The Appalachian College Association invites proposals for planning collaborative projects among subsets of its member institutions, in anticipation that such planning could result in projects that could benefit a broader set of ACA member institutions in the future.
The mission of the ACA is to provide resources “for collaborative programs that exceed what a single campus can accomplish by enhancing our students’ educational experiences and ensuring optimal use of institutional resources.” In establishing this funding for planning grants for strategic collaborations, the ACA seeks to elicit innovative proposals that have the potential to further this mission.
Proposed planning projects may be in any area of institutional operations and will ideally involve at least three ACA institutions. Potential collaborative projects might include faculty/staff professional development, cross-institutional shared positions or functions, collaborative research programs, collaborative student services, and the like.
A total of $100,000 is available for these planning projects. We anticipate funding at least 4 proposals.
Application
Proposals must be submitted to the ACA office by December 1, 2025. Funding decisions will be made by an ad hoc committee formed by the ACA Executive Committee, using the following evaluative criteria:
- Clarity of the proposed project’s goals
- Suitability of the project’s proposed activities in support of its goals
- Likelihood of success of the planning project
- Reasonableness of the proposed budget
- Likelihood of broader impact of the planning project to other ACA institutions (replication, expansion, sustainability)
Proposal
- Identified need for the collaboration. What is the problem or concern that the planning project will address?
- Institutional planning partners. List the ACA member institutions that will participate in the planning process and the personnel from each institution who will be involved in the planning activities.
- Proposed planning activities and timeline. Outline the activities that will take place for this planning project, with information about who is responsible for those activities and the timeline by which the planning project will be complete. Ideally, all planned activities will be completed by August 1, 2026. Reports will be due by September 1, 2026.
- Budget justification. List and explain the proposed expenditures associated with the planning activities (e.g., meetings, travel, consultants and/or release time for facilitators). These may include, but are not limited to, the following: release time or stipend for planning personnel, consultant costs, mileage reimbursement, meals, and lodging for planning meetings. Generally, budgets should not exceed $25,000. However, proposals that would require more than that amount will be considered as funds allow.
- Mileage reimbursed at the IRS approved rate ($.70/mile in 2025)
- Meals and lodging should be reasonable relative to the location of any in-person meeting
- If the proposal includes payments for consultants or release time, explain the rationale and the cost basis for this service
- Endorsement letters from each partner institutions’ president.
Proposals should be compiled into a single PDF document and emailed to Beth Rushing no later than 11:59 pm on December 1, 2025.
Timeline
- Notice of funding opportunity: June 2025
- Proposals due to ACA: December 1, 2025
- Notifications of funding: January 2026
- Final reports due to ACA: September 1, 2026
