Space Grant Independent Evaluation Solicitation

The NASA Office of STEM Engagement has recently released the Space Grant Independent Evaluation Solicitation.  The full Request for Proposals can be found HERE.  A summary of this opportunity can be found below. 

General Overview

This RFP solicits proposals from the Space Grant network to conduct an independent program-level, two-year impact evaluation pilot of multiple state consortia in the Space Grant Program.  This pilot evaluation will be representative of the Space Grant Program offerings across multiple states that can be scaled to assess the entire Space Grant Program (based upon the findings and recommendations of the pilot studies).

The goals of this independent program-level impact evaluation are to: 1) Determine how and to what extent the Space Grant Program is designed and executed in alignment with federal law and NASA’s STEM engagement goals and priorities; and 2) Assess the impact and degree to which the Space Grant Program is achieving its intended outputs and outcomes on a national level.

Up to two awards will be made in response to this solicitation.  A total of $750,000 is available for this program. 

Notice Of Intent Submission

Proposals will be accepted from the lead institution of Space Grant consortia in each state along with the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. NASA will only accept one proposal per consortium.  NC State University serves as the lead institution for the NC Space Grant. 

To allow time for NC Space Grant to make an internal programmatic decision for a single submission, any interested party is asked to submit a Notice of Intent (NOI) to Dr. Susan White (snwhite3@ncsu.edu) by May 29, 2020 (5:00 pm EST).  Each NOI should include the following information:

• Name, address, telephone number and email address of the university Principal Investigator (PI)
• Identify the partners/collaborators and institutions proposing
• Provide a brief summary of evaluation approach   
• Provide a budget estimate

Should there be multiple NOI submissions, NC Space Grant will employ the evaluation criteria outlined in the RFP (pages 15-16) to select a single NOI for NASA submission (which must be done by the NC Space Grant Director, Dr. Susan White) on June 5, 2020. 

If selected for submission, full proposals will be due July 16, 2020.

For additional questions regarding this solicitation, please contact Dr. Susan White at (919) 515-2455 or snwhite3@ncsu.edu.