WASHINGTON – To win federal grants and contracts, college leaders must gain a realistic sense of their institutional capabilities, hire faculty with a vision to do more than just teach, and be willing to remedy any shortcomings identified in their proposals.
It also pays to “spy” on competitors and research the mission of the agency from which funds are being sought.
Those were among the tips that federal administrators and university leaders offered Wednesday during the final day of HBCU Week at a panel discussion titled “How to Effectively Engage the Federal Sector.”
“There are opportunities out there,” said Leslie Pollard, president of Oakwood University in Huntsville, Ala., which he described as the “Silicon Valley” of the South. “But it’s going to take for us as HBCUs a certain kind of self-assurance that’s grounded on a realistic assessment of what our capabilities and capacities are.”
Wednesday’s session was one that featured a series of highs and lows. One minute a university president beamed with pride about a large federal grant that his or her institution had been awarded. The next minute a series of federal employees—including those who were alumni of HBCUs and passionate about giving back to the HBCU community—were complaining about how HBCU leaders were unresponsive to their outreach efforts.
One of the most curious things about the session was the fact that more than half the audience, which wasn’t very large to begin with, was made up of federal employees themselves. Mostly everyone else sat way in the back. This writer, the speakers and their entourages sat in the front.
Some of the most candid and practical advice came from Valerie Veatch, Senior Acquisition Technical Advisor within the Office of Acquisition Operations at the Department of Veterans Affairs, who sought to dispel various myths and misconceptions about what it takes to win a federal grant or contract.
