Outreach Highlights

Innovation Abounds in Latest Round of Outreach Funding

From the business of the arts to teaching of nurses, five new program proposals are receiving a total of $53,000 in development money in the third round of Program Innovation Fund (PIF) grants awarded by UMass Amherst Outreach.

In the past year, more than $218,000 has been awarded to underwrite initial planning, market research, and design for new academic programs aimed at adult learners and other off-campus constituents and offered through Outreach programs such as Continuing & Professional Education, University Without Walls, UMass Extension, the Arts Extension Service, WFCR, and Workforce Development. 

Outreach Vice Provost Sharon L. Fross said that the five were chosen from among eight proposals submitted under the program established last year to support development of new programs in academic outreach.

The funding reflects the new and creative ways that UMass Amherst programs are reaching out to broader and more diverse audiences in ways that meet the evolving needs of the regional economy, she said.

“The commitments we have made during this round will extend the reach of some very innovative programs, and create new opportunities. The program is a very effective bridge helping to link the university to the community,” she said.

At the same time, Vice Provost Fross issued a call for a fourth round of Program Innovation Fund proposals. The deadline for proposals is October 31, 2007.

Following the upcoming round of funding, PIF proposals will be solicited annually, rather than twice yearly.

The following are the proposals funded under the current round of UMass Amherst Outreach Program Innovation Fund awards.

1. The Arts Extension Service is working with Greenfield Community College to launch an Artist in Business Certificate Program. PIF funding will help support planning and marketing research for the program, which will be delivered in online and face-to-face formats. It will feature courses such as arts marketing, financial management, and grants writing, to help artist-entrepreneurs reach their full potential as small business owners.
2. Commonwealth College is receiving a PIF grant to create an online version of the Dean’s Book Course. It is the first course the university’s honors college has offered online. The new approach is aimed at building a broader interdisciplinary community, and establishing a model for online versions of other Commonwealth College courses.
3. Program innovation funding will support a paid news reporting internship at 88.5FM WFCR, the Five College public radio station serving western New England. This will allow WFCR to give a student of the UMass Amherst journalism program a chance to gain valuable hands-on experience in radio broadcasting.
4. The Western Massachusetts Writing Project’s Graduate Certificate in Teaching of Writing program is receiving PIF funding to revise and expand its program through the creation of a “blended” instruction format. About 80-percent of the certification program will be offered online, and about 20-percent in a more traditional face-to-face format. There will also be an initiative to redesign promotional materials such as the program’s website and brochure.
5. The UMass Amherst School of Nursing and School of Education will use PIF funding to create an online advanced certificate program in nursing education. The program will consist of 7 courses taught online over a 12 month period. An onsite orientation, including a three-day onsite technology course, will be required as part of the program.