Federal Resumes, Portfolios and Interviews: What You Need to Know to Get the Job
1-2 p.m. (EDT)
Speaker: Glorimar Maldonado, Chief Recruitment Officer
Audio only Dial In: 1-888-790-2049, Participant Code: 5511610
To join via Adobe Connect: https://hhs.adobeconnect.com/_a1020204752/tad/
The Office of State Support (OSS) at the U.S. Department of Education is seeking a highly motivated data analyst to join our Data Reporting and Analysis Team. The Office of State Support administers a variety programs that serve elementary and secondary students with the goal of ensuring that all students have access to a high quality education. The Data Reporting and Analysis Team will develop innovative and useful ways to incorporate data analysis into our mission critical grant-making work, build staff capacity to make ongoing use of data, and build a data culture in our office. Interested applicants should have a demonstrated interest in driving improvement in education programs through the use of data.
If you are interested in obtaining a copy of this announcement or wish to apply, you must submit your application online through the USAJOBS website which can be assessed through one of the following locations.
The position closes on December 23rd.
Opportunity for Inter-Agency Personnel Agreement (IPA)
University Affairs Officer, NASA Ames Research Center
Moffett Field, CA.
The Office of Education and Public Outreach at NASA Ames Research Center (ARC) implements high-quality and meaningful education experiences that enhance the Nation’s STEM pipeline while informing the public of NASA’s unique missions and discoveries. NASA’s Offices of Communication and Education functions are both essential elements in inspiring, informing, engaging and educating learners, and each plays a critical role towards increasing the public’s understanding and appreciation of NASA and STEM. A vital part of preparing and developing the STEM pipeline is engaging, and collaborating with, academia and STEM workforce development organizations for purposes of maximizing the efficiency and capacity of STEM competencies in the future workforce.
Roles & Responsibilities
The University Affairs Officer (IPA) is a public facing position that represents NASA with institutions of higher learning, and community-based STEM organizations.
For this position, the University Affairs Officer shall:
· Facilitate and foster relationships with institutions of higher education, STEM non-profits to enhance both NASA’s and the Nation’s future technical workforce
· Facilitate faculty interactions with Ames’ researchers and scientists.
· Function as the NASA Internships, Fellowships and Scholarships (NIFS) lead.
· Function as the Agency lead for NASA Fellowships, NASA Scholarships, NASA Academies and NASA’s International Internship programs.
· Serve as a subject matter expert in higher education with special emphasis on program development and implementation that attract and maintain students within a STEM pipeline.
· Develop proposals and solicitations for the Office of Education that seeks to aligned activities with NASA and CoSTEM’s efforts.
· Review and evaluate proposals from institutions of higher education & educational Non-profits in areas of STEM education and NASA relevant research.
· Design, develop, implement, and evaluate STEM education programs.
· Conduct an analysis of current STEM education research, both current and trending, in order to facilitate new approaches for the execution of programs designed to develop and train technical workforce for the Nation and NASA.
· Facilitate relationships with other Federal Agencies to enhance under-graduate and graduate learning.
· Functions as Agency Program Manager for NASA Scholarships, Fellowships and NASA’s International Internship programs
Desired Skill-Sets, Competencies and Experience
For this position the candidate shall posses the follow skill-sets and competencies:
· Ability to be self-directed and capable of initiating work products aligned with priorities
· Cognitive Skills associated with leadership and management
· Demonstrated project management skills
· Ability to apply risk management and risk mitigation expertise
· Excellent communication (oral/written) skills; proficient with formal and technical writing
· Success STEM program development experience
· Programmatic evaluation and assessment experience
· External/Internal awareness and expertise in field of STEM Education
· Process management skills
· Planning/goal setting/roadmap and logic model skills
· Organizational leadership experience
· Computer skills (office suites)
· Research/Analysis Experience
· Time management/optimization skills
· Exceptional interpersonal Skills
· Understanding of multicultural/multigenerational and diversity constructs, trends and challenges within STEM fields.
· Higher education administration and/or STEM research experience
· Undergraduate and graduate workforce development
· Grant management & assessment
The POC for this position is:
Brenda Collins (also CC’ed)
brenda.j.collins@nasa.gov
(650) 604-3540
The Tech Hire Partnership Grants competition, implemented by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), was announced on November 24th with an application deadline of 4:00 p.m. ET on March 11, 2016.
Approximately $100 million will be made available for this opportunity. The full announcement can be found here: http://www.grants.gov/view-opportunity.html?oppId=280094
ARC Reimbursement
ARC plans to reimburse organizations serving the Appalachian Region up to $5,000 for costs incurred in developing a Tech Hire Partnership application. Reimbursable costs include expenses directly related to the development and writing of the application, including the costs of a professional grantwriter (either external or internal to the organization or organizations applying for the grants), costs for limited travel to facilitate meetings with the grantwriter and application partners, and reasonable costs for meetings of partners and grantwriters.
ARC is setting aside a total of $40,000 for this effort.
To be eligible for reimbursement, applicants must submit a Letter of Intent to submit a Tech Hire Partnership application by 5:00 p.m. ET on December 18, 2015. Applicants must send their Letter of Intent by email to TechHire@arc.gov. The letter must include a point of contact in the applicant’s organization, a list of the proposed partner organizations/applicant team members, and the area served. ARC funding is limited for this activity and may not be sufficient to fund all requests. Applicants are encouraged to submit their letters of intent with all requested information early to guarantee consideration of their application.
To receive reimbursement, applicants will be asked to provide ARC with a list of actual expenses incurred in putting together the application, and evidence that their application was successfully uploaded via Grants.gov to the Tech Hire Partnership program by 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time, March 11, 2016. Only the lead applicant for each application will be eligible for reimbursement.
Highlights of the Tech Hire Partnership program
This grant program is designed to equip individuals with the skills they need through innovative approaches that can rapidly train workers for and connect them to well-paying, middle- and high-skilled, and high-growth jobs across a diversity of H-1B industries such as Information Technology (IT), healthcare, advanced manufacturing, financial services, and broadband. Projects funded by this grant program will help participants begin careers in H-1B occupations and industries – such as IT and IT related, healthcare, advanced manufacturing, financial services, and educational services – which are in-demand and/or high growth in the area applicants are proposing to serve. On a limited basis, this grant program will also enable applicants to work with companies on increasing the skills of existing workers in lower-skilled jobs to move into more highly skilled positions requiring technology-related skills. These grants will pilot and scale public-private partnerships among the workforce investment system, education and training providers, and business-related nonprofit organizations to address the following goals for the target populations: 1) Expand access to accelerated learning options that provide the fastest paths to good jobs, such as “bootcamp” style programs, online options, and competency-based programs to give people the skills required for employment in three months to two years among people with historic barriers to accessing employment and training; 2) Improve the likelihood that those populations complete training and enter employment, through specialized training strategies, supportive services and other focused participant services that assist targeted populations to overcome barriers, including networking and job search, active job development, transportation, mentoring, and financial counseling; 3) Connect those who have received training or who already have the skills required for employment, but are being overlooked, to employment, paid internships, or Registered Apprenticeship opportunities that allow them to get work experience and prove themselves to hiring employers; 4) Demonstrate strong commitment to customer-centered design and excellence in customer experience, so that the programs and services reflect real need of employers and participants, through human centered design methodology and other methods of design thinking; and 5) Ensure that innovations form the basis for broader change and sustainability over time and that a clear strategy exists for adapting to rapidly changing market needs after the initial period of the grant.
The DOL intends to make grant awards ranging from approximately $2,000,000 to $5,000,000, up to a total of approximately $100 million. Applicants must target of two specified populations, either “Youth and Young Adults with Barriers to Training and Employment” or “Special Populations with Barriers to Training and Employment.” Applicants serving rural areas are encouraged to form consortia so as to meet the minimum requirement of serving at least 325 participants.
Letters of intent and any questions should be sent to: TechHire@arc.gov.
The National Science Foundation Research Traineeship program (NRT) is hosting a series of webinars for prospective proposers. Webinars will be live sessions where potential principal investigators, university staff, and other interested entities are encouraged to ask NRT program directors any solicitation or program questions they may have.
NRT is designed to encourage the development and implementation of bold, new, potentially transformative, and scalable models for STEM graduate education training. Within NRT there are two tracks: the Traineeship Track and the Innovations in Graduate Education (IGE) Track.
More information about the exact times, how to register, staff contacts, and a link to the NRT solicitation is available at: http://www.nsf.gov/events/event_summ.jsp?cntn_id=134423&WT.mc_id=USNSF_13&WT.mc_ev=click
Several HBCUs received funding in FY 2015 from MSIPP, The Department of Energy in the Office of Environmental Management.
https://sites.ed.gov/whhbcu/files/2015/11/2015-MSIPP-Fact-Sheet-10-22.docx
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF JUSTICE
Graduate Research Fellowship in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics
http://nij.gov/funding/Documents/solicitations/nij-2016-4320.pdf
Eligibility
Eligible applicants are limited to degree-granting academic institutions in the United States and its territories. To be eligible, the institution must be fully accredited by one of the regional institutional accreditation agencies recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education. Under this solicitation, the applicant institution must apply as the sponsoring institution for the doctoral candidate conducting criminal justice-related research in a discipline relevant to NIJ’s mission. NIJ may elect to make awards for applications submitted under this solicitation in future fiscal years, dependent on the merit of the applications and on the availability of appropriations.
Deadline
Applicants must register with Grants.gov prior to submitting an application. All applications are due to be submitted and in receipt of a successful validation message in Grants.gov by 11:59 p.m. eastern time on December 15, 2015.
Point of Contact
Kenvin Jenkins
kevin.Jenkins@usdoj.gov
By: Ivory A. Toldson, Tracy Branch, & DeShawn Preston
Highlights
For more than a century, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have conducted research, implemented programs and provided advocacy on a range of issues relevant to the health and wellbeing of all people, but especially underserved communities. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) supports the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities’ (WHIHBCUs) efforts to connect HBCUs to the resources necessary to develop and maintain first-rate health and educational programs.
In fiscal year (FY) 2014, HHS committed $175,227,288 to support 54 HBCUs and 11 predominately-Black institutions’ (PBI) efforts to increase workforce diversification and improve educational and health care access to underrepresented racial and ethnic minority populations. In total, HHS provided $18,429,409,906 in support to all institutions of higher education. HBCUs received $693,506,518 in funding while PBIs received $9,049,140. These funds were awarded through grants, contracts, services, and in-kind resources in 2014.
Investments in HBCUs and PBIs help to establish best practice models, address health disparities, provide tuition assistance and training opportunities for students, as well as grants and loan repayment to faculty. In FY 2016, HHS plans to support MSIs in the following programmatic areas: (1) research and development; (2) program evaluation; (3) training; (4) internships, traineeships, and recruitment; (5) student tuition assistance, scholarships, fellowships, and other aid; (6) direct institutional subsidies; (7) third-party awards; (8) administrative infrastructure; (9) economic development; (10) facilities and equipment; (11) private-sector involvement; and (12) other activities.
The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Overview
The mission of HHS is to enhance and protect the health and well-being of all Americans. This mission is fulfilled by providing effective health and human services and fostering advances in medicine, public health, and social services. HHS was established in 1980 by combining offices from several federal agencies. HHS’s 77,000 employees work under three main branches; Operating Divisions, which is comprised of 11 operating division, including 8 public health agencies and 3 human services agencies; Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions, which provides leadership through 17 offices that oversee operations, provide guidance, and ensures laws are followed fairly; and Regional Offices, where 10 regional offices oversee programs at the local level.
For FY 2016, President Obama requested $83.8 billion, an increase of $4.8 billion from FY 2015 to help 1) make health coverage affordable; 2) decrease long-term health care cost; 3) improve care for citizens of the United States of America; 4) train new health care providers; 5) address public health priorities; 6) assist vulnerable populations; and 7) support medical research.
Specific line items in the FY 2016 budget request include:
White House Initiative on HBCUs’ Liaison to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
The Office of Minority Health (OMH) is the HHS lead agency on the WHIHBCUs. Dr. J. Nadine Gracia is the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minority Health and the Director of the Office of Minority Health at HHS. OMH provides funding, training, and in-kind services to HBCUs and PBIs to support programs and organizational and professional development that improve academic institutions ability to increase the number of underrepresented individuals’ ability to complete a college degree and enter the workforce.
As the HBCU liaison for HHS, Dr. Rashida Dorsey works with the WHIHBCUs to organize efforts to strengthen the capacity of HBCUs through increased participation in appropriate Federal programs and initiatives. Specifically, Dr. Dorsey helps the WHIHBCUs to: (1) Establish how the department or agency intends to increase the capacity of HBCUs to compete effectively for grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements and to encourage HBCUs to participate in Federal programs; (2) Identify Federal programs and initiatives where HBCUs may be either underserved or underused, and improve the Participation within those areas; and (3) Encourage public and private sector, as well as community involvement in improving the overall capacity of HBCUs. Dr. Dorsey is the director of the Division of Policy and Data in the Office of Minority Health. Her email address is Rashida.Dorsey@hhs.gov.
What opportunities are there for HBCUs to compete for grants/contracts through HHS?
Of the operating divisions within HHS, the National Institutes of Health, Health Resources and Services Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration provided the largest percentage of funding to institutions of higher education in fiscal year 2014.
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
As the nation’s leading biomedical research agency, NIH funds research that has the potential to enhance human health, lengthen life and reduce illness and disability. NIH is the largest funder of HBCUs within HHS. For active funding opportunities, see the NIH Guide to Grants and Contacts’ Funding Opportunities and Notices. HBCUs are encouraged to subscribe to the NIH Guide listserv for current opportunities available from each of NIH’s 24 grant-making Institutes and Centers (IC). NIH offers several types of grant opportunities, including Research Grants, Career Development Awards, Research Training and Fellowships, Program Project/Center Grants, Resource Grans, and Trans-NIH Program Grants.
There are three standard due dates annually for competitive grant applications with other targeted opportunities announced throughout the year. NIH’s ICs each publish an annual funding strategy, including research priorities and award policies. HBCUs can also attend NIH Regional Seminars. These seminars help with the application and review process, clarify Federal regulations and policies, and highlight current areas of special interest or concern.
NIH provided $17,095,532,583 in funding to all IHEs during fiscal year 2014, of that funding $117,181,426 supported HBCUs and $8,192,549 supported PBIs in the form of grants and contracts. All of the funding made to HBCUs and PBIs in FY 2014, supported research and development, and training activities. FY 2016 projects to allocate $31.3 billion to support biomedical research at NIH, providing over 1,200 more new Research Project Grants that will aid in better understanding the fundamental causes and mechanisms of diseases.
An increase of $200 million has been proposed for the Precision Medicine Initiative. Precision medicine is an emerging approach for disease treatment and prevention that takes into account individual variability in genes, environment, and lifestyle for each person. President Obama unveiled the Precision Medicine Initiative (PMI) — a bold new enterprise to revolutionize medicine and generate the scientific evidence needed to move the concept of precision medicine into every day clinical practice.
Some specific NIH programs worth noting are:
For 2016, the NIH awarded major awards to Howard University, Meharry Medical College, North Carolina Central University and Savannah State University.
Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
HRSA has a number of funding opportunities under the Bureau of Health workforce. HRSA provided $660,984,499 in funding to all IHEs during fiscal year 2014; of that funding $35,966,274 supported HBCUs and $753,001 supported PBIs in the form of contracts and grants. All funding made to HBCUS and PBIs in fiscal year 2014, supported research and development, training, student tuition assistance, program evaluation, and other activities.
Some specific HRSA programs worth noting are:
Most of the HBCU awards from HRSA for 2016 have been committed to medical colleges, including Meharry Medical College, Morehouse School of Medicine and Howard University Medical School. Notable exceptions include, Southern University Shreveport, which received funding for the Health Careers Opportunity Program (HCOP): Skills Training and Health Workforce Development for Paraprofessionals, and Tougaloo College, which received more than $1 million for its Delta Health Partners Healthy Start Initiative-Eliminating Perinatal Health Disparities.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
CDC provided $513, 816,419 in funding to all IHEs during FY 2014; $3,553,954 of the funds awarded to HBCUs was in the form of grants. FY 2014 funding supported research, disease prevention, surveillance, and training programs for undergraduate students through post-doctoral professionals in a variety of health disciplines.
Part C Early Intervention Services funds comprehensive primary health care for individuals living with HIV disease. Screening programs provide risk-reduction counseling, antibody testing, medical evaluation, and clinical care. Health care programs provide antiretroviral therapies (ART), medical, oral health, nutritional, psychosocial, and other care services for HIV-infected clients. Social services provide case management to ensure access to services and continuity of care for HIV-infected clients and attention to other health problems that occur frequently with HIV infection, including tuberculosis and substance abuse.
For 2016, the CDC awarded its largest grants to HBCUs to Morehouse School of Medicine to increase access to chronic disease prevention, risk reduction, and management opportunities, and Morehouse College to support an 8-week summer internship to encourage undergraduate students’ interest in minority health. They also awarded $206,108 to Tuskegee University support an annual commemoration of the Presidential Apology for the U.S. Public Health Service Syphilis Study at Tuskegee, Alabama and promote public health ethics.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
SAMHSA provided $36,381,339 in funding to all minority-serving institutions in fiscal year 2014; of that funding $7,998,000 supported HBCUs and 99,878 supported PBIs in the form of grants. All funding made to HBCUs in FY 2014 supported training and other activities.
The Historically Black Colleges and Universities Center for Excellence in Behavioral Health is housed under SAMHSA Programs and Initiatives. This program: (1) Promote student behavioral health to positively impact student retention; (2) Expand campus service capacity, including the provision of culturally appropriate behavioral health resources; and (3) Facilitate best practices dissemination and behavioral health workforce development.
Minority Serving Institutions in Partnership with Community-Based Organizations (MSI CBO) Program is also under SAMHSA. MSI CBO reaches students in minority serving institutions and individuals in neighboring communities who are at risk for substance abuse and new HIV infection transmission. MSI CBO programs provide students with access to behavioral health services that are culturally, linguistically, gender, and age appropriate. For 2016, SAMHSA has committed awards of $250,000 or more to 33 different HBCUs under the MSI CBO program.
What advice does the Department of Health & Human Services give to HBCUs in order to be more competitive in obtaining grants and contracts?
All institutions of higher education are eligible to apply for competitive funding opportunities posted by HHS agencies. Information on funding opportunities can be found on the agencies funding website or by visiting one of these websites.
Opportunities are also available for individuals willing to serve as peer reviewers for grants. Serving as a peer reviewer provides individuals with the opportunity to learn the nuances of the grant writing process and the level of detail that grant reviewers are looking for in grant application submissions. Follow the links below to sign up to be a peer reviewer.
Conclusion
HHS has boundless opportunities for HBCUs for advance health research, practice and policy through grants, contracts, fellowships and many other forms of financial and in-kind support. Although HHS provides more financial support to HBCUs than any other federal agency aside from the Department of Education, less than one percent of the funding HHS awards to all IHEs go to HBCUs. The percentage and the total revenue of funds to HBCUs from HHS will increase with coordinated efforts between federal agency officials and HBCU leaders to (1) increase the total number of applications that HHS receives from HBCUs; (2) identify and mitigate any barriers to HBCU participation within HHS; and (3) improve the overall competitiveness of HBCU applications and proposals. The WHIHBCUs will continue to provide reports such as this, which has information regarding the agency’s HBCU liaison, background facts, funding trends, existing HBCU relationships, and agency emphasis. The WHIHBCUs is here to work with Federal partners to provide technical support to HBCUs who are interested in applying for funding from HHS.
Ivory A. Toldson, Ph.D., is the executive director of the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. He is currently on leave from his position as associate professor at Howard University.
Tracy Branch is a commander for the U.S. Public Health Service and public health advisor to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Minority Health.
DeShawn Preston is a doctoral student in Higher Educational Leadership at Clemson University. He holds a B.A. in History from Oakwood University in Huntsville, Alabama. His dissertation topic examines the role/influences HBCUs play in assisting African Americans with enrollment into doctoral programs.
The following OJJDP positions are open until Friday, October 16, 2015:
The U.S. Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has awarded seven grants totaling more than $490,000 to universities in five states to advance standards education. Under the Standards Services Curricula Development Cooperative Agreement Program, recipients will work with NIST to integrate instruction related to standards and standardization into undergraduate and graduate curriculum at U.S. colleges and universities
