Outline for New Programs and Funding

I. Introduction: Summary Statement

This should be one paragraph describing the program. If the purpose of the paper is a funding proposal, then the first sentence should read, for example:

“Trinity seeks a Big Foundation grant of $1,000,000 to fund renovation of Biology laboratories for Trinity’s expansion into Health Professions education.”

II. Statement of Need

This section answers the question: what purpose does the program described in this paper (or the program supported by the grant request) fulfill?

Example: The looming crisis in the Health Professions Workforce, particularly nursing, has accelerated the development of Health Professions programs at colleges and universities around the nation. At Trinity, given the critical workforce shortages already apparent in regional hospitals and clinics, the development of such programs will create a vital pipeline of local residents to meet these critical needs.

Your statement of need should then go on to provide specific documentation in support of the request. Depending on the audience for this document, you may need to cite scholarly sources, or demographic data, or some other kind of external data. This is also where you would document how the proposal fulfills Trinity’s strategic goals.

III. Detailed Description of the Actual Program

This is the part of the proposal where you need to get very specific about how the program will be organized and executed. For academic programs, this section should mirror — and may refer to an appendix with — the proposed new program statements you must submit to the respective CAP Committees for consideration. The schools have already provided templates for these submissions, and those are sufficient for the material that is needed for this section. These proposals should include learning goals and objectives, course listings and course descriptions, sample syllabi, library resources, technology resources, etc.

If not otherwise included with an academic proposal, basic components of this section should include:

  1. target audience for the program;
  2. content of the program;
  3. delivery methods;
  4. specific resources utilization, e.g., equipment, materials, technology;
  5. responsibilities of personnel for delivery and administration;
  6. timetable;
  7. expected outcomes.

IV. Financial Justification

The Financial Spreadsheet for New Program Proposals (excel spreadsheet) must accompany this document, along with a prose justification of the items listed on the spreadsheet.

V. Larger Trinity Context – “Boilerplate” About Program and Trinity

If this is a proposal for external funding, this is the section in which you provide a much broader description of the entire program and its goals and objectives, and how that fits into Trinity’s overall mission and goals. There’s always a temptation to put this first. However, many funding sources want to see items I-III first before reading how wonderful we really are.

This is also the place where you would indicate how this proposal would interface with other programs at Trinity. So, even if this is not a proposal for external funding, you should still include a statement of how this proposed program might engage or impact other programs.

VI. Outcomes and Assessment

Most funding sources today want to see at least a summary statement that describes what their investment will achieve and how that achievement will be assessed.

VII. Conclusion

A final summary paragraph that draws all of the above together into one cogent statement about what this program will achieve.