Since 'tis officially the season, I am back with my top instances and situations that tend to spook us evaluators. I was thinking about them while on the metro from the AAAS-organized #SSTEM symposium that concluded today, which by the way was very well attended (~750 folks) and the panel on evaluation on Friday AM was attended by 126 people (per the Whova app). The room's capacity was ~100 so you can image how crowded the session turned out to be. It was really fun....not spooky at …
News and Updates
MNA At the NSF S-STEM Symposium This Week
Over 650 PIs, Co-PIs, staff, and project evaluators are expected to convene in DC from all over the country for the annual National Science Foundation (NSF) Scholarships in STEM (#SSTEM) symposium (in person and some sessions will be live streamed) beginning Thursday afternoon. Team MNA will not only represent our current S-STEM awarded clients from across the country (currently in AZ* (award to be made), CA, CT, FL, KY, MT, NJ, and PA) but also be on an NSF-led panel on Friday AM with two …
MNA Goes To Montana!
Well, looks like the Big Sky Country and the Land of Shining Mountains is calling us. We've got some news: the Flathead Valley Community College (FVCC) in Kalipspell, MT was just awarded the famed Track 1, NSF funded- S-STEM grant. This 6-year NSF scholarship project will utilize an integrated approach to support 30 S-STEM scholars with three primary components: Scholarships, STEM identity and community building, and Mental health and wellness counseling. Scholarships will increase student …
Bird By Bird…That’s The Truth
While messaging (who calls these days?!) with a good evaluator friend earlier last week, we started chatting about how to write a (well-) balanced evaluation report that I had been agonizing and obsessing about for quite some time. I wasn't getting anywhere and the deadline was looming. The main reason was that the project had gotten very complicated (read, highly politicized). My friend provided very meaningful suggestions. When confronted with such a situation, I like to think of Anne …
MNA Celebrates HSI Week
Happy Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) week! We at MNA are celebrating all the HSIs across the U.S. and their service to students, faculty members, and staff. Across college campuses, HSI week is being celebrated as a collaboration among faculty, staff, and students by hosting community conversations about campus diversity, student support services, and academic excellence. Since 2010, MNA has partnered with several HSIs across the nation as their grant evaluators, co-writers, …
MNA Goes to CA! (Again)
In December 2021, when Victoria Dominguez at Citrus College (Glendora, CA) emailed me informing that she had received my contact from David Brown and asked very nicely if I might agree to be their collaborator and an external evaluator for the upcoming National Science Foundation (NSF) Scholarships in STEM (S-STEM) grant. When David refers you to a potential client, you have to say yes. Grateful for the connection that David so kindly made between us and very glad to mention that Citrus …
MNA Goes To CT!
The month of September appears to be that of National Science Foundation (NSF) awards month made to both 2-and-4 year institutions across the nation in the famed Scholarships in STEM (S-STEM) program. Adding to our ongoing evaluation of several S-STEM grants is now the Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU) in New Haven, CT. The Track 2, $1.5M 6-year project titled, "Preparing Computational Biologists for the New England Workforce (ComBiNE)," will address the need for well-trained …
MNA Goes to Temple!
We are very glad to add another NSF S-STEM grant evaluation project to our growing resume. This time, we are going to Temple University! The vision of the Scholarships in STEM (S-STEM) program funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) is that all Americans, regardless of economic status, can pursue a STEM degree and contribute to the American innovation economy, if they so desire. The S-STEM program provides scholarship awards to Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs) to fund …
An Engineering Research Center Evaluation Is Now Added to MNA’s Growing Portfolio
When I received an admission acceptance letter to a prestigious agricultural college in Northern India many years ago, the second person (aside from me, of course) who was genuinely excited that I would potentially be doing "some good for the humankind," was my father. At a family gathering a few days later, without rehearsal and to my utter embarrassment, he proudly announced, "In our family, we now say, Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan," (Hail the soldier, hail the farmer- the chant made popular in 1965 …
MNA Finally Includes An “INCLUDES ALLIANCE” Grant Evaluation To Its Growing Portfolio
What a fantastic way to begin my work today while ending this first work week of August 2022! Dr. Talitha Washington, the fearless leader and an exceptionally brilliant, and talented mathematician and Principal Investigator (PI) on this large, National Science Foundation (NSF) #INCLUDES Alliance grant once said at one of our meetings in early July when we were receiving strong indications of being awarded soon, "I will have 10 million reasons to smile - soon!" Yes, you most certainly …