Our Mission
The Grants Office supports AWC’s goals by assisting faculty and staff in seeking and securing grants for programs and projects that align with institution, division, and department objectives, in accordance with the strategic plan.
Grant Alert
Arizona Western College coordinates its decision making on grants through the President's Office. To obtain approval to seek a grant, please submit a request below.
Support includes:
- Assisting with developing concepts
- Identifying funding opportunities
- Facilitating internal and external stakeholders’ meetings
- Developing grant proposals and budgets
- Reviewing required documentation
- Submitting grant applications
- Notifying the board of awarded grants
Grant Process
The Director of Grants manages and facilitates the grant process at AWC.
- AWC’s president and cabinet devise an annual grant plan to support institution-wide initiatives with external funding. Our general grants emphases include: allied health and nursing, education and student success, science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), technology infrastructure. Due to the recent economic climate, building renovation is at the forefront of current fundraising objectives, in support of the 2020 capital improvement plan.
- Grant writing is a collaborative effort that begins with a discussion with, and the approval of, the supervisor. Next, a grant alert is filed, which the Director of Grants will review to ensure that it includes research, follows all instructions, contains required documentation, and is complete. The Grant Director will then forward, with a Grants Office recommendation, to AWC’s President for final approval to proceed.
- If the President denies a grant alert, the prospective grant writer will be informed of the reason, and, if possible, be given assistance in addressing concerns.
- If the grant alert is approved, the grant’s authors will be notified that they may proceed. At that time, a timeline to coordinate efforts with the Grants Office must be provided to the Grant Director. The timeline will include a schedule of review of the final draft by: Personnel, Technology, Budget Office, Grants Office. The grant’s author will follow any instructions given to make any revisions as needed. Finally, the grant proposal is returned to the Director of Grants for final review, authorized signature, and submission.
- Upon notice of an award, the Director of Grants must be notified. The Director will be able to assist in contacting departments across the campus that must be notified and can help ensure the new initiative is successfully implemented.
Applying for a competitive grant is a dynamic process. The project’s proposal must address the needs of all relevant stakeholders, including students, the college, and the local community. Along with being practical and measurable, a successful proposal addresses the funders’ priorities and criteria.
Additionally, it provides solid evidence of the ability of faculty and staff to implement and manage the grant effectively. A winning grant program proposal includes how the goals of sustainability and institutionalization will be met at the end of the grant.
Grant Opportunities
MAVERIK CHARITABLE GIVING
MAVERIK Charitable Giving
The Maverik Charitable Giving program's areas of interest include education, including higher education, mentorship and preparation, and at-risk populations; local hunger, including local food banks, childhood hunger programs, and regional food bank networks; and, outdoor enrichment, including outdoor educational experiences for at-risk or minority groups, and conservation programs.
Application Deadline: Applications are reviewed quarterly.
Award: To Be Determined
Use this link to access information on how to apply:
Community - Maverik - Adventure's First Stop
PANERA BREAD FOUNDATION
Panera Bread Foundation
The Panera Bread Foundation awards grants to non-profit organizations that are supporting underserved, at-risk, and historically underrepresented children and youth in the following areas of interest: leadership development; mentorship; skill-building; workforce development; and college readiness. Support is provided for new programs and to expand and continue existing programs.
Application Deadline: Application date released Fall 2025
Award: $25,000 - $100,000
Link: Panera Bread Foundation Announces 2025 Grant open Application Period | Panera Bread
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
NSF CyberCorps Scholarship for Service
Description: The SFS Program welcomes proposals to establish or to continue scholarship programs in cybersecurity. A proposing institution must provide clearly documented evidence of a strong existing academic program in cybersecurity. The program goals are to: (1) increase the number of qualified and diverse cybersecurity candidates for government cybersecurity positions; (2) improve the national capacity for the education of cybersecurity professionals and research and development workforce; (3) hire, monitor, and retain high-quality CyberCorps® graduates in the cybersecurity mission of the Federal Government; and (4) strengthen partnerships between institutions of higher education and federal, state, local, and tribal governments. While all three agencies work together on all four goals, NSF’s strength is in the first two goals; OPM’s in goal (3); and DHS in goal (4).
Application Deadline: July 15, 2025
Award Ceiling: To Be Determined
Link: nsf23574.pdf
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Improving Undergraduate STEM Education
Purpose of Program: The fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) hold much promise as sectors of the economy where we can expect to see continuous vigorous growth in the coming decades. STEM job creation is expected to outpace non-STEM job creation significantly, according to the Commerce Department, reflecting the importance of STEM knowledge to the US economy. The National Science Foundation (NSF) plays a leadership role in developing and implementing efforts to enhance and improve STEM education in the United States. Through the NSF Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE) initiative, the agency continues to make a substantial commitment to the highest caliber undergraduate STEM education through a Foundation-wide framework of investments. The IUSE: EDU is a core NSF STEM education program that seeks to promote novel, creative, and transformative approaches to generating and using new knowledge about STEM teaching and learning to improve STEM education for undergraduate students. The program is open to application from all institutions of higher education and associated organizations. NSF places high value on educating students to be leaders and innovators in emerging and rapidly changing STEM fields as well as educating a scientifically literate public. In pursuit of this goal, IUSE: EDU supports projects that seek to bring recent advances in STEM knowledge into undergraduate education, that adapt, improve, and incorporate evidence-based practices into STEM teaching and learning, and that lay the groundwork for institutional improvement in STEM education. In addition to innovative work at the frontier of STEM education, this program also encourages replication of research studies at different types of institutions and with different student bodies to produce deeper knowledge about the effectiveness and transferability of findings. IUSE: EDU also seeks to support projects that have high potential for broader societal impacts, including improved diversity of students and instructors participating in STEM education, professional development for instructors to ensure adoption of new and effective pedagogical techniques that meet the changing needs of students, and projects that promote institutional partnerships for collaborative research and development. IUSE: EDU especially welcomes proposals that will pair well with the efforts of NSF INCLUDES (https://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/nsfincludes/index.jsp) to develop STEM talent from all sectors and groups in our society. For all the above objectives, the National Science Foundation invests primarily in evidence-based and knowledge-generating approaches to understand and improve STEM learning and learning environments, improve the diversity of STEM students and majors, and prepare STEM majors for the workforce. In addition to contributing to STEM education in the host institution(s), proposals should have the promise of adding more broadly to our understanding of effective teaching and learning practices. The IUSE: EDU program features two tracks: (1) Engaged Student Learning and (2) Institutional and Community Transformation.
Application Deadline: July 16, 2025
Award: $200,000 - $2,000,000
Link: Search Results Detail | Grants.gov