ENG CAREER Workshop SOW 011121 clean.pdf

FY 2021 Virtual ENG CAREER Proposal Workshop (and subsequent years)

REQUEST FOR TASK ORDER

Statement of Work

Directorate for Engineering Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems

(CBET)

Division of Civil, Mechanical, and Manufacturing Innovation (CMMI) Division of Electrical, Communications, and Cyber Systems (ECCS)

Division of Engineering Education and Centers (EEC)

1. Project Title: 2021 Virtual ENG CAREER Proposal Writing Workshop & pre-meeting workshops

2. Period of Performance:

Base period of 12 months.

3. Purpose of Contract:

The purpose of the contract with the Workshop Vendor is to provide virtual meeting planning, logistical, and administrative support, an interactive virtual meeting platform, facilitation support, and real-time meeting participant networking and conversation facilitation for: (1) the FY 2021 Virtual ENG CAREER Proposal Workshop, which is scheduled to take place via a virtual platform in the Spring 2021 (tentatively scheduled, April 1 and 2, 2021); and (2) associated pre-and post-conference virtual workshops.

4. Background

The NSF CAREER program is a Foundation-wide activity that offers the National Science Foundation's most prestigious awards in support of early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization. The CAREER Program serves a critical role in the National Science Foundation’s efforts to identify, foster and support the nation’s most promising junior faculty in both research and education.

The objective of the NSF ENG Directorate CAREER Proposal Writing Workshop is to introduce junior faculty who are interested in submitting their NSF CAREER proposals to the Directorate for Engineering to the CAREER Program. The Workshop covers core disciplinary programs that participate in the CAREER program from the CBET, CMMI, ECCS, and EEC Divisions.

Junior faculty who are eligible for the CAREER program often have limited experience with grant writing and evaluation. They may have little or no interaction with the program directors in the NSF Engineering Directorate. In this workshop, early-career faculty members will have the opportunity to improve their skills in proposal writing, interact with NSF program directors from different ENG divisions (CBET, CMMI, ECCS, and EEC), interact with recent NSF CAREER awardees, participate in a mock panel to evaluate volunteered CAREER proposals, and network with each other for peer to peer experience sharing. The workshop is also open to multidisciplinary researchers with a an ENG focus. The major sessions of the workshop will include presentations on proposal writing, mock panels, CAREER awardee presentations, targeted special speakers, and networking. The NSF Engineering Directorate especially seeks to provide support for non-R1 institutions and Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) and encourage participation from women and underrepresented minority faculty and faculty with disabilities in Engineering.

The FY 2019 and FY 2020 ENG CAREER Workshops were funded through conference grants. These workshops involved faculty participants interested in applying to disciplinary programs in CBET, CMMI, ECCS, and EEC. The workshops involved 300 participants across the four ENG research divisions and were 2-day meetings. The FY 2019 workshop was an in-person meeting in the Washington DC area. The FY 2020 Workshop was planned to be a similar in-person meeting but was converted into a virtual meeting due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

5. Scope

The annual ENG CAREER Workshop will involve junior faculty participants interested in applying to the CAREER program in the core programs of ENG. It is estimated that a minimum of 300 participants will be invited. The NSF Engineering Directorate especially seeks to provide support for non-R1 institutions and Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) and encourages the participation from of women and underrepresented minority faculty and faculty with disabilities in Engineering.

In FY 2021, it is expected that the workshop will meet virtually over a two-day period.

The workshop’s schedule could be spread over more than two days. The expected workshop dates will be April 1 and 2, 2021.

NSF will solicit and recommend a parallel conference award to a group of faculty experts who will provide the programmatic content, admission information requirements, and make participation decisions for the FY 2021 workshop. More detailed information on the workshop content will be provided at the kick-off meeting (see Task 1). It is anticipated that the total number of participants will be 370-400 including all workshop participants, NSF staff, and the conference proposal faculty team.

The contractor will interface with academic conference team and an NSF program officer steering committee in the planning and execution of the CAREER workshop.

The objective of the contractor’s role for the FY 2021 workshop activity is to provide an online platform to facilitate networking of workshop participants with workshop speakers and NSF program directors. The intent is for the contractor’s resources and past experience to be used to facilitate collaborative and interactive exchange of ideas and concerns between the workshop participants and workshop speakers and NSF program directors. The contractor should have the experience and resources to plan and execute a virtual meeting environment that allows for an immersive experience for all participants to engage in interactive discussions on mock proposal review panels, proposal writing, and early career issues. Since the FY 2021 workshop will be a virtual workshop, having the experience in conducting immersive, engaging and interactive training themed workshops for an participant pool of academic STEM faculty, national laboratory or government basic science researchers, and federal research program managers is critical.

A. CAREER Workshop Meeting The contractor shall provide meeting planning, logistical, and administrative support for an ENG CAREER Workshop Meeting held in the Spring of 2021 and using a virtual conferencing platform. The contractor shall also have the capability to provide meeting planning, logistical, and administrative support for a future in-person meeting to be held in the Washington D.C. area in future years of the contract. The contractor shall work with NSF to coordinate with an academic conference team who will provide programmatic content and will be responsible for participation decisions. The academic conference team (funded via an NSF conference proposal) will also help facilitate sessions at the workshop.

CAREER Virtual Workshop activities include:

• Opening, closing, and other plenary sessions.

• Concurrent breakout interactive sessions, a maximum of 40 parallel mock panel sessions and up to 70 parallel breakout sessions for coaching with NSF program officers.

• Approximately 40 breakout, concurrent mock review panels sessions using volunteered ENG CAREER proposals.

• Networking breakout sessions on a variety of topics provided by NSF and based upon participant feedback.

The following meeting activities are anticipated:

• Day 1, 8:30am to 6pm Eastern time zone: Registration; networking breakout sessions; series of plenary sessions and concurrent breakout sessions;

lunchtime networking and special topic interactive breakout sessions, late afternoon interactive breakout sessions

• Day 2, 8:30am-4:30pm Eastern time zone: Opening plenary sessions; series of concurrent breakout sessions; plenary lunchtime speaker session; closing plenary session, afternoon interactive breakout sessions for coaching with NSF program officers.

Expenses: For the Spring 2021 workshop, NSF will cover expenses for (approximately six to eight) invited speakers, including honorarium, as appropriate.

Government Furnished Property: NSF will provide names and contact information for the academic conference team, agency personnel, invited speakers, and other invited guests.

Special Approvals and Clearances: Special approvals and clearances are required for paid advertising, printing, audiovisual and Privacy Act concerns. The contractor is prohibited from publishing or disseminating information from work performed under this contract without prior written approval from the NSF Contracting Officer his/her designated Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR). The contractor is prohibited from using participant mailing lists or information for the purpose of soliciting business or marketing services.

B. Pre-/post-conference workshops

NSF will organize and the contractor shall provide logistical and administrative support for a series of pre- and post-conference workshops and tag up meetings.

For FY21, these meetings will be virtual:

Type of preworkshop meeting

Purposes and attendees Timing after award or before main workshop

Kick off meeting Contractor and NSF officials.

Finalize timeline for needs to plan and execute April 1-2, 2021 workshop

Approximately 10 business days after award

Meeting of the contactor, academic conference team, and NSF

Contractor, key members of academic conference team, members of NSF program director advisory group.

Finalize timeline and delivery of key inputs from academic team to contractor via NSF.

Layout rules of engagement between contractor and academic conference team

Approximately 15 business days after contract award

Tag up meetings with NSF and academic conference team

Progress update meetings on planning

Approximately biweekly starting January 1, 2021

Pre-workshop virtual meetings for attendees for special topics and pre-workshop networking opportunities

Special topics and interactive breakout sessions for meeting attendees and academic and NSF staff

Approximately 2 weeks before workshop

ENG CAREER workshop Workshop execution Tentative, April 1-2, 2021 Post-workshop meeting Contractor, academic conference team, and NSF on workshop best practices and lessons learned for the next workshop. NSF staff will review the agendas for these sessions.

Approximately 10 business days after workshop

Statement of Work:

Task 1: Within 10 business days following the award, the contractor shall conduct an kick off meeting with NSF staff (virtual meeting) to ensure a common understanding of roles and responsibilities and to confirm a final schedule of deliverables with milestones and delivery due dates. The contractor shall submit the initial schedule of deliverables to the COR and Contract Specialist no later than three business days following the orientation meeting.

Task 2: The contractor shall work with NSF and the academic conference team to implement the attendance request form to post on a workshop website/address for prospective principal investigators to use to sign up for participation in the workshop.

The contractor, after the workshop application deadline, will deliver to NSF the list of participants who applied to attend the workshop. NSF will work with the academic conference team to determine the attendees. NSF will deliver the contractor the final set of workshop attendees approximately 60 days before the workshop date.

Task 3: NSF will deliver to the contractor the final agenda of the workshop to determine plenary and breakout sessions needs. NSF will deliver the final agenda approximately 45-60 days before the workshop date.

Task 4: The contractor shall establish and maintain a database to track registration and acceptances from prospective meeting participants who register via the contractor-maintained Web site or other virtual platform. Upon request by the COR, the contractor shall provide an update on the status of registration numbers and participant information. From the registration database, the contractor shall prepare a participant list that includes each participant’s name, organizational affiliation, projected division for CAREER proposal, e-mail address, and phone number. The exact required information will be provided by the academic conference team. The contractor shall share with the academic conference team the list of prospective workshop attendees. The academic conference team will determine workshop admittance decisions and relay that information to NSF and the contractor.

Task 5: The contractor shall administer within 3 days of the close of the CAREER workshop an electronic survey designed to obtain data from participants on their experiences and evaluations of the meeting. The survey contents will be provided by NSF via the academic conference team and will include items pertaining to conference registration, meeting logistics, meeting materials, plenary and concurrent sessions, opportunities to connect with NSF program officers, and opportunities to connect and network with fellow workshop participants. The contractor shall collect the data and deliver the results to NSF and the COR within six weeks of the close of the CAREER workshop meeting.

Task 6: The contractor shall provide logistics and technical support to meet the following anticipated needs (at a minimum) for the virtual workshop:

• Provide virtual meeting platform with capability to host virtual plenary sessions, up to approximately 70 concurrent break out rooms, virtual question and answer platforms, and virtual platform for “storing” meeting materials downloads.

• Contractor will provide real-time and on-line technical assistance to workshop attendees on platform and materials access.

• Contractor should provide a virtual platform that has a capability of hosting a meeting of upwards of 400 people online with up to approximately 70 simultaneous breakout virtual rooms and the ability to move people in and out of virtual meeting rooms as per the workshop agenda.

Task 7: For a virtual workshop, the contractor provide accommodations for participants with disabilities to participate in the workshop using their own equipment.

Task 8: The contractor shall provide an email address, a toll-free (800) telephone number or a phone app for participants to obtain information on meeting logistics and lodging arrangements as well as to alert the contractor of cancellations or schedule changes. The contractor shall respond to invitee/registrant inquiries within 24 hours.

Task 9: The contractor shall establish and maintain a Web site or virtual platform for participants to register for the meeting. The contractor shall prepare and post to the Web site pre-meeting materials including, but not limited to, logistics information; on-line meeting registration procedures; a module for submitting, browsing, downloading, and printing agency summaries, which may include graphics; links to the hotel’s Web site; and links to other relevant Web sites.

Task 10: For a virtual workshop, the contractor shall have a virtual platform that can provide the following information to workshop attendees including a detailed workshop agenda/program, logistics information, sessions information, and attendee contact list.

Task 11: For a virtual meeting, the contractor shall establish a virtual help desk on the days of the CAREER workshop. The help desk shall be staffed to answer attendees’ logistical questions and distribute informational materials throughout the meeting.

Task 12: The contractor shall provide logistical support for pre- and post-conference virtual workshops. NSF staff will develop the agendas for and facilitate these sessions.

The contractor shall issue invitations to individuals identified by NSF; maintain invitation, RSVP, and participant logs; circulate materials (provided by NSF) to participants in advance of the workshops; and attend and take notes on, and prepare minutes of, each workshop.

Task 13: The contractor shall provide regular reporting through written monthly progress reports and biweekly status meetings at NSF or via conference call. The COR shall determine if the biweekly meetings will be convened in person or otherwise. The contractor shall prepare and provide a final task summary report, including the final list of participants, copies of sign-in sheets, and a financial summary with cost breakdown by individual cost elements, including supporting documentation of such expenditures— i.e., vendor invoices, fees collected, etc.—within 30 days of the completion of the task order.

SCHEDULE OF DELIVERABLES: The contractor shall submit the final schedule of deliverables to the COR for approval and acceptance not later than eight working days following award of the task order. The contractor shall list each deliverable and its due date separately in the schedule of deliverables. The contractor shall e-mail a copy of the final approved schedule of deliverables to the COR and Contract Specialist not later than 10 days following task order award date. The schedule of deliverables shall, at a minimum, include the following items:

Orientation meeting with NSF staff Written progress reports — Monthly Project status meetings — Bi-weekly URL for online meeting registration Pre-conference programming survey (completed at least 2 months pre-conference) Meeting Program Final list of registered participants Meeting evaluation survey — distributed within 3 days of the of the event Meeting evaluation tabulated results-6 weeks after the meeting Problem resolution and emergency instructions Tailored Task Order Quality Assurance/Quality Control Program Plan/Quality

Control checklist

Web site design and development schedule Task Order Close Out Report (before completion of the task order) Final Task Order Summary/Close-out Report (within 30 days of the completion of the contract)