[Travis Hoffman]

Dave, Rich K., and everyone else who has contributed facts to this thread:

Thank you very much for the information. I have always greatly respected NASA for their immeasurable contributions to the growth and expansion of FIRST. None of us are really in the position to question how they choose to distribute their grant money to teams. NASA's selection process is obviously quite thorough and their application procedures are well-defined. Also, good job to those veteran teams who have done their homework and have tapped into this funding source. They have done absolutely nothing wrong. However, based upon what I've read in this thread, I think there IS a problem with this process, one that is causing a lot of unnecessary anger/uncertainty among teams and also a big ginormous headache for Dave and Co. So what's the problem?...

...Inadequate communication from NASA/FIRST to ALL teams that such funding possibilities exist to them.

Based upon prior comments I've read in this thread, I think that all of the following are true:

1. NASA really, really, really wants to give out all the grants it allocates each year.

2. NASA/FIRST would prefer that 1st and 2nd year teams receive the majority, if not all, of the grant money.

3. Sometimes, disappointingly, there aren't enough 1st and 2nd year applicants to snap up all of the available grants.

4. NASA is willing to give "veteran" teams grant money if not enough of the younger teams apply.

5. Some veteran teams are actually in just as much financial need as rookie/2nd year teams and could really use the assistance a grant would provide.

6. The more NASA grants teams receive this year, the better the chances the same or higher quantity of grants will be available to FIRST teams next year.

7. Not all of the veteran teams were even AWARE that this funding possibility was available to them. This causes them to be very surprised when they see other veteran teams receiving these grants. Some people rashly react in an unfortunate manner upon being surprised in such a way.

I believe that effective communication of grant availability to all teams increases the level of awareness, increases the number of grant applications, improves the chances that all the grants will be given out, establishes a level playing field, and removes any hint of special treatment being given to a select few veteran teams. I think we must ask NASA/FIRST (and ourselves) to ponder the following questions based upon the above:

1. Given that NASA is surprised by the low number of grant applications from rookie/2nd year teams, does NASA/FIRST do enough to communicate the existence of these grants to those teams? Why aren't they applying? Are they applying but their applications are incomplete/incorrect? A great deal of rookie teams are very disorganized at first - what more can be done to help them properly comply with all the application requirements? What can members of the FIRST community do to help rookie teams in their area properly complete and submit their applications on time?

2. If NASA grants are being made available to veteran teams, why should those teams have to "do their homework" and "read the fine print" to discover the existence of such funding? Why should they have to be lucky enough to read a single post buried in a Chief Delphi thread to find out about these grants? Wouldn't a more widespread announcement (with periodic follow-up reminders) via the most often browsed communication channels naturally increase the number of grant applications received? Wouldn't this increase the chances that grants are given to veteran teams who are in REAL financial trouble, instead of giving them to more stable teams to do things like "attend a second regional" because the true at-risk vet teams weren't even aware the funding existed?

3. Would a series of FIRST Email Blasts and a major announcement on Chief Delphi regarding NASA grant availability be a more proper, logical, and fair method of communicating this information to everyone? Open communication = no surprises = no backlash or misconceptions when the grant winners are ultimately announced.

I think the NASA/FIRST grant program is an excellent way for the government to spend my taxpayer dollars. However, I feel NASA is obligated to do everything in their power to see that the grant money gets to those teams who are MOST IN NEED OF HELP. For this to happen, it is imperative that all FIRST teams are frequently made aware of these opportunities, and we as a community must do everything we can to see that these teams take advantage of these opportunities. To that end, I would hope that NASA/FIRST re-evaluates their current methods of communicating these funding opportunities to their teams, and asks themselves if any improvement in the process can be achieved. I would also ask that those who may disagree with NASA's current procedures, instead of solely criticizing them for their shortcomings, get involved and see what you can do locally to help get the funds to the teams who need it most. Let's work the problem from both ends until we meet in the middle and achieve the best solution together.