NSF RJIA Intial Task Statement of Work.pdf

National Science Foundation - Restorative Justice Statement of Work - Initial Task Order

Attachment 1

STATEMENT OF WORK

1.0 INTRODUCTION

The National Science Foundation (NSF), Office of Equity and Civil Rights (OECR) requires professional services from a practitioner with expertise in designing restorative justice-informed approaches (RJIA) to repair harm and offer active accountability to individuals and communities affected by sexual and other forms of harassment and/or discrimination. The awardee shall 1) develop an options paper regarding the use of RJIA at NSF-funded off-campus or off-site research venues to address sexual and other forms of harassment and/or discrimination and to promote safe and inclusive working environments, and 2) design and undertake a pilot to study the use of RJIA at one or more NSF funded off-campus or off-site domestic research venue to address the same.

2.0 BACKGROUND

2.1. NSF is an independent federal agency that supports science and engineering in all 50 states and U.S.

territories. NSF works closely with the research community to shape our numerous funding opportunities. Each year, NSF funds more than 12,000 competitive awards at a range of sites, including research stations, ground-based telescopes, long-term ecological sites, vessels and ships, and education centers. Organizations receiving funding awards from NSF are prohibited from discriminating against individuals who participate in any of their programs, services, and activities under civil rights laws, to include, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin) (“Title VI”) and Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972 (prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in Federally assisted education programs or activities)(“Title IX”).

2.2 OECR’s mission is to provide equal opportunity and access and eliminate unlawful discrimination and harassment in employment at NSF and in participation with NSF-funded or conducted programs.

OECR’s Awardee Compliance Branch (ACB) investigates complaints of unlawful discrimination and harassment in NSF-funded programs services and activities and conducts civil rights compliance reviews of NSF awardee organizations and their NSF-funded programs and activities. In addition, OECR ACB provides technical assistance and information on how awardee organizations can comply with Title IX, Title VI, and other civil rights laws and how NSF-funded program participants can assert their rights and protections against discrimination and harassment under these laws. In so doing, OECR ACB takes a proactive approach to Title IX, Title VI and combatting harassment in the science and engineering community and seeks to identify and adopt promising prevention and response practices from the public and private sectors and internationally.

2.3 In 2018, NSF published an award term and condition requirement in an effort to help ensure research environments are free from sexual and other forms of harassment. Other forms of harassment are defined as non-gender or non-sex-based harassment of individuals protected under Federal civil rights laws. Per the award term and condition, awardee organizations must report to NSF when Principal Investigators (PI) and Co-PIs working on NSF-funded research are placed on administrative leave, subjected to administrative actions or when there are findings and determinations by the organizations that PIs and Co-PIs engaged in sexual or other forms of harassment. In addition, OECR ACB established a secure online portal for awardee institutions to submit term and condition notifications and a separate portal for individuals to file sexual and other forms of harassment and discrimination complaints.

2.4. This award term and condition was supplemented by other policy requirements aimed at combatting harassment and discrimination at NSF funded conferences and in relation to NSF funded travel, as well as requirements for Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REUs), fellowships, and on small business awards. In January of 2023, NSF introduced a requirement for off-campus, off-site research proposals that the proposing organization certify that it has a plan in place to address harassing behavior and promote inclusivity at the particular research site. Off-campus, off-site research includes, but is not limited to, fieldwork and research activities on vessels, aircrafts or facilities.

2.5. OECR has been engaging with the awardee community and research funding organizations to identify promising practices to enhance our impact in preventing and responding to harassment and to foster proactive compliance. From this engagement and its compliance activities, OECR ACB understands that a number of awardee institutions offer RJIA on campus for employees and students. One of the reported rationales behind offering RJIA is that these approaches “invite individuals most connected to an incident to work together to identify harm, establish ways to repair it, and build trust to ensure that it doesn’t happen again.”1 Further, “giving voice and choice to the harmed party through the RJ process offers an opportunity for that person to regain a sense of personal agency and power.”2

2.6. OECR ACB is interested in learning whether these kinds of approaches could be utilized at NSF funded off-campus, off-site venues, as appropriate, to prevent and resolve issues related to sexual and other forms of harassment and discrimination. OECR’s goal would be to identify a slate of RJIA options that NSF awardees might consider to promote proactive Title IX, Title VI and other compliance, and safer, more inclusive research environments.

3.0 SCOPE

3.1. The Contractor shall develop an options paper for OECR ACB regarding the use of RJIA at NSF-funded off-campus or off-site research venues to address sexual and other forms of harassment and to promote safe, inclusive, Title IX and Title VI compliant research environments.

3.2. The Contractor shall design and undertake a pilot to study the use of RJIA at one or more NSF funded off-campus or off-site domestic research venues.

3.3. The Contractor shall provide a report to OECR with the results of the pilot and recommendations for OECR ACB implementation.

1 Williamsen, K and McMahon, S, “A Restorative Justice Approach to Campus Sexual Misconduct” Applying Restorative Justice to Campus Sexual Misconduct at 20.

2 Id at 21.

4.0 REQUIREMENTS The Contractor shall:

4.1 Develop an Options Paper regarding the use of RJIA at NSF-funded off-campus and off-site research venues to address sexual or other forms of harassment and discrimination and to promote safe and inclusive research environments.

4.1.1 Review the literature and studies related to sexual and other forms of harassment in off-campus and off-site research environments.

4.1.2 Sample plans submitted to NSF Directorates of Geosciences (GEO) and Biosciences (BIO) for off-site and off-campus proposals, as available and provided by NSF.

4.1.3 Consult with NSF Program Officers and Principal Investigators as appropriate to understand how off-site and off-campus plans are developed and utilized in practice.

4.1.4 Specifically account for applicable legal context for awardee personnel.

4.2 Develop a Design Plan for a Pilot to incorporate RJIA into NSF-funded off-campus and off-site domestic research venues:

A. Detail implementation steps and time frames.

B. Identify goals and objectives for all steps.

C. Detail methodology to evaluate Pilot.

4.3 Implement and Evaluate Pilot

4.4 Provide Pilot Evaluation Report with recommendations to OECR ACB for going forward.

5.0 MONTHLY STATUS REPORTS: The Contractor shall

Provide NSF with an update on progress by the first business day of every month until contract completion. Progress report shall include:

5.1. A status update on each requirement outlined in Paragraph 4;

5.2. An updated schedule for all requirements; and

5.3. An accounting of amount invoiced to date.

6.0 MEETINGS: The Contractor shall participate in

6.1 Post Award Conference

This meeting shall provide an introduction between the Contractor personnel and NSF personnel who will be involved with the contract. The meeting shall provide the opportunity to discuss technical, management and other issues. The Post Award Conference will aid both NSF and the Contractor in achieving a clear and mutual understanding of all requirements and identify and resolve any potential issues. The Contractor shall be prepared to discuss any items requiring clarification and gather information as necessary to support each deliverable. The Contractor shall provide a written summary of the Post-Award Conference.

6.2 Management Meetings

Participate in Management Meetings every two weeks throughout the contract period of performance to discuss progress against the contract in a format approved by NSF.

7.0 DELIVERABLES

A summary of deliverables follows. The contract structure divides performance into two segments, a Base Period through the creation of the RJIA Pilot, and an Option Period covering the Pilot and Pilot Evaluation Report.

Deliverable Ref. Delivery Date

Post-Award Conference via

ZOOM

6.1 Within 5 business days of contract award

RJIA Options Paper 4.1 Within 6 months of Post-Award Conference

Design Plan for RJIA Pilot 4.2 Within 8 months of Post-Award Conference

Launch Pilot 4.3 Within 10 months of Post-Award Conference

Pilot Report and Recommendations

4.2 Within 1.5 years of Design Plan for Pilot

Work Schedule and Deliverables

4.4 Within 180 calendar days of Post-Award

Conference

Monthly Status Report 5.0 Submit on the first business day of every month until contract completion

8.0 CONTRACTOR TRAVEL

Domestic travel is anticipated for this contract. Contractor is expected to travel to selected off-campus, off-site domestic venues. Travel will be approved in advance by the Contracting Officer’s Representative or Contracting Officer and will occur only at government direction.

9.0 GOVERNMENT FURNISHED PROPERTY/EQUIPMENT/INFORMATION

NSF will not provide Government furnished property or equipment.

10.0 PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

Contractors will work at the Contractor’s designated place of business.

11.0 ORGANIZATIONAL CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

The Contractor acknowledges that it is familiar with FAR Subpart 9.5, Organizational and Consultant Conflicts of Interest, and agrees to avoid, neutralize, or mitigate such conflicts of interest in accordance with the principles set forth in the FAR. If the performance requires the Contractor (to include subcontractors) to supply technical support related to systems or projects with which the Contractor is already directly concerned, either by prime or subcontract, the Contractor shall immediately inform the Contracting Officer. The SOW may be withdrawn if a conflict is found. The Contractor shall not undertake performance of any SOW requirements which requires it to supply technical support regarding such systems until the notice is given, and written consent to proceed is issued by the Contracting Officer.

12.0 PERSONNEL/LABOR CATEGORY REQUIREMENTS – KEY PERSONNEL

12.1 Subject Matter Expert – Project Lead. Provides expert-level knowledge regarding the use of RJIA to address harms arising from sexual and other forms of harassment and discrimination:

• Recognized as expert and published within the field.

• Able to access and onboard expert organizational partners as appropriate and necessary.

• Delivers subject matter knowledge and expert advice necessary to meet contract objectives.

• Provides subject matter strategy consulting, including research, evaluations, survey services, data validation and analysis, reporting, analyses, scenarios/simulations, reports, and strategy formulation related to the areas of expertise.

• Provides technical, managerial, and administrative direction for problem definition, analysis, requirements development and implementation in the subject matter area.

• Contributes to the execution of the project or task plan and helps assess the impact with standard methodologies.

• Exhibits an exceptional degree of ingenuity, creativity, and resourcefulness.

• Practically applies principles, theories, and concepts to the lab and research settings.

• Develops information that extends knowledge in a given field.

• Experience with the application of Title IX and Title VI law and regulation.

12.2. Education/Certifications: Doctorate degree in Social Science or law from an accredited college or university by member of team or organizational partner.

12.3. Experience: Current RJIA practitioner with significant experience (at least 10 years preferred), to include significant experience working with the academic community.