Impact of AARP Andrus Foundation Grantmaking in Aging on Professional and Institutional Development

Abstract

This study examines the impact of support from grant making by the AARP Andrus Foundation on the institutional growth of gerontology programs from 1973 to 1992 and on the professional development of grant recipients. Faculty who were awarded grants in that time (N = 355) were mailed questionnaires to assess the impact of receiving an applied research grant from the AARP Andrus Foundation on gerontological instruction, research, program development, and professional development The 187 grantees responding (52.7%) identified both quantitative and qualitative outcomes from the grants, including promotion and tenure, advances in professional stature, opportunities to present research at professional meetings, opportunities to conduct nontraditional research, and the receipt of additional funding from other foundations and government agencies.

Case study: Traditional facilitation skills combined with group decision technologies.

“…These decisions are difficult, since fewer than one in ten applicants receives funding. This is a funding rate more competitive than that of the National Institutes of Health, and those in the “aging” research community consider an Andrus Foundation grant highly prestigious (Kerin, Hollenbeck, Sprouse, and Kriner, 1996). There are often many fine applications that the Board cannot fund simply because all moneys have been exhausted.…”