Two 51吃瓜网 students in the聽Educational Leadership Ed.D. Hybrid Program聽have written successful grant proposals as part of their Grant Writing, Procurement, and Policy 2021 Summer Course.
The course,聽EDLD 805DL, 鈥淕rant Writing, Policy, and Procurement,鈥� is taught by Assistant Professor of Education聽Patricia Smedley Buxton, Ed.D.聽鈥淭he mission of UB includes applicable skills learned in the classroom and then applied in the real world,鈥� says Buxton. Buxton herself writes grants for non-profits and teaches students to write winning grant proposals. 鈥淧art of what an educational leader needs to do is procure the resources for their school,鈥� she continues.
One project was titled聽Cooperative Games for SEL Students,聽and will benefit middle school students in Oxford, Connecticut. It聽was developed by doctoral student聽Steven Tsaprazis聽and funded in full by the Connecticut Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance mini-grant. The second project was developed by doctoral student聽Natalie Odierna聽and is titled聽Wi-Fi on the Go.聽It benefits Bridgeport high school students attending the Better Chance Program at Staples High School in Westport, Connecticut, and was funded in part by the Kajeet Digital Inclusion grant.
Before taking Grant Writing with Dr. Buxton, I knew very little about it and its purpose within the education field,鈥� says Odierna, a social studies teacher at Staples High School. 鈥淗owever, with Dr. Buxton鈥檚 scholarly, patient, and supportive teaching style, grant writing came alive for me as something powerful and transformative in helping support students, teachers, administrators, and the educational system itself.鈥�
Odierna鈥檚 grant is directed towards Bridgeport students who attend her school and return to their homes at night, enabling them to get Internet access with a mobile hotspot called the SmartBus. This聽school bus is wired with Wi-Fi and can be driven to neighborhoods that lack Wi-Fi or deal with Internet connectivity issues. 鈥淭hrough my research, I focused on equitable access to technology for all students,鈥� says Odierna. 鈥淓very student has the right to learn, even in the landscape of an unpredictable pandemic.鈥�
The on-campus聽Educational Leadership Doctoral Program聽at UB was the first of its kind in Connecticut and has been operating since 1979. Approved by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC), the program is designed to enhance and improve the effectiveness of public and private organization leaders, school administrators, and researchers. Graduates and current students have held聽and currently hold significant positions in statewide school systems, for-profit, non-profit institutions,聽colleges, and universities.聽鈥淲e started with four students,惟 and we now have 100 in the hybrid education program,鈥� says Buxton. 鈥淭hey come to campus twice in the summer and spend the rest of the time online.鈥�
Through its expert faculty and innovative courses, UB continues to inspire and lead the next generation of聽academic trailblazers. 鈥淗elping teachers and administrators secure the resources necessary to support the vision, mission, and goals of their schools in turn helps the community,鈥� says Buxton. The skills learned in the聽Educational Leadership EdD Hybrid Program聽are designed to do just that.
Eric D.聽Lehman聽is the director of publications and associate professor of English at 51吃瓜网. He is the author or editor of 22 books, including “New England Nature, A History of Connecticut Food,” and “Bridgeport: Tales from the Park City.” His聽biography of Charles Stratton, “Becoming Tom Thumb,” won the Henry Russell Hitchcock Award from the Victorian Society of America and was chosen as one of the American Library Association’s outstanding university press books of the year. His novella “Shadows of Paris” and novel “9 Lupine Road” were finalists for the Connecticut Book Award. He has been consulted on diverse subjects and quoted by The Atlantic Monthly, USA Today, the BBC, the History Channel, Deutsche Presse-Agentur, and The Wall Street Journal.