We determined that a review of the experience of other institutions would be a valuable first step and received an Innovative Studies Grant to obtain this information. We chose to conduct personal interviews with key people involved in development at three community colleges in New England. A more complete description of the method used for this report appears in a section later in this document. In the course of these discussions, several key themes were repeated by each of the people interviewed and are outlined below. There must be an institutional commitment to support resource development, to get it off the ground and sustain it.
Grant writing is a year-round commitment.
There are economies of scale in banding together and collaborating with other grant-writing entities. Joint efforts are often more appealing to funding entities as well. Colleges will rely more on private funding through their own or other foundations in the future, although this is a relatively new focus. Faculty are involved in the grant process, especially in grants related to subjects, although how varies widely. There may be incentives for faculty involvement, which also vary.