National Writing Project 2007 Continued Funding Application
INSTRUCTIONS
Purposes of the Continued Funding Application
The Continued Funding Application is completed each year by active NWP sites. It is both a progress report on the site’s current work and a place to share thinking about future goals and plans. The application includes a Requested Budget to support the upcoming year’s activities.
The primary purpose of the report is to document that each site fulfills the federal funding requirements to 1) implement the National Writing Project program design and 2) show compliance with the requirements of Public Law 107-110 (No Child Left Behind).
Additional purposes of the application are
1. to allow site leaders to analyze the work of the site and to consider refinements that will improve it
2. to address issues specific to the site
3. to contribute to the knowledge base that informs the entire NWP network.
Audience
Your application will be read by colleagues including National Writing Project site directors and co-directors from around the country, as well as by NWP staff. The application may be read by reviewers unfamiliar with your site and its history and service area. Please give enough information to help your readers understand your context, particularly as it shapes the work of your site.
THE NATIONAL WRITING PROJECT
All National Writing Project sites focus on the core mission of improving the teaching of writing and the use of writing across the disciplines by offering high-quality professional development programs for educators in their service areas, K–16 and across the curriculum. NWP sites share a national program model that includes 1) developing a leadership cadre of local teachers who have participated in invitational summer institutes in the teaching of writing; 2) delivering customized inservice programs for local schools and institutions; and 3) providing continuing education and research opportunities for teachers. In addition, NWP sites may conduct programs for youth, for parents and community members, and for administrators. Each NWP site is housed in a college or university and is constituted as a school/university partnership that identifies, celebrates, and enhances the professional role of successful classroom teachers.
Overview of the Application Process
Summer
□ Download all instructions and forms for the Continued Funding Application (CFA) from NWP website.
□ Read the instructions and application form.
□ Plan your site leadership’s thinking and writing process to complete the application by the January deadline.
Fall
□ Prepare the Continued Funding Application narrative.
□ Assemble and plan for completion of all elements of CFA: narrative, Requested Budget, summer institute schedule, site leadership structure, appendixes (if needed).
□ As you create and save electronic documents, follow NWP naming protocols for online submission.
Related work:
Submit data online for the Site Profile (via Inverness Research Associates). In conjunction with this, submit final budget data online to NWP’s website as a final report for the previously completed grant year. Both the Site Profile and the Final Budget will be reviewed as part of the new application.
Distribute information about supplemental funding opportunities, such as minigrants, to site.
Fall/Winter
□ Assemble final edition of all elements, sign application, and complete checklist.
□ Submit completed CFA, including this Instructions document, to department and university units for signature.
□ Once signatures are complete, make four copies of hardcopy application (not including this Instructions document).
□ In time to meet January deadline, send original and four paper copies of complete CFA to NWP.
□ In time to meet January deadline, submit electronic copy of each required element online to NWP.
Spring
□ NWP will review your application in February 2007 and respond to your site by March 2007.
□ NWP will send contract amendment by mid-May 2007. Grant checks will follow in June.
Guidelines for the Continued Funding Application
Scope of the Application
The narrative should include a review of programs completed during the 2005–2006 academic year and the summer of 2006. You will also discuss plans and projections for 2007–2008, the coming year for which you are requesting funding. (You will report on programs for 2006–2007, the current funding year, in next year’s report, but you are welcome to comment on them in this year’s report as appropriate.)
The report should be analytical as well as informational. Let your readers in on your thinking. For example, discuss why the program is designed the way it is; who designed, conducted, and participated in it; what worked and what refinements you will make in the future. Be specific and include names of teacher-leaders as appropriate.
Refer to the Annual Site Profile (completed online in October via Inverness Research Associates; http://nwpsurvey.org) and make connections to the data, as well as to your Requested and Final Budgets.
Optional: Appendixes may include a single copy of a site’s brochures, newsletters, publications, or other items. Since time is limited, reviewers cannot do more than glance at these items and many sites choose not to send appendixes. Reviewers will not be able to access links to online resources during the review.
Signatures
Plan ahead to obtain signatures on the completed application from your site leaders, university department, and university contract office, taking into account the winter holiday break at your institution as it relates to the January submission deadline.
Preparing the Application
Download all of the documents, templates, and samples from the NWP website (http://www.writingproject.org/cs/nwpp/print/pa/44). As you complete them, save each element as a separate document in its original format (for example, as an MS Word document or an MS Excel spreadsheet). As soon as you start entry on this document, please “save as” and rename it using the following naming protocol:
• Two-letter state mailing code
• Site name, not including “Writing Project” or “WP”
• 2007
• Document name
Example: CA Bay Area 2007 Narrative
In addition to submitting paper copies, you will need to submit each electronic document online. Do not embed or combine any of the electronic documents or submit as PDFs. The National Writing Project online submission cannot accept documents saved as PDFs.
Submitting the Application
Hard (paper) copies: All required elements of the application must be received in the NWP national office by 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, January 10, 2007. Mail hardcopy original and four (4) copies to:
Richard Sterling, Executive Director
National Writing Project
2105 Bancroft Way #1042
Berkeley, CA 94720-1042
Telephone: 510-642-0963.
Electronic copies: The online submission period is Thursday, January 4 through Wednesday, January 10, 2007. When all elements are ready for online submission, go to http://www.writingproject.org/cs/nwpp/print/pa/44 and follow the instructions for submitting.
Elements of the Application
Overview
The Narrative and Forms document includes forms that need to be completed inside the document (Site Contact Information, Site Leadership Contact Information); questions requiring text answers (Narrative); and forms that need to be printed out and signed and submitted on paper only (Certificate of Compliance, Signature Page, and Checklist). Additional required elements that should be attached to the paper copy and submitted as separate electronic documents are the Site Leadership Map, Summer Institute Schedule, and Requested Budget. If applicable, include a CV for any new site director or co-director. Appendixes are optional (see SCOPE OF THE APPLICATION, above).
NARRATIVE AND FORMS ATTACHMENTS
Submit paper copy and submit as one electronic document Submit paper copies and submit as separate electronic documents
• Site Contact Information • Site Leadership Map
• Site Leadership Contact Information • Summer Institute Schedule
• Questions requiring text answers (Narrative) • Requested Budget
Complete and submit on paper only Attach paper copy only, if applicable
• Certificate of Compliance • CV for new site director or co-director
• Signature Page • Optional: Appendix
• Complete Application Checklist
Site and Site Leadership Contact Information
At the beginning of the Narrative and Forms document, complete the NWP Site Contact Information. This information is for the site as an entity (office address, phone, fax, and so forth). Then, for each leader at the site (director, co-director/s, technology liaison, etc.), complete a Site Leader Contact form. Copy and complete additional site leader information blanks as needed. List site leaders only; do not include administrative staff for the site.
Narrative
For the narrative, use the same headings and order as in the Narrative and Forms document (you do not need to include the questions in your final document). Use a 12-point font and one-inch margins. Save and submit the document as a Microsoft Word file. As soon as you start entry on this document, please “save as” and rename it using the following naming protocol:
• Two-letter state mailing code
• Site name, not including “Writing Project” or “WP”
• 2007
• Document name
Example: CA Bay Area 2007 Narrative
Do not embed any of the supporting items into the Narrative and Forms document (such as Site Leadership Map, Summer Institute Schedule, and Requested Budget). Save and submit these as separate documents.
This document is submitted both on paper and electronically.
Site Leadership Map
Download the template and sample from the NWP website at http://www.writingproject.org/cs/nwpp/print/pa/44. As soon as you start entry on this document, please “save as” and rename it using this naming protocol:
• Two-letter state mailing code
• Site name, not including “Writing Project” or “WP”
• 2007
• Document name (“Site Map”)
Example: CA Bay Area 2007 Site Map
Print and attach the document to your paper application. Save your final electronic document for online submission as a separate Microsoft Word document. That is, do not embed it into the narrative. Do not substitute another format like a PDF file.
You may adapt the map structure and change terminology to suit your needs.
This document is submitted both on paper and electronically.
Summer Institute Schedule
Download the template and sample from the NWP website at http://www.writingproject.org/cs/nwpp/print/pa/44. As soon as you start entry on this document, please “save as” and rename it using this naming protocol:
• Two-letter state mailing code
• Site name, not including “Writing Project” or “WP”
• 2007
• Document name (“SI Schedule”)
Example: CA Bay Area 2007 SI Schedule
Print and attach the document to your hardcopy application. Save your final electronic document for online submission as a separate Microsoft Word document. That is, do not embed it into the narrative. Do not substitute another format like a PDF file.
In this section you must enter your summer institute information into the template provided.
This document is submitted both on paper and electronically.
Budget
See instructions in “Budget Form Instructions” section below.
This document is submitted both on paper and electronically.
Donor Letters
See instructions in “Compliance and Signature Forms” section below.
This document is submitted on paper only; it is not submitted online.
Certificate of Compliance
See instructions in “Compliance and Signature Forms” section below.
This document is submitted on paper only; it is not submitted online.
Signature Page
See instructions in “Compliance and Signature Forms” section below.
This document is submitted on paper only; it is not submitted online.
Complete Application Checklist
A checklist is provided at the end of the Narrative and Forms document. Please complete and sign the checklist and submit it with your final application.
This document is submitted on paper only; it is not submitted online.
Budget Form Instructions
Overview
Your Requested Budget should cover a one-year period beginning with your 2007 summer institute and continuing through the 2007–2008 academic year.
You may request up to $42,000, plus $3,000 to support the work of a technology liaison. If you request the technology liaison funds, please be sure to include a provision for travel to the annual meeting. Technology liaison support may also include stipends, supplies, or other expenses appropriate to the work of supporting the use of technology at the site.
Supplemental funding requests for activities such as network minigrants and special initiatives should not be included in your core budget when making your initial request. Later on, approved supplementary grants will be added to your core budget for the purposes of requesting major revisions or finalizing your financial reports at the end of a reporting cycle.
As of 2007–2008, each site’s annual NWP sponsorship fee is $500. (Please note: This is an increase from previous years.) As usual, this expense should be charged against a site’s locally raised funds. It may not be paid from federal funds.
Further guidelines for the contents of the budget are included in the budget template itself.
In addition to the Requested Budget form, the budget narrative will be included as the final element of the overall narrative. Further instructions for the budget narrative are in Part V of the Narrative and Forms document.
Resources
While preparing or revising your budget, please feel encouraged to contact Mike Mathis, NWP director of grants and contracts, for assistance. Phone: 510-643-6206. Email: mmathis@writingproject.org.
If your local circumstances are making it difficult for you to secure the required match, please contact Mike Mathis early to discuss strategies.
A sample budget is provided for your reference at http://www.writingproject.org/cs/nwpp/print/pa/44. You may also wish to refer to your Final Budgets from previous years as you work out your ideas for your new request.
Mechanics
Start by retrieving a current blank budget form from http://www.writingproject.org/cs/nwpp/print/pa/44. Be sure to save the form as an Excel spreadsheet, saving it to your own computer before beginning your work. As soon as you start entry on this document, please “save as” and rename it using this naming protocol:
• Two-letter state mailing code
• Site name, not including “Writing Project” or “WP”
• 2007
• Document name (“Budget”)
Example: CA Bay Area 2007 Budget
Do not embed the budget form into any other document. When finished, print copies to include with the paper copies of your completed application. You will also submit the Excel spreadsheet as part of your online electronic submission.
This year’s form is unchanged from last year.
Over the course of the program year, you will be free and encouraged to adjust this budget as needed to fit your changing programs. Be sure to save a copy of your original document before proceeding with a revision. Copies of substantial revisions may be emailed to Mike Mathis at any time. Continue this until your program year is finished and the budget has been adjusted to be in line with the program as it actually took place. (You will submit the final version of this budget in September of 2008.)
When you first open the spreadsheet, read the instructions at the top of the form. Delete the embedded instructions when you save the final version of the form, before printing and electronic submission.
Please do your best to get your budget to fit on one or two pages, formatted vertically (portrait).
Column and Line Instructions
Print out a copy of the blank budget form to refer to as you read these instructions.
Please provide a budget request for your core funding in column A that totals $42,000 and covers your programs in summer of 2007 and the 2007–2008 school year. You may also include an additional $3,000 to support a technology liaison.
Other columns are for estimating expenses that will be covered by other funding sources. For columns containing more than one source of funds, these sources should be named or explained in footnotes at the bottom of the form. The lines of the budget itself are for showing how each class of income will be spent.
Sections 1 and 2. Salaries and Benefits: Some salary and benefit amounts will be for instructional activities. Others will be for administrative activities. Especially for those amounts listed under column A, please list the instructional and administrative amounts on separate lines and indicate clearly which lines are instructional and which are administrative. For each column A entry, your budget narrative should briefly explain why it is instructional or why it is administrative. Anything reasonably closely associated with the instructional or teacher-enrichment process is considered instructional. “Administrative” would include general office clerical work and the site director’s general oversight of the project, as well as public relations and fundraising activities.
Section 3. Supplies/Printing/Office: Include the costs of books, copying, postage, phones, etc., here. For entries in column A, keep administrative costs listed separately from instructional costs. In your budget narrative, explain why each column A entry is either instructional or administrative if it isn’t obvious. All costs identifiably associated with institutes and workshops, newsletters, teaching materials, and activities like building Internet sites for teacher enrichment are instructional. The costs of record keeping, accounting, and general office maintenance are administrative.
Section 4. Stipends and Tuition: These are nearly always instructional by definition. Clarify in your narrative the entries in your budget showing how tuition is paid. If participants themselves pay any amounts in addition to other forms of tuition support, please include those amounts in column F. Your explanation in your budget narrative will help reviewers distinguish which tuition contributions—or reimbursements—come from schools or districts, from individual participants, from the university, from the state, and from NWP. All anticipated payments to people (other than salaries) for participating in activities and doing the work of the site should be included in this section.
Section 5. Travel: In addition to other travel costs in the budget, be sure to include travel costs for the NWP Annual Meeting in November, as well as any provision needed for the travel of your technology liaison.
Section 6. Other: Include in this section your local site’s $500 institutional sponsorship of the NWP. This sponsorship may be listed under any column except column A. We will send you an invoice in June 2007 for your convenience. This section may also be used for any kind of expense that does not seem to fit properly into the other sections. These are usually relatively minor items.
Compliance with Federal Funding Requirements
Income can only be reported once—either in the year you receive it or in the year you use it (preferably, the latter, so your budget can show how you use it). This avoids double-counting your match funds. Call Mike Mathis with questions on this.
Federal funds coming to you from any source other than the NWP must be shown in column D of the budget form. This does not include NCLB funding channeled to you by your state or your local schools and districts, which should show up in column C. Column D federal funds must be subtracted from your totals (see the line for this purpose near the bottom of the form) in order to calculate your match funding.
Programs that serve students—young writers camps, for example—may use NWP federal funds only for those elements that provide “professional development for participating teachers.” NWP funds may not be used to pay teacher-consultants for the teaching of the young writers.
Federal Restrictions: Because the source of funding for your basic annual grant is the U.S. Department of Education, the following restrictions must be closely adhered to and, where appropriate, documented in your files:
a. Entertainment and food-related expenses (other than travel-meal allowances) should not be included under NWP Support in column A. Please present these expenses under one of the other cost-sharing columns.
b. University overhead or “indirect costs” may be included on this form only as follows:
• Indirect costs that have been waived by the university may be listed at the bottom of the form after the totals as an indication of university support.
• Indirect costs may not appear in column A under any circumstances.
• Indirect costs may not be used to match the NWP funding.
• Indirect costs may not be included in the budget totals carried forward to the Certificate of Compliance with Federal Requirements.
c. University in-kind support may be included in column B as long as its cost is identifiable in your department’s or your university’s records. This includes things like faculty released time, a percentage of a person’s time for clerical support, and photocopying. It should not include university office or classroom space.
d. Administrative costs listed in column A may not exceed 10 percent of the funds requested from NWP. The total of column A administrative costs must also be listed on the Certificate of Compliance with Federal Requirements. Make sure your budget and the certificate agree with each other.
e. Columns B, C, E, and F reflect nonfederal sources of financial and in-kind support used to match or augment your federal funding. The total of all these columns taken together must at least equal the federal total in column A. Be sure the grand total of all of the budget columns matches the total listed on the Certificate of Compliance with Federal Requirements.
f. The sources of matching funds listed in column F will occasionally include some federal funds. Since no federal funds qualify to be included as part of your matching funds, please use the budget lines at the bottom of the table to subtract out the federal part and calculate your match total.
Note: Instructions for the Budget Narrative are Part V of the CFA Narrative instructions.
Compliance and Signature Forms
Certificate of Compliance
The blank form is included in the Narrative and Forms document. Complete the required information electronically before you print the form. Attach the original, with signature, to your completed application.
The Certificate of Compliance with Federal Requirements certifies that all regulations of Public Law 107-110 are met. (Public Law 107-110 is the funding legislation for the NWP.)
The dollar figures on the form must agree with the Requested Budget. The form must be completed, signed, and attached to your Continued Funding Application for your application to be complete. See additional instructions in the budget section.
This document is submitted on paper only; it is not submitted online.
Signature Page
The blank form is included in the Narrative and Forms document. Complete the required information electronically before you print the form. Attach the original to your completed application and obtain signatures.
Plan ahead to obtain signatures from your site leaders, university department, and university contract office, taking into account the winter holiday break at your institution as it relates to the January submission deadline.
A completed signature page with original signatures must be attached to the original copy of the CFA. It must contain a minimum of one signature from the NWP site and one signature from the host university.
This document is submitted on paper only; it is not submitted online.
Donor Letters
Content. Donor letters serve as important documentation of the support for a writing project site from university administrators, particularly department heads and deans. The letters provide an opportunity for key sponsors of the work of a site to make clear their substantial commitment to one of the site’s goals, which is to provide a strong link between host-university programs and the schools in the institution’s service area. The letters typically include information about the accomplishments of the site during the past year.
Each donor letter should name a specific dollar amount of cash or in-kind support, and should clearly identify the year of work for which the support is being committed. If university support is not sufficient to cover the minimum match requirement, then additional donor letters should be obtained from outside sources sufficient to make up the difference. For any part of a site’s projected match that exceeds the minimum requirement, donor letters are not required. But, especially for matches from outside sources, they are welcome and useful as a part of establishing sound contractual relationships between a site and its partners.
The donor letters collectively must specifically promise an amount of support at least equal to the minimum required match for the federal dollars being requested from NWP; that is, committing to at least $42,000 of the matching funds outlined in your budget. Sites applying for extra funds to support technology liaisons or minigrants should document a match at least equal to the requested funds.
Feel free to adapt the language of the sample donor letter below as appropriate for your institution.
Format. Donor letters must be printed on institutional letterhead, with current dates and specific reference to the year for which funds are being promised.
Original signed donor letters (not photocopies or faxes) must be attached to the original application.
This document is submitted on paper only; it is not submitted online.
Complete Application Checklist
The blank form is included in the Narrative and Forms document.
When you are ready to assemble and forward your completed application to obtain signatures, and once again before you submit it to the National Writing Project, review the Complete Application Checklist. When your application is complete, sign the checklist and include it with your hardcopy submission to the NWP.
The checklist is submitted on paper only; it is not submitted online.
THE COMPLETE APPLICATION IS DUE WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 10, 2007.
