Department of Education: Enhancing Media Literacy through English MOOC Grant

The purpose of this announcement is to inform interested parties about funding opportunities through grants.

Organizations that submit applications in response to this announcement acknowledge and accept all of the requirements contained herein. This announcement serves as notice to select interested parties to have equal opportunity to submit project proposals for funding consideration. All submissions in response to this announcement are voluntary and do not obligate the Department of State to fund any proposal or proposal preparation costs.

II. Background Information

The Media Literacy Massive Online Open Course (MOOC) is a high-profile public diplomacy initiative that provides applying organizations, NGOs and higher education institutions, an opportunity to demonstrate the United States support and commitment to improve education and English teaching worldwide. Further information about the MOOC can be found here:

https://www.coursera.org/learn/media

The main purpose of this call for proposals is to encourage applying organizations to help the U.S. Embassy to promote English teaching from all over Moldova to implement different teaching methods and techniques in their classes, thus improving the quality of English teaching. The expected duration of the project is 5 months. The activities will be divided in 2 main parts. (1) Selection and Training of facilitators (training will be realized by English Language Fellows), (2) Selection of participants and MOOC Facilitation (facilitation will be realized by the facilitators selected and trained in the first part). The actual MOOCs will begin on 02-April-2017 and last for five weeks. Selection and training of facilitators and selection of MOOC participants must be completed in time to allow facilitated sessions to begin prior to this start date.

(1) In the first part the grant recipient will recruit and select facilitators, and the embassy will prepare a special course to train these facilitators. Special consideration should be given to teachers who have recently graduated from university (or who have not yet graduated, but will be graduating in the spring/summer of 2017).
(2) The second part of activities will be the actual facilitation of the MOOC. Each of the initial facilitators will have a target to train other 12-20 MOOC participants selected by the grant recipient. Selection should include criteria to ensure that participants have sufficient English skills to complete the course, and sufficient time and motivation to complete the MOOC. Additionally, selection criteria should strive to include a diverse cross section of the interested public, and should not be restricted based on age, employment/student status, etc.

III. Program Objectives:

This Grant has the following objectives: providing an opportunity for new English teachers to gain valuable paid teaching experience; improving the English language competency and media literacy of Moldovans throughout the country (including in the Transnistrian and Gagauz regions); improving the ability of English teachers to address media literacy as an aspect of foreign language learning; integrating new English teachers more deeply into their communities through professional interaction with a broader cross-section of their communities than would normally occur in a typical language classroom.

In identifying the specific target populations, proposals must demonstrate a commitment towards the support and inclusion of marginalized communities (including disability status, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, whether they live in a rural or urban setting, etc.)

The implementing organization/institution will undertake the following actions:
• Determine localities for the MOOC facilitated sessions throughout Moldova, as agreed upon with the U.S. Embassy.
• Select 5 -8 facilitators who will conduct the MOOC facilitated sessions. Special selection consideration should be given to teachers who have recently graduated from university (or who have not yet graduated, but will be graduating in the spring/summer of 2017).
• Coordinate and provide logistics for a training conference in Chisinau for selected facilitators (including providing transportation and housing if necessary, etc). The venue and training for the facilitators will be provided by the U.S. Embassy. Dates for the conference will be determined by the U.S. Embassy, but is expected to be two days within the March 2017 time-frame.
• Select 12 – 20 students per facilitator for the MOOC facilitated sessions. The MOOCs themselves are open enrollment, and every student should register and complete the course independently, based on the instruction received through course facilitation. Selection should include criteria to ensure that participants have sufficient English skills to complete the course, and sufficient time and motivation to complete the MOOC. Additionally, selection criteria should strive to include a diverse cross section of the interested public, and should not be restricted based on age, employment/student status, etc.
• Providing payment of honorarium for the facilitators and coordinating the teaching hours for the sessions.
• Coordinate/provide a space for the facilitated sessions; such a space must be suitable for the facilitation (including internet connectivity). The U.S Embassy may have partners which may be able to provide space and possible equipment for little to no cost in some locations. Nevertheless, proposals should include a plan for coordinating and providing a space in the event that embassy provided space is not available.

IV. Eligibility Information

Eligibility is limited to not-for-profit organizations (NGOs) and higher education institutions officially registered in the Republic of Moldova.

Direct funding for U.S. and third-country institutions is not available under this funding opportunity. Organizations without Moldovan registration can apply only as partners through an eligible organization.

Organizations submitting proposals must meet the following criteria:

• Organizations should have existing, or demonstrate the capacity to develop, active partnerships with in-country entities and relevant stakeholders including the public sector, private sector, and civil society, as relevant to the proposed program objectives.

• Organizations may form consortia and submit a combined proposal. However, one organization should be designated as the lead applicant.

• Public Affairs Section reserves the right to request additional background information on applicants that do not have previous experience administering federal grant awards, and these applicants may be subject to limited funding on a pilot basis.

• Please note: the Department of State prohibits profit under its assistance awards to for-profit or commercial organizations. No funds will be paid as profit to any recipient. Profit is defined as any amount in excess of allowable direct and indirect costs. The permissibility of costs incurred by commercial organizations is determined in accordance with the provisions of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) at 48 CFR Part 31, Cost Accounting Standards, and Part 31 Contract Cost Principles and Procedures. Program income earned by the recipient must be deducted from the total project or program allowable cost in determining the net allowable costs on which the federal share of costs is based.

• Please note: no entity listed on the Excluded Parties List System in the System for Award Management (SAM) is eligible for any assistance or can participate in any activities under an award in accordance with the OMB guidelines at 2 CFR 180 that implement Executive Orders 12549 (3 CFR Part 1986 Comp., p. 189) and 12689 (3 CFR Part 1989 Comp., p. 235), “Debarment and Suspension.” All applicants are strongly encouraged to review the Excluded Parties List System in SAM (www.sam.gov) to ensure that no ineligible entity is included.

The English for Media Literacy MOOC grant competition cannot fund:

• Organizations with affiliation to elected officials, political parties or religious groups
• Scientific research;
• Individual trips abroad

V. Federal Award Information

Funding Instrument Type: Grant/Cooperative Agreement
Funding per grant: up to $4,000
Through the announced competition the U.S. Embassy anticipates funding 1 project totaling up to $4,000, depending on available funds. In the event funds in excess of $4,000 are available, the grant recipient will be expected to scale up the project.

Expected award date is February 15.

The Department also reserves the right to award more or less funding as deemed in the best interest of the U.S. Government. The performance period for funded projects will be for up to 12 months. Recipients of funding under this announcement will be subject to the Department of State terms and conditions found at: https://www.statebuy.state.gov/fa/Pages/TermsandConditions.aspx and the terms set forth in this announcement. Additional terms and conditions may apply as warranted. Quarterly or Semi-annual technical and financial reports may be required during the term of the project. A final assessment at the end of the project is mandatory for all grants.

Award recipients must comply with Executive Order 13224, Blocking Property and Prohibiting Transactions with Persons who Commit, Threaten to commit, or Support Terrorism. Information about this Executive Order can be found at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2001-09-25/pdf/01-24205.pdf.

VI. Cost Sharing or Matching

Applicants are not required to include funding from other donors. However, applications that include additional in-kind and/or cash contributions from non-U.S. Government sources will be more competitive, since cost-sharing demonstrates a strong commitment to the planned activities and greater cost effectiveness.

Cost sharing may be a certain percentage or amount, or may be in the form of contributions of specified items or activities (e.g., provision of equipment).

VII. Proposal Submission and Deadline:

Applicants are requested to submit a completed proposal package that includes all mandatory documents, per the solicitation instructions below.

Note: Unsolicited appendices will not be read and should not be submitted for this award.

To meet the announcement deadline, complete proposals with attachments must be emailed to MoldovaGrants@state.gov. Applications submitted after February 12, 2017 11:59 PM Moldova Time will not be accepted.

The U.S. Embassy will determine if the application has been submitted before the deadline by checking the ‘received date’ on the email message. Please take into consideration any possible delays that may occur between the sent and received time.

The applicant will receive a notification when the application is entered into the Grants Management System (usually within 48 hours of receipt). We strongly encourage applicants not to call to inquire about receipt of applications on the day of the deadline.

Do not archive documents in RAR, ZIP or other archive formats. The documents should be attached as individual files and sent in one email before the deadline. Do not send the application package more than one time.

It is the responsibility of all applicants to ensure that proposals have been submitted on time to Moldovagrants@state.gov, U.S. Embassy bears no responsibility for data errors resulting from transmission or conversion processes.

Proposal Requirements:

This section outlines requirements for the proposal package and also includes detailed instructions on budget, budget narrative, and monitoring and evaluation plan submission. All materials must be written in English.

Each proposal submission should clearly demonstrate the relationship to the Program and address at least one of the program objectives described in this announcement.

Each proposal submission must clearly demonstrate straightforward scalability. In the event funds in excess of $4,000 are available, the grant recipient will be expected to scale up the project to increase the number of facilitators, localities, students, etc. Proposals must demonstrate capacity to add these additional facilitators, localities, students, etc., at as competitive or better a rate as the overall per-facilitator/per-student rate in the base proposal.

We encourage the applicants to use the downloadable application form and project format. If the internet access is limited contact us to arrange an alternative way of receiving the application package.

A complete application must contain the following mandatory elements:

1. Signed SF424 Application Coversheet Form (pdf format)
2. Project Format in .doc format (original doc format)
3. Detailed Budget (Excel Spreadsheet)
4. Budget Narrative
5. Project Timeline
6. CVs of the paid staff and experts

Other Submission Requirements

Do not send any other documents except those required by the program (See Application and Submission Application).
Please use only Microsoft Word to fill out the project form. Using OpenOffice, LibreOffice or other alternatives may break the format and render the forms unusable. If you do not have Microsoft Office software, feel free to use the computers at the American Resource Center (find address on the Embassy’s website) or any other public access center (Novateca’s, Internet Café’s, etc.)
Please contact us at moldovagrants@state.gov if you experience technical problems or are unable to submit an electronic version of the application.

Application Review Information

Criteria

English for Media Literacy MOOC program will fund the proposal that best addresses the goals enumerated above and reflect the values of the United State. Successful proposals will contain accurate and well-developed implementation plans and clear explanations of how the project goals will be achieved.
Project selection is competitive. Proposals are judged on the following criteria:
1) Ability to Meet Program Requirements
A relevant work plan should demonstrate substantive undertakings and logistical capacity of the organization. The work plan should adhere to the program overview and guidelines described above. Objectives should be ambitious, yet measurable and achievable. For complete proposals, applicants should provide a detailed timeline of project activities.
2) Cost Effectiveness
The overhead and administrative components of the proposal, including salaries and honoraria, should be kept as low as possible. All other items should be necessary and appropriate.
3) Institution’s Record and Capacity
The Embassy will consider the past performance of prior recipients and the demonstrated potential of new applicants. Proposals should demonstrate an institutional record of successful program administration, including responsible fiscal management and full compliance with all reporting requirements for past grants. Proposed personnel and institutional resources should be adequate and appropriate to achieve the project’s goals. Roles and responsibilities of primary staff should be provided.
4) Multiplier Effect
Proposed programs should indicate strategic considerations for selections of facilitators, localities and students that will have a maximum impact on furthering the overall program objectives beyond the limitations of the English for Media Literacy MOOC itself.

Federal Award Notices

Applicants will be notified electronically about selection results. An email message will be sent to the email account included in the application form. Grants Program Staff may also contact the applicants to request additional information or clarify certain aspects of the application documents; therefore it is important to provide accurate contact information.

Successful program applicants will have to sign a Notice of Award (grant agreement) before receiving the funds. No costs should be incurred by the applicant prior to signing a Notice of Award. The notice of Federal award signed by the grants officer is the authorizing document.

Unsuccessful program applicants will receive an email notification. The grants program may provide a signed rejection letter upon request; however, the Grants Program will not provide reasons for rejection. The Grants program is highly competitive and may not be able to fund all good applications.

Administrative and National Policy Requirements

Reporting

During the grant implementation the recipient will have to inform the Embassy about the events and activities carried out under the grant.

The recipient will have to provide a final performance report (narrative) submitted in electronic format in English via email at the end of the project, however, often the Embassy may choose to request semiannual or quarterly reporting. The U.S. Embassy reserves the right to request other proofs such as photos from events, participants’ lists, copies of publications, etc., as well as request access to financial information related to the grant.

FEDERAL AWARDING AGENCY CONTACT(S)

Project Coordinator: Sergiu Cotorobai
Email: CotorobaiSI@state.gov
Email: moldovagrants@state.gov
Telephone: 022851717;

OTHER INFORMATION

Disclaimer
Issuance of this Request for Proposals does not constitute an award commitment on the part of the Government, nor does it commit the Government to pay for costs incurred in the preparation and submission of proposals. Further, the Government reserves the right to reject any or all proposals received. If a proposal is selected for funding, the Department of State has no obligation to provide any additional future funding in connection with the award. Renewal of an award to increase funding or extend the period of p