Title
Document Type
Capstone Project
Publication Date
5-14-2022
Abstract
The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) is a state agency within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, which helps to promote and enhance education for all levels, including higher education institutions and universities throughout the state (About PDE, 2022). One of the greatest and most substantial ways the PDE does this is through their grant funding efforts and programs they make available to eligible institutions and organizations. While they offer a variety of different grant opportunities to help students and learners throughout the state, the particular grants that the researchers focused on for review and analysis are the following: “It’s On Us” Grant, The PA Smart Grant in STEM Education, and the Career and Technical Education Grant.
The Pennsylvania Council on The Arts (PCA) is a government agency within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, which helps foster, promote, and enhance the arts communities, programs, and organizations throughout the state (Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Agency Overview, 2022). Their mission is based on growing the culture within the arts community, as well as expanding arts opportunities across all the counties (Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Agency Overview, 2022). While they too offer a variety of grants to eligible programs and organizations, the researchers focused specifically on their largest grant funding effort, the Arts Organizations and Arts Programs (AOAP) grant. Through the duration of this semester, the researchers reviewed and analyzed both grant funding efforts and grant equity among multiple agencies within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The primary research focused on reviewing agencies' grant funding processes and the different grants each agency offers to different organizations and programs within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Researchers also examined the grant processes in relation to promoting equity and diversity within the distribution of funds. Researchers were assigned to review The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE), The Pennsylvania Council on the Arts (PCA), and the Pennsylvania Department of Veterans and Military Affairs (DMVA). The Department of Education consisted of three grants: It’s on Us, PA Smart in Stem education, and Pa Career in Technical Education. Researchers analyzed the Veterans Trust Fund through The Department of Military and Veterans Affairs and The Arts Organizations and Arts Programs for the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. Each agency provided an in-depth understanding of their missions, along with the support they aim to provide to a variety of diverse causes through the different grants they distribute within eligible organizations and programs. Through this, the researchers were able to see how grant funding within Pennsylvania aims to assist people throughout both rural and urban counties. After analyzing grant funding efforts, conclusions and policy recommendations, researchers developed an array of alternatives government agencies can use to promote diversity and inclusion through their funding efforts.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Recommended Citation
Dunn, Andrew; Hatfield, Matt; and Vera, Jasmine, "Final Grant Paper" (2022). MPA Professional Seminar, Capstone Projects. 1.
https://research.library.kutztown.edu/mpacapstone/1
