2025 Collaborative Network for Engineering & Computing Diversity (CoNECD)

In this practice-based presentation, we provide an overview of two years of a seed grant program for broadening participation in engineering (BPE) at the University of ____. In this NSF-funded program, undergraduate students, graduate students, postdocs, staff, and faculty could submit proposals of up to $5,000 to pursue projects of their own envisioning related to BPE. Faculty could participate in supporting roles, but a student, postdoc, or staff member was required to be the principal investigator (PI). The goal of this program was to build the infrastructure for allowing all members of the University of ____’s college of engineering to participate in broadening participation activities that are of interest to them. As demonstrated by the wide variety of topics, ranging from undergraduate student recruitment to BPE professional development for students, staff, faculty, and alumni , the program was successful in encouraging a diversity of activities. As part of the program implementation, the team made a wide variety of resources available to prospective applicants. The presentation will include a tutorial on these resources, which included a proposal template and evaluation rubric. The team also provided pre-proposal support in the form of information sessions on proposal development and budget preparation, team match-making opportunities, and individual support via office hours. Details on the nature, import, and impact of this support will be included in the presentation. Once awarded, the team provided continuous guidance, including resources such as administrative support, connections to others on campus, and research mentorship. The materials used to support the awardees included report and poster templates, detailed budget spreadsheets, and an information session on research evaluation – all of these will be shared in the presentation. In addition to an overview of the seed grants program and all of the materials needed to replicate it at other institutions, we will also provide our insights into characteristics that were common to successful seed grant projects and detailed lessons learned for how to further improve the program in the future.