Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program nsf09513

Letter of Intent Due Date(s) (optional) (due by 5 p.m. proposer's local time):

REVISION NOTES

A revised version of the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG), NSF 09-1, was issued on October 1, 2008 and is effective for proposals submitted on or after January 5, 2009. Please be advised that the guidelines contained in NSF 09-1 apply to proposals submitted in response to this funding opportunity. Proposers who opt to submit prior to January 5^th, 2009, must also follow the guidelines contained in NSF 09-1.

One of the most significant changes to the PAPPG is implementation of the mentoring provisions of the America COMPETES Act. Each proposal that requests funding to support postdoctoral researchers must include, as a separate section within the 15-page project description, a description of the mentoring activities that will be provided for such individuals. Proposals that do not include a separate section on mentoring activities within the Project Description will be returned without review (see the PAPP Guide Part I: Grant Proposal Guide Chapter II.C.2.d for further information).

All proposals submitted to I³ through these programs have a common due date and will be reviewed in competition with one another. Eligibility is limited to institutions of higher education (including two- and four-year colleges). If the proposal is exclusively for I³ STEM educational or related research, then all categories of proposers identified in the NSF Grant Proposal Guide are eligible to submit. Given the focus on institutional integration, an institution may submit only one proposal to the I³ competition for each deadline.

SUMMARY OF PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS

General Information

Award Information

Estimated Number of Awards: 16 to 24 awards under the Noyce Scholarship Program. Pending the availability of funding, it is anticipated that there will be 10-12 Noyce Phase I awards, 2-4 Noyce Phase II awards, 2-4 Teaching Fellowship/Master Teaching Fellowship Awards, and 2-4 Teaching Fellowship Planning Grants. Up to 12 continuing awards will be made in the Innovation through Institutional Integration activity for the February 24, 2009, competition, pending availability of funds. Up to 12 continuing I³ awards will also be made in Fiscal Year 2010 for the August 25, 2009, competition, pending availability of funds.

Anticipated Funding Amount: $14,000,000 for new Noyce awards in FY 2009 pending availability of funds. $10,000,000 over 5 years for Innovation through Institutional Integration projects across multiple EHR programs for each of Fiscal Years 2009 and 2010, pending availability of funds.

Eligibility Information

Proposal Preparation and Submission Instructions

Proposal Review Information Criteria

Merit Review Criteria: National Science Board approved criteria. Additional merit review considerations apply. Please see the full text of this solicitation for further information.

Award Administration Information

Reporting Requirements: Additional reporting requirements apply. Please see the full text of this solicitation for further information.

I. INTRODUCTION

II. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

ROBERT NOYCE TEACHER SCHOLARSHIP TRACK

The Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Track awards grants to institutions of higher education (as defined in section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965) in the United States, or consortia of such institutions, or nonprofit entities that have established consortia among such institutions of higher education to provide scholarships and programs for juniors and seniors who are majoring in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) and stipends for STEM professionals seeking to become teachers. Support is also provided for summer internships for freshman and sophomore students to provide early field experiences in formal and informal STEM education settings that will spark an interest in teaching. A goal of the program is to recruit individuals with strong STEM backgrounds who might otherwise not have considered a career in K-12 teaching. Proposals may address either the scholarship or the stipend program or both programs. Scholarship and stipend recipients should be selected on the basis of academic merit, with consideration given to financial need and the diversity of participants in the program. Institutions are expected to provide the programs and support to enable scholarship and stipend recipients to obtain teacher certification or licensing and to become successful elementary or secondary teachers. This support should be based on effective, evidence-based strategies and should be available to recipients during their participation in the program and continue after their completion of the program to ease the transition into teaching and aid retention during and beyond the obligatory service period. Program activities for scholarship and stipend recipients may include serving as resources for science and mathematics instruction in K-12 classrooms.

The project leadership team is expected to include STEM discipline faculty and education faculty working in collaboration with public school districts and master K-12 teachers. Although there is no requirement that the PI be a member of STEM disciplinary faculty, there should be significant participation of STEM faculty on the PI/Co-PI leadership team and in the implementation of the project. Partnerships between two-year and four-year institutions are encouraged.

Scholarships for STEM Majors

Scholarship amounts must be at least $10,000 per year; however, no individual may receive a scholarship for any year that exceeds the yearly cost of attendance (as defined in section 472 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087ll)). Scholarship recipients must be U.S. citizens or nationals, or permanent resident aliens, must be majoring in mathematics, engineering, or a science discipline, and must be in the last 2 years of a baccalaureate degree program. It is expected that these students will graduate with a major in a STEM discipline (mathematics, science, or engineering) and will obtain teacher certification or licensing. Students enrolled in institutions requiring a fifth year or post-baccalaureate program for teacher certification may apply the scholarship to the post-baccalaureate program. A recipient may receive up to three years of scholarship support, beginning in the junior year and continuing through the postbaccalaureate study leading to certification. Part time students may receive prorated scholarships not to exceed 6 years of support. Recipients of scholarships must commit to completion of two years of service as a mathematics or science teacher for each year the scholarship is received. Service must be completed within 8 years after graduation from the program for which the scholarship was awarded and must be performed in a high-need local educational agency as defined in section 201 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1021):

The term "high need local educational agency" means a local educational agency that serves an elementary or secondary school located in an area in which there is:

a high percentage of individuals from families with incomes below the poverty line;
a high percentage of secondary school teachers not teaching in the content area in which the teachers were trained to teach; or
a high teacher turnover rate.

Summer Internships

As an additional component of proposals focusing on undergraduate scholarships, proposals may include summer internships for undergraduate freshmen and sophomores to introduce students to early experiences in STEM education and provide examples of the integration of research and education. It is expected that these internships will be well-structured to provide meaningful experiences for the students with the goal of interesting them in STEM teaching as a career, thereby increasing the pool of Noyce Scholarship applicants. Settings for internships may include formal and informal STEM education venues, such as summer science and math camps, summer school, science museums, nature centers, or science research laboratories. Stipends are limited to $450 per week.

Stipends for STEM Professionals

Stipends of at least $10,000, but not greater than the yearly cost of attendance, are available for a maximum of one year for science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) professionals who hold a baccalaureate, masters, or doctoral degree in science, mathematics, or engineering and enroll in a teacher certification program. Stipend recipients must be U.S. citizens or nationals, or permanent resident aliens. Recipients of stipends must commit to serving two years as a mathematics or science teacher in a high-need local educational agency, as defined above, within 4 years after graduation or completion of the program for which the stipend was awarded. Current K-12 teachers seeking new certification or re-certification are not eligible to receive Noyce scholarships or stipends.

Programmatic Support

Proposals may include expenditures for program development and enhancement to enable STEM majors to complete a STEM degree while also completing teacher certification requirements within 5 years or to enable STEM professionals to earn a teaching credential. Program components designed to attract students into teaching, provide high quality preparation for their success as teachers, and to retain them in the teaching workforce may include early field experiences, academic courses in content and pedagogy, and activities and support for new teachers. At least 80% of the budget must be for support directly received by the participants, including scholarships, stipends, and internships. This portion of the budget may also include other direct costs such as stipends for mentors, conference travel, professional development costs, and other direct expenditures that will enhance the development of Noyce Scholars during their preservice and induction years.

Categories of Proposals

The Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship track provides funding for two categories of proposals:

Phase I proposals are invited from institutions that have not previously been funded under the Robert Noyce Scholarship Program or are requesting funding to support Noyce Scholars from a department or academic unit that has not participated in a previous Noyce award. For example, a current or previous awardee that administered a scholarship program exclusively for mathematics majors under the Robert Noyce Scholarship Program may submit a new proposal focusing on science majors.
Phase II proposals are invited from institutions that have previously been funded under the Robert Noyce Scholarship program and whose award expiration date occurs on or before December 31, 2009.

Phase I proposals provide scholarships for juniors and seniors who are majoring in a science discipline, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) and stipends for STEM professionals seeking to become teachers. In addition, Phase I proposals may offer paid summer internships in formal or informal STEM educational settings as a strategy for interesting students in teaching. Proposals may address the scholarship component or the stipend component or both. Up to 20% of the proposed budget may be allocated for administrative and program costs associated with recruiting and preparing the teachers, marketing the program, developing academic components of the program, conducting monitoring and evaluation activities, and other activities associated with project administration.

Within Phase II, two options are available: Scholarship and Stipend (S&S) Projects and Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) projects. Phase II S&S Awards provide funds for prior awardees to expand and extend the evaluation efforts initiated under the original award and to support additional cohorts of scholarship and stipend recipients. Phase II M&E Awards support monitoring and expanded evaluation, but do not include funding for additional cohorts of scholarship or stipend recipients. All Phase II proposals are expected to show evidence of the success of the previous award that warrants additional funding. These proposals must include plans for conducting longitudinal evaluation studies of students supported under the previous Noyce award as well as monitoring and evaluation of new cohorts of students. Proposals must include plans for evaluating the impact of the program on recruitment of teachers, the impact on the institution, and the effectiveness of the Noyce recipients as K-12 teachers. Up to 20% of the budget may be allocated for administrative and program costs and for evaluation and research activities associated with the Phase II S&S project.

The maximum total budget for Phase I proposals is $900,000 with a project duration of up to 5 years. The maximum total budget for Phase II S&S proposals is $600,000 with a project duration of up to 4 years.

Phase II M&E Awards provide funding to measure project outcomes through longitudinal evaluation studies and the continued monitoring of Noyce recipients to ensure they have completed their teaching requirement. Since M &E awards do not include funds for awarding additional scholarships and stipends, indirect costs may be included in the proposal budget. The maximum total budget for proposals in this category is $150,000 with a project duration of up to 3 years.

Specific requirements for Phase I and Phase II proposals are described in Section V. Proposal Preparation and Submission Instructions.

Institutional Responsibilities

The institution shall require that each recipient of the scholarship or stipend accepts the terms of the scholarship or stipend and agrees to provide the institution with annual certification of employment and up-to-date contact information and to participate in surveys provided by the institution of higher education and program evaluators as part of project-level and program evaluation efforts. Monitoring the compliance of scholarship and stipend recipients with respect to their service requirements will be the responsibility of the institution of higher education receiving the award. It is expected that failure to satisfy the academic requirements of the program or to complete the service requirement will result in forfeiture of the scholarship or stipend award, which will revert to a loan with repayments pro-rated accordingly to reflect partial service completed. The institution is responsible for collecting the repayment amounts, including interest, in accordance with P.L. 110-69, SEC. 7030. All forfeited scholarship or stipend funds, less grantee administrative costs associated with collection of the repayment not to exceed 5% of the forfeited amount, will be returned to the United States Treasury. Funds collected as repayments may not be used by the awardee. The institution is expected to establish procedures that ensure compliance with the service requirement with allowances for extreme hardship or other circumstances for which it is not in the best interests of the school district or not feasible for the scholarship/stipend recipient to fulfill the service obligation. The institution may establish procedures for waiving or suspending repayment of scholarships or stipends in cases of extreme hardship or other circumstances that would preclude the fulfillment of the service obligation.

Eligible institutions must provide evidence of exemplary teacher preparation efforts to ensure that scholarship and stipend recipients become successful science and mathematics teachers in elementary or secondary schools. Successful proposals also will provide evidence of functioning partnerships between institutions of higher education and school districts and an infrastructure that is supportive of new teachers. All projects are expected to include an evaluation plan for measuring the impact of the project and effectiveness of proposed strategies in attracting, preparing, and retaining STEM individuals in teaching careers as well as the effectiveness of the Noyce scholarship/stipend recipients as teachers. The evaluation plan should include a mechanism for tracking the scholarship/stipend recipients as they fulfill their teaching obligation and a method for collecting demographic data on these individuals. In addition to the project-specific evaluation, all projects will be expected to cooperate with an NSF third party monitoring and evaluation of program impact that will require annual data collection. It is expected that individual project evaluation, as well as the overall program evaluation, will contribute to the knowledge base of effective strategies for attracting and retaining effective teachers with strong STEM content knowledge.

NSF TEACHING FELLOWSHIPS AND MASTER TEACHING FELLOWSHIPS (TF/MTF) TRACK

The NSF Teaching Fellowships and Master Teaching Fellowships track of the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program offers awards to institutions to administer fellowships and programmatic support to STEM professionals, referred to as NSF Teaching Fellows, who enroll in a master's degree program leading to teacher certification or licensing and fellowships to mathematics and science teachers, referred to as NSF Master Teaching Fellows, who have a master's degree and participate in a program for developing Master Teachers. All eligible institutions, including institutions with current Noyce Phase I or Phase II awards, may submit proposals to the NSF Teaching Fellowship and Master Teaching Fellowship track.

NSF Teaching Fellowship and Master Teaching Fellowship proposals require partnerships that include:

a department within an institution of higher education that provides an advanced program of study in math and science,
a department or entity within an IHE that provides a teacher preparation program or a 2-year institution that offers a teacher preparation program or a dual enrollment or an articulation agreement with an IHE that credentials teachers,
at least one high need school district (as defined above) and public school(s) within this district, and
at least one nonprofit organization with the capacity and expertise to support the goals of the project.

Proposals may focus on Teaching Fellows or on Master Teaching Fellows or may support both groups; however, proposals focusing on Master Teaching Fellows are expected to involve the Master Teaching Fellows in the institution's preservice program.

Projects should provide academic courses, activities, and clinical teaching experiences leading to a master's degree and teacher certification or licensing for the NSF Teaching Fellows. Institutions are expected to provide the programs and support, including evidence-based strategies, to enable the Fellows to complete a Master's degree and obtain teacher certification or licensing within one year and to become successful elementary or secondary teachers. Projects should provide mentoring and professional development while the teachers are fulfilling their teaching requirement. This support should be based on effective, evidence-based strategies and should be available to recipients during their participation in the program and continue after their completion of the program to ease the transition into teaching and aid retention during and beyond the obligatory service period.

Proposals supporting the development of Master Teachers should offer the academic courses, professional development and leadership training to prepare participants to become Master Teachers in elementary and secondary schools.

Teaching Fellows and Master Teaching Fellows should be selected on the basis of professional achievement and academic merit, including demonstration of advanced content knowledge in science, technology, engineering or mathematics through performance on a nationally recognized assessment. In addition to these criteria, Master Teaching Fellows should have demonstrated success in improving student achievement in the STEM areas in which they teach. Consideration should also be given to promoting the participation of underrepresented populations. Fellowship recipients must be U.S. citizens or nationals, or permanent resident aliens.

It is expected that Teaching Fellows and Master Teaching Fellows will be prepared to assume leadership roles within their schools or within the high need school districts in which they are teaching. Activities may include serving as mentors, participating in curriculum development projects, participating in preservice teacher education, and assisting in the development and implementation of professional development for other teachers. Projects supporting both NSF Teaching Fellows and Master Teaching Fellows will be expected to integrate and coordinate efforts, leading to a community of preservice and inservice Teaching Fellows.

NSF Teaching Fellows are required to serve as mathematics or science teachers in elementary or secondary schools in high need school districts for 4 years. The teaching obligation must be completed within 6 years of completing the Master's degree program. NSF Master Teaching Fellows are required to teach for 5 years in a high need school district and must complete this requirement within 7 years of the start of participation in the program.

Salary Supplements

A key aspect of the NSF Teaching Fellowship and Master Teaching Fellowship track is the provision of salary supplements to the Fellows as they are fulfilling their teaching obligation. The salary supplement must be at least $10,000 per year. The school district must agree not to reduce the base salary of the Fellow while the salary supplement is being received. NSF Teaching Fellows will receive a one-year stipend of at least $10,000, but not to exceed the cost of attendance, while the Fellow is enrolled in the Master's degree program. Fellows enrolled part-time may receive a prorated stipend. Following completion of the Master's degree program, the Fellows will receive the salary supplement for 4 years while continuing to teach in a high need school district.

The maximum total budget for NSF Teaching Fellowship/Master Teaching Fellowship proposals is $1,500,000 with of duration of up to 5 years (for proposals supporting one cohort of Fellows) or 6 years (for proposals supporting two cohorts of Fellows). Since Teaching Fellows and Master Teaching Fellows are expected to participate in a five year Fellowship program, proposals supporting two cohorts may submit a budget for 6 years to enable full support of both cohorts.

Proposals may include expenditures for program development and implementation. At least 80% of the budget must be for support directly received by the participants, including stipends and salary supplements. This portion of the budget may also include other costs that directly benefit the participants, such as stipends for mentors, conference travel for Fellows, professional development costs, and other direct expenditures that will enhance the development of Teaching Fellows and support Master Teacher Fellows in their leadership roles.

Matching Requirement

As required by the America COMPETES Act, an institution submitting a proposal under the TF/MTF track must provide matching funds, from non-Federal sources, equal to 50 percent of the amount of the grant request. For example, a proposal requesting NSF funds in the amount of $1.5 million must provide $750,000 in cost share, provided in cash or in-kind, to support the activities of the project. The proposed cost sharing must be shown on line M on the proposal budget. Documentation of the availability of cost sharing must be included in the proposal.

Only items which would be allowable under the applicable cost principles, if charged to the project, may be included in the awardee's contribution to cost sharing. Contributions may be made from any non-Federal source, including non-Federal grants or contracts, and may be cash or in kind (see OMB Circular A-110, Section 23). It should be noted that contributions counted as cost sharing toward projects of another Federal agency may not be counted towards meeting the specific cost sharing requirements of the NSF award.

All cost sharing amounts are subject to audit. Failure to provide the level of cost sharing reflected in the approved award budget may result in termination of the NSF award, disallowance of award costs and/or refund of award funds to NSF.

Planning Grants

It is anticipated that some institutions may need to engage in significant planning before launching a TF/MTF project. A small number of one-year planning grants will be available to enable institutions to form the partnerships required for a full TF/MTF proposal. Proposals for planning grants might develop partnerships, work to identify future cost share, secure school district support for implementing salary supplements, and conduct a needs assessment to determine specific areas of teacher shortages and interest among STEM professionals. The maximum budget for planning grants is $75,000 for one year. There is no requirement for cost sharing in planning grants.

Institutional Responsibilities

The institution shall require that each Fellow accepts the terms of the Fellowship and agrees to provide the institution with annual certification of employment and up-to-date contact information and to participate in surveys provided by the institution of higher education and program evaluators as part of project-level and program evaluation efforts. Monitoring the compliance of scholarship and stipend recipients with respect to their service requirements will be the responsibility of the institution of higher education receiving the award. It is expected that failure to satisfy the academic requirements of the Master's degree program, in the case of Teaching Fellows, or to complete the service requirement will result in repayment of the stipend which will revert to a loan with repayments pro-rated accordingly to reflect partial service completed. The institution is responsible for collecting the repayment amounts, including interest, in accordance with P.L. 110-69, SEC. 7030. All forfeited stipend funds, less grantee administrative costs associated with collection of the repayment not to exceed 5% of the forfeited amount, will be returned to the United States Treasury. Funds collected as repayments may not be used by the awardee. The institution is expected to establish procedures that ensure compliance with the service requirement with allowances for extreme hardship or other circumstances for which it is not in the best interests of the school district or not feasible for the Fellow to fulfill the service obligation. The institution may establish procedures for waiving or suspending repayment of scholarships or stipends in cases of extreme hardship or other circumstances that would preclude the fulfillment of the service obligation.

If the Fellow decides not to fulfill the teaching requirement after having served for one year, the Fellow shall return the full amount of the Fellowship awarded during enrollment in the Master's degree program, reduced by one-fourth for each year of service completed, plus one half of the total salary supplements received. If a Master Teaching Fellow decides not to fulfill the teaching requirement after one year of service, the Fellow shall return half of the total amount of salary supplements received.

Eligible institutions must provide evidence of exemplary teacher preparation and professional development efforts to ensure that the NSF Teaching Fellows become successful science and mathematics teachers in elementary or secondary schools and to ensure NSF Master Teaching Fellows become effective Master Teachers. Successful proposals will provide evidence of functioning partnerships between institutions of higher education and school districts and an infrastructure that is supportive of new teachers and that enables Master Teachers to serve in leadership roles.

All projects are expected to include an evaluation plan for measuring the impact of the project and effectiveness of proposed strategies in attracting, preparing, and retaining STEM individuals in teaching careers as well as the effectiveness of the NSF Teaching Fellows as science or math teachers and the effectiveness of Master Teaching Fellows as teacher leaders. The evaluation plan should include a mechanism for tracking the Fellowship recipients as they fulfill their teaching obligation and a method for collecting demographic data on these individuals. In addition to the project-specific evaluation, all projects will be expected to cooperate with an NSF third party monitoring and evaluation of program impact that will require annual data collection. It is expected that individual project evaluation, as well as the overall program evaluation, will contribute to the knowledge base of effective strategies for attracting and retaining effective teachers with strong STEM content knowledge.

Information about current awards funded under the Robert Noyce Scholarship Program resources can be found at the Division of Undergraduate Education website:
https://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5733&org=DUE&from=home

INNOVATION THROUGH INSTITUTIONAL INTEGRATION (I³): Creativity, connectivity, integration, and synergy are keys to innovation and to developing human and institutional capacity to full potential. In both research and education, it is the forging of new links between ideas or methodologies that were previously disparate that frequently paves the way for innovation. When institutions optimize the benefits to be derived from the creative integration of intellectual perspectives or related domains of work, they create important opportunities for making progress on some of the most important scientific, technological, and educational challenges of our time. On individual campuses across the nation, for example, significant synergistic potential can be ignited when scholars and educators in related disciplines work together. Similarly, NSF awardees can harness new synergies by working together with other NSF-funded projects on their own campus or in close geographic proximity. When the results of these synergies are both compatible with and beneficial for the institution(s) involved, successful innovation can be created. ⁱ Past efforts at integration have shown that opportunities for synergy can be created most successfully when collaborative projects include:

Clear support from senior administrators;

A cogent plan of action that includes expectations and staff development;

Open cross-institutional dialogue that is supported and encouraged;

A common campus-wide vision and value system that stresses the importance of synergistic efforts;

The formation of a campus network with a set of individuals who take ownership and provide leadership for the initiative.ⁱⁱ

The campus network is an important aspect of successful collaboration at every stage of development and is critical to the sustainability and enhancement of created partnerships as well as the institutionalization of new innovations. This network can (a) foster communication across the campus to encourage the formation and dissemination of new ideas, values, and learning; (b) serve as a source of leadership to promote and carry out integrative activities; and (c) develop and sustain existing connections while continually expanding collaborative efforts.ⁱⁱⁱ

Innovation through Institutional Integration (I³) challenges faculty, administrators, and others in institutions to think strategically about the creative integration of NSF-funded awards towards a whole that exceeds the sum of its parts. Although there is particular emphasis in I³ on awards managed by programs in the Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR), institutional integration is not limited only to EHR awards but can include other NSF awards with a STEM educational focus. Two or more institutions in geographic proximity might, for example, partner to bridge existing NSF-funded awards on their campuses (e.g., RDE, IGERT, LSAMP, ATE, CREST, REU) to broaden participation in STEM fields and enhance undergraduate research opportunities. Additional connections might be made internationally with faculty or students outside the United States who would add their considerable intellectual and cultural perspectives. As another example, an institution might implement new policies, procedures, or mechanisms that encourage and value synergistic efforts among existing NSF-funded awards (e.g., GK-12, MSP, Noyce, REESE, DRK-12) and with other institutional units to better understand and enhance seamlessness across critical educational junctures, perhaps infusing innovative approaches to cyber-learning.

This effort has the following interrelated goals:

Increase synergy and collaboration across NSF-funded projects and within/between institutions, towards an educational environment where artificial boundaries are significantly reduced and the student experience is more fully integrated;

Expand and deepen the impact of NSF-funded projects and enhance their sustainability;

Provide additional avenues to broaden participation through workforce development, especially for those underrepresented in STEM research and education; attend to seamless transitions across critical educational junctures; and/or provide more effectively for a globally engaged workforce;

Promote innovative programming, policies, and practices to encourage the integration of STEM research and education; and

Encourage STEM educational or related research in domains that hold promise for promoting intra- or inter-institutional integration and broader impacts.

Proposals that facilitate either (a) inter-institutional or (b) intra-institutional efforts are encouraged. Proposals may be submitted by (a) a single institution to address intra-institutional goals only or (b) an institution acting on behalf of an institutional partnership to address inter-institutional goals.

Proposals are expected to incorporate a depth and quality of creative, coherent, and strategic actions that extend beyond commonplace approaches to normal institutional operations. Proposals may also be submitted for research on institutional integration or other closely related themes articulated in the goals above.

I³ is a cross-divisional effort in the Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR). For Fiscal Year 2009, proposals are being solicited in nine EHR programs that advance I³ goals: CREST, GSE, HBCU-UP, ITEST, LSAMP, MSP, Noyce, RDE, and TCUP. All proposals submitted to I³ through these programs have a common due date and will be reviewed in competition with one another.

Levine, A. (1980). Why Innovation Fails. New York: State University of New York Press. Pg. 160.
Kezar, A. (2003). Enhancing Innovative Partnerships: Creating a Change Model for Academic and Student Affairs Collaboration. Innovative Higher Education 28(2): 137-156.
Kezar, A. (2005). Redesigning for Collaboration within Higher Education Institutions: An Exploration into the Developmental Process. Research in Higher Education 46(7): 831-860.

III. AWARD INFORMATION

IV. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

V. PROPOSAL PREPARATION AND SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

A. Proposal Preparation Instructions

A Letter of Intent is optional, but encouraged, before submitting a full Noyce Scholarship or NSF Teaching Fellow/Master Teaching Fellow proposal. The Letter of Intent is not a preliminary proposal and no feedback will be provided. It is intended to enhance the efficiency of the review process. Letters of Intent should be electronically submitted through FastLane by February 10, 2009. The Letter of Intent should indicate the category of proposal (Phase I, Phase II S&S, Phase II M&E, Teaching Fellow/Master Teaching Fellow (TF/MTF), or TF/MTF Planning grant). It should include a brief synopsis of the project, indicating the grade level (elementary, middle, or high school) and discipline focus of the project. Additional institutions, organizations, and school districts should be listed in the Participating Organizations section of the FastLane Letter of Intent.

When submitting a Letter of Intent through FastLane in response to this Program Solicitation please note the conditions outlined below:

Full Proposal Preparation Instructions: Proposers may opt to submit proposals in response to this Program Solicitation via Grants.gov or via the NSF FastLane system.

In determining which method to utilize in the electronic preparation and submission of the proposal, please note the following:

Collaborative Proposals. All collaborative proposals submitted as separate submissions from multiple organizations must be submitted via the NSF FastLane system. Chapter II, Section D.3 of the Grant Proposal Guide provides additional information on collaborative proposals.

The following instructions supplement the guidelines in the GPG and NSF Grants.gov Application Guide.

Proposals submitted to the NSF Teaching Fellowship/Master Teaching Fellowship (TF/MTF) track, excluding TF/MTF Planning Grant proposals, must be submitted via the NSF FastLane system.

Cover Sheet
While filling out the cover sheet in FastLane, it is important to choose the Robert Noyce Scholarship program solicitation number indicated on the cover of this document. Select either Noyce Scholarship Project or I³ from the list of programs in the "NSF Unit Consideration" section. This choice must be specified in order to have access to the DUE Project Data Form, which is required for Noyce proposals. If using Grants.gov, the program solicitation number will be prepopulated by Grants.gov on the NSF Grant Application Cover Page.

Projects involving research with human subjects, or the reporting of information gathered from human subjects, must ensure that subjects are protected in conformance with the relevant federal policy known as the Common Rule (Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects, 45 CFR 690). All projects involving human subjects must either (1) have approval from the organization's Institutional Review Board (IRB) before issuance of an NSF award or, (2) must affirm that the IRB or an appropriate knowledgeable authority previously designated by the organization (not the Principal Investigator) has declared the research exempt from IRB review, in accordance with the applicable subsection, as established in section 101(b) of the Common Rule. If the box for "Human Subjects" is checked on the Cover Sheet along with either (1) the IRB approval date, or (2) the exemption subsection from the Common Rule identified, then no additional certification is required. In the event the proposal is recommended for funding and IRB review is pending, certification of IRB approval or exemption should be submitted to NSF in electronic form as soon as it is available. Delays in obtaining IRB certification may result in NSF being unable to make an award. For more information regarding the protection of human subjects, consult: https://www.nsf.gov/bfa/dias/policy/human.jsp

For Noyce proposals, the one-page Project Summary should indicate the specific category of proposal (Phase I, Phase II S&S, Phase II M&E, or TF/MTF) and name all institutions, including school districts and non-profit organizations, that are involved in the proposal. Proposers are reminded that the Project Summary must explicitly address, in separately labeled statements, both NSB-approved merit review criteria: Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts. Proposals failing to explicitly address Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts in the Project Summary will be returned without review.

Noyce Phase I Proposals should include and clearly identify the following elements in the Project Description section:

Noyce Phase II Scholarship and Stipend (S&S) Proposals should include the following elements in the Project Description section:

Noyce Phase II Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Proposals should include the following elements in the Project Description section:

NSF Teaching Fellowship/Master Teaching Fellowship proposals should include the following elements in the Project Description section:

NSF Teaching Fellowship/Master Teaching Fellowship Planning proposals should include the following elements in the Project Description section:

The PI and Co-PI leadership must include at least one faculty member from a STEM discipline. Letters of support from the Dean of Arts & Sciences, Dean of Education, department chairs, and school district Superintendent(s) or comparable administrators should be submitted as evidence of institutional support for the proposal. School district letters submitted in support of a TF/MTF proposal should indicate the district will support the award of salary supplements and will not lower the base salary of Fellows receiving the supplements. Letters should be uploaded into the Supplementary Documentation section in FastLane. For Grants.gov users, supplementary documents should be attached in Field 11 of the R&R Other Project Information Form.

A Project Data Form must be submitted as part of all proposals. The information on this form is used to direct proposals to appropriate reviewers and to determine the characteristics of projects supported by the Division of Undergraduate Education. In FastLane, this form will show up in the list of forms for your proposal only after you have (1) selected the "Noyce" program solicitation number on the Cover Sheet and (2) saved the Cover Sheet. Grants.gov users should refer to Section VI.6. of the NSF Grants.gov Application Guide for specific instructions on how to submit the DUE Project Data Form.

The proposal should articulate the project’s vision, goals, and anticipated outcomes and describe how the project will achieve them. The proposal should draw on the existing, relevant base of literature and articulate how the plan of work is so informed. It is expected that implementation of the plan of work will impact participating NSF awards, as well as other relevant parts of the institution(s). The proposal should, therefore, address how the goals of the overall project are compatible with the goals of the individual integrated components, as well as how the project is both compatible with and beneficial for the host institution(s). The proposal should include a management/governance plan that describes who is responsible for what, a timeline, and an evaluation plan. All proposals must clearly demonstrate that the submitting team has the capability to manage the project, organize the work, and meet deadlines.

Each proposed implementation project in Innovation through Institutional Integration (I³) should have an evaluation plan to assess progress and success in meeting project goals and objectives. An independent, external project-level evaluation is to be conducted to inform the institution and others of the progress and findings of the grant activities, especially those that address the project’s synergistic activity (i.e., the value added by I³). I³ projects are expected to have baseline data, establish measurable targets, and collect evidence to determine annual progress and long-term outcomes. If applicable, it is highly desirable to establish a systematic plan to track student participants beyond their involvement in the project. Project-level evaluation should be designed to offer feedback for strengthening implementation over the course of the project, provide credible evidence to justify continued investment in the project, and report results (and describe models/paradigms) of institutional and/or disciplinary changes associated with the investment strategy.

Each I³ project, as part of a national effort, is expected to cooperate in the monitoring and independent portfolio evaluation efforts conducted by NSF’s contracted evaluators. While each project will propose its own types of specific qualitative and quantitative measures, some later standardization of performance monitoring is anticipated so that NSF can conduct a summative/impact evaluation. The I³ portfolio (summative/impact) evaluation will be designed to determine how effectively I³ is contributing to the knowledge base, building a community of innovators, strengthening/advancing the higher education STEM infrastructure, and promoting collaborations that advance the goals of I³.

Proposals for research must address one or more I³ goals and discuss the current state of knowledge relevant to the project. This brief literature review should clearly inform the proposed research. The project description should identify the methods the project will use and explain why those methods are appropriate to the questions that the proposal addresses. Methodologies must be matched with strategic research questions, and the logic among research question, method, analysis, inference, and evidence should be well articulated.

The results of prior, relevant NSF investment(s), especially projects on which the proposed institutional integration is based, are to be described and supported by data, along with a discussion of both successes and failures. The proposal should also clearly indicate how the intended work differs from, builds on, or is otherwise informed by prior efforts.

B. Budgetary Information

Cost Sharing: For purposes of this solicitation, and in accordance with Federal requirements, the terms "matching" and "cost sharing" are synonymous.

The proposed cost sharing must be shown on Line M on the proposal budget. Documentation of the availability of cost sharing must be included in the proposal. Only items which would be allowable under the applicable cost principles, if charged to the project, may be included as the awardee's contribution to cost sharing. Contributions may be made from any non-Federal source, including non-Federal grants or contracts, and may be cash or in-kind (see OMB Circular A-110, Section 23). It should be noted that contributions counted as cost-sharing toward projects of another Federal agency may not be counted towards meeting the specific cost-sharing requirements of the NSF award. All cost-sharing amounts are subject to audit. Failure to provide the level of cost-sharing reflected in the approved award budget may result in termination of the NSF award, disallowance of award costs and/or refund of award funds to NSF.

Cost sharing in the amount of 50% of the total request is required only for proposals submitted under the NSF Teaching Fellowship/Master Teaching Fellowship track, excluding Planning Grants. For example, a proposal requesting $1.5 million in NSF funds should include cost sharing in the amount of $750,000.

No indirect costs are allowed for Noyce Phase I, Noyce Phase II Scholarship and Stipend projects, and NSF Teaching Fellowship/Master Teaching Fellowship proposals. Indirect costs are only allowed for Phase II Monitoring and Evaluation projects and NSF Teaching Fellowship/Master Teaching Fellowship Planning Grants.

Noyce Phase I, Noyce Phase II S&S, and NSF TF/MTF proposals: Up to 20% of the proposed budget may be allocated for administrative and program operational costs, including monitoring and evaluation, as detailed under Program Support in Section II "Program Description" above.

Budget Preparation Instructions: Scholarships, internships, and stipends should be indicated in Section F.1 Participant Support - "Stipends" of the FastLane budget (or Section E.2. on the Grants.gov R&R Budget Form). Enter the number of participants supported in each budget year. Proposals submitted to the TF/MTF track, excluding TF/MTF Planning Grant proposals, must be submitted via the NSF FastLane system.

C. Due Dates

D. FastLane/Grants.gov Requirements

VI. NSF PROPOSAL PROCESSING AND REVIEW PROCEDURES

Proposals received by NSF are assigned to the appropriate NSF program where they will be reviewed if they meet NSF proposal preparation requirements. All proposals are carefully reviewed by a scientist, engineer, or educator serving as an NSF Program Officer, and usually by three to ten other persons outside NSF who are experts in the particular fields represented by the proposal. These reviewers are selected by Program Officers charged with the oversight of the review process. Proposers are invited to suggest names of persons they believe are especially well qualified to review the proposal and/or persons they would prefer not review the proposal. These suggestions may serve as one source in the reviewer selection process at the Program Officer's discretion. Submission of such names, however, is optional. Care is taken to ensure that reviewers have no conflicts of interest with the proposal.

A. NSF Merit Review Criteria

All NSF proposals are evaluated through use of the two National Science Board (NSB)-approved merit review criteria: intellectual merit and the broader impacts of the proposed effort. In some instances, however, NSF will employ additional criteria as required to highlight the specific objectives of certain programs and activities.

The two NSB-approved merit review criteria are listed below. The criteria include considerations that help define them. These considerations are suggestions and not all will apply to any given proposal. While proposers must address both merit review criteria, reviewers will be asked to address only those considerations that are relevant to the proposal being considered and for which the reviewer is qualified to make judgements.

NSF staff also will give careful consideration to the following in making funding decisions:

B. Review and Selection Process

Proposals submitted in response to this program solicitation will be reviewed by Panel Review.

Reviewers will be asked to formulate a recommendation to either support or decline each proposal. The Program Officer assigned to manage the proposal's review will consider the advice of reviewers and will formulate a recommendation.

After scientific, technical and programmatic review and consideration of appropriate factors, the NSF Program Officer recommends to the cognizant Division Director whether the proposal should be declined or recommended for award. NSF is striving to be able to tell applicants whether their proposals have been declined or recommended for funding within six months. The time interval begins on the deadline or target date, or receipt date, whichever is later. The interval ends when the Division Director accepts the Program Officer's recommendation.

A summary rating and accompanying narrative will be completed and submitted by each reviewer. In all cases, reviews are treated as confidential documents. Verbatim copies of reviews, excluding the names of the reviewers, are sent to the Principal Investigator/Project Director by the Program Officer. In addition, the proposer will receive an explanation of the decision to award or decline funding.

In all cases, after programmatic approval has been obtained, the proposals recommended for funding will be forwarded to the Division of Grants and Agreements for review of business, financial, and policy implications and the processing and issuance of a grant or other agreement. Proposers are cautioned that only a Grants and Agreements Officer may make commitments, obligations or awards on behalf of NSF or authorize the expenditure of funds. No commitment on the part of NSF should be inferred from technical or budgetary discussions with a NSF Program Officer. A Principal Investigator or organization that makes financial or personnel commitments in the absence of a grant or cooperative agreement signed by the NSF Grants and Agreements Officer does so at their own risk.

VII. AWARD ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION

A. Notification of the Award

Notification of the award is made to the submitting organization by a Grants Officer in the Division of Grants and Agreements. Organizations whose proposals are declined will be advised as promptly as possible by the cognizant NSF Program administering the program. Verbatim copies of reviews, not including the identity of the reviewer, will be provided automatically to the Principal Investigator. (See Section VI.B. for additional information on the review process.)

B. Award Conditions

An NSF award consists of: (1) the award letter, which includes any special provisions applicable to the award and any numbered amendments thereto; (2) the budget, which indicates the amounts, by categories of expense, on which NSF has based its support (or otherwise communicates any specific approvals or disapprovals of proposed expenditures); (3) the proposal referenced in the award letter; (4) the applicable award conditions, such as Grant General Conditions (GC-1); * or Research Terms and Conditions * and (5) any announcement or other NSF issuance that may be incorporated by reference in the award letter. Cooperative agreements also are administered in accordance with NSF Cooperative Agreement Financial and Administrative Terms and Conditions (CA-FATC) and the applicable Programmatic Terms and Conditions. NSF awards are electronically signed by an NSF Grants and Agreements Officer and transmitted electronically to the organization via e-mail.

More comprehensive information on NSF Award Conditions and other important information on the administration of NSF awards is contained in the NSF Award & Administration Guide (AAG) Chapter II, available electronically on the NSF Website at
https://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=aag.

C. Reporting Requirements

For all multi-year grants (including both standard and continuing grants), the Principal Investigator must submit an annual project report to the cognizant Program Officer at least 90 days before the end of the current budget period. (Some programs or awards require more frequent project reports). Within 90 days after expiration of a grant, the PI also is required to submit a final project report.

Failure to provide the required annual or final project reports will delay NSF review and processing of any future funding increments as well as any pending proposals for that PI. PIs should examine the formats of the required reports in advance to assure availability of required data.

PIs are required to use NSF's electronic project-reporting system, available through FastLane, for preparation and submission of annual and final project reports. Such reports provide information on activities and findings, project participants (individual and organizational) publications; and, other specific products and contributions. PIs will not be required to re-enter information previously provided, either with a proposal or in earlier updates using the electronic system. Submission of the report via FastLane constitutes certification by the PI that the contents of the report are accurate and complete.

All projects will be required to participate in program monitoring and evaluation activities conducted by a third party as part of the Directorate for Education and Resources' program evaluation efforts that will require annual data collection.

VIII. AGENCY CONTACTS

IX. OTHER INFORMATION

The NSF Website provides the most comprehensive source of information on NSF Directorates (including contact information), programs and funding opportunities. Use of this Website by potential proposers is strongly encouraged. In addition, MyNSF (formerly the Custom News Service) is an information-delivery system designed to keep potential proposers and other interested parties apprised of new NSF funding opportunities and publications, important changes in proposal and award policies and procedures, and upcoming NSF Regional Grants Conferences. Subscribers are informed through e-mail or the user's Web browser each time new publications are issued that match their identified interests. MyNSF also is available on NSF's Website at https://www.nsf.gov/mynsf/.

Grants.gov provides an additional electronic capability to search for Federal government-wide grant opportunities. NSF funding opportunities may be accessed via this new mechanism. Further information on Grants.gov may be obtained at http://www.grants.gov.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent Federal agency created by the National Science Foundation Act of 1950, as amended (42 USC 1861-75). The Act states the purpose of the NSF is "to promote the progress of science; [and] to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare by supporting research and education in all fields of science and engineering."

NSF funds research and education in most fields of science and engineering. It does this through grants and cooperative agreements to more than 2,000 colleges, universities, K-12 school systems, businesses, informal science organizations and other research organizations throughout the US. The Foundation accounts for about one-fourth of Federal support to academic institutions for basic research.

NSF receives approximately 40,000 proposals each year for research, education and training projects, of which approximately 11,000 are funded. In addition, the Foundation receives several thousand applications for graduate and postdoctoral fellowships. The agency operates no laboratories itself but does support National Research Centers, user facilities, certain oceanographic vessels and Antarctic research stations. The Foundation also supports cooperative research between universities and industry, US participation in international scientific and engineering efforts, and educational activities at every academic level.

Facilitation Awards for Scientists and Engineers with Disabilities provide funding for special assistance or equipment to enable persons with disabilities to work on NSF-supported projects. See Grant Proposal Guide Chapter II, Section D.2 for instructions regarding preparation of these types of proposals.

The National Science Foundation has Telephonic Device for the Deaf (TDD) and Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) capabilities that enable individuals with hearing impairments to communicate with the Foundation about NSF programs, employment or general information. TDD may be accessed at (703) 292-5090 and (800) 281-8749, FIRS at (800) 877-8339.

The National Science Foundation Information Center may be reached at (703) 292-5111.

PRIVACY ACT AND PUBLIC BURDEN STATEMENTS

The information requested on proposal forms and project reports is solicited under the authority of the National Science Foundation Act of 1950, as amended. The information on proposal forms will be used in connection with the selection of qualified proposals; and project reports submitted by awardees will be used for program evaluation and reporting within the Executive Branch and to Congress. The information requested may be disclosed to qualified reviewers and staff assistants as part of the proposal review process; to proposer institutions/grantees to provide or obtain data regarding the proposal review process, award decisions, or the administration of awards; to government contractors, experts, volunteers and researchers and educators as necessary to complete assigned work; to other government agencies or other entities needing information regarding applicants or nominees as part of a joint application review process, or in order to coordinate programs or policy; and to another Federal agency, court, or party in a court or Federal administrative proceeding if the government is a party. Information about Principal Investigators may be added to the Reviewer file and used to select potential candidates to serve as peer reviewers or advisory committee members. See Systems of Records, NSF-50, "Principal Investigator/Proposal File and Associated Records," 69 Federal Register 26410 (May 12, 2004), and NSF-51, "Reviewer/Proposal File and Associated Records, " 69 Federal Register 26410 (May 12, 2004). Submission of the information is voluntary. Failure to provide full and complete information, however, may reduce the possibility of receiving an award.

An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, an information collection unless it displays a valid Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number. The OMB control number for this collection is 3145-0058. Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 120 hours per response, including the time for reviewing instructions. Send comments regarding the burden estimate and any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to:

Suzanne H. Plimpton
Reports Clearance Officer
Division of Administrative Services
National Science Foundation
Arlington, VA 22230

Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program

Program Solicitation
NSF 09-513

Replaces Document(s):
NSF 08-532

REVISION NOTES

SUMMARY OF PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS

General Information

Award Information

Eligibility Information

Proposal Preparation and Submission Instructions

Proposal Review Information Criteria

Award Administration Information

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. INTRODUCTION

II. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

III. AWARD INFORMATION

IV. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

V. PROPOSAL PREPARATION AND SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

A. Proposal Preparation Instructions

B. Budgetary Information

C. Due Dates

D. FastLane/Grants.gov Requirements

VI. NSF PROPOSAL PROCESSING AND REVIEW PROCEDURES

A. NSF Merit Review Criteria

B. Review and Selection Process

VII. AWARD ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION

A. Notification of the Award

B. Award Conditions

C. Reporting Requirements

VIII. AGENCY CONTACTS

IX. OTHER INFORMATION

ABOUT THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION

PRIVACY ACT AND PUBLIC BURDEN STATEMENTS

Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program

Program Solicitation NSF 09-513

Replaces Document(s): NSF 08-532

REVISION NOTES

SUMMARY OF PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS

General Information

Award Information

Eligibility Information

Proposal Preparation and Submission Instructions

Proposal Review Information Criteria

Award Administration Information

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. INTRODUCTION

II. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

III. AWARD INFORMATION

IV. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

V. PROPOSAL PREPARATION AND SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

A. Proposal Preparation Instructions

B. Budgetary Information

C. Due Dates

D. FastLane/Grants.gov Requirements

VI. NSF PROPOSAL PROCESSING AND REVIEW PROCEDURES

A. NSF Merit Review Criteria

B. Review and Selection Process

VII. AWARD ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION

A. Notification of the Award

B. Award Conditions

C. Reporting Requirements

VIII. AGENCY CONTACTS

IX. OTHER INFORMATION

ABOUT THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION

PRIVACY ACT AND PUBLIC BURDEN STATEMENTS

Program Solicitation
NSF 09-513

Replaces Document(s):
NSF 08-532