Mentor-Connect offers one-on-one mentoring, curated technical resources, and instruction to help two-year college faculty prepare competitive proposals to the NSF ATE program. Funded by the NSF ATE Program, Mentor-Connect is managed by the South Carolina Advanced Technological Education Center (SCATE) at Florence-Darlington Technical College (FDTC). Mentor-Connect projects are implemented in partnership with the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC). Mentor-Connect is located at the SCATE Center in the Southeastern Institute of Manufacturing Technology (SiMT) facility at FDTC.

Mentor-Connect provides mentoring for two-year technical and community colleges that are new or relatively new to the ATE Program. The most extensive mentoring and technical assistance is provided to two-year colleges classified as new to ATE. New-to-ATE colleges have never received an ATE grant award, or have not received an award in the last seven years. These new-to-ATE colleges are eligible for funding in a separate ATE funding track: small grants for institutions new to ATE. This funding track is designed to make NSF ATE funding more inviting and accessible to two-year colleges that lack experience with NSF grant proposal development guidelines and submission processes.

Each year, cohorts of new-to-ATE colleges are provided with extensive assistance, enabling them to develop and submit competitive ATE grant proposals. In addition, Mentor-Connect provides customized mentoring and technical assistance to potential grantees who are either seeking a second ATE project grant, or whose first or second NSF ATE Program proposal submission was declined (not funded). These additional services are called “Moving Up” and “Second Chance” mentoring.

Mentor-Connect is accomplishing its Mission and Vision by leveraging talent within the ATE program to diversify and broaden the impact of NSF funding. For additional participant information and prior support outcomes, see Broader Impacts.