The RFP process to request postsecondary Perkins IV State Leadership Funds during FY16 is now open. You must submit your proposal through MnSCU WebGrants at www.applyheremn.org. Requests are due by March 2, 2015. Remember it takes 24 hrs. to register as a new user. Allow yourself plenty of time to submit your proposal. [See attachment for instructions on how to register as a new user and how to submit your proposal].
The priority for Perkins IV State Leadership Funds FY16 will be state level activities and systems to support local consortium efforts to improve Career Technical Education (CTE) in the following strategic areas:
- Engage employers to provide experiential learning and build career pathways and rigorous programs of study to meet regional workforce needs in high demand industry sectors.
- Improve success for special populations, e.g. males, those with disabilities, economically disadvantaged, to provide systemic support where consortia and/or the state have action plans to improve participation and completion.
- Provide career guidance/career investigation for potential students, e.g. professional development for targeted audiences, summer camps within high demand industry sectors.
- Provide avenues and sustained professional development for sharing promising practices to improve CTE.
Federal funds are to be used for new initiatives or those that significantly improve career and technical education. The online application and reporting process will assist CTE staff in prioritizing and determining the allocation of Perkins IV Leadership funds and to show accountability for the use of funds consistent with the Minnesota CTE Goals in the Five Year Plan, Perkins IV 2006 federal legislation required and permissive activities, and the Strategic Framework for MN State Colleges and Universities.
We expect Minnesota’s federal Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act allocation for FY16 to be approximately the same as that Minnesota received for FY15 dependent upon actions of the US Congress. We intend to inform those submitting fund requests of the preliminary determination of FY16 recipients by March 31, 2015. We hope to have preliminary notification of the July 1, 2015 allocation from the Office of Career Technical and Adult Education, US Department of Education in April, 2015, with a final notification soon after July 1, 2015. In the event of a reduction in allocation, staff commitments will have priority over leadership project requests. Recipients are expected to complete the necessary contract, intra agency agreement or special assignment agreement by July 30, 2015. Those awarded FY16 State Leadership Funds for projects and staff on special assignment will be required to submit a final report on project outcomes and use of the funds by June 30, 2016.
We appreciate your assistance in improving our processes and our efforts to assure accountability. Please send any questions to me at joann.simser@so.mnscu.edu.
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