Brittany M.

Brown, Program Director Pre-College Programs at the University of Marlyland 3101 Susquehanna Hall, University of Maryland College Park, MD 20742 December 10, 2012 Robert W. Schaefer, Executive Director France-Merrick Foundation 2 Hamill Road, Quadrangle East, #302 Baltimore, MD 21210 RE: A.C.E Project Dear Mr. Schaefer, The department of Pre-College Programs at the University of Maryland is pleased to submit this request for your review. We look forward to your partnership in our efforts to establish the A.C.E project, our pilot program to further improve the Pre-College Program department. Our proposal requests $12,500 to launch project A.C.E, or Accelerating the College Experience, which aims to give high school students from low-income or other at-risk backgrounds, the opportunity to witness the more fun experiences on a college campus so that they will be motivated enough to keep at the their academic studies so that they can attend college. Facilitation of the A.C.E project will satisfy the requirements of the new assessment plan created for the department of Pre-College Programs. Without satisfying these requirements, the Pre-College Programs will suffer from a potential significant loss in funding which may will affect the programs ability to continue operation in the future. The Pre-College Programs at the University of Maryland cater to under-privileged high school youth and have the end goal of getting these students acceptance to and graduation from college. These programs have been in operation at the University of Maryland for seventy years, and are reputable programs for youth enrichment and education in the community. Thank you for your interest in the Pre-College Programs at the University of Maryland. We foresee great collaborative success with your help in launching the A.C.E project. Sincerely, Brittany M. Brown Program Director for the Department of Pre-College Programs, University of Maryland

The A.C.E Project

Table of Contents
Executive Summary ... 2 Organization Description ... 2 Background 3 Project Statement ... 4 Program Narrative .. 5 Project Timeline and Budget . 8 Appendix .. 10

The A.C.E Project

Executive Summary The Department of Pre-College Programs at the University of Maryland submits its proposal to the France-Merrick Foundation to support exposure of its participants to support the establishment of the Accelerating the College Experience, or A.C.E project, which has the objective of exposing pre-college program participants to extracurricular activities in the collegiate atmosphere, as required by the departments new assessment plan. The assessment plan is composed of four student learning outcomes which must be satisfied in order for the precollege programs to be able to measure and account for their success rates so that they may continue to receive federal funding for normal operations in the future. Funding in the amount of $12,500 is requested for operational activities and scholarship money to be awarded after participants successful completion of the A.C.E project. Organization Description The Department of Pre-College Programs at the is a subset of the Office of Undergraduate Studies at the University of Maryland College Park and is composed of three departmental programs to include Upward Bound (UB), Upward Bound Math and Science (UBMS) and LIFT. The programs share the common goal of providing high school students from the local community with academic counseling and support, career guidance, personal development seminars and college preparation workshops. The mission statement of the Pre-College Programs are to serve as supplements to participants secondary school experiences so that each student may grow academically and socially, while improving his/her self-esteem and confidence in their ability to attend as well as excel in college. The students involved in the Pre-College Programs come from a wide range of backgrounds. Two of the three programs (Upward Bound and Upward Bound Math and Science) specifically target students from low-income and or first-generation homes, including recent immigrants to the country. The department recognizes the recurring trend that students from these backgrounds often lack the means or opportunity to attend college, and as a result often lack the motivation to work to attain such means or opportunity. Therefore the department aims to overcome economic, social and cultural barriers that otherwise impede these students pursuit of higher education. And because UB and UBMS are a part of the federally funded TRIO program, they reserve the right to only target and admit students from the selective backgrounds mentioned above. Meanwhile, the LIFT program provides affordable academic services to students who do not meet the eligibility criteria of the Upward Bound programs, but may still face similar challenges during their pursuit of higher education. Between the three programs, the Department of Pre-College Programs strives to offer as many high school youth the opportunity to be equipped with the skills necessary to gain admittance to and maintain retention in a four-year public educational institution.

The A.C.E Project

Background Prior to this fall, each of the three programs had its own mission statement and set of goals to independently achieve. With that in mind, the Pre-College Program staff had a tendency to focus on the success of Upward Bound and Upward Bound Math and Science over LIFT, because UB and UBMS were federally funded programs that were constantly at risk for loss of federal funding, meanwhile LIFT was funded through participant fees and the allocated budget from the Office of Undergraduate Studies (OUS). Just recently however, OUS decided the revamp the structure of the pre-college program department, with the goal of making the department more unified and organized. This revamp involved taking components from each program and using them to outline a set of common initiatives for the whole department to follow. The compilation of these components yielded the new Assessment Plan for Pre-College Programs. The assessment plan is a tool used to set common goals and outline a way for the successful completion of those goals to be measured. It is now mandated that all programs within the department of Pre-College Programs meet this assessment criteria in order to continue operation within the Office of Undergraduate Studies, effective in Fall 2013. And though unifying the programs under one set of guidelines is a great way to improve the operational efficiency of the Department of Pre-College Programs, implementation of this plan poses conflict to the funding of the programs. In the case of UB and UBMS, in order to continue to receive federal funding, each program must first and foremost remain in compliance with the program initiatives set out by TRIO. For Upward Bound, the focus is on general academic and self-enrichment counseling. For Upward Bound Math and Science the focus is on academic and career counseling support specifically in the field of mathematics and science. In compiling these individual objectives with the main focus of LIFT, which is to prepare participants for college in more facets than just academics, the department had to take special care to ensure that no other programs objectives were more important than the TRIO initiatives. If this was the case, UB and/or UBMS may suffer from a loss of federal funding. To prevent this from happening, the Office of Undergraduate Studies made sure to include the main objectives of each program in the assessment plan, and gave each objective an equal weighting. Meaning that the plan was built so that Upward Bound, for example, would now be required to meet its own objectives, as well as those of UBMS and LIFT, but no one programs objectives (including its own) will be emphasized more than another. So in this way all three programs are unified by having to meet each others objectives. And if the three programs are operating under the same guidelines, then ideally the participants should be able to take part in several of the same activities instead of each program planning and implementing different events to meet the same objective.

The A.C.E Project

Problem Statement Examining the assessment plan alongside the current structure of the Pre-College Programs shows that each program satisfies at least one of the four student learning objectives included in the plan, but as of now, no program satisfies all of the objectives. A copy of the assessment with its objectives, titled as student learning outcomes on the chart, is provided.

Research conducted by the Office of Undergraduate Studies found the following to be true about the current structure of the pre-college programs compared with the new assessment plan: Upward Bound only identifies with student learning outcomes (SLOs) one. Upward Bound Math and Science identifies with SLOs one and three. LIFT identifies with SLOs one, three, and four. These findings led the Department of Pre-College Programs to conclude that in order to meet the criteria of the assessment plan, activities need to be facilitated in order to satisfy SLO numbers two and four by all programs. Additionally, UB needs to add an activity to its curriculum that satisfies SLO number three.

The A.C.E Project

However, the funding that the Pre-College programs currently receives, both federally for UB and UBMS, and from the university for LIFT, does not allot for the support of any activities outside of the currently funded programs. Therefore, unless the department wanted to downgrade on the activities currently put on by the programs (many of which are reputable to their respective host program), then these new activities will have to seek funding from an outside source. Program Narrative With the aforementioned findings in mind, and in order to satisfy SLOs two and four, the PreCollege Programs staff proposed that the department implement a series of events for all precollege program participants that highlights the college experience. The purpose of these events would be to show participants that there is more to college that just academics, in hopes that these activities will motivate the students to want to go to college even more. These events, which would be separate from the already established academic and counseling curriculum that satisfies the other SLOs, would be carried out under the name of a separate program within the Pre-College Program department. The program will be titled the A.C.E project, with the acronym standing for Accelerating the College Experience. The Pre-College Programs (PCP) staff believes that the goal of motivating the students to want to attend college for themselves will be best satisfied if the events are separate from the academic and more serious objectives of the assessment plans. The idea is that when the participants hear about an upcoming A.C.E project event, they will be overjoyed at the idea of being able to take a break from their studies in order to experience the more fun aspects of college. Project Overview The goals of the A.C.E project will include: Exposing PCP participants to collegiate activities outside of academic coursework in order to showcase that college is about more than just academics and to help motivate participants to want to attend college for themselves. Bringing all of the PCP participants from the three programs together for fellowship and networking Collaborating with current university students for mentorship opportunities for participants

The first goal itself will satisfy SLO four, by exposing them to cultural and social activities to increase their understanding of the operation of a campus activity, and SLO two by providing them with activities meant to motivate their own personal desire to attend college, instead of their parents simply telling them that they should attend college. However, when the necessary means are available, the staff in the Department of Pre-College Programs aims to go above and beyond, therefore developed other goals for project A.C.E in order to make sure that participants would be getting as much benefit as possible from the program.

The A.C.E Project

After viewing the University of Marylands own recruitment video, which showcases the variety of activities that the school has to offer (from academics, to sports, to musical performance), the PCP staff composed a list of activities that they would like the A.C.E project to include, in order to ensure that the participants were getting a well-rounded perception of the college experience. A list of proposed events, as well as the reasoning behind each, is listed. The A.C.E project will be composed of one year of extra-curricular activities on a collegiate campus to include: Participation in the UMD Overnight stay program (2x) o OSP is put on by the Department of Residence Life at UMD. It gives students the opportunity to stay overnight in the dorms with a current collegiate student, in order to get an honest perspective of what dorm and campus life is like o The first phase of the program is in the fall and open to upperclassmen high school students. The spring phase of the program is only open to seniors admitted to the university for the next school year. o Other activities that participants may potentially experience during the OSP : Bowling at the campus bowling alley, or movies at the on-campus theatre Eating in the dining hall amongst other students Study time in a collegiate library One football game, and an accompanying tailgate sponsored by an on-campus student group, and one basketball game o The games showcase unification and school pride, and with UMD being such a large school, the staff predicts that the students would have never been to such a large, exciting event UMD First look fair o The first look fair is an event during the fall semester when all campus organizations set up tables in the center of campus so that new students can walk by and learn about the various types of clubs and organizations that the campus offers o Though PCP participants could not sign up to be a part of any of these organizations during the time of their visit, the PCP staff believes that the visit would be the best way of any of the mentioned activities to showcase all of the things that a college can offer

Sports competition with the Greeks o This activity would serve the purpose of exposing participants to Greek organizations that are so popularly affiliated with the college experience, meanwhile boosting camaraderie amongst the participants by placing them on teams together in a competitive nature o The time necessary to plan to facilitate this event will also be time that the Greek members can use to mentor the participants about Greek and collegiate life in general

The A.C.E Project

Performance at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center (2x) o For students interested in drama, music or other forms of performance Maryland Day o Maryland Day is conducted in the spring, and is essentially an open-house for the university. All academic departments and many student organizations set up tables and activities in order to showcase to the public all of the great things that Maryland does. Demonstrations include everything from military service, to technological innovation, to dance team performances. o Like the first look fair, this activity is a great way for the students to get a peek at all of the things that they could potentially get involved with in college. Intramural sports games o For students interested in playing sports during their time at college, participants will get a chance to watch the games of some intramural sports teams and find out what it takes to become a part of these organizations Financial aid seminar o The seminar would reinforce the idea that students need to strive to excel academically in high school in order to earn scholarships and other funding that will help them to be able to attend college. o This seminar would bridge the gap between experiencing all of the fun activities and using them as motivation to go back to high school and do their work

With these activities, the PCP staff believe that participants will truly get a well-rounded perspective of all that college campuses have to offer. Additionally, the activities all have enrichment purposes and should be effective influencers on the motivation of the students to want to go to college so they can experience these activities again, as more than just a guest. Other facets of the program will include: Certain activities (like the OSP) will have restrictions on who can participate based on class-level Registration for each event will be on a first-come, first serve basis for participants In order to keep emphasis on academics, each participant must demonstrate satisfactory academic progress (at least a B average) or a significant improvement in grades in order to be eligible to participate in A.C.E activities Each participant will also have to have at least an 80% attendance rate at their supplementary UB, UBMS, and LIFT regular sessions in order to participate in A.C.E activities The student groups that interact by the participants will be chosen by the PCP staff Chaperones for each event will include PCP executive staff (see appendix A) and voluntary members of PCP academic staff (UMD faculty that teach PCP academic programs). For activities that require transportation, PCP staff will rent buses from the University of Maryland The success of the A.C.E project will be measured by evaluating participant opinions of the program.

The A.C.E Project

At the end of the year, Pre-College programs will host a showcase of the participants activities over the course of the entire academic year. Each grade level of participants will chose a lesson or value that they learned from the A.C.E project and perform a skit to embody their learning. Additionally, PCP participants will be asked to write a testimony on the benefits or shortcomings of the program. This will be the time for the staff to take into account whether or not the students benefited from the activities. The best testimonies, positive or negative, will be selected as a performance monologue or spoken word piece during the showcase and will be considered for scholarship money. The event will also include performances from PCP participants to showcase their musical or performance talents, and the event would conclude with a time to honor the graduating seniors from the programs. Project Timeline and Budget Activity Proposed Date Submit Grant Proposal December 2012 Expected Grant Notification February 2013 UB, UBMS Regular Summer June-August 2013 Session UB, UBMS, LIFT Regular August 2013-May 2014 Session First Look Fair Trip September 2013 CSPAC Performance Sep 2013, Feb 2014 Football game and Tailgate Intramural Sports Games Overnight Stay Program (1) Financial Aid Seminar Basketball Game Greek Competition Maryland Day Year-End Showcase Year-End Scholarships October 2013 Oct 2013; Mar 2014 November 2013 November 2013 January 2014 March 2014 April 2014 May 2014 May 2014 Total:

*Maximum Funding Needed N/A N/A [B] [B] $864 (transportation) [G] $1980 (tickets and transportation) [G] $3467 (tickets and food) [G] $576 (transportation) [G] $700 (food) [G] [B] $2970 (tickets) [G] $45 (turf rental) [G] $1650 (transportation and food) [G] $2300 (venue and catering) [F] $1600 [F] $12252 from grant, remaining $248 for scholarships

*Please note that amounts indicate the maximum amount that a particular event could cost, depending on the number of participants to express interest in the event, and the type of event attended. For example, some performances at CSPAC are free of charge. However PCP staff will not know if a free event is being offered until closer to the time that the activity is scheduled, so they are requesting the maximum amount to be safe. Any additional funds left over from each activitys proposed funding will be used for scholarships.

Key: B Funding from pre-existing PCP Budget G Funding necessary from grant F Funding necessary from PCP Fundraising

The A.C.E Project

As mentioned earlier in the proposal, the Pre-College Programs currently operates from federal funding for UB and UBMS, and departmental funding from the University. A summarized breakdown of funds expenses is outline below: For 2012, PCP received $341,112 for UB and UBMS. Between the two programs, there are 145 participants. In order to put these participants through 6-weeks of summer academic training and nine months of supplementary academic training and counseling sessions, it costs about $2150 per participant. This number is derived from adding up the total cost of housing the 145 participants for the summer, renting rooms to host the academic sessions in, and paying the salary of the instructors and counselors for their time, and then dividing the total by the number of participants in the program. The amount remaining is slightly more than $29,000. On average, of the 145 participants there are approximately 29 graduating seniors at the end of each school year. The Pre-College Programs prides itself on being able to offer each senior that has successfully completed UB or UBMS, some amount of scholarship money with which to go to school. Typically, the top third of the programs graduating class will receive a $1500 scholarship, the middle third of the program will receive an $800 scholarship, and the bottom third will receive a $500 scholarship. The scholarships will use the remainder of the funding, and also require additional funds which are obtained through fundraising over the course of the year. For 2012, PCP received approximately $14,000 in funding for LIFT. LIFT participants also pay $50 a month for a maximum of 9 months in order to participate in LIFT. The program typically has 25 participants who regularly participate in LIFT throughout the year, yielding $11,250 per year from participant dues. Yearly operation of LIFT academic and counseling services, which are less extensive but more frequent than UB services, is about $25,000 per year. Between the allotted budget and the dues, the entire LIFT budget is exhausted each year. The parents of LIFT participants form a booster club that works to do fundraising for the program, and whatever monies they collect are used to distribute as many $700 scholarships to graduating seniors as possible, which are awarded based on GPA. Though each program does have its own sponsors and partnerships that do help, most of the contributions are not monetary (for example a restaurant partnership may cater a UB or LIFT event). So other than the allotted budgets and fundraising, the PCP do not have any other sources of income with which to use for the A.C.E project. In the case that the A.C.E project is successful, the PCP staff will look to appeal for more funding from both the TRIO federal program and the university so that the program can become an official part of the PCP and continue to be carried out in future years. Therefore the proper funding for, and the success of the A.C.E project in its first year is imperative.

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APPENDIX A Executive Staff Information

Georgette Hardy DeJesus is currently in her twentieth year serving as the Executive Director of Pre-College Programs in Undergraduate Studies at the University of Maryland College Park campus. She holds a doctorate degree in Clinical Psychology from Argosy University. Dr. Hardy DeJesus continues to perform innovative outreach in her specialty areas of clinical psychology that includes trauma related stress, self-esteem development in adolescents and adults and career development of minority adolescents. Research interests for Dr. Hardy DeJesus are keenly focused on adolescent development and correlates between self-esteem, racial pride and career choice. In addition, Dr. Hardy DeJesus operates her own consultant agency that specializes in staff development and teambuilding workshops. Also, she has been a consultant with the Department of Education since 1986 where she evaluates and recommends proposals for funding. Annie Foster Ahmed has served as the Associate Director for the Pre-College Programs, Upward Bound Math and Science Regional Center (MSRC) at the University of Maryland, College Park for twenty years. Ms. Foster Ahmed holds a Masters Degree in Science Education from the State University of New York at Buffalo and a Bachelors Degree in Biology from Daemen College. Each fall semester she teaches The Student in the University, course to freshmen students at the University of Maryland, College Park and frequently serves as proposal reader for the U.S. Department of Education. Ms. Foster Ahmeds education, life long trainin g and research interests focuses on improving the teaching environment for TRIO students, implementing innovative curricula for the MSRC, and conducting informative teacher training workshops. Adrienne Miles is the Business Services Specialist for Upward Bound - Ms. Miles has been working with the Upward Bound Program since 1999. Prior to coming to the Upward Bound Program, she worked for a governmentconsulting firm on Capitol Hill. Ms. Miles is currently working on her B.A. in Psychology and Speech Communication, and a certificate of study in Spanish at the University of Maryland University College. Ryan Hill is an Academic Counselor for the Upward Bound Math and Science Program who brings over ten years of experience in working with students. He received his Master's of Arts degree in Public Administration from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and his Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. Mr. Hill served as the Director of Graduate Support at Saint Ignatius Loyola Academy in Baltimore, MD between 2002-2008. There, he developed a number of programs and initiatives to increase the number of students from underrepresented populations attending college. Alissa Mayers is the Research Coordinator for the Pre-College Programs. She is currently in her sixth year of the Counseling Psychology Doctoral Program and her research interests are around racial identity and how that affects academic performance and psychological well being. She is currently working on her dissertation in that area focusing on African American males attending predominantly White institutions. Ms. Mayers received her bachelors degree from Brown University in Psychology and Africana Studies in 2003. Moya Malcolm serves as the Academic Coordinator and Advisor for Upward Bound. She holds a Master of Education degree in school counseling from University of Maryland, College Park and a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology from Howard University in Washington, D. C. Ms. Malcolm is a member of the American Counseling Association and serves on the Student Affairs committee at the University of Maryland. Ms. Malcolm brings to Pre College Programs several years of experience working with students and families in the Maryland public school setting. As a child of parents who immigrated to this country from Jamaica, West Indies, she is the first in her family to earn a college degree in the United States.

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Emily Rizzo serves as a Counselor with the Upward Bound Program. Emily holds a Masters degree in Community Counseling and a certification in school counseling from the College of New Jersey, located in Ewing, New Jersey. Her bachelors degree is in Psychology and Sociology from LaSalle University, located in Philadelphia, PA. Emilys professional experience includes: child welfare, group counseling, individual counseling, marriage & family counseling, teaching in schools and correctional facilities. Shauntaye Hardy is the Administrative Assistant for the Pre-College Programs - Ms. Hardy joined The University of Maryland Upward Bound Programs in May of 2010. She provides general administrative support to all programs such as, UB, UBMS & LIFT. Ms. Hardy attended Prince Georges Community College taking Business courses. She has worked with Resource Connections of Prince Georges County for many years serving students with intellectual disabilities & supervised work-study students at Flowers High School in Prince Georges County. Janis Arrindell is currently serving as Counselor for all Pre-College Programs. She currently holds a doctoral degree in Counseling Psychology from Howard University. Dr. Arrindell has twenty years of clinical experience working with a diverse population. Prior to her tenure with Pre-College Programs, Dr. Arrindell was employed as an Organizational Psychologist with the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department for nine years. As a clinical consultant she works with individuals, families, couples, and groups. Ali Dodson serves as the Program Manager for the LIFT Program. She is currently seeking a Master of Public Policy degree in Environmental Policy at the University of Maryland, College park. She is a graduate from George Mason University where she received her B. S. in Biology with a concentration in Conservation and Environmental Science as well as two minors in Science and Society and Environmental Policy. Her background in college preparation includes a position as a faculty advisor for the Washington Youth Summit on the Environment summer program as well as an admissions representative for her undergraduate institution.

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Cover Letter I. Executive Summary a. Cut to the chase. 1-3 sentences, including funding about and a very general description of how the funds will be used. Organization Description and History a. Self-explanatory. Can be as descriptive as you want, just make sure the description does a good job of highlighting what makes the organization a good grantee. Background a. Outline the problem, why is it important, and how your program plans to address it. Should show why your program should be funded over other programs. Program Narrative a. Detailed description of the project including project goals and expectations, how success or failure will be measured, etc. If there are multiple goals, use each goal as a heading within the section, and describe the activities that contribute to the fulfillment of that goal. Must also include information about who will work on the project and what makes them qualified to perform such activities. Project Timeline a. Give dates that are specific as possible as for each phase or each activity associated with the program, and outline how much funding will be used for each phase. Budget a. Provide a table and or chart with categories of expenditures that will be funded by the requested grant, how much funding will be required for each category, and how much of that funding will come from the grant request.

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Table of contents needed if [7] pages? http://www.lac.org/doc_library/lac/publications/Grant_Proposal_Template.pdf Answer questions: How much do you want to ask for? What activities will the enrichment program entail? Football tailgate and game Grant/Student group sponsorship Basketball game Grant/student group sponsorship Overnight stay program (2x) OSP sponsorhip + $25 in terpbucks o Bowling at Terpzone or movies in Hoff o Eating in the diner o Study time in McKeldin Intramural sport competition Only transportation Competition with the Greeks $45 turf rental, balls free if rented by students Play at CSPAC $20 per head First look fair Only transportation

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Financial aid seminar Work study shadowing Maryland Day

Only transportation $10 per head for food

Facets of the program -Satisfactory academic progress - Regular attendance at UB -Open to upperclassmen only Find out diversity statistics of schools served Participant breakdown: Capability to serve 175 students: Typically ends up taking on 50 freshman per year, keeping 45 sophomores, 45 juniors, and ends with 35 graduating seniors. Basketball games are $30 per person Football games are $33 per person With 1 chaperone for every 10 students, we can take at max 90 students and 9 chaperones, which would be a total of 2970 for a basketball game and 3267 for a football game. OSP offered by UMD Department of Residence Life hosts slightly under 200 high school seniors and admitted students in the fall and spring semesters to spend the night with college students. Estimating that 30 of our 35 typical seniors will want to attend the program, with their only mandatory costs being for dinner, a $20 meal card per person will cost about $700 for the OSP. CSPAC performances range from free to $10 for students and up to $30 for faculty. Estimating that these events will be open to the entire participation core, we must plan for 90% participation at a chosen event. If over 150 students wish to participate, we would need at most 16 chaperones, so any given event could cost anywhere from free to about 1500 for students and free to $480 for chaperones. Maryland Day open participation, expect at maximum 150 students. With $10 meal cards, maximum $1500 needed, 150 for chaperones. With money that remains, give out as many book scholarships as possible to seniors who write essays on how attending these activities has changed their outlook on college, if at all. Max $400. Total money needed = 10612, plus 720 for transportation (NFLC?)=11332 Final thoughts; -make sure to include how the outcome of project ACE will be measurable -also make sure to emphasize why this is important to enact (over other proposal ideas)