New NSF CISE Core Programs Solicitation Includes Updates to BPC Plan Requirements

This announcement was brought to you by the BPCnet.org team at CRA.

In September of 2021, the National Science Foundation (NSF) Directorate of Computer and Information Sciences and Engineering (CISE) announced an updated Core Programs solicitation (NSF 21-616) with new guidelines for submitting Project Broadening Participation in Computing (BPC) Plans, as summarized below.

All Medium project proposals must include a Project BPC Plan as supplementary documentation at the time of submission. There are now two types of Project BPC Plans that Principal Investigators (PIs) can submit: Standalone Project BPC Plans and Connected Project BPC Plans.

For PIs at institutions with Departmental BPC Plans that have been verified by BPCnet.org, the Connected Project BPC Plan submitted to NSF should include the following:

A 1-page description of the specific roles of each PI and co-PI, their preparation, and what activities they focus on from the Verified Departmental BPC Plan
A 2-page Verified Departmental BPC Plan
Points above repeat per institution

For PIs at institutions without Verified Departmental BPC Plans, the Standalone Project BPC Plan submitted to NSF should include the following:

A 3-page document that describes the specific roles of each PI and co-PI, their preparation, the activities in which they will engage, and their plan for measurement.
This 3-page document is NOT repeated per institution, so it must include all PIs on the project.

Below is a decision flowchart from BPCnet.org that PIs can use to decide which Project BPC Plan to submit to NSF.

Flowchart displaying two pathways. The first pathway is as follows. Do all PIs on the project have a Verified Departmental BPC Plan at their institution? If yes, then go to the following question: Do all PIs intend to participate in an activity in a Verified Departmental BPC Plan at their institution? If yes, then go to the solution: Submit a Connected Project BPC Plan with 3 pages per institution. If no, then go to the alternative solution: Submit a Standalone Project BPC Plan with 3 pages total for all PIs. The second pathway is as follows. Do all PIs on the project have a Verified Departmental BPC Plan at their institution? If no, then go to the only solution: Submit a Standalone Project BPC Plan with 3 pages total for all PIs

Source: BPCnet.org Resource Portal. https://bpcnet.org/project-bpc-plans/

BPCnet.org has been updating content and resources on the portal since the announced changes. Although some pages are still undergoing development, PIs and departments should use BPCnet.org to find the newest Project BPC Plan templates and associated checklists.

PIs at an institution with an associated Verified Departmental BPC Plan should visit the Connected Project BPC Plan page for more information.
PIs at an institution without an associated Verified Departmental BPC Plan should visit the Standalone Project BPC Plan page for more information.
Departments looking to update or create a Departmental BPC Plan should visit the Departmental BPC Plan page for more information. Of importance, Departmental BPC Plans must now meet NSF’s formatting standards outlined in the Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide, so be sure to visit BPCnet.org about updating any existing Verified Departmental BPC Plans.
BPCnet.org has an updated FAQ that integrates questions and responses from the official FAQ from NSF, as well as additional FAQs found exclusively on BPCnet.org.

Short on time? BPCnet.org contributors Dr. Colleen Lewis and Dr. Luther Tychonievich recorded three short videos about the changes from NSF.

Still lost? BPCnet.org offers a free consultancy service. Click here to schedule an appointment with a BPC Plan consultant who can help you select the right BPC Plan option for your context, help you think about your activities, or provide feedback on your BPC Plan prior to submission.

BPCnet.org Resource Portal is an initiative of the Computing Research Association (CRA) with support from the National Science Foundation (CNS-1830364, CNS-2032231, and CNS-1940460). Subscribe to the BPCnet.org newsletter & bulletin by clicking here.

Tags: Announcement , BPCnet updates , Broadening Participation , NSF CISE