Virginia Watershed Educational Programs Project is sponsored by Virginia Dept. of Education. Category: Education.

# 2017-18 Virginia Watershed Educational Programs Project Request for Applications Source of Funding: Virginia General Fund Issued By :Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation Division of Soil and Water Conservation 600 E.

Main Street, 24 th Floor Richmond, VA 23219 RFA and Grant Project Awards Timeline May 12, 2017: Issue request for applications May 19, 2017: Deadline for submitting applications May 31, 2018: Completion date for project, pending 2 nd year funding appropriation (stop work by this date) June 10, 2018: Deadline for draft, final report and request final funding reimbursement July 15, 2018: Date for final, complete project report A.

PURPOSE AND BACKGROUND Page -1-B. ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS Page -1-C. ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES Page -2-D.

APPLICATION & SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS Page -3-E. APPLICATION NARRATIVE GUIDELINES Page -3-F. DCR CONTACTS & REFERENCES Page -4-G.

EVALUATION AND AWARD CRITERIA Page -5-(DCR199-230) (5/2017) -1‐ A.

PURPOSE AND BACKGROUND The purpose of this Request for Applications is to solicit applications to establish an agreement through competitive negotiation with a qualified source that can provide “Chesapeake Bay meaningful watershed educational on-the-water field services” as specified herein, for the Department of Conservation and Recreation, an agency of the Commonwealth (“Commonwealth”) of Virginia, hereinafter referred to as “DCR.

” The initial contract term is from award through May 31, 2018, provided the second fiscal year of funding is appropriated.

Applications received in response to this RFA will be considered for funding for project work beginning July 1, 2016 for the state fiscal year 2017 funding appropriation of a total $80,000, and project work beginning July 1, 2017 for the state fiscal year 2018 pending an additional funding appropriation of $80,000 to total two-year award amount of $160,000.

DCR seeks a qualified applicant to provide exemplary on-the-water field programs and other watershed educational services that contribute in measurable ways toward meeting the Commonwealth’s goal to provide all students within school divisions designated as a “priority” by the Virginia Department of Education (DOE), with a “meaningful” watershed educational experience (MWEE).

“Priority” school divisions are those designated by the DOE as previously underserved and those targeted as needing teacher professional development for providing watershed education. As one of the signatories to the Chesapeake Bay 2000 Agreement (http://www. chesapeakebay.

net/content/publications/cbp_12081. pdf ), Virginia committed to provide “all students before their graduation with a “meaningful Bay or stream outdoor experience. ” In 2005, all signatories reaffirmed their commitment to this goal and endorsed the standard for MWEE (http://www.

chesapeakebay. net/documents/5393/doc-mwee_endorsement. pdf ).

The DOE, as Virginia’s lead agency, has tracked progress towards this goal and has identified these school divisions. The goal is to target watershed education program services to help achieve systemic implementation of MWEE into school divisions.

Programs typically include the following participants: - Individual class: 20 to 25 students and one teacher; - School: 80 to 125 students, four to six teachers and one administrator; and - Division: at least two middle schools for a total of 150 to 180 students, eight to twelve teachers and three to five administrators . Eligible applicants must: 1.

Ensure that there are sufficient Program / Service personnel (i.e. supervision, program activity experts, guides, instructors, etc.) for each Program /Service. 2. Ensure that its educational staff participate in an environmental educational needs assessment process (i.e. phase one of Environmental Literacy Plan (ELP) planning being conducted by Virginia Resource Use Education Council).

3. Assign a Program Manager who should (at no additional cost): a. Direct the “Watershed Educational Programs” provided under this contract.

b. Direct customer service for participants (e.g. providing Program / Service information, participant registration, resolving scheduling issues, etc.). c.

Submit reports to DCR. (DCR199-230) (5/2017) - 2- 1.

Provide various “Exemplary” watershed educational programs (“Programs”) for individual classes, schools and school divisions (to include a minimum of two middle schools) that meet the definition of, and demonstrate all phases, of MWEE for students in grades six through eleven, attending priority and non designated priority schools; and which consists of various on-the water field activities and related educational services (i.e. field and classroom instruction).

2. Furnish (as applicable) all program activity/instructional personnel (i.e. labor and supervision; activity experts and related personnel - e.g. guides, instructors, etc.), equipment, facilities, materials, supplies, transportation (to, at and from the program activity / instruction, as applicable) and incidentals etc., necessary to provide the “Watershed Educational Program (“Programs”) specified herein, and in response to, this RFA.

3. Maintain all equipment and deploy all supplies to the Program participants. 4.

Identify and secure access to all Program activity / instruction sites; 5. Schedule all Program activities / instruction; 6. Ensure adequate safety and security of all participants.

Programmatic: 1. Activities: Provide various on-the water field activities. 2.

Curricula / Training: a. Develop and administer all classroom and outdoor program curricula for each Program activity to all applicable Program participants; and should ensure that content for school and school division administrators includes content related to the Chesapeake Bay watershed and MWEE educational pedagogy. b.

Ensure that all Program participants are adequately trained (to include on-the-water training) and are prepared for the Program activity prior to beginning the activity. 3.

Professional Development / Collaborative Programs: Provide support for (i.e. furnish the equipment, facilities and/or instruction) for one (1) or more state-sponsored professional development or other collaborative programs, such as Virginia Naturally Schools, the Virginia Association of Science Teachers (VAST) PDI and the Virginia Resource Use Education Council’s (VRUEC) Mountains to Bay Academy. 4.

Other Watershed Educational Services (i.e. in addition to the Program activities) that include educational efforts that contribute to building capacity across the Commonwealth for MWEE; and should include: a.

Training for community-based education partners related to teaching about watershed concepts as well as being a education-service provider who can plan and conduct high quality MWEE field experiences for schools (e.g. classroom management, safety, insurance, equipment, etc.); and b. Programs and mentoring strategies that enable highly-experienced classroom teachers to mentor new teachers and to work with local community partners.

Reporting Requirements: 1. A Progress report for fiscal year 2017 will be required by June 10, 2017. Expense reimbursements will be based upon successful progress reported.

2. The fiscal year 2017 funding appropriation of $80,000 must be requested no later than June 10, 2017. (DCR199-230) (5/2017) - 3-3.

If more frequent expense reimbursement is needed, the successful grantee can contact DCR to request interim reimbursements based on updated, interim successful progress reports. 4. A final reimbursement request and draft final report due is by June 10, 2018, based on all funded program activities.

5. A complete, final, program report, due by August 15, 2018 should summarize all the program activities and include a list that identifies: a. The names of the participating schools (and associated division); b.

Which of those schools / school divisions are DOE designated as “priority”; c. The names of the teachers and school / school division administrators who received training; and d. Number of participants for activity /service.

D. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS The application for the 2017-18 Virginia Watershed Educational Programs project RFA should include required components as described in Section E. All required components must be submitted in order for the application to be considered for review.

Optional submission components may enhance the application but ultimately decisions will be based upon the required components. All application components must be in an electronic format. Microsoft Word is the preferred format.

If a grant award is offered and the proposal is not in “Word”, a revised format in Word will be required. The following required components are further described in Section E: 1. Applicant Information 2.

Project Information 3. Budget Detail In order to be considered for selection for this 2017-18 Virginia Watershed Educational Programs Project RFA, applicants are required to submit a completed 2017-18 Virginia Watershed Educational Programs Project Application to the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation by midnight on Friday, May 19, 2017 .

Incomplete applications and those that are not delivered as specified above will be disqualified. Email application packages to: susan. hale@dcr.

virginia. gov Please use the email subject line: 2017-18 Virginia Watershed Educational Programs RFA_<insert name of Applicant> E. APPLICATION INFORMATION GUIDELINES The project application information should be provided in 12 point font.

Below is an outline that serves as the proposal narrative guidelines. Proposals submitted that do not follow the exact outline will still be considered but must address the same content as below.

(DCR199-230) (5/2017) - 4- Contact Person: Title: Mailing Address (same as on W9): Federal ID #: DUNS #: E-mail: Type of Organization (check one): Individual Corporation SWCD Non-profit Other The Project Information section needs to provide a detailed explanation of the activities for the grant project. This section will become the grant Scope of Work. The Project information section should include the following: A.

Purpose- Provide a brief summary of the intent of the project. B. Background/History – Describe the applicant’s experience in administering on-the-water field programs and other watershed educational services.

Address eligibility requirements as described in Section B. of this RFA. C.

Methodology – Describe the processes to accomplish the goals and deliverables of the work. (Who, what, where, why, how). Activities from Section C should be listed as deliverables with processes described for each.

Budget detail should be categorized according to activities and further broken down into the following object categories under each activity: Personnel Fringe Travel Supplies Contractual Other Direct Funds for Indirect expenses and equipment will not be provided. Indirect expenses and in-kind expenses should be listed as Match provided toward this project. F.

DCR CONTACTS & REFERENCES General questions regarding this request for applications and the grant awarding process can be directed to Susan Hale (susan. hale@dcr. virginia.

gov). (DCR199-230) (5/2017) - 5-Additional information regarding DCR’s grant project management can be found in the Grant Project Management Manual at http://www. dcr.

virginia. gov/form/DCR199-174. pdf .

G. EVALUATION AND AWARD CRITERIA Project applications will be scored based on the evaluation criteria sections listed below, in order to select the project for the available funds. A team of DCR staff will evaluate and rank applications.

Final decisions for project selection are the discretion of the DCR Director. Evaluation criteria and maximum points per criteria 1. Applicant has experience administering on-the-water field programs and watershed educational activities +50 2.

Applicant meets all eligibility requirements as listed in Section B. +10 3. Application package is complete and all required components are included.

+10 4. Application information thoroughly describes the ability to execute general and programmatic activities as listed in Section C. +30