Improving the Use of Designated Innovation Funds at Atlantic Cape Community College
Impact at a Glance
Turned underused innovation funds into a structured funding process
Increased the quantity and quality of funding proposals
Improved campus engagement and communication
Connected innovation requests to strategic priorities and student outcomes
Created a pathway to sustain and scale successful initiatives
The Challenge
Atlantic Cape Community College serves more than 6,000 students across multiple campuses in southern New Jersey. The college maintains an Innovation Fund to support ideas aimed at improving student outcomes, but the funds were being underused.
Leaders wanted a more transparent and accessible process that would:
- Encourage more faculty and staff to submit innovative ideas
- Align funding requests with institutional priorities
- Coordinate proposals with the annual budget cycle
- Establish clear criteria for evaluating requests
- Build measurement of student outcomes into funded initiatives
The goal was to make better use of available innovation funding while ensuring investments supported the college's mission and strategic priorities.
The Action
Atlantic Cape used NACUBO's Budget Builder to create a more structured approach to requesting, reviewing, and supporting innovation funding.
A cross-functional team of institutional research, academic, and student advising professionals helped:
- Customize Budget Builder templates to Atlantic Cape's goals
- Develop guidelines for submitting and evaluating proposals
- Establish criteria for prioritizing funding requests
- Invite ideas from employees working in student-facing areas
- Offer information sessions and guidance to prospective applicants
- Provide a dedicated support resource to help employees complete requests
The college continued refining the process over multiple funding cycles based on what leaders and applicants learned.
The Results
Immediate Impact
- Increased the quantity and quality of Innovation Fund proposals
- Successfully completed two funding cycles using the new process
- Generated proposals focused on students and improving student outcomes
- Increased campus participation through stronger communication and applicant support
Process Improvements
- Created a more transparent and consistent funding process
- Established a dedicated help desk resource for applicants
- Used feasibility and timing to help prioritize proposals
- Sparked cross-functional conversations that identified additional ways to reduce barriers to student success—even when ideas did not receive Innovation Fund dollars
Ongoing Momentum
- Continue refining application protocols and proposal quality
- Maintain a dedicated resource to support applicants and funded initiatives
- Encourage proposals from individuals and cross-functional teams
- Integrate successful initiatives into the operating budget to sustain and scale their impact
“The use of the NACUBO Budget Builder Toolkit helped us to discover and address barriers beyond our initial expectations. Yes, requests were funded. But other ideas that were put forward that did not receive innovation funds were still able to happen because of interdisciplinary conversations that occurred through this process. I could call them secondary outcomes, but they had an equally significant impact. This work led to so much more than just the projects that were funded.”
Leslie JamisonChief Financial Officer
Related Use Cases
Improving Budget Request Processes for Non-Financial Leaders
Improving Sustainability of Grant Funded Initiatives
