RFP from Institutions Conducting Leadership Capacity Building Programs

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RFP from Institutions Conducting Leadership Capacity Building Programs

About the Organization:

Michigan State University has been advancing the common good with uncommon will for more than 160 years. A top global university, MSU pushes the boundaries of discovery to make a better world while providing students with life-changing opportunities. They are an inclusive, academic community known for our traditionally strong academic disciplines and professional programs, and our liberal arts foundation.

Project Overview

The Grain Research and Innovation (GRAIN) project was conceived in response to Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan’s (GIRoA’s) need to build the wheat research capacity ofthe Ministry and Directorates of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL/DAILs) and the Agricultural Research Institute of Afghanistan (ARIA). The five-year project (2017-2022) is implemented by Michigan State University (MSU) and funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Project Description: Emerging Leaders in Agricultural Research (ELAR) Programs (Cohort I)

ELAR is uniquely designed for ARIA. The objective of ELAR is to prepare a cadre of young emerging leaders in Agricultural Research Institute of Afghanistan (ARIA) to develop the skills and experience necessary to serve as lead scientists in the organization. ELAR fellows are individuals that have been identified as a researcher with leadership qualities. GRAIN’s ELAR program will require each fellow to commit to eight, uninterrupted months of intensive work, followed by the program in India for up to four weeks.

Fellows must display the commitment to complete all requirements and be dedicated to emerge from this process as an outstanding leader in the field of wheat research and community involvement.

Purpose of this Service Provider Agreement

GRAIN seeks the services of a leading India-based training institution that is experienced in providing training opportunities grounded in agricultural research, production technology, extension and overall research project administration. The primary responsibility of the institution will be to develop a training curriculum that spans no less than three weeks and no more than four weeks of training for the nine fellows from Afghanistan. These trainings should consist of both theoretical and experiential opportunities, consisting of 140 to 190 total hours of training. Training should consist of classroom, experiential opportunities, and observational tours of real-life application.

The selected institution must agree to develop a curriculum including, but not limited to, the following topics:

• General Management Practices for Research Administrators and Managers
• International Policies and Procedures (e.g. intellectual property rights)
• Scholarly Excellence for Agricultural Researchers (e.g. Scientific writing, presentation)
• Grant Writing for Agricultural Researchers
• Research to Extension Connections
• Communicating Research Results to the Public (e.g. mass media, field visits, etc.)

Principle Duties and Tasks

The principal duties and tasks of the Training Institution will include:

• Development of a tailored training course agenda for each day of the training (up to 4 weeks); must be responsive to the learning objective and curriculum outlined in the Purpose section above. The course should have lectures, but supported in majority by application of the lecture by experiential learning. The courses should be divided by time period and weekly learning objectives.
• Procurement of needed reference and supporting materials for use during the training process.
• Procurement or provision of lodging, meals, and any required transportation upon Fellow arrival at the training site.
• Development of or use of existing assessment tools to measure Fellows’ skills via summative assessments at baseline and endline; also, develop or use existing assessment tools to perform formative assessments throughout. If improvement is needed, recommend relevant actions to individuals to aid in performance improvement.
• Implementation of daily lessons (5 days) by Trainers in a highly participative and interactive manner. A sixth day can be used for field visits and observation of practical application.
• Keeping of and reporting of attendance and assessment scores.
• Maintain an environment that is conducive to learning, including providing temperature control and light refreshments as needed.

Selection Criteria

Submissions will be evaluated by a committee of GRAIN program team members, following these criteria areas:

1. Company/Organization Experience in Similar Program Delivery

• Institutional experience in providing requested training, minimum of 5 years
• References

2. Qualifications of Proposed Trainers

• Experience of Trainers in the training area and with training students from developing countries, minimum of 5 years

3. Quality and Relevance of Training Outline and other Materials Provided

4. Cost Effectiveness/Comparative Costs

• Value for Money

5. Professionalism of Proposal

• Compliance in submitting requested application materials, as well as quality of submissions, as outlined below in Submission Guidelines and Other Requirements.

All proposals are to be submitted electronically by 08 October 2020 at 11:59 pm EST to Caitlyn Vader at vadercai@msu.edu.

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