Abstract:

Funding is a hot topic in the United States. With the Race the Top dollars coming down from the federal government school districts and universities are scrambling to get systems in place in order to be eligible to apply for the competitive grants.

Traditionally, universities and their faculty members write grant proposals and then cold call school districts to find someone to ‘partner’ with them on their grant application. According to Jones (2008) these cold calls are an “episodic contact of convenience” rather than a true relationship. Jones explains that an episodic contact of convenience is a university who calls on a school district only when a grant is needed and vice versa. Although on the surface these episodic contacts appear to be successful, the relationships are not sustained. With the lack of a true partnership the organizations involved run the risk of missing out on additional funding opportunities.

Jones (2008) advocates for cross –institutional relationships that are ongoing and systematic in nature in order to stop the episodic contacts of convenience and to build long lasting successful relationships. This presentation will discuss the levels of engagement between institutional partners and the process to build and sustain a successful cross-institutional relationship. Furthermore, this presentation will describe the successful cross-institutional relationship, Tampa Bay Educational Partnership, created between the College of Education at the University of South Florida and the Hillsborough County School District. This cross-institutional partnership resulted in more than 50 million dollars awarded in competitive grants (during the first year). Subsequently the partnership has continued to prosper with millions of dollars being awarded from competitive grants.

Keywords:

Funding, Partnerships, Grants.