UNLV on Thursday (May 8) will honor the authors of 90 Planning Initiative Award grants, of which 21 proposals were selected to receive special funding for projects designed to advance the goals put forth in the university's 10-year strategic plan. The awards will be announced at a 4 p.m. reception in the Artemus W. Ham Concert Hall lobby.

"We are very pleased to be awarding $350,000 to support these new initiatives, and we are most grateful to the UNLV Foundation and its Board of Trustees for providing the funds to make this possible," said President Carol C. Harter.

"The planning process envisions UNLV as a premier urban university, and it is exactly the kinds of projects we are funding through these Planning Initiative Awards that will move the university toward that ultimate goal," Harter said.

When the UNLV Foundation agreed to make available $350,000 to fund the initiative awards, a call for proposals went out campuswide. That call attracted 90 proposals totaling $2.2 million from authors or groups of authors in 19 campus departments. Each proposal was reviewed by staff in the authors' areas, as well as by teams of faculty and staff reviewers selected from the Planning Task Force. The teams recommended six large grants (over $10,000) and 15 small ones (under $10,000) for funding. Those recommendations were approved by the full task force and President Harter, and they were subsequently presented to the UNLV Foundation for its endorsement and funding.

The large grants include such projects as implementation of two collaborative Alternative Teacher Licensure Programs in the College of Education; a campuswide, comprehensive assessment of the undergraduate experience at UNLV as it relates to the university's mission and seven strategic goals through the Division of Student Services; and a survey of Southern Nevadans to assess educational interests and needs as a means of informing future program development, through the College of Extended Studies.

The smaller grants include enhancing computer design capabilities in the College of Engineering and establishing a Community Engineering Resource Center for design and manufacturing; developing in the College of Urban Affairs a joint master's degree emphasis in addictions counseling between UNLV's counseling department and the department of counseling and educational psychology at UNR; and establishing in the Enrollment Management unit a Residency Access Program designed to eliminate confusion surrounding in-state residency for tuition purposes.

"Many of these projects, such as the establishment of new writing and advising centers, speak directly to our number-one goal, which is to make UNLV a student-centered university," Harter said. "Others, like one that would enable our scientists to better assist local governmental entities in assessing the long-term impact of waste-water inflows at Lake Mead, help us achieve our goal of using UNLV's research capabilities to meet needs in our community."

Funding for the Planning Initiative Awards will become available on July 1.