Program Staff

Carlotta M. Arthur, Program Officer
Kali Weeks, Program Assistant

Overview

The Foundation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Program provides multi-year grants to private, four-year HBCUs whose missions are to provide an undergraduate liberal arts education. Currently, the Foundation works with 28 HBCUs and the Southern Education Foundation, Inc. (www.sefatl.org).

In general, grants awarded in this program are aimed at (1) supporting HBCU presidents as they advance specific areas of their strategic plans (Institution Building Program), (2) providing additional resources and professional development opportunities for HBCU librarians (HBCU Libraries), and (3) assisting HBCU faculty members as they refresh curricular offerings (Curricular Development).

Current Programs

Grants awarded in the HBCU Program can be grouped into three initiatives:

• Institution Building Program:
  The Institution Building program provides support for curricular and administrative projects that increase an institution’s capacity to implement and manage educational change. Foundation staff invite institutions to apply for a planning grant to investigate initiatives that may be consistent with both the goals of the Foundation and the institution’s strategic plan. If a plan is convincing, the institution will be invited to apply for an implementation grant.

• HBCU Libraries:
  The Libraries initiative supports new collaborative efforts among faculty members, librarians, and information technology (IT) staff to enable these teams to explore effective uses of electronically delivered library materials for teaching and research. In addition, the Foundation works with the HBCU Library Alliance (www.hbculibraries.org) to devise collaborative projects that will strengthen HBCU libraries and provide additional professional development opportunities to their librarians.

• Curricular Development:
  This initiative supports HBCUs to: (1) improve student retention rates by addressing critical curricular needs; (2) promote new academic and research programs; and (3) launch honor programs.

Program Contact Information

Please direct grant and reporting inquiries to:

Mr. Kali Weeks
Program Assistant

Before writing, please review the Foundation’s general requirements for grant proposals in the Grant Inquiries section of this Web site.