SPICE Treasure Hunt #1: Campus Quest
<p><span style="font-size:11pt; font-variant:normal; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-weight:700"><span style="font-style:normal"><span style="text-decoration:none">What are treasure hunts and how can they help you prepare an NSF proposal?</span></span></span></span></span></span></p> <p style="line-height:1.38"><span style="font-size:11pt; font-variant:normal; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-weight:400"><span style="font-style:normal"><span style="text-decoration:none">These treasure hunts have been created, tested, and updated by the Supporting Proposal Incubation and Creation for Educators at Two Year Institutions (SPICE) community. Each will involve questions, suggestions, and tasks to assist in the process of submitting an NSF grant proposal. These treasure hunts are not exhaustive and should be a basis for continued discussion in our forum spaces. We will also have forum space for suggestions and updates of the treasure hunts, as they will constantly evolve with use.&nbsp;</span></span></span></span></span></span></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="line-height:1.38"><span style="font-size:11pt; font-variant:normal; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-weight:700"><span style="font-style:normal"><span style="text-decoration:none">Why is this important?</span></span></span></span></span></span></p> <p style="line-height:1.38"><span style="font-size:11pt; font-variant:normal; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-weight:400"><span style="font-style:normal"><span style="text-decoration:none">While faculty are the Primary Investigators, a successful NSF proposal involves a federal contract with your institution or organization. Many research intensive institutions rely on external funding generated to support faculty initiated projects and therefore support that work with robust offices of research, budgeting support, and staff support. Often primarily teaching institutions have less infrastructure to support proposal preparation and post-award grant management, and that is useful information to have early in the grant writing process.</span></span></span></span></span></span></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="line-height:1.38"><span style="font-size:11pt; font-variant:normal; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-weight:700"><span style="font-style:normal"><span style="text-decoration:none">What should you expect to get out of it?</span></span></span></span></span></span></p> <p style="line-height:1.38; text-indent:36pt"><span style="font-size:11pt; font-variant:normal; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-weight:400"><span style="font-style:normal"><span style="text-decoration:none">The answers to these questions will help at many points during the proposal process, and getting them done early will set you up for success.</span></span></span></span></span></span></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="line-height:1.38"><span style="font-size:11pt; font-variant:normal; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-weight:700"><span style="font-style:normal"><span style="text-decoration:none">Suggestions for getting started</span></span></span></span></span></span></p> <p style="line-height:1.38; text-indent:36pt"><span style="font-size:11pt; font-variant:normal; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-weight:400"><span style="font-style:normal"><span style="text-decoration:none">Start at the beginning with looking for a Grants Office or other local resources. Share what you have found or not found in our forums [link here] and converse with other SPICE community members about the process. Check out the </span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16mz4MBmchM7t45PHNYDQYItYrEzTqWdncF7WMvKbCes/edit?pli=1&amp;gid=0#gid=0" style="text-decoration:none"><span data-rich-links="{" fple-t=""><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><span style="color:#1155cc"><span style="font-weight:400"><span style="font-style:normal"><span style="text-decoration:underline"><span style="-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none"><span style="text-decoration-skip-ink:none">SPICE Glossary</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size:11pt; font-variant:normal; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><span style="color:#000000"><span style="font-weight:400"><span style="font-style:normal"><span style="text-decoration:none"> for any phrases or words that are unfamiliar to you</span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
Authors
- Vedham Karpakakunjaram (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7931-697X)
- Tamara Basham
- Deborah L. Rook (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3377-3638)
- Sam S Donovan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4021-9878)
- Melissa Haswell (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-7455-2901)
- Melanie Lenahan
- Stacey Kiser (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9957-1994)
- Jillian Miller
Institutions
- Montgomery College (US)
- University of Pittsburgh (US)
- Lane Community College (US)
- Roane State Community College (US)
- Raritan Valley Community College (US)
- Davenport University (US)
- ImQuest BioSciences (United States) (US)
- Collin College (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- QUBES
- Published
- 2026-06-18
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.25334/1277-n982
- Primary Topic
- Diverse Education and Engineering Focus
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00