Atlantic Cape Community College

The Action

Atlantic Cape maintains a designated Innovation Fund to support investment in improving student outcomes. These funds were underutilized; therefore, a structured process was needed to elicit ideas from college stakeholders, generate requests for funds aligned with strategic priorities, and create practices allowing for assessment and evaluation. The institution hoped to encourage more submissions for the use of the funds by developing a process that is transparent and accessible. The CBO wanted to develop an approach to generate more consistent submissions that could be evaluated and funded in line with the budget planning cycle. Atlantic Cape's CBO brought together a small team of subject matter experts, including institutional research, academic, and student advising professionals, to provide input to modifying the Budget Builder templates and developing process guidelines. Two cycles of innovation funding have been successfully completed at Atlantic Cape using the Budget Builder form and supporting resources.