00
Link Veterans Training and Employment Network (VTEN): Advanced Manufacturing TCC Non-Credit $37,370.00
Link Bridging the Gap for Success in CTE RCC Credit $19,800.00
Link Active Learning Classroom Space BRCC Credit $39,000.00
Link Dynamic Texts: Multiple models for integrating OER JTCC Credit $14,074.00
Link Fabulous Fab Lab: Traveling Rapid Prototype Maker Workshop TCC Non-Credit $25,000.00
Link Capturing the Methods of Master Teachers PVCC Credit $16,303.00
Link Developmental Mathematics @ PVCC: Implementing and Aligning Competency-Based Instruction PVCC Credit $20,850.00
Link Creating an OER Community between Community College and High School Faculty JSRCC Credit $42,473.00
Link Project Title College Credit Award
Powered by Gravity Forms Directory

Get innovatin’: Announcing the 2014-15 Chancellor’s Innovation Fund

September 9, 2014 / / 0 Comments

open_innovation_off

Today Chancellor Glenn DuBois announced the call for proposals for the 2014-2015 Chancellor’s Innovation Fund (CIF). This fund provides crucial support to college faculty and staff who are driven to develop innovative projects, test out their ideas, and investigate new, inventive ways to meet the goals of Achieve 2015, particularly the goals of supporting access and increasing student success.

Past CIF recipients have used the funds to contribute such valuable, lasting projects as PluggedIn VA, the courses in the Teaching Online Program (TOP, IDOL, LOGO, TOTAL), Northern Virginia’s OER-Based Associate Degree Project, and a number of crucial workforce certifications and academic programs.

Awards range from $5000 to $50,000 for innovative proposals from colleges. Of particular interest to the CIF Selection Committee are proposals for projects that address the following areas of need:

  • Competency-based learning
  • Credit for prior learning
  • Employability skills
  • Expedited program pathways
  • Innovative approaches financial aid disbursement
  • Innovative student success strategies
  • K-12 alignment & transfer
  • Open educational resources
  • Structured program pathways

Proposals are due by 11:59 pm October 10th, 2014. The announcement of awards will be made after October 24th, 2014. CIF awards must be spent by June 30th 2014.

You will find all of the application materials and online submission form at http://edtech.vccs.edu/educational-technology-resources/cif/2014-15/.

 

Did you miss yesterday’s Chancellor’s Innovation Fund webinar?

September 4, 2014 / / 0 Comments

Tsk, tsk. However, you’re in luck, thanks to my Ronco® Video Majik Webinar Playback Recorder and Rotisserie. During the hour-long webinar I not only talked about the upcoming release of the Call for Proposals for the Chancellor’s Innovation Fund but also prepared a delicious rump roast for my entire family, with no pots to scrub or webinar grease to clean up afterwards!

Kidding aside: you can find a link to the recorded session here and a copy of the slidedeck here. The infomercial for the Ronco Rotisserie and BBQ is posted below for your enjoyment.

NVCC’s OER Project Makes Headlines

March 10, 2014 / / 0 Comments

OCW | NVCC | GED ED | OER

Northern Virginia Community College’s Extended Learning Institute (ELI) is currently being showcased on the OpenCourseware Consortium website for their OER-based General Education Project. The OpenCourseWare Consortium is a worldwide community of higher education institutions and associated organizations “committed to advancing open education and its impact on global education.” NVCC’s OER-Based General Education Project utilizes free and/or open courses materials to deliver a high quality learning experience and lead to a General Studies Certificate and satisfy the first year of the Associate of Science Degree. The project was funded through a 2013 College Innovation Fund grant received from the Virginia Community College System.

Dr. Preston Davis, Director of Instruction at Northern Virginia Community College’s Extended Learning Institute, and his staff of faculty, librarians, and instructional designers used the grant funds not just to reduce costs, but also to create greater awareness of OER among faculty at NVCC and, most importantly,  improve teaching and learning through the use of engaging new OER content. —
Currently, the Gen Ed OER project offers twelve courses that have no course material or textbook costs. The courses are ART 101 and 102, ENGLISH 111,112,125, and 251, HISTORY 121, 122, and 262, MATH 151, PHYSICS 201 and 202, and STUDENT DEVELOPMENT 100. A second CIF grant awarded to NVCC in 2014 will allow the college to develop OER for additional second year courses in order to offer a General Education degree with no textbook costs.

Watch the video below to hear the ELI  team talk the project.

Announcing the 2013-14 CIF Grant Awardees

January 7, 2014 / / 0 Comments

The annual Chancellor’s Innovation Fund (CIF) Grant provides colleges with an opportunity to apply for and receive funding for innovative projects aligned with Achieve 2015, particularly those that support the goals of access and student success. Selected projects can receive up to $75,000. Past CIF projects include the multi-college Teaching Online Program (TOP), PHCC’s HOPE: High-demand Occupational Programs for Employment (nominated for a 2014 Bellwether Award), and NVCC’s OER Based General Education Certificate Program.

This year, there were a record number of submissions, which made the task of selecting the best projects from so many worthy ones incredibly challenging. Grantees were selected by a committee of workforce and academic staff using  a rubric aligned with the CIF criteria outlined in the request for proposals.

The following very worthy projects are the 2013-14 CIF grant winners. Congratulations to this year’s grantees!

College

Project Title

Award Amount

BRCC

 BRCC Welding, Machining, & Fabrication Program

$74,537

CVCC

 Preparing for the Virginia Placement Test

$24,000

DSLCC

 Reaching Out with Expanded On-Line and Summer Enrichment Activities

$28,859

GCC

 GCC Podcast Partners in Regional Workforce and Economic Development

$11,092

ESCC

 ESCC Mini-MOOC: Orientation to Online Learning

$7,200

JTCC

 Increasing College and Career Readiness in Future STEM Workers

$30,250

LFCC

 Conceptual Exploration of a Virtual Environment in the Student Development Classroom

$7,500

LFCC

 Principles of Accounting II OER Content

$10,200

NRCC

 Innovative Course Development: From Manufacturing to Gaming

$53,000

NVCC

 NOVA ELI OER-Based General Studies Program

$26,000

NVCC

 TOTAL: Mainstreaming the Innovation

$24,955

NVCC

 Advancing Education and Career Pathways for Veteran Students in Northern Virginia

$47,000

PHCC

 Innovation Engineering: Create, Communicate, Commercialize

$16,500

PVCC

 Homework System for Chemistry and Biology Classes at PVCC

$12,110

PVCC

 Sharing the Wisdom and Methods of Master Teachers

$15,489

TCC

 Pathway to OER: Embracing Open Content in the Classroom

$4000

TCC

 Virtual Employment Academy (VEA)

$75,000

VHCC

 Developing OERs in STEM-H Courses to Increase Student Access

$36,810

VWCC

 Connecting Advisors to Improve Student Success

$21,586

VWCC

 Creating a Bridge to Success–VWCC Quick Connect for Manufacturing Production Technician (MPT)

$25,116

The 2013-14 Chancellor’s Innovation Fund

October 8, 2013 / / 0 Comments

innovation_exploration_http-::www.flickr.com:photos:hamptonroadspartnership

This past Friday, Chancellor DuBois announced the release of the Request for Proposals for the 2013-14 Chancellor’s Innovation Fund (CIF). I have posted his announcement below, which he sent out to VCCS Presidents in an email. The RFP comes a little later than usual this year, narrowing the implementation time a bit. However, the award amount has increased, from a maximum of $45,000 to $75,000.

Please share the announcement and the link to the materials with anyone at your college who may be interested.

Presidents:
I am excited to once again share with you the request for proposals for the 2013-2014 Chancellor’s Innovation Fund (CIF) Grant.  The purpose of this yearly grant is to provide the necessary funds to college faculty and staff driven to pursue their innovative projects, test out ideas, and investigate new, inventive ways to meet the goals of Achieve 2015, particularly the goals of supporting access and increasing student success.

Past CIF recipients have used the funds to contribute such valuable, lasting projects as PluggedIn VA, the courses in the Teaching Online Program (TOP, IDOL, MODEL, LOGO, TOTAL), and a number of crucial workforce certifications and academic programs. CIF grant awards range from $5000 to $75,000 for innovative proposals from colleges, particularly in the following areas:

Student Services

  • Provide support to potential and enrolled military veterans
  • Support college completion for students with some college credit
  • Foster deeper integration of academic and student services

Technology

  • Increase the adoption and use of open educational resources (OER)
  • Develop programs or applications that explore effective educational uses of mobile devices, social media, and other digital tools

Workforce Development

  • Develop high-quality distance delivery of academic and workforce programs to be offered for a consortium of VCCS colleges
  • Develop new certification programs that address local workforce needs
  • Enhance career pathways that link credit and noncredit programs
  • Develop “fast track” curricula that lead to credentials and employment

I encourage you and the faculty and staff at your college to take advantage of this opportunity as we all work towards a common goal: a successful academic experience for every student we enroll. Proposals are due by 5:00 pm November 4th, 2013. The announcement of awards will be made after November 29th, 2013.  CIF awards must be spent by June 30th 2013.  You can find the Request for Proposals and all supporting application materials at: http://edtech.vccs.edu/educational-technology-resources/cif/cif-2013-14/. If you have questions or require additional information, please contact Dr. Richard Sebastian, Director of Teaching and Learning Technologies, at rsebastian@vccs.edu or (804) 819-4795.

© 2023 Richard Sebastian

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑