With colleges and universities nationwide facing financial pressures from all corners, schools are looking to develop funding sources wherever possible. Recognizing this, Metro State has launched a pilot program designed to boost the number of grants it submits to local, state and federal entities.

Sponsored by Academic Affairs and housed in the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP), the Grant Mentoring Program (GMP) matches faculty with little or no grant-writing experience with mentors who have proven track records in securing grants. "The competence of grant writing here is amazing," says Betsy Zeller, OSP director. "We wanted to find a way to get our veteran principal investigators to pass on their knowledge."

The Grant Mentoring Program offers mentors and mentees a small stipend for participating in the program, which includes training sessions, drafting and submitting a grant proposal (with the assistance of a mentor), and securing internal approvals for the submission. The mentees include Associate Professor Mingli He (mechanical engineering technology) and assistant professors Christy Carello (biology), Heather Boylan (ESL/bilingual teacher education), Chris Randell (psychology) and Tamara Goldstein (music). They were selected from 20 applicants based on their writing skills and grant-proposal ideas.

This inaugural group will be mentored by three associate professors: Richard Krantz (physics), Lech Wisniewski (special education) and Linda Lockwood (psychology). The mentor-mentee pairs will be working on grants related to undergraduate research, an innovative music program, psychology and teacher education.

"It is very important that faculty collaborate and share their expertise," says Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs Joan M. Foster, "as well as increase their grant activity, which will become more and more important in the future." From 1992 to FY 2002-03 funds generated from local, state and federal grants have grown from $2.5 million to $6.8 million.

If the program proves successful, another GMP "class" will be selected in the spring.