Points to consider for Cycle 2 Applicants

Based on reviewer's comments, we found the strongest Cycle 1 proposals clarified and articulated the following information:

1. Quality and innovation
   • Describe in detail your PPP's special approach to meeting the unique needs of your local aging community. If your PPP will work with diverse and/or special populations (minorities, developmentally disabled, LGBT), or particular characteristics relative to your urban, rural, or suburban setting, highlight these unique qualities.
   • Be as specific as possible about the range of experiences to be gained through your student rotations: describe micro and macro levels addressed as well as the diverse settings of your site rotations.
   • Name innovative ways of involving your field instructor(s) and community agencies in student education. They might co-teach a workshop that integrates course content, for example, or your university might offer continuing education for its agency partners.
   • Explain what is unique about your community-university partnership, such as any benefits to the community agencies and their clients, or a new kind of exposure across agencies for your students.
   • Describe how you plan to conduct student recruitment to the PPP. Consider that recruitment barriers involve student misperceptions about aging, and ways in which you might overcome those barriers. It's also helpful to create a concrete plan that uses a variety of recruitment options.
2. Feasibility of the PPP proposal and your university's ability to promote/foster the program
   • Make sure your application shows evidence to support your program's ability to thrive financially. Any description of other aging-related grants, fellowships, or awards (funded by John A. Hartford Foundation, or others) may be used.
   • Be as clear and realistic as possible regarding your program timeline and effort (% of time) of staff. Demonstration of staff commitment is also important in your application.
   • Clarify and distinguish the roles and responsibilities of your field instructors, directors, and other faculty in implementing the PPP. Ask yourself, "Who will be in charge of our PPP?"
   • For start up aging-related programs that do not have extensive aging experience in their faculty ranks, explain how this will be addressed as you train students. Examples of hosting guest lecturers, establishing concentrated curriculum infusion, ongoing faculty training, can bolster your case.
   • Describe the commitment of your community agencies, and how these relationships will be utilized and structured in your PPP. Reviewers like to see evidence of an established working relationship, as well as active involvement on both sides of the partnership that can be sustained over time.
   • Plan to publicize your program to several different "audiences": specifically, to your school, amongst faculty, to students, local community members and businesses, and future funders? Outreach methods to these groups can help foster familiarity and knowledge about the program across a variety of local levels, and facilitate recruitment to your PPP.
3. Evidence of your site's commitment to establishing and sustaining the PPP
   • If your institution has experience with university-community partnerships before, examine and explain what outcomes you have had. If there are "lessons learned" or things you plan to do differently with your PPP partnership, describe these in your narrative.
   • Be specific about your plan for continued PPP development and sustainability post-Hartford funding: for example, if you already have commitment, or if you have a plan for finding new sources of funding.
   • Explain how will you enhance aging-related coursework in your university setting: such as through interdisciplinary lectures, innovative course projects, or plans to expand access to available resources (such as partnering with a neighboring school).
4. Evidence of your site's (ongoing) commitment to gerontology and advancing social work practice in aging
   • Assess the number of aging courses that you have. Plans for continued support for curriculum development should be explained to support your PPP over time, and to continually engage and prepare students as they enter and graduate from your program.
   • Assess if fellow faculty members have expertise in strengthening aging content at your institution. Describe what faculty members share an interest as well as evidence of cultivating multidisciplinary involvement in your PPP.
5. Leadership Potential
   • Describe how you might plan to cultivate leadership in your students. Examples may include mentorship opportunities, specific student development, and/or enhanced training of faculty and field instructors.
   • Rotations and partnerships present opportunities to interface with community leaders. Consider how these coalitions might be translated to leadership development for students entering the field of aging.
   • Specialized field seminars with aging experts are an excellent way to "demonstrate" leadership with established researchers or professionals in social work and aging.
   • Describe fully how your PPP aims to produce leadership outcomes. Ensuring student exposure to enhanced and varied skill sets, student involvement with innovative/integrative projects, a comprehensive exposure to aging and services via diverse settings, opportunities to present at conferences or recruit other students are all ways to capture how your program prepares venues for student leadership.
6. Budget
   • Describe and rationalize all PPP costs that are not articulated in the match, including stipend amounts and FTE's.
   • Explain how your program might build in incentives to retain supervisors / coordinators / field instructors throughout your PPP.
   • Don't forget to budget expenses for marketing materials and dissemination, such as through local venues and an annual state or national conference.