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Internal Competition: Fund for Excellence and Innovation (FFEI)-Expanding Student Pathways or Communities of Practice in Artificial Intelligence (AI) Grants
Summary
The Fund for Excellence and Innovation (FFEI) was established during the 2016 legislative session to focus on two primary activities: stimulate collaborations among public school divisions, community colleges and universities and to expand affordable student pathways; and pursue shared services and other efficiency initiatives at colleges and universities that lead to measurable cost reductions.
Full Description
Limited Submission
Each Virginia public institution of higher education may submit one proposal. Each educational organization – whether public, private, postsecondary or secondary – may participate on only one team; and therefore, it may be involved in only one grant application.
Length of Award: up to 30 months
Estimated Start Date: February 6, 2026
Award Amount: up to $250,000
Please visit the website for full details. Fund for Excellence and Innovation | Virginia State Council Of Higher Education, VA
Eligible Applicants
Eligible applicants are:
- Educational organizations in Virginia.
- The lead applicant and fiscal agent must be a public institution of higher education.
- Team members may include one or more other public institutions of higher education, one or more private non-profit institutions of higher education and/or one or more public school divisions.
Teams (led by a public institution) awarded an FFEI "Creating Student Pathways or Communities of Practice in Artificial Intelligence (AI) Grant" will be expected to engage in one of the following two tracks:
- Track 1: Expand or enhance existing AI efforts between secondary and post-secondary education (and/or within post-secondary education) in AI-related student outreach, academic integration, labor-market alignment and/or shared services for institutions of higher education and/or K-12 institutions; assess the impact of the supported activities; and share the results. Some activities may include leveraging AI to retool current programs to attract nontraditional learners, broaden credentialing options (including stackable micro-credentials), or scaling existing projects for broader impact. The goal will be furthering the readiness of current and future students for work and life involving artificial intelligence.
- Track 2: Procure new shared services and create a community of practice within Virginia postsecondary education (and/or between Virginia secondary and postsecondary education) to support the integration of AI in instructional and student support. This integration may include professional development to bridge gaps in expertise among faculty, student support services that provide AI training or AI tools and resources, stackable micro-credentials/micro-badging opportunities, efforts to shorten time to degree/credential, supports for nontraditional learners (e.g., retooling programs for shorter semesters to support adult learners), efforts to reduce transfer curricular complexity (i.e., identifying the most efficient course sequence along the two and four-year curricular pathway), analysis of credit for prior learning and alignment to transfer pathways (e.g., Military experience, AP, CLEP), or other similar projects and initiatives.
Review the full RFP for application instructions and additional details.
Internal Competition
Interested applicants should submit the following materials via Box (see link below) by 5pm on Tuesday, November 25th. Please reach out to frcgrantapps@wm.edu when you have submitted your materials so that we can ensure the application has the required elements.
Required Materials for Internal Submission
All materials must be uploaded in PDF format with the last name of the uploading PI in the title.
1. Cover sheet (1 page)
Title of proposed project
Selected track
Name and contact information for team leader from the applying public institution of higher education.
Name and contact information for the team co-leader(s) from the applying educational organization(s) of a different type.
Amount of funds requested.
Printed name, title and signature of authorized signer.
2. List of Personnel Involved (1 page)
Please list the name, title, organizational unit, institution/organization and project role of each person who will be involved in carrying out the activity(ies) in the proposal.
3. Proposal Narrative
Table of Contents (1 page)
Executive Summary (1 page)
Project Description (4 pages)
- Brief History: Provide a brief history of previous or current efforts related to the proposed project activities at the lead institution and/or between the applicant educational organizations
- Work Plan: Describe the applicant team’s plan of work and the design of the activities to be undertaken during the grant period that will lead to the completion of the required deliverables
- Milestones and Timeline: Provide the milestones and timeline of activities; may include both progress and outcome milestones; in addition to milestones specific to the applicant team’s work plan, please include the following: date by which substantive assessments will be complete; applicants may use the timeline template provided or those of their own creation
- Conclusion (key reasons why the proposal should be funded; state the applicant team’s case in a few closing sentences on the final page(s) of the Narrative).
Budget: A detailed budget is required for each year of the grant period and cumulatively.
Budget Narrative: The amounts for each budget line item must be documented and justified in the budget narrative. For proposals that contain a subaward(s), each subaward must include a separate budget narrative
Biosketches of Key Personnel: At least two biographical sketches are required: one from the leader of the proposed project at each collaborating institution. Biosketches are welcome for other senior or key personnel. Applicants may choose to use NIH-style or NSF-style biosketch formats, CVs or resumes. Documents are limited to three pages each.
Materials must be submitted to this Box Link.
Timeline
- November 25th by 5 PM: Internal competition closes, submissions due
- December 2nd: - FRC finishes reviews and recommends 1 proposal to move forward to full submission. The recommended proposal team should work with their OSP representative for the full submission.
- December 15: - Selected proposal submits final proposal