Through a subscription with the Grants Resource Center (GRC), a unit of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, MVSU has access to a comprehensive suite of tools, services, and expertise to improve efficiency and increase success in securing competitive grants from federal and private sponsors. OSP staff will assist faculty in the use of all GRC options.
The GRC site requires a login and password in order to use the GRC website. For first-time login information or assistance accessing any of GRC's member benefits, please contact OSP at 662.254.3882 or email Kimberly Allen.
GRC benefits for faculty include:
GrantSearch, a database that contains over 1,500 funding opportunities that support academic activities such as research, education, training, fellowships, program or curriculum development, and/or equipment acquisition. From federal and national foundations tailored to higher education, GrantSearch allows the user to search the funding opportunity database using five criteria: (1) academic subject; (2) activity; (3) funding sponsor; (4) deadline month; and (5) keyword.
Read the GrantSearch User Guide, or follow these quick steps after logging into GRC:
- Click on "GrantSearch" at the top right of the page.
- Select an Academic Category.
- Select and remove Academic Subject using > and X buttons. Multiple subjects are allowed.
- Select search criteria as needed to target or broaden your results. Enter keywords in "Select Text." TIP: These keywords must appear in the brief description for an opportunity to appear in your search results. Leave Select Text blank for more search results.
- Click "Start Search" at the bottom of the page.
- To preview details of an opportunity, click on the program title. Each detailed description will include a link to the original RFA or external website. TIP: Most GRC announcements are recurring programs that are verified annually. If the posted deadline is in the past, click through to the agency link and you may find more details on future deadlines.
- Click "Back" to return to the results list.
- By default, all opportunities will be selected in the check box to the left of each opportunity. TIP: To view fewer items in detail, uncheck individual boxes or click "Clear All" at the top left and check only the listings you want.
- To view choices, go to the bottom of the page and click "View Selected. TIP: From here, you may click "Text Report" to cut and paste results into an email or word document to save.
Funded Proposal Library, a library funded proposals obtained regularly and provided them its members free of charge. The proposals listed here have come to GRC through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to federal agencies, from funders seeking to supply proposals that show best practices, or from successful principal investigators (PIs) or proposal writers. The Proposal Library contents are not intended to be replicated at the campus level. Proposals in the Library are never intended to be posted publicly or shared with non-member campuses.
Prospective PIs are encouraged to contact awardees personally. A dialogue with a successful PI can provide insight into the application process that is more beneficial than reviewing a cold copy of a funded proposal. GRC staff members are willing to locate and request funded proposals not found in the Proposal Library, and are adept at facilitating contact between funded PIs and prospective applicants from GRC member campuses.
Only proposal abstracts are accessible in the Proposal Library. For a copy of the full proposal, to share a copy of a funded proposal from your institution, or locate proposals not contained in the library, email Kimberly Allen.
Publications, electronic publications that reduce the time spent searching for funding opportunities and higher-education grants and contracts news. Information is categorized by discipline and published in a concise format for easy forwarding to faculty, senior administrators, and other stakeholders.
Faculty Alerts, a system that provides registered users with customized monthly reports on funding opportunities in selected areas of interest. Faculty alerts are drawn from the GRC Deadlines publication, which gives members 90 days' notice of higher education grant and contract competitions in all disciplines. By registering for alerts and identifying specific areas of interest, faculty members can receive delivery of the opportunities most relevant to them to any of their computing devices.
Specialty Searches, in-depth searches that GRC staff provide upon request. Faculty may provide the MVSU GRC staff liaison with a white paper outlining a potential project. The liaison will work with GRC to produce a list of potential funding opportunities that may be a fit.
Other benefits include:
- Training the campus community to conduct targeted searches for funding opportunities
- Monitoring legislation, appropriations, and program development news in institutional priority areas
- Facilitating prospective applicant/successful awardee connections
- Identifying examples of successful proposals
- Attending Washington, DC meetings on your institution’s behalf
- Setting agency appointments for campus representatives traveling to Washington.
- Monthly web conferences featuring program and budget information, technical assistance, proposal development support, and best practices in community and economic development, efficiency and compliance, and health research and education
- Annual conferences in Washington where attendees hear directly from—and meet individually with—the federal agency and foundation program officers who administer grant programs and influence funding decisions
- Agency Fact Sheets with links to further resources
- Appointments scheduled with funding agency representatives, if you are in Washington, D.C.
- Attendance on your behalf at agency meetings in Washington, D.C.