Grants Office

What is the Grants Office?

Atlantic Cape's Grants Office helps faculty and staff turn good ideas into fundable proposals. To contact the Grants Office, you may email Emily Smykla, Senior Manager, Grants.

Can I apply for a grant on my own or must I work with the Grants Office?

All grant applications representing the college must be managed through the Grants Office in coordination with the President's office. Faculty, adjuncts and staff are not permitted to independently develop and submit Atlantic Cape grant applications. 

College policy mandates that all applications for grants, competitive contracts and inter-agency agreements to be submitted by Atlantic Cape, and all applications to be submitted by other organizations with Atlantic Cape as a sub-grantee or funded partner, must be managed by the Grants Office. Atlantic Cape's President will make the ultimate decision for committing the College to any institutional grant, contract or inter-agency agreement.

What should I do if a partner organization asks me for a letter of support for their grant application?

College procedure for letters of support requires that these letters must be coordinated by the Grants Office in collaboration with the President's Office.

Please do not provide letters of support representing Atlantic Cape Community College to external partners without working through the Grants Office. Email Emily Smykla, Senior Manager, Grants, for guidance in providing letters of support to a partner.

Can the Grants Office help me secure funds for my dissertation or thesis?

The Grants Office is not able to help faculty or staff secure funding for academic research projects that are not integrally related to Atlantic Cape's programs. All grant proposals must be for projects that complement the College's institutional goals and objectives, and no proposal may be submitted without being approved by the President's Cabinet via a New Initiative Review process and without a Resolution to Apply from Atlantic Cape's Board of Trustees. The New Initiative Review and Resolution to Apply processes are explained in the procedures attached to the college's policy on grants procurement and administration.

What services does the Grants Office offer?

• Conducting prospect research to identify potential funders of projects and programs, and tracking priority deadlines.
• Writing and facilitating Board resolutions for each grant application that Atlantic Cape submits.
• Creating grant proposals, with steps including:
  • Drafting proposal outlines and timelines to ensure that strong proposals are submitted on deadline;
  • Writing proposal content in partnership or consultation with involved faculty and staff;
  • Editing all proposal content to create final copy;
  • Packaging and submitting final grant proposals to funders; and
  • Tracking submitted grant proposals and providing grantmakers' feedback to college staff involved in each submitted proposal.
• Facilitating collaborative grant proposals with Atlantic Cape's external partners.
• Reaching out to make connections to funders prior to and following the submission of applications. The Grants Office's outreach to funders includes emails and phone calls as well as coordination of site visits when appropriate.
• In collaboration with the President's Office, creating letters of support submitted by Atlantic Cape's President in support of other local organizations' and partners' grant applications.
• Educating the Atlantic Cape community about grants.
• Maintaining records on grants submitted through the Grants Office.