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Statement of Purpose

The UCEDD Resource Center (URC) is seeking a consultant to support improvements to our technical assistance (TA) related to NIRS. The consultation will contribute to improving the quality of NIRS TA through developing recommendations for the type and delivery of TA resources and developing consistency in branding and formatting for NIRS TA Resources.

Background

NIRS is the national web-based data reporting and retrieval system for the AUCD Network. NIRS enables network members to manage data on their training programs, projects, activities, and products, and helps them comply with Federal reporting requirements. The data gathered in NIRS also enables AUCD to develop composite snapshots of the UCEDD and LEND programs, provide information on network efforts in topical areas of interest to a wide range of audiences including funding agencies, policy makers, service providers, and more.

The URC provides technical assistance to data coordinators in the AUCD network to assist their data management and reporting in NIRS and to ensure federal compliance. Existing resources are available on the NIRS page of the URC website. The URC is seeking consultation to improve the quality and consistency of the technical assistance resources we provide, to better meet the needs of data coordinators in our network.

Scope of Work

The URC requests consultation to:

1. Plan and conduct a focus group of experienced and new Data Coordinators in the AUCD network to identify their preferences for how technical assistance resources for NIRS are organized and made available, and what additional technical assistance resources would be helpful to develop.
2. Develop and provide to AUCD a focus group summary and recommendations on the type and delivery of TA resources related to NIRS.
3. In collaboration with AUCD, develop template for formatting and branding of current and future NIRS TA Resources aligned with the AUCD Style Guide and utilizing existing logos (available in png and jpg).
4. Utilize existing technical assistance materials to develop a NIRS Resource Guide utilizing template developed in #3 above and reflecting feedback from focus group conducted in #1-2 above. Existing materials are hosted online at AUCD - NIRS and can be made available in editable formats.

Period of Performance

The period of performance for developing recommendations, a NIRS TA Resource template, and a NIRS Resource Guide is four (4) months from June 3, 2022 through September 29, 2022. All work must be completed within this timeframe.

Budget

The maximum budget for this project is $20,000.

Evaluation Criteria

Proposals will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

• Familiarity with NIRS TA provided by AUCD
• Experience in communications, resource development and/or technical assistance, including experience planning and facilitating focus groups
• Understanding of the scope of work
• Quality of plan to implement the scope of work
• Budget justification

Application Details

Proposals must be in PDF format and include the elements noted above in Evaluation Criteria. Questions and proposals should be submitted electronically to Dawn Rudolph at [email protected]. Deadline to submit a proposal: May 27, 2022.