Susan I. Dady
Program Associate
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
555 Lincoln Way, suite 5
Cheerysburg, PA 55555
Dear Susan Dady,
I am writing on behalf of the Chatham University Program Development Department in regards to a grant request we would like to submit for consideration. At Chatham University, we have one of the top rated Master’s Programs in Professional Writing, and the interest our online learning environment has attracted many new enrollees. We offer an impressive virtual classroom to our students where they can interact with our highly respected professors, fellow online classmates, and complete the coursework required from the comfort of their homes. The flexibility of the Master’s in Professional Writing Program we offer has significantly grown our student volume.
While many of our students were drawn to the program because of its web-based convenience, there lies a question in whether we are able to provide a well-rounded education to these distance-learners outside of a traditional classroom. On behalf of the Program Development Department and as professional educators, we recognize an area for improvement within our Professional Writing Program. While we have been successful in creating an online educational environment for our established students, there is an aspect that is lacking from a real-life classroom, with real-life professors delivering a lecture, and real-life projects being presented by fellow students.
Because of this, we feel that there is a population we aren’t reaching: students who want to earn their degree from the top rated Chatham University Writing Program, with face-to-face interaction but don’t have the means to relocate to the Pittsburgh area to participate. Thus, we are submitting this letter of inquiry to ask for your attention in reaching these student writers that have inadvertently slid through the cracks between the means of attending Chatham University’s campus and enrolling in our online program that doesn’t quite match up for the student wanting that personal college experience. As a grand contributor to financially helping universities meet the needs of every student, we ask that you consider our proposal. Our grant project is called “Chatham University: where there is a place for every student.”
In our efforts to join forces with you in creating a virtual classroom that more closely resembles that of a traditional classroom for potential students looking for a way to achieve that in all locations across the United States, we would like to provide you with a description of the technological hardware/software we would need, an explanation for why they are foundational for the purpose of our project, and our initial plan on how we would institute this new cutting-edge virtual classroom as part of the Master’s of Professional Writing Program at Chatham University.
We have a vision of building from our already successful online learning environment by instituting a variation of the current program in both functionality and resources. In order to do this, we need to purchase new software applications that will enhance the online classroom by being both visually and audibly engaging to the student as well as the professor. Below is a list of the applications and explanation as to why we would need to utilize them in order to mirror the traditional classroom for the distance learning students we aim to reach:
o Beta- Google Open Meeting Flash Meeting Vyew
This is for the purpose of conferencing between students and professors. It utilizes a webcam. It allows visual and audible discussion, collaboration, and production for the student and feedback, facilitation, and advice from the professor. It also allows for real-time file or project presentation with immediate feedback through the use of basic Internet capabilities.
o Podbean
This allows for students and professors to interact using audio or video files that can be streamed or downloaded to any computer or mobile device. It allows for real-time lecturing, communication, and demonstration on both ends of the learning environment. Lectures can be recorded and watched at various times or can be viewed live and gives the student an open forum to ask questions and participate in discussions.
o UN Vlogging
This allows for students and professors to communicate and organize thoughts in a meaningful way. It is an application that students can use to communicate both visually and audibly. It creates a platform for students to express their opinions on a topic, react to a reading, and present other information that may be valuable to the class discussion. It allows students and professors alike to better understand each other’s comments through audio and visual cues that may have otherwise been missed if it was purely text that they had available to them.
As professional educators wanting to move forward in this era of emerging technologies, these applications grant us access to provide our students with the most innovative of virtual classroom functionality and introduce them to resources that will make their online learning environment reflective of a traditional classroom. By focusing heavily on live lectures, presentations, and discussion forums without losing the lure of flexibility and convenience that brought many of our distance learners to the program initially, we can generate an even closer reflection of a traditional classroom by taking advantage of the new emerging technologies that are available. After all, we aim to provide the highest level of education to our students with the ripest technology that will enhance their educational experience while enrolled in Chatham University’s Master’s in Professional Writing Program. Not only does it appeal to the students who are burdened by location disadvantages but still want the personal interaction, but many of our existing students would benefit from these enhancements if they could adjust their schedules accordingly to that of the course.
Below you will find an abridged version of supplies needed to support the “Chatham University: where there is a place for every student” Project and the monies needed to implement the program. Thank you for your time and attention to this request. We are a team of professional educators and strive to provide the very highest level of education to our students and our potential students. We hope that you will be apart of that mission as well.
Sincerely,
Kacey C. Krznaric
Program Development Officer
Chatham University
Continuing Education Department
Funds needed to support the “Chatham University: where there is a place for every student” Program
Software purchasing (3 programs combined at bulk discounted rate)
University cost per package: $300 x number of students enrolled in Masters of Professional Writing
Distributing software to student expense: $110 per link to download software apps
Misc Costs (product shipping fees, etc): Approximately $20 per package
Total concrete amount of funds needed for program will be based on enrollment and a financial spreadsheet will be included in official grant proposal.
*All advertising of new program will be done “pro bono” by Chatham University students involved with the campus Marketing &b Advertising Team
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