U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS), Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) is seeking qualified peer reviewers for our possible upcoming grant competitions in the areas of Rehabilitation Long-Term Training, Demonstration and Training Programs, Innovative Rehabilitation Training, Parent Training and Information, American Indian Vocational Rehabilitation Services (AIVRS), Vocational Rehabilitation Technical Assistance Centers, Capacity Building, and Independent Living Services for Older Individuals Who Are Blind (OIB), which will take place between April 2020 and September 2020.
In support of possible upcoming competitions, we are seeking qualified individuals who can participate in review panels that will help us to select grant award winners, to provide written analysis and scoring of submitted grant applications, and to provide constructive written feedback to applicants. More specifically, we are seeking persons who are excellent writers, good critical thinkers, and committed to completing assigned tasks in a professional and timely manner.
Instructions to Apply to Become a Peer Reviewer
- To be considered, please send a copy of your resume (maximum of 5 pages) to RSAPeerReview@ed.gov.
and
- If you are selected by RSA to participate, you must also register and submit your resume in G5 (www.g5.gov), though you can also do this step now. If you need additional help, you may contact the G5 helpdesk at edcaps.user@ed.gov or call 1-888-336-8930. G5 will require you to submit your resume in a PDF format only.
- When the G5 system prompts you for your areas of specialization, select all that are applicable to you, but please ensure you select each of the aforementioned content areas for which you have expertise: for example, “Long-Term Training,” “AIVRS,” “Vocational Rehabilitation,” “VR,” “Independent Living OIB,” “OIB,” “Parent Training,” “WIOA,”etc.
Please note that submitting your resume and/or registering in G5 does not guarantee that you will be selected as a reviewer.
What to Include in Your Resume (maximum of 5 pages)
In addition to sharing highlights of your career history and your current experience working in relevant areas of rehabilitation counseling, parent training, independent living services with individuals who are blind, American Indian Vocational Rehabilitation Services, please share the following (if applicable):
- Indicators of any relevant knowledge/experience in leading or overseeing program innovation, scaling of effective practices, and program dissemination.
- Whether you have previously been a Department of Education peer reviewer, including serving as a peer reviewer for RSA or Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP); whether you have worked on an RSA or OSEP grant project; or whether you have served as a project director or staff person on another recent Department of Education grant.
Responsibilities
- The reviews will take place over 3 to 5 consecutive days starting in early to mid spring (specific dates to be announce). If you are selected, you will be contacted to confirm availability for the specific dates.
- You will be expected:
- to participate in a one-hour orientation webinar;
- to read, review, and evaluate approximately 10-12 full length applications (more specialized programs may have fewer applications);
- to participate in approximately three to four panel discussion conference calls (each several hours in length);
- to complete written evaluations of applications based on the selection criteria; and
- to make revisions of your reviews following the panel discussion. All review materials will be submitted in the Department’s online G5 system.
Payment
Payment will be $250 per review day (approximately $1000-$1,250 total) after successful completion of all required tasks.
In order to receive payment for your services, you must:
(1) Have an active DUNS number from Dun and Bradstreet (www.dnb.com);
(2) Register your DUNS number with the System for Award Management (SAM) at https://www.sam.gov;
(3) Complete the Collector Registration on the Invoice Processing Platform (IPP) at http://www.ipp.gov. IPP is a secure Web-based service for federal agencies and their vendors to manage government invoicing from purchase order (PO) through payment notification.
Reviewer Selection
Potential reviewers will be contacted by the RSA team and asked for additional contact information, availability, and potential conflicts of interest. Those not selected will remain in the RSA reviewer pool for future competitions.
Conflict of Interest
You are not eligible to be a reviewer if you will be applying to the competition, if you will be involved in the preparation of a grant application, or if you would stand to benefit from an application in this new competition should it be funded. You are eligible, however, if you are a current or past RSA grantee and are not submitting a new application under the RSA competition.
Please direct all questions to the RSA Peer Review inbox at RSAPeerReview@ed.gov.