Collaborative research: virtual workshops to support two-year college geoscience faculty to engage in funded stem education research and improvement initiatives

The National Science Foundation's Division of Undergraduate Education awarded Suffolk County Community College $222,468 under the STEM Education program (CFDA 47.076) for a collaborative research project spanning January 1, 2026, through December 31, 2028. This Track 2 Improving Two-Year College (ITYC) project delivers virtual workshops and comprehensive mentoring support to geoscience faculty at two-year colleges, enabling them to develop, write, and submit competitive proposals for federally funded STEM education improvement initiatives. The project is led by an experienced team of geoscience project leaders and writing consultants who facilitate pre-workshop, workshop, and post-workshop activities designed to build faculty expertise in grant proposal development and foster a sustained community of practice among two-year college educators.

The initiative addresses the national need to expand geoscience education capacity and research funding at two-year institutions by introducing participants to funding opportunities available to community colleges as lead institutions, supporting faculty teams through the proposal development process, and investigating the most effective program elements for facilitating grant success. By increasing the number and quality of funded geoscience education projects at two-year colleges, the project aims to strengthen pathways into geoscience majors and careers, enhance collaboration between two- and four-year institutions, and deepen the two-year college geoscience community's engagement with federal agencies.

Abstract

This project aims to serve the national interest by conducting virtual workshops and post-workshop activities to support and mentor two-year college geoscience faculty and their collaborators to engage in funded stem education improvement efforts. The overarching goal is to assist two-year colleges in developing, writing, and submitting proposals that seek funds to support institutional goals and contribute to the stem education community. This track 2 ityc project is a collaboration between three two-year colleges that aims to introduce workshop participants to funding opportunities aligned with two-year colleges as lead institution; foster a community of faculty engaged in proposal development; build expertise and confidence for developing proposals; and investigate the project elements that are most effective for supporting faculty in grant development and submission. An experienced team of geoscience project leaders and writing consultants leads the development and implementation of a suite of virtual pre-workshop, workshop, and post-workshop activities. This initiative holds significant potential to increase both the number and range of funded geoscience education projects, expand pathways into geoscience majors and careers, enhance collaboration between two- and four-year institutions, and deepen the two-year college geoscience community?s engagement with federal agencies. Through this effort, geoscience education at two-year colleges stands to be meaningfully transformed. The project goals are to: (1) introduce participants to funding opportunities suitable for two-year colleges as lead institution; (2) support two-year college faculty teams in developing, writing, and submitting proposals; (3) foster a community of two-year college faculty engaged in stem education improvement; (4) build expertise and confidence in proposal development; and (5) investigate the project elements most effective in supporting two-year college faculty in these activities. These goals are addressed through a range of faculty-support mechanisms including multi-day workshops, webinars, and individualized coaching and mentorship. Additional feedback on proposals is provided by experts and a dedicated webinar for grant officers is also included. Formative and summative assessment and evaluation efforts focus on identifying which structural elements of the workshops most significantly contributes to proposal submission, as well as assessing the impact of distinct project components. Dissemination efforts include conference presentations and webinars both within and beyond the geoscience education community. The NSF iuse: innovation in two-year college stem education (ityc) program seeks to accelerate and advance knowledge about the impact of emerging and evidence-based practices in undergraduate stem education at two-year colleges. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.- subawards are not planned for this award.