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FUTURE READY OREGON UPDATE

September 6, 2022

Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission

Contact:  info.hecc@hecc.oregon.gov

Call for Volunteers: Grant Application Evaluators for Future Ready Oregon Workforce Ready Grants

Do you have expertise or interest in workforce development and a commitment to diversity equity and inclusion? You could join in a state process to award up to $9.8 million in competitive workforce funds. The Higher Education Coordination Commission is seeking individuals without conflicts of interest to volunteer as evaluators to score grant applications submitted for Future Ready Oregon Workforce Ready Grants Round One. These grants described in the announcement here are to launch, expand, support and sustain workforce programs in health care, manufacturing and technology. The deadline to express interest in this opportunity is Monday, September 12, and guidelines for volunteers are described below and in the document here. 

Guidelines

We are excited to share that 146 grant applications were submitted for consideration. Those applications are currently undergoing an eligibility review. The Evaluation Review Committee will review eligible applications and score them based on the scoring criteria established in the Request for Application (RFA). These scores will help inform funding and award decisions for Workforce Ready Grants Round One. Evaluation Review Committee members will receive training as well as written instructions prior to starting the review process.

If you are interested in joining the committee please make sure you meet the requirements and are able to meet the date and time commitments listed below:

• Conflicts of Interest: If your organization, or an organization you represent (including as a board member), submitted an application for Workforce Ready Grants Round One, please do not join the Evaluation Review Committee. If an unexpected conflict of interest arises as you are reviewing applications, you will be able to flag the conflict and that application will be reassigned.
• Time Commitment: We anticipate the time commitment to be approximately five (5) hours including the orientation/training, review process and follow up questions.
• Date Range: September 7^th, 2022 (orientation and application assignments) to September 21^at, 2022 (evaluations due)
• Method: SurveyMonkey Apply, a web-based grant management system, was utilized for all grant submissions. Most Evaluation Review Committee members will review and score applications within this platform. Some applicants included multiple projects within their applications. In order to make more detailed funding decisions, these applications will be scored through another process to enable scores to be produced for each project rather than one cumulative application score.
• Orientation: Training will be held on Wednesday, September 7^th, 2022 Training will be held virtually and will be recorded. The session will be recorded and made available so attendance is not required.

If you are able to participate in the Evaluation Review Committee, please email futurereadyoregon@hecc.oregon.gov by Monday, September 12th at noon with the following information:

• Name
• Contact Information
• Job Title (if applicable)
• Affiliation (if applicable)
• Short statement on your interest

Learn more on our website: