Tribal Colleges and Universities Program (TCUP)

The Tribal Colleges and Universities Program (TCUP) provides awards to Tribal Colleges and Universities, Alaska Native-serving institutions, and Native Hawaiian-serving institutions to promote high quality science (including sociology, psychology, anthropology, economics, statistics, and other social and behavioral sciences as well as natural sciences), technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education, research, and outreach. Support is available to TCUP-eligible institutions (see the Additional Eligibility subsection of Section IV of this solicitation) for transformative capacity-building projects through Instructional Capacity Excellence in TCUP Institutions (ICE-TI), Targeted STEM Infusion Projects (TSIP), TCU Enterprise Advancement Centers (TEA Centers), and Preparing for TCUP Implementation (Pre-TI). Collaborations that involve multiple institutions of higher education led by TCUP institutions are supported through Partnerships for Geoscience Education (PAGE) and Partnerships for Documentary Linguistics Education (PADLE). Finally, research studies that further the scholarly activity of individual faculty members are supported through Small Grants for Research (SGR) and Science Education Alliance Phage Hunters Advancing Genomics and Evolutionary Science in Tribal Colleges and Universities (SEA-PHAGES in TCUs). Through the opportunities highlighted above, as well as collaborations with other National Science Foundation (NSF) units and other organizations, TCUP aims to increase Native individuals' participation in STEM careers and improve the quality of STEM programs at TCUP-eligible institutions. TCUP strongly encourages the inclusion of activities that will benefit veterans.

Transformative Capacity Building

Instructional Capacity Excellence in TCUP Institutions (ICE-TI) projects provide support to design, implement and assess comprehensive institutional improvements in the STEM instructional and research capacity in TCUP-eligible institutions of higher education. Successful projects are transformative in their approaches to increasing the numbers of STEM students and the quality of their preparation by strengthening STEM education and research. ICE-TI Projects create and/or adapt and assess innovative models and materials for teaching and learning in STEM, embody knowledge about how students learn most effectively in STEM teaching and learning activities, and bring STEM disciplinary advances into the undergraduate experience.

Targeted STEM Infusion Projects (TSIP) support the attainment of a short-term, well-defined goal that promises to improve the quality of undergraduate STEM education at an eligible institution. Targeted STEM Infusion Projects could, for example, enhance academic infrastructure by systematically adding traditional knowledge to the scope or content of a STEM course, updating curriculum, modernizing laboratory research equipment, or improving the computational infrastructure.

TCU Enterprise Advancement Centers (TEA Centers) coalesce the STEM and/or STEM education research expertise into a team, designed to support and promote the STEM goals, needs, aspirations, or interests of the chartering reservation or tribe(s). TEA Centers may address a critical tribal or community need or focus on a realm of research or design that is beyond the scope of individual research grants or that is of interest to multiple tribes.

Preparing for TCUP Implementation (Pre-TI) projects support development-level activities that can ground an institution's readiness for Implementation-level projects, such as an institutional assessment of its current STEM instructional capacity, or the conversations necessary to formulate a shared vision of what that capacity should be and how to achieve it. Provided specifically for those TCUP-eligible institutions of higher education that have never received a TCUP Implementation-level award, Pre-TI grants can support staff and faculty release time, travel, stakeholder gatherings, and associated administrative costs.

Multiple Institution Collaborations

The Partnerships for Geoscience Education (PAGE) strand provides support for collaborations that will improve TCUP institutions' instructional capacity in geosciences; attract, retain, and support TCUP students in internships and research endeavors deemed to be necessary for a complete curriculum offering; and engage partner universities to provide an academic grounding and a successful transition for students who wish to study or attain degrees in geosciences.

The Partnerships for Documentary Linguistics Education (PADLE) strand provides support for collaborations that will improve TCUP institutions' instructional capacity in documentary linguistics (descriptive linguistics, computational methodology, archiving and preservation); attract, retain and support TCUP students in internships and research endeavors deemed to be necessary for a complete curriculum offering; and engage partner universities to provide an academic grounding and a successful transition for students who wish to study or attain degrees in documentary linguistics.

Individual Investigator Studies

Small Grants for Research (SGR) projects support faculty members in STEM disciplines or STEM education at TCUP-eligible institutions to initiate or pursue research projects or programs that may include undergraduate or graduate student engagement. Awards are intended to help further the faculty member's research capability and effectiveness; improve research and teaching at his or her home institution; create and study new models and innovations in STEM teaching and learning; and enhance the understanding of diverse groups' participation in STEM education practices and interventions. These awards are particularly appropriate as a means of recruiting and retaining highly qualified scientists, engineers, and educators at TCUP-eligible institutions.

Science Education Alliance Phage Hunters Advancing Genomics and Evolutionary Science in Tribal Colleges and Universities (SEA-PHAGES in TCUs) projects provide support to tribal colleges and universities to enable their participation in the SEA-PHAGE curriculum, managed by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). NSF, through TCUP, will support those aspects crucial to participation that are not provided by HHMI. HHMI will provide the support to TCUs that it provides to all SEA institutions. Awards will engage TCU faculty and students in the ongoing national study to isolate, identify, sequence, and analyze newly discovered mycobacteriophages. These awards help TCUs develop a novel biology curriculum, establish an undergraduate research program, or provide professional development for faculty.