Students enrolled in this course should click here first:Welcome

COURSE DESCRIPTION

The purpose of this course is primarily to provide an understanding of, and practice in, proposal writing for corporations, foundations, and government agencies, and, in addition, to build skills for creating a range of persuasive documents including proposals for research grants, responses to requests for proposals, and government proposals.

COURSE TEXTS

Blum, Laurie. The Complete Guide to Getting a Grant. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1996.

Tepper, Ron. How to Write Winning Proposals for Your Company or Client. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1990.

Hyperlinks to Funding Resources Information (use this to find a proposal target)

Hyperlinks to Grant Proposal Writing Guides from 'Dogpile' (this is optional reading)

Other Secondary Sources (this is optional reading)

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

* Weekly substantial participation in on-line discussions (including exchanging views about the weekly readings).
* Analyses of sample documents.
* Analyses of student-selected documents.
* Analyses of student proposals.
* End-of-term proposal.

All documents must be word processed, spell checked and, to the best of one's ability, grammar checked.  If on occasion use is made of the ideas or words of someone else in one's writing, then the source(s) of those ideas and/or words must be cited; that is, when appropriate, papers must be fully documented (you must cite sources--using footnotes, endnotes, or parenthetical documentation, which include, when possible, specific page numbers keyed to particular passages in one's text, and complete bibliographical information).

COURSE DESIGN

This course will proceed along two parallel tracks: discussions and analyses of relevant texts, and the step-by-step creation of a proposal. Below is the course schedule; it should be followed in consultation with a discursive explanation of ongoing weekly class activities as well as the stages in the creation of the proposal. Click here for the course explanation or else below.

COURSE SCHEDULE

1/24:  Discussion of: Blum, Ch. 1; Tepper, Intro. & Ch. 1. Sample Proposal 1. Assignment Explanation.
1/31:  Discussion of: The Foundation Center Proposal Writing Short Course, The National Science Foundation
          Guide for Proposal Writing, and Sample Proposal 1. Assignment Explanation. Memo of Intention due.
2/7:    Discussion of Blum Ch. 2 and Tepper Ch. 2. Assignment Explanation. Analysis and discussion of a PA or an RFP due.
2/14:  Discussion of: Blum Ch. 3 and Tepper Ch. 3. Assignment Explanation. Briefing Profile Due.
2/21:  Discussion of: Blum, Ch. 9. Assignment Explanation. Progress Memo 1 Due.
2/28:  Discussion of: Tepper, Ch. 4. Assignment Explanation. Proposal Outline Due.
3/6:    Assignment Explanation. Progress Memo 2 Due.
3/20:  Discussion of: Tepper, Ch. 8. Assignment Explanation. Draft of visual aids Due.
3/27:  Assignment Explanation. Proposal Game Plan Due.
4/3:    Assignment Explanation. First Draft of Proposal Due.
4/10   Analyses of student proposal first drafts. Assignment Explanation
4/17   Discussion of: Blum Ch. 10. Assignment Explanation. Second Draft of Proposal Due.
4/24:  Assignment Explanation. Critiques of Second Drafts of Proposals Due.
5/1:    Assignment Explanation. Revisions of Second Drafts of Proposals and Final Feedback Due.
5/10:  Assignment Explanation. Final Draft of Proposal Due.

N.B.: Special thanks to Professors Doris Fleischer and Robert Friedman whose pedagogical trailblazing made this course  possible.