http://chronicle.com/blogs/innovations/research-focused-hbcus-should-pay-attention-to-fayetteville-state-u/33207
July 2, 2012, 12:42 pm
According to
a 2008 report by the Congressional Research Service, many HBCU’s face
difficulty competing for federal research dollars with other research
universities. Federal trend data reveal that research-performing HBCU’s have
not shared proportionately in the distribution of federal research and
development (R&D) dollars going to colleges and universities. Although
funding to HBCU’s has increased in the past 10 years in absolute terms, it
remains only a small fraction of the total awarded to all U.S. colleges and
universities. Moreover, the report noted that among HBCU’s, funding was
unevenly distributed (much like it is among majority institutions). Funding for
non-HBCU’s also is concentrated at selected institutions. For example, in
FY2005, the top 10 HBCU’s (in terms of receipt of federal R&D support to
HBCU’s) accounted for approximately 52.7 percent of total federal R&D
support, and the top 20 HBCU’s accounted for approximately 72 percent of total
R&D support. This trend leaves 85 HBCU’s, many that would benefit greatly
from R&D dollars, without funding.
One of the
main reasons why HBCU’s have difficulty securing federal grants is that they
often lack the infrastructure for securing them as well as the infrastructure
for maintaining them. Managing larger federal grants takes an inordinate amount
of work. Most HBCU’s have very few staff members in the grant writing and
management area. In addition, faculty members have heavy teaching and advising
responsibilities.
Despite some
of these challenges, Fayetteville State University is gearing up to secure
federal dollars and become a Center for Excellence with its Center for Defense
and Homeland Security and their approach is a model for other HBCU’s. First,
the center, which is directed by Curtis Charles, is interdisciplinary in its
approach, bringing together 22 of the institution’s top faculty members that
focus on issues of national security. With this approach, the institution is
able to garner buy-in across the institution for the center. Second, with the
center, Chancellor James Anderson is set on preparing the next generation of
individuals working in national security and well as emergency management.
Third, Fayetteville State put a business model in place and hired personnel
that have great success in both securing and managing large federal grants.
Fourth, the institution has created partnerships with industry, including
faculty mentorship programs, student workstudy opportunities, and co-applying
for grants. Fifth, the center has both an internal and external advisory board.
The internal board cuts across the various schools and provides institutional
buy in for the center’s ideas. The external board is made up of key leaders in
industry, higher education, and government. Sixth, the institution is engaging
its alumni in the center and nurturing their support. And lastly, the
institution is bringing together faculty research, industry, undergraduate
research, and K-12 outreach in one endeavor, making Fayetteville State a strong
contender to garner federal support for their center.
Although
many of the approaches being used by Fayetteville State are commonplace at
large research universities, they are not at HBCU’s. FSU has one of the most
comprehensive approaches in place and other research-focused HBCU’s should pay
attention.
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entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged Black colleges, Center for Defense and Homeland Security, Curtis Charles, Fayetteville State University, federal grants, James Anderson, North Carolina. Bookmark the permalink.
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