U.S. Embassy Santo Domingo’s Public Affairs Section is offering a grant to establish a virtual exchange program for U.S. and Dominican students.

A. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION 

The Public Affairs Section (PAS) of the U.S. Embassy in Santo Domingo, U.S. Department of State, announces an open competition for individuals and organizations to submit applications to carry out a virtual exchange program between U.S. and Dominican Higher education institutions that involves students from both countries to strengthen bilateral ties and interest in higher education. Proposals should include one U.S. higher education institution and one Dominican higher education institution as partner implementers. Please carefully follow all instructions below: The U.S. Embassy, Santo Domingo seeks proposals from U.S. and/or Dominican-based higher education institutions that meet all eligibility requirements outlined below. Organizations should submit proposals via email to SantoDomingoGrants@state.gov by Tuesday, July 07, 2020 at 11:59 p.m. 

Project Purpose: 

The goal of this virtual exchange program is to connect U.S. and the Dominican Republic higher education institutions to work with Dominican and U.S. students on project development and innovation in times of crisis. This program will provide a platform for dialogue and training for young leaders focused on workforce development, social entrepreneurship, leadership, decision-making and planning while aiming to promote a positive change driven mindset. The project should provide interactive modules on leadership, community issues, and digital citizenship. Participants will gain 21st century global competency skills. In addition, they will develop mutual understanding and learn how to communicate across cultures. Proposals must include U.S. content. 

Participants and Audiences: 

Students from the Dominican Republic and the United States who are creating positive impact through the use of technologies to help develop their communities, and within the age range of 15-21 years old.  

Allowable Activities and Costs 

Please note that there should be included in the proposal a meeting with U.S. Embassy staff prior to the start of the program. 

E-learning expenses should be included in the proposal for review by the grant review committee. Activities that are typically funded include, but are not limited to: 

• Online platforms to carry out the program 
• Virtual trainer or speaker expenses 
• Reasonable equipment and materials  

Activities that are not typically funded include, but are not limited to: 

•  Grants to individuals 
•  Academic or scientific research 
•  Paying to complete activities begun with other funds 
•  Projects that are inherently political in nature or that contain the appearance of partisanship/support to individual or single party electoral campaigns 
•  Sustained staff salaries, office space, and overhead/operational expenses 
•  Large items of durable equipment or construction programs 
•  Alcohol, excessive meals, refreshments, or entertainment 
•  Charitable or development activities or the provision of direct social services to a population 
• Programs that support specific religious activities 
•  Fundraising campaigns 

Suggested activity guidelines:  

• Host at least three synchronous sessions (e.i. Adobe Connect, YouTube, Facebook Live, Skype, Google Hangouts, and UberConference). Virtual exchange activities do not have to be live-streamed. Many teachers use email, text chats on social media, and even phone calls to supplement live streaming, or to bridge large differences in time zones) supported by a series of asynchronous connections (e.i. SnapChat, WhatsApp, Facebook, etc. You do not need to have high internet bandwidth to build a virtual exchange) in between the program; 
• Dialogues should be between small groups, large group, to one-on-one if appropriate; 
• Involve skilled facilitators at each point of connection to guide conversation and ensure deep engagement for all participants; 
• Take time for participants to get to know each other personally, but go deeper than the “foods, flags, and festivals” level of exchange; 
• Some of the virtual connections should be in small-group format, five or less, so that as many participants as possible get a chance to interact directly 
• Design your exchange so that participants create and execute a joint project together that each group will carry out separately. 
• Participants should have incentives or milestones to achieve to interact with one another beyond their project as well. 
• You will also want to have some sort of culminating event, whether it is a guest speaker, an awards ceremony, a performance, or something else. 
• Integrate a variety of evaluation tools and methods to ensure participants reach program goals, learning, and participant outcomes and outputs. Please use the following logic model template to measure success of the program at the end: 

Inputs: What are the resources invested to start and maintain the program?  

Activities: What activities will you implement?  

Output: What are the immediate results of those activities?  

Short-term Outcomes: What are the intermediate results of the intervention?  

Long-term Outcomes: What are the long-term results due to the program intervention?