Lilly Endowment's $63 Million Initiative To Promote Opportunities Through Educational Collaboration

The Lilly Endowment will announce Thursday (December 12, 2013) $62.7 million in grants to 39 Indiana colleges and universities to combat brain drain among graduates. As the third round of grants over the past decade, this is a part of what the endowment calls its Initiative to Promote Opportunities Through Educational Collaboration.

Compared with a national rate of 30 percent, only 25 percent of Hoosiers between the ages of 25 and 64 obtain at least a bachelor’s degree, according to Census data. While Indiana does better than most states at holding on to its college graduates, its ability to attract educated adults is where it lags behind the competition according to census data. These findings are what led Mike Hicks of Ball State University to question the endowment’s brain-drain grants and other similarly focused areas. “The problem lies not in how many people we’re educating or how we’re educating them, but in having places that they want to live,” said Hicks in a September interview.

The endowment determined the size of its grants based on enrollment numbers at each educational institution. The largest grants, $5 million each, were awarded to Indiana University and Purdue University. Ivy Tech Community College will receive $4.9 million while $3 million each will go to the University of Notre Dame, Ball State University, Indiana State University, Indiana Wesleyan University, the University of Southern Indiana and Vincennes University. The majority of remaining schools will be awarded roughly $1 million each.

Nearly all the colleges will use the money to expand internships and experiential learning opportunities for students as well as expand career development programs, says the endowment. “These activities have the potential to [significantly] increase the number of Indiana college graduates who find satisfying opportunities in the state,” said Lilly Endowment’s vice president for education Sara Cobb.

Please read Indianapolis Business Journal article by J.K. Wall to learn additional information regarding this Lilly Endowment Initiative or visit the communications page of Lilly Endowment Inc. website.

Building Better Communities Fellows Program is Now Recruiting

Looking for an immersive learning opportunity? The Building Better Communities Fellows program is now recruiting undergraduate and graduate students from all academic disciplines for the Spring 2013 Semester.

Some of the projects offered next Spring are:

IGA Paperless Project Usability Study, Improvements and Training
For more information about this project, please contact Jonathan Huer, Department of Emerging Technologies and Media Development. Apply Now!

GRI Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Sustainability Reporting for the City of Bloomington, Indiana
For more information, please contact Gwen White, Department of Accounting. Apply now!

Voices of Growth
For more information about this project, contact Josh Gruver, Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management. Apply Now!

Modeling Urban Form: Expressions of the Operational State of Design-For-Sustainability
For more information about this project, contact Robert Koester, director of Center for Energy Research, Education and Service and professor of Architecture. Apply Now!

From GRC: FY 13 Budget Request Highlights

The White House submitted its FY 13 budget request on February 13, 2012. The $3.8 trillion proposal advances a $350 billion stimulus package focused on job growth and $140 billion for research and development funding, including $2.2 billion for advanced manufacturing research and development and $30.6 billion for basic research.

The National Institutes of Health would receive level funding, and the National Science Foundation (NSF) would receive $7.37 billion, a 4.8 percent increase. The OneNSF initiative — which includes funding for Cyber-enabled Materials, Manufacturing, and Smart Systems; Cyberinfrastructure Framework for 21st Century Science and Engineering; Expeditions in Education; Innovation Corps; Integrated NSF Support Promoting Interdisciplinary Research and Education; Secure and Trustworthy Cyberspace; and Science, Engineering, and Education for Sustainability — would be funded at $807 million. Funding for CAREER and Graduate Research Fellowships awards would increase slightly, and STEM education would retain significant support through these initiatives:

• NSF and the U.S. Department of Education would provide $30 million each for an evidence-based program to improve K-16 mathematics education and knowledge building. This new opportunity will support researchers and educators who have the greatest potential to transform mathematics learning. At NSF, the Discovery Research K-12 and Transforming Undergraduate Education in STEM programs would be the vehicles.
• The Widening Implementation and Demonstration of Evidence-based Reforms (WIDER) program would receive $20 million for research and demonstration projects exploring how to achieve widespread sustainable implementation of evidence-based undergraduate instructional practices to improve student outcomes. 
• Transforming Undergraduate Education in STEM would receive $61.5 million to improve the quality of STEM education for all undergraduate students by supporting efforts to create, adapt, and disseminate new learning materials and teaching strategies to reflect advances both in STEM disciplines and in what is known about teaching and learning. 

Other budget highlights include a commitment to reset the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science, along with NSF, on a path to doubled budgets; modest increases, 5.5 percent each, for the National Endowments for the Arts and the Humanities; and $24 billion in cuts, consolidations, and savings across the agencies.

Ball State University student, faculty, or staff? Read more from the Grants Resource Center! Visit the SPO credentials page.