Attachment I - Statement of Work.pdf

Attachment I - Statement of Work

IE Center-Level Onboarding Consulting and ILO Mentor Program Management

I. BACKGROUND: RATIONALE FOR THE NEED FOR THE IE CENTER-LEVEL

ONBOARDING CONSULTING AND MENTOR PROGRAM MANAGEMENT

IE Center-Level Onboarding Consulting For over a decade, the Engineering Research Center (ERC) Program has supported experienced Industrial Liaison Officers (ILOs) from on-going and graduated ERCs to provide consulting services to new incoming ILOs at new or ongoing ERCs. Teams of at least two experienced ILOs have visited with the new ILOs and their Center management team to discuss how to develop effective industrial liaison practices and nurture healthy innovation ecosystems. The consultants review current practices, the membership agreement and Intellectual Property (IP) policies of the ERC on effective industry collaboration practices. The deliverables are training for the new ILOs and guidance to the ILO and the ERC on effective industrial collaboration practices. The findings and guidance are summarized in a report which is sent to the ERC Program Director and the ERC Program Office. This establishes an excellent foundation to provide broader Innovation Ecosystem Center-level onboarding consulting.

ILO Mentor Program Management An informal outcome of holding regular ILO Working Group meetings was that it creates an All- ERC inclusive culture where the ILOs built trust and mentored each other. Although information on managing the ERC innovation ecosystem was exchanged during regular monthly ILO Working Group meetings, the ILOs felt that the in-person SUMMIT meetings and focused meetings aimed at addressing specific core competencies of the ILO function were a more efficient use of time. Based on this, they proposed a shift from general monthly ILO working group meetings to a tiered structure that focused on (1) very focused topics of interest to all active ERC ILOs, and (2) focused on ILO core competency topics requested by the new-hire ILOs. During the 2019 ILO Summit, the ILO Working Group ratified their program proposal to the NSF that outlined how to ensure newly hired ILOs are trained in core job functions. This ILO Mentor Program codified key interactions between new ILO hires (Mentees), experienced ILOs (Mentors) and Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to maximize ILO training and sharing of best-practices. Beyond this, documenting the program products as well as managing ILO Working Group activities is needed. This document outlines what those roles would entail and proposes a scope of work.

II. SCOPE OF WORK

IE Center-Level Onboarding Consulting

To address the specific needs of the currently active Gen-3 and Gen-4 ERCs, and assist the onboarding of the newly named Gen-4 ERC awardees, by gathering information on the ERC’s structure in support of an innovation ecosystem, as defined by the ERC’s bylaws, membership agreements, intellectual property agreements, inter-institutional agreements, etc., and assess its effectiveness. This task

• Covers up to four (4) site visits under Task 2 whenever new ERCs are made;

• Accommodates the average ILO turnover rate of 2 ILOs/year;

• Accommodates up to two ad hoc consulting visit per year.

This assessment will be accomplished through the following three Tasks:

TASK 1: Build consulting teams The ILO consultancy contractor will identify a cross-section of experienced ILOs with the appropriate mix of backgrounds and negotiate to put them on subcontract to support ILO site visits.

The contractor shall establish a protocol for two types of visits: (i) the ILO consultancy visit and the (ii) ILO fact finding/ problem resolution visit. Finally, the ILO consultancy contractor shall bring the consultants together at least once to train them and establish a common baseline for each type of site visit. A virtual training session is acceptable.

TASK 2: Onboarding new Gen-4 ERCs through evaluation of Innovation Ecosystem strategy

1. Evaluation of agreements and policy documents:

a. Review the IP policy developed by the new ERC

b. Review and make recommendations on the industry partners membership agreements;

2. In-person or virtual evaluation of this task shall establish a site visit protocol that minimally includes the following elements (1) consultants briefing the ERC ILO on ILO role expectations, (2) ERC team briefings to the consultant team on the ERC strategies for recruiting and retaining industry sponsorship, technology commercialization, nurturing the innovation ecosystem, and industry collaboration on research, and (3) an education strategy with industry and for entrepreneurial graduates. The protocol will include a list of expected attendees from the ERC, (at minimum the ILO, Associate Directors for Research and Outreach, the university or ERC publications coordinator, and any ERC team members and university officials who are expected to contribute to the ILO fact finding meeting. The format for the site visit report is as follows:

a. Executive Summary including Conclusions, Concerns, and Recommendations

b. Strategy and Architecture of Industrial Sponsorship

c. Industry Communications and Marketing

d. Technology Commercialization and Innovation Strategies

e. Research Program Strategies to Meet Industry and ERC Needs

f. Education Programs with Industry

g. Other Key Issues

There will be a need to schedule up to four ILO consultant training visits, one for each of the new ERC awardees announced in 2020. There may be an additional 4 new ERCs announced in 2022 if the competition proceeds on schedule.

TASK 3: ad hoc ILO training and consultancy visits of current ERCs:

The purpose of this task is to conduct up to two ad hoc consultancy site visits per year during the 24-month period of this task. There are two categories of ad hoc consultancy visits:

1. New ILO Training: Every year, some percentage of the ILOs at the active ERCs resign or hire away to other jobs thereby creating a situation where the replacement ILO needs to be rapidly oriented.

2. Problem Resolution: At other times, the ERC Program Office may become aware of an urgent development that challenges the success of an ERCs industry strategy.

In response to both situations, the ERC program office will authorize the formation of an ILO consultant team which will be dispatched to the ERC to either train the replacement ILO or assess the issues which triggered a concern. The ad hoc consultancy visits can be scheduled at any one of the active ERCs:

OPTIONAL TASK 4: Support workshop to define core competencies of the stakeholder function.

Planning session focused on stakeholders in the 2021 ILO SUMMIT

1. All-ERC Stakeholder Workshop in 2022 to define core competencies of the Stakeholder function

ILO Mentor Program Management

Although the ILO Working Group has evolved into a self-mentoring entity, for it to persist over time requires active oversight. The ILO Mentor Program Manager will interface with the active ILOs, the ILO Mentor pool, and newly hired ILOs to: Lead the ILO Certification Process, Lead ILO Continuing Education, and Own the ILO Biobook. These three role areas are described below:

TASK 5: Manage opportunities for Mentor-Mentee interactions This includes (but is not limited to) performing, managing, or directing the following activities:

1. Match Mentors with Mentees: For each new hire ILO/Mentee, recommend Mentors matches from the Mentor pool.

2. Own the ILO Biobook: Certifying new ILOs as ILO mentors and adding them to the BioBook.

The ILO Biobook is a repository of current and former ILO profiles. Included in the profile is information about mentor status and training completion. Activities for this role segment include:

a. Updating the Biobook with new entries and/or updated profile information;

b. Removing entries from ILOs who no longer wish to participate;

c. Note ILOs who are part of the mentor pool;

d. Identify when an ILO has completed their training (successfully attended all ILO Topic

Calls related to the ILO core competencies);

3. Coach new mentors as needed

4. Perform Check-ins with Mentor / Mentee as needed during their first year of onboarding to assess progress and ensure onboarding and training is complete.

5. Schedule, host and document the ILO Topic Calls. This involves identifying the SME for each topic (per the core competency list outlined in the Mentor program) and scheduling, hosting, and documenting the topic calls. New ILOs and their mentors should be on the relevant topic calls. All topic calls should occur within the ILOs first year – ideally 6-9 months after their hire if possible.

TASK 6: Manage ILO Working Group meetings Activities for this role segment include:

1. Identifying relevant topics for ILOs in coordination with the NSF Cognizant PD

2. Facilitating ILO Working Group Zoom meetings on these topics, including coordinating the guest speaker or SME;

3. Participating in ILO Summits. This could include just attendance or also include speaking on relevant topics, providing education updates, etc. at the direction of the ILO Summit planning committee. It may also mean sitting on the Planning Committee;

4. Documenting continuing education efforts, including recording of Working Group Meeting Zoom calls and submitting to the erc-assoc.org repository (https://erc-assoc.org/ilo-resources ) for future ILOs to listen to the recordings.

III. Deliverables

• Tasks 1, 2, and 3: Consulting reports per the Scope of Work

• OPTIONAL Task 4: Based on Further Scope of Work Discussion

• Tasks 5 and 6:

a) 4-6 Mentor Calls/year

b) 4-6 ILO Working Group meetings/year

c) 1 ILO Summit / year including Annual Reports on 1) Annual Update to BioBooks, and 2) Annual Report on Mentor/Mentee Matches

IV. STAFFING QUALIFICATIONS

ILO Onboarding Consultant Services: The ERC program requires that the people contracted to provide the ILO consulting services to have been previously trained by the ERC program for the ILO function. A complete understanding of the ERC program is required. This limits the consultants to be either current or former ERC ILO individuals.

The consulting teams will consist of experienced ILOs from ERCs that were awarded in 2011 or earlier. The consultants must have a thorough knowledge of the Gen-3 ERCs In addition, the collective expertise of the consultants selected by the vendor must cover the four major ERC cluster areas: (i) biotechnology and healthcare, (ii) micro/optoelectronics, sensing, and information technology, (iii) manufacturing and processing, and (iv) energy, sustainability, and infrastructure.

ILO Mentor Program Manager (MPM): The MPM requires a veteran ILOs who is familiar with the ILO Core Competencies, the professional qualifications of current and former ILOs to serve as Subject Matter Experts (SME), and the personal capabilities of current and former ILOs to be paired as Mentors to the new ILO hires, Clearly, a complete understanding of the ILO Core competencies and ILO Mentor training is required, thereby limiting the MPM to be either a current or former ERC ILO individuals who qualified as ILO SMEs.

V. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

The Period of Performance is 24 months from date of award.

https://erc-assoc.org/ilo-resources