Allegheny College

Vantage provided grant coordination and project management assistance to help with NSF documentation. Vantage’s previous network modernization project provided a roadmap that was key to the successful completion of the application on a compressed timeline.

Allegheny College has a record of innovation in science education. The college is a national leader in undergraduate education in emerging scientific fields, creating undergraduate majors in environmental science in 1972, in neuroscience in 1996, in global health in 2013, and integrative informatics in 2018. Research is an integral part of an Allegheny education, and faculty actively engage with students as research collaborators. In 2016, Allegheny was the only baccalaureate college in the nation to be recognized by the Council of Undergraduate Research for an exemplary record of undergraduate research with the inaugural Award for Undergraduate Research Accomplishment.

In order to sustain a campus environment that nurtures science discovery and education and extend Allegheny’s record of achievement in supporting science, science education, and student success, the college decided to pursue a network modernization project that would expand the range of research possible with a faster and more reliable network. Because of the college’s considerable strength in educating future scientists, this project has the potential to have an outsized impact on future science research.

Vantage provided grant coordination and project management assistance to help Allegheny prepare documentation in response to the NSF Campus Cyberinfrastructure program solicitation. In less than three months, we collaborated with Allegheny’s IT leadership team and the grant management team to analyze grant requirements, develop a project plan, and facilitate the timely preparation and submittal of a complete grant proposal. Vantage’s prior effort with Allegheny developing a network modernization roadmap was key to the successful completion of the grant application.

Vantage also worked with the IT leadership team and a third-party network management vendor to create and refine the campus cyberinfrastructure plan, network roadmap, and supporting cost documentation, as required for the grant application.

Following the completion of our quality assurance activities for the grant content, Allegheny College successfully submitted the final response prior to NSF’s deadline.

Our deliverables included a project plan, grant-compliant network design and pricing documentation, and a campus cyberinfrastructure plan highlighting Allegheny’s unique attributes.