Hispanic-Serving Institutions: Enriching Learning, Programs, and Student Experiences
Agency: National Science Foundation
Posted: 2024-02-22 | Closing date: 2024-06-04
Implementation and Evaluation Projects (IEP), Educational Instrumentation (EI)
Estimated total program funding: 19000000
Award ceiling: 1000000
Expected number of awards: 33
Cost sharing or matching requirement: No

 Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs)are animportant component of the nation’s higher education ecosystem and play a critical role in realizing the National Science Board’s vision for a more diverse and capable science and engineering workforce1,2.Aligned with this vision and the NSF Strategic Plan3, the goals of the NSF HSI Program are to: Enhance the quality of undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education at HSIs. Increase the recruitment, retention, and graduation rates of students pursuing associate’s or baccalaureate degrees in STEM at HSIs. Meeting these goals requiresinstitutions to understand and embrace their students’strengths, challenges, and lived experiences. While this can happen in many ways and across many parts of an institution, theHispanic Serving Institutions: Enriching Learning, Programs, and Student Experiences (HSI:ELPSE)solicitationis specifically focused on studying and improving the student experience in the following settings: STEM courses, particularly for students pursuing STEM degrees; Certificate, minor, and/or degreeprograms; Academic departments or divisions; and Schools and colleges that represent a partof the entire institution (e.g., a School of Engineering or a College of Natural Sciences). Institutions are encouraged to consider how their mission and designation as anHSI could reimagine and/or strengthen courses, degree programs, departments, or divisions. The HSI:ELPSE solicitation welcomes projects that look to implement, test and refine promising practices and/or conduct research related to broadening participation or improving recruitment, retention, graduation and other positive outcomes for undergraduates in STEM. The HSI:ELPSEsolicitation supportsprojects that are purposefully designed to meet students where they are, accounting for both their assets and the challenges they may face. Identities and experiences are not determined solely by membership in a single monolithic population of students (e.g., Hispanic, first-generation, commuter, etc.). Consequently, institutions are expected to use institutional datato identify equity gaps, identify areas of need,and unpack the factors that shape students’ individual realities and shared experiences. Perspectives gained from these data should be central to the design of the project. This solicitation includes the following tracks: Implementation and Evaluation Projects (IEP): Levels 1 and 2 Educational Instrumentation (EI) Please see below for specific information about each track. Generally, proposals to theIEP track will center on one or more of the following: courses; curricular improvements; pedagogy; support structures inside and outside of the classroom; degree programs; and student pathways. The HSI:ELPSE solicitation will also consider proposals designed to increase access to computing resources and/or laboratory instrumentation needed to provide high-quality undergraduate STEM education at the following types of institutions: (1) HSIs in EPSCoR jurisdictions; and (2) HSI Primarily Undergraduate Institutions (PUIs) in all other (non-EPSCoR) jurisdictions.Please see the discussion of the Educational Instrumentation Track below for specific details. 

Eligibility: *Who May Submit Proposals: Proposals may only be submitted by the following:   -<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW191473771 BCX9">  <p class="Paragraph SCXW191473771 BCX9"><span class="TextRun SCXW191473771 BCX9" lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US" data-contrast="auto">To be eligible for funding in the IEP Track, an institution must meet the following criteria:</span><span class="EOP SCXW191473771 BCX9" data-ccp-props="{"></span>   </div>  <div class="SCXW191473771 BCX9">  <div class="ListContainerWrapper SCXW191473771 BCX9"><ol class="NumberListStyle1 SCXW191473771 BCX9" start="1">  <li class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW191473771 BCX9" data-leveltext="%1." data-font="Calibri" data-listid="38" data-list-defn-props="{" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="1">  <p class="Paragraph SCXW191473771 BCX9"><span class="TextRun SCXW191473771 BCX9" lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US" data-contrast="auto">Be an accredited institution of higher education.</span><span class="EOP SCXW191473771 BCX9" data-ccp-props="{"></span>   </li>  </ol></div>  <div class="ListContainerWrapper SCXW191473771 BCX9"><ol class="NumberListStyle1 SCXW191473771 BCX9" start="2">  <li class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW191473771 BCX9" data-leveltext="%1." data-font="Calibri" data-listid="38" data-list-defn-props="{" data-aria-posinset="2" data-aria-level="1">  <p class="Paragraph SCXW191473771 BCX9"><span class="TextRun SCXW191473771 BCX9" lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US" data-contrast="auto">Offer Undergraduate STEM educational programs that result in certificates or degrees.</span><span class="EOP SCXW191473771 BCX9" data-ccp-props="{"></span>   </li>  </ol></div>  <div class="ListContainerWrapper SCXW191473771 BCX9"><ol class="NumberListStyle1 SCXW191473771 BCX9" start="3">  <li class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW191473771 BCX9" data-leveltext="%1." data-font="Calibri" data-listid="38" data-list-defn-props="{" data-aria-posinset="3" data-aria-level="1">  <p class="Paragraph SCXW191473771 BCX9"><span class="TextRun SCXW191473771 BCX9" lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US" data-contrast="auto"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW191473771 BCX9">Satisfy the definition of an HSI as specified in section 502 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1101a).</span><span class="AdvancedProofingIssue SCXW191473771 BCX9">In particular, institutions</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW191473771 BCX9"> will be required to submit an updated eligibility letter from the U.S. Depar</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW191473771 BCX9">tment of Education as a supplementary document.</span></span><span class="EOP SCXW191473771 BCX9" data-ccp-props="{"></span>   </li>  </ol></div>  <div class="ListContainerWrapper SCXW191473771 BCX9"><ol class="NumberListStyle1 SCXW191473771 BCX9" start="4">  <li class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW191473771 BCX9" data-leveltext="%1." data-font="Calibri" data-listid="38" data-list-defn-props="{" data-aria-posinset="4" data-aria-level="1">  <p class=