HSI Program Network Resource Centers and Hubs | 22 602

Opportunity Information: Apply for 22 602

The National Science Foundation (NSF) opportunity titled "HSI Program Network Resource Centers and Hubs" supports the next phase of NSF's Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) Program, which Congress directed NSF to establish in 2017. The core purpose of the overall HSI Program is to improve the quality of undergraduate STEM education at Hispanic-Serving Institutions and to boost recruitment, retention, and graduation of students pursuing associate's or bachelor's degrees in STEM. A major emphasis is broadening participation for students who have been historically underrepresented in STEM and strengthening pathways from undergraduate study into further STEM education and the STEM workforce.

This solicitation focuses less on funding individual campus projects and more on building national infrastructure that helps the entire HSI community learn, coordinate, and scale what works. NSF plans to establish an HSI Program Network Resource Centers and Hub structure, referred to as HSI-Net, made up of two national-level Centers and up to five Resource Hubs. The intention is that these entities function as connective tissue for the HSI ecosystem: they will link HSI Program awardees and prospective applicants, support institutional leaders and administrators, and provide practical and research-based resources to faculty, researchers, and students.

HSI-Net is designed with distinct roles across its components. NSF expects to support up to two Centers, both awarded as cooperative agreements and national in scope. One is the HSI Program Center for Community Coordination (HSI-CCC), which is meant to organize and coordinate the community, build relationships across stakeholders, and help the network operate as a coherent national effort rather than isolated projects. The second is the HSI Center for Evaluation, Research, and Synthesis (HSI-CERS), which is meant to strengthen the evidence base by supporting evaluation, conducting or enabling research, and synthesizing findings across projects so the program can identify effective strategies and understand how and why they work in varied HSI contexts. In addition to these Centers, NSF anticipates supporting up to five HSI Program Resource Hubs (HSI-Hubs). These Hubs are intended to be focused resources around key issues or high-impact themes and to provide innovative, targeted support that directly serves HSI stakeholders.

A notable expectation is that the Centers and Hubs engage a wide range of partners, not just HSI campuses and principal investigators. Activities should include connections with student organizations, professional societies, nonprofit organizations, and industry entities that support HSIs, along with advocates for HSIs and scholars who study HSIs and broadening participation in STEM. NSF also signals interest in engaging scientists and groups that advance historically underrepresented communities in STEM, including those affiliated with HSIs that may not already be supported by NSF, which underscores a goal of expanding the network's reach and inclusivity.

Across HSI-Net, NSF describes several major activity areas and outcomes. First, the network is expected to build durable infrastructure that helps guide HSI communities as they pursue the HSI Program goals, encourages institutional transformation (meaning changes that persist beyond a single grant), and strengthens community partnerships. Second, the network is expected to grow and strengthen organizational capacity at HSIs by helping institutions develop structures that support faculty and student development and by promoting approaches that meet students where they are academically, financially, and socially across different stages of their college journeys. Third, HSI-Net is expected to promote research related to STEM education and broadening participation at HSIs, aligning scholarship with practical improvements in teaching, learning, persistence, and degree completion. Finally, the Centers and Hubs are expected to drive communication and collaborative programming that convenes both current and prospective principal investigators, supports proposal and project capacity-building, generates new knowledge about the HSI community, and improves the ability of the HSI Program to document, learn from, and enhance its overall impacts.

From the posted opportunity details, this is an NSF discretionary grant opportunity in the science and technology research and development category (CFDA 47.076). NSF anticipated making about seven awards in total (reflecting the two Centers and up to five Hubs). The original closing date listed for proposals was December 15, 2022, and eligibility is noted as "Others" with further clarification referenced in the full solicitation. The award ceiling is listed as 0 in the summary record, which usually indicates that applicants should rely on the solicitation text for budget limits and award sizes rather than the high-level Grants.gov field.

• The National Science Foundation in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "HSI Program Network Resource Centers and Hubs" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 47.076.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jun 15, 2022.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Dec 15, 2022. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 7 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

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