GMO NEWS

Inside This Issue

From The Director’s Desk …..1

Keeping It Simple ……………....1

Architecture Building Coming Soon ………….….….…..2

Grant Writer & Author….…....3

Grants Management Office Newsletter Volume 3, No. 1 Fall 2015

Keeping It Simple

Director’s Desk

As we close out the Old Year and

start a Happy New Year, I wish to

express sincere Thanks for our GMO staff and all those throughout the College who helped us shape and meet our goals. Our grant pro-posals are stronger for the faculty and staff’s passionate involvement from the beginning. The EPCC Family’s unwavering commitment to student success is a blessing in our community. One of my Speech stu-dents, when speaking on “The Im-portance of Higher Education” said, “Getting my college degree will give

me the freedom to work at what I want, grade school teacher, not what I have to, just to make a dol-lar.” I know that is why I work in grant development. Grants impact student’s success. We are looking forward to another great year in grant development. Look for our Faculty Development workshops on finding and developing grants, a Carl Perkins Grant workshop on new developments in that funding source, and other How to Write a Grant workshops coming this spring.

A grant application is not and should not be the great American novel. It’s important to follow the grantor’s instructions, and very few will want a doctoral dissertation. Keeping it simple starts with the abstract, a two- or three-sentence summary of the project. Then lay out the specifics of the program in a clear and concise manner. When it comes to organizing the narrative part of your application, think like the reviewer who will be reading it. Make that person’s job easier by

matching your headings and sub-headings directly with the major and minor selection criteria laid out in the request for proposal (RFP). When the reviewers can quickly and efficiently find the narrative associ-ated with each of the selection crite-ria and match that with the expendi-tures, their job becomes easier and your chance of getting funded is much improved.

(Continued on Page 4)

Upcoming Presentations:

Faculty Development

Workshops

January 12, 2016

Basic Grant Seeking In Higher Ed: Strategies &

Tools for EPCC Faculty 9:00 to 9:50 AM

VV-A2116

Advanced Grant Seeking In Higher Ed: Strategies &

Tools for EPCC Faculty 10:00 to 10:50 AM

VV-A2116

Grants Management Office Newsletter Page 2 Grants Management Office Newsletter Page 2

Architecture Building Coming Soon

The HSI STEM Architecture

Program has slimmed down to

its bare bones in a sprint to the

finish line in the last leg of a 5-

year grant from the US Depart-

ment of Education. With the

support of the GMO, it has been

an excellent run and we hope

that this final and most difficult

leg will be run just as smoothly

as the previous ones.

This grant was given jointly to

El Paso Community College

(EPCC) and Texas Tech Uni-

versity (TTU) to increase the

number of Hispanic architects.

Its primary focus is to establish

a program in Architecture that

will create a pathway for area

students to seamlessly transfer

from EPCC to TTU; and then on

to a professional career in the

field. The secondary focus is to

build a stand-alone structure to

house the Architecture program

at EPCC’s Valle Verde campus.

The partnership between

EPCC and TTU is well estab-

lished and the primary focus of

the grant has been met. The

Associates program in Architec-

ture at EPCC has been the pri-

mary feeder into the bachelor’s

degree in Architecture at TTU

(El Paso campus). The two

schools continue the estab-

lished bond as state require-

ments for each program change

and requirements for profes-

sional education in Architecture

evolve over time. The main fo-

cus now is on the construction

of the Architecture building.

Architecture faculty at EPCC

have worked hard to compile

requirements for the new

20,000 square foot building de-

signed by Alvidrez Inc. They

have attended meetings and

reviews to make sure that the

building, built on a very small

budget, meets their require-

ments. Construction of the new

building will commence in the

first quarter of 2016 and will be

built on the plaza between

Building-A and the old Student

Services Center. Construction

documents are now complete.

Classes in the new building

should commence in the fall of

2017.

Grants Management Office Newsletter Page 3

Grant Writer & Author

“Working in a historical house has created memorable

moments for me. From jumping pens to shadows of people

walking down the hall in the middle of the day. I ask myself,

Is it my imagination or is it Chester the friendly ghost reach-

ing out to be friends? That is the question that will continue to

provide me with haunting memorable events.”

While recently celebrating her first year anniver-sary with EPCC, Ms. Arlene Alarcon recollected the memorable moments she has had while working as a manager for GMO. She has been involved in writing several proposals as well as monitoring awarded grants. She enjoys the ca-maraderie of the staff in the department, as well as that of the friendly house ghost.

During the year Arlene has also been involved in several committees within the District. Through the Professional Staff Association, she has assisted with several fundraising activities and committees, such as the Rights and Re-sponsibility Committee. As a member of the His-panic Heritage Committee, she helped with the RG campus event. Also, she was recently ap-pointed to the Staff Professional Development Leave Committee.

Her current community involvement includes that of street captain with the Las Palmas Neigh-borhood Association. She has also served in

several boards including: Thomason Health Cares, Hispanic Leadership Institute, El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and Tip of Tex-as Federal Credit Union. For the last fifteen years, Arlene has worked within the community in the area of management and human re-sources and has earned both a bachelor and master’s degree in these fields.

Previously, Ms. Alarcon had been involved with EPCC as a participant in the Toast Masters pub-lic speaking club. She was also a part-time busi-ness instructor and has been an advocate for small business development.

In her spare time, Arlene enjoys spending time with her family. Her hobbies include watching movies, reading and writing. She has published a children’s book that was dedicated to her grandchildren and is currently working on her second book. She also enjoys the scenic views in Ruidoso, especially while riding her 1200 Harley Sportster motorcycle.

Contact Us

Grants Management Office RG Campus

Queen Anne Building Oregon & Montana

Grants Management Office Newsletter Page 4

The El Paso County Community College District does not discriminate on the basis of race, color,

national origin, religion, gender, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, or gender identity.

Creating a strong proposal is not like

writing for a professional journal, where

one must carefully build the case before

asserting even the most cautious of

conclusions. Grant writing is basically a

dynamic exercise in persuasive writing,

where the object is to grab and hold the

reader’s attention with a compelling

argument. In many ways, it is more like

writing for the editorial page of a local

newspaper. The importance of the pro-

posal must be stated at the outset, aug-

mented by citations from an authorita-

tive and trusted sources. The need for

the program must be clear from the

beginning, expressed simply and with

passion. A reviewer forced to slog

through paragraph after paragraph of

dense academic prose, written in a pas-

sive voice and filled with subjunctive

clauses, will just toss the document into

the proverbial circular file, long before

he/she gets around to reading why

scarce funds should be expended on

your project.

To respond to the requirements of

the RFP, you simply read the direc-

tions carefully and respond in se-

quence to the questions that the fun-

der wants you to answer. Provide the

most recent and reliable data from

trusted sources that will authenticate

the need for your proposal. Stay

away from those pesky acronyms that

are known only to the fewest of schol-

ars; the readers may not know them.

Formulate objectives that are succinct

and measurable, think numbers and

time. Again, make it as simple and

logical as possible for the readers to

follow your thinking to its logical con-

clusion, you will get more points.

Be brave! Don’t let self-doubt take

you out of contention.

Alfred Lawrence

Director

831-4463

Elvira Fernandez

Admin. Assoc.

831-4468

Robert T. Elliott

Manager

831-4464

Maribel Gomez

Admin. Assist.

831-4465

Arlene Alarcon

Manager

831-4469

Jessie Arellano

Admin. Assist.

831-4441

James A. Valdez

Manager

831-4488

Mayela Farah

Admin. Assist.

831-4482

Charles Simien

Manager

831-4467

Nubia Jarquin

Admin. Assist.

831-4444

Keeping It Simple (Continued From Page 1)