Two-Year College and External Project Manager:  An Innovative Partnership for Implementing a Federal Grant Project

Alicia Kiremire; Gerry Caskey; Michael Swanbom; Matthew Johnson

Download Paper | Permalink

Conference: 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Publication Date: August 23, 2022
Start Date: June 26, 2022
End Date: June 29, 2022
Conference Session: Transfer Programs at Two-Year Colleges in Engineering and Engineering Technology
Page Count: 16
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--40538
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/40538
Download Count: 220

Request a correction

Paper Authors

biography

Alicia Kiremire

visit author page

Ms. Kiremire is the Creator of the Complete Grant System and has contributed to grant projects for over 15 years. She founded FlowStream Management in 2014 and has served clients on grants up to $5M. Beginning as a grant writer then a project manager, Alicia has since moved into a training, consulting, and evaluation role. She has presented at state and national conferences to movers and shakers who are making a difference in their communities. Alicia loves grant work because it enables people like you to reach your potential and to do good work in your field, whatever that looks like for you!

visit author page

biography

Gerry Caskey

visit author page

Mr. Caskey is the Instrumentation Instructor at LDCC Ruston Campus with over 30 years industry experience. As the Principal Investigator for the NSF funded grant ”Project Complete”, he is passionate about introducing Instrumentation as a career pathway for the next generation.

visit author page

author page

Michael Swanbom Louisiana Tech University

biography

Matthew Johnson Louisiana Tech University

visit author page

Matthew is a Ph.D. student in industrial-organizational psychology whose research foci includes motivation, personality, team innovation, leadership, and team climate. He serves as a project manager for AROS consulting, a firm that provide I-O & HR services and third-party grant evaluation.

visit author page

Download Paper | Permalink

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to share a case study of a rural community college who partnered with an external project manager to implement a large grant project. The project was funded by a three-year federal grant, with a budget over half a million dollars. The external project management partnership, though not planned in the original project proposal, increased the capacity of the college to manage a project at this scale. Over time, it also increased the capacity of the grant’s Principal Investigator (PI), a faculty member who brought over 30 years of industry experience but had not yet led a grant project. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation's Advanced Technological Education Program under Grant No. 1801177. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Project COMPLETE is a collaboration between Louisiana Delta Community College (LDCC) and Louisiana Tech University (LA Tech) to expand instrumentation workforce pathways for high school students in Louisiana. The project brought together a multitude of external partners, including the external project manager, pilot high school partner Bossier Parish School for Technology & Innovative Learning (BPSTIL), additional high schools, industry partners, a diversity consultant, and local non-profits focused on student training and workforce development in high-need career fields.

This paper presents a detailed account of the project’s management, including role definition of the external project manager, PI, Coordinator, and Co-PIs; benefits and costs of working with an external project manager; communication methods and frequency at different stages of the project; management challenges faced by a project this complex; accomplishments by the team and partners (including growth of the project’s PI); and lessons learned throughout the project.

The fidelity and impact of Project COMPLETE’s efforts were assessed by an external evaluator, AROS Consulting. The primary intended outcomes were to a) develop and market two post-secondary academic and career pathways for instrumentation technicians in rural communities of North Louisiana, b) reach a total of 26 high school teachers/counselors and their 500 students, increasing awareness of engineering technology career pathways, and c) expand the student pipeline into Ruston, Louisiana’s two post-secondary instrumentation technology programs, thereby increasing enrollment in each program. Results and evaluation of the project are presented.

Citation
Format

Kiremire, A., & Caskey, G., & Swanbom, M., & Johnson, M. (2022, August), Two-Year College and External Project Manager: An Innovative Partnership for Implementing a Federal Grant Project Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--40538

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - The objective of this paper is to share a case study of a rural community college who partnered with an external project manager to implement a large grant project. The project was funded by a three-year federal grant, with a budget over half a million dollars. The external project management partnership, though not planned in the original project proposal, increased the capacity of the college to manage a project at this scale. Over time, it also increased the capacity of the grant’s Principal Investigator (PI), a faculty member who brought over 30 years of industry experience but had not yet led a grant project. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation's Advanced Technological Education Program under Grant No. 1801177. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Project COMPLETE is a collaboration between Louisiana Delta Community College (LDCC) and Louisiana Tech University (LA Tech) to expand instrumentation workforce pathways for high school students in Louisiana. The project brought together a multitude of external partners, including the external project manager, pilot high school partner Bossier Parish School for Technology & Innovative Learning (BPSTIL), additional high schools, industry partners, a diversity consultant, and local non-profits focused on student training and workforce development in high-need career fields. 

This paper presents a detailed account of the project’s management, including role definition of the external project manager, PI, Coordinator, and Co-PIs; benefits and costs of working with an external project manager; communication methods and frequency at different stages of the project; management challenges faced by a project this complex; accomplishments by the team and partners (including growth of the project’s PI); and lessons learned throughout the project.

The fidelity and impact of Project COMPLETE’s efforts were assessed by an external evaluator, AROS Consulting. The primary intended outcomes were to a) develop and market two post-secondary academic and career pathways for instrumentation technicians in rural communities of North Louisiana, b) reach a total of 26 high school teachers/counselors and their 500 students, increasing awareness of engineering technology career pathways, and c) expand the student pipeline into Ruston, Louisiana’s two post-secondary instrumentation technology programs, thereby increasing enrollment in each program. Results and evaluation of the project are presented.
AU  - Alicia Kiremire
AU  - Gerry Caskey
AU  - Michael Swanbom
AU  - Matthew Johnson
CY  - Minneapolis, MN
DA  - 2022/08/23
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Two-Year College and External Project Manager:  An Innovative Partnership for Implementing a Federal Grant Project
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/40538
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--40538
ER  -