June 30, 2020 | SRW 600 FY20 03

Opportunity Information: Apply for SRW 600 FY20 03

This grant opportunity, issued by the U.S. Department of State through the U.S. Embassy in Kigali, sought one organization to carry out a cooperative agreement supporting a U.S.-Rwanda training program and mentorship exchange focused on university advancement and international partnerships. The application deadline was June 30, 2020, under CFDA 19.040 (Public Diplomacy Programs). The total funding available was up to $250,000, with an expected single award. Eligible applicants were private institutions of higher education, and the activity area was education under public diplomacy programming.

The central purpose of the program was to strengthen the practical capacity of early to mid-career Rwandan higher education administrators to build, manage, and sustain effective international partnerships, especially with U.S. colleges and universities. The Embassy framed the need around a common problem: while many U.S. and Rwandan institutions sign memoranda of understanding, a large share of these agreements do not translate into real, ongoing collaboration. Rwandan institutions also reported challenges in identifying the right partners, keeping partnerships active over time, and mobilizing resources to support both general university operations and international engagement. By investing in emerging administrators who are positioned to influence day-to-day operations and long-term strategy, the program aimed to improve institutional outcomes, strengthen student opportunities, and support Rwanda’s broader goals tied to becoming a knowledge-based economy.

The selected grantee would design and implement a cohort-based program for at least six emerging Rwandan higher education administrators, intentionally chosen to represent a diverse mix of public and private institutions. Core programming in Rwanda would include workshops in Kigali on best practices in university advancement and international partnership development, led by local experts and visiting academics. Because the program was planned during the COVID-19 era, virtual exchange models were highlighted as a priority topic so that partnership-building could continue even if travel or in-person engagement was limited.

The program also emphasized learning through exposure to working examples. Site visits in Rwanda were proposed to showcase different partnership models and to highlight existing U.S.-Rwandan higher education collaborations, specifically naming Carnegie Mellon University Africa, the University of Global Health Equity (UGHE), and the University of Nebraska’s relationship with the Rwanda Institute for Conservation Agriculture (RICA). These visits were meant to translate abstract partnership concepts into practical, observable approaches that administrators could adapt to their own institutions.

A major component was structured mentorship from the United States. Up to six U.S.-based higher education administrators would be recruited as mentors, selected for demonstrated experience in both university advancement and international partnerships and drawn from a diverse range of U.S. institutions. If international travel was not feasible, mentors with prior Rwanda experience or experience in comparable settings were to be prioritized. If conditions allowed, mentors would travel to Rwanda for about one week (scheduled at different times rather than all at once to increase impact) to learn about the Rwandan institutions, meet their mentees, and engage the cohort. Whether or not travel occurred, mentors were expected to maintain regular electronic engagement throughout the year and ultimately host fellows on their campuses.

The exchange element on the U.S. side was planned for 2021, when the Rwandan administrators would travel to their mentor’s institution for a two-week fellowship. These fellowships were intended to be highly individualized, focusing on real-world advancement and partnership practices as implemented on campus, rather than purely classroom-style instruction. The cohort would also reconvene around a major convening opportunity where partnership discussions commonly happen, such as NAFSA or AIEA, and participants would practice pitching partnership ideas or deal concepts in a setting designed for networking and collaboration. The grant design also allowed participants to request support to bring a senior administrator from their home institution for a few days either to the mentor’s campus and/or to the relevant conference, with the idea that senior leadership buy-in can be crucial for making partnerships real and durable.

After returning to Rwanda, participants would be expected to share knowledge and help shape broader system thinking. The cohort would organize a one-day symposium in Kigali in fall 2021 on university advancement and international partnership, aimed at engaging stakeholders and spreading lessons learned. They would also produce a white paper that combined practical, working-level best practices with higher-level policy, planning, and recommendation content relevant to Rwanda’s higher education environment. The white paper was intended to be strong enough for eventual publication, signaling an expectation of quality, synthesis, and broader usefulness beyond the immediate cohort.

Finally, the program was designed to move beyond training into tangible partnership outcomes. Throughout the year, participants would receive grant-writing training and would be able to compete for small project funding of up to $10,000 per project for proposals that directly or indirectly help create a new U.S.-Rwanda higher education partnership. In terms of audience and selection, the Embassy and the grantee would jointly choose the Rwandan cohort, and the program was expected to actively involve not only mid-career participants but also senior administrators in Rwanda and counterparts at U.S. higher education institutions, reinforcing the idea that sustainable partnerships require engagement across multiple levels of leadership.

• The Department of State, U.S. Mission to Rwanda in the education sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "June 30, 2020" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 19.040.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jun 04, 2020.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 30, 2020. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $250,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Private institutions of higher education.

Apply for SRW 600 FY20 03

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: