Request for Proposals (RFP)

Transcription

1 Request for Proposals (RFP) To From : Offerors : Institute of International Education, Inc. (IIE) Subject : Creating a Web-Platform for IIE s Platform for Education in Emergencies Response (PEER) Performance Period : June 13, 2016 to June 14, 2017 RFP Issue Date : May 9, 2016 RFP Closing Date : May 30, 2016 RFP Closing Time : 17:00 hours U.S. Eastern Time. Enclosed is a Request for Proposals (RFP). IIE invites qualified firms and organizations ( Offerors ) to submit a best-price proposal for the requested services. Offerors are encouraged to read this RFP in its entirety (including any and all attachments), paying specific attention to the instructions and requirements included herein. Issuance of this solicitation does not, in any way, obligate the Institute of International Education (IIE) to award a contract, nor will IIE pay for any costs incurred in the preparation and submission of a proposal. The agreement resulting from this RFP will be provided to the most responsive Offeror(s) whose Offer will be the most advantageous to IIE in terms of cost, functionality, and other factors as specified in this RFP. Content of RFP: Section 1: Section 2: Section 3: Section 4: Section 5: Section 6: Introduction and Background Proposal Format to Offerors Technical and Cost Proposal Preparation instructions RFP Condition Terms of Payment Evaluation of Proposals Attachment A: Statement of Work Attachment B: Cost Proposal Attachment C: Additional Requirements Attachment D: Project Description The required services are described in the Statement of Work in Attachment A. IIE encourages your organization to indicate its interest in this RFP by submitting a proposal according to the instructions in Proposal Format to Offerors. Proposals will be evaluated based on the Evaluation Criteria. All proposals are due by the dates and times stated above. Any proposal received after the required time and date specified for receipt shall be considered late and non-responsive. Late proposals will not be evaluated. Questions: Any questions are to be submitted in writing via to the address listed below no later than {May 16, 2016}. No questions will be entertained if they are received by means other than the specified address. No oral answers will be provided. Answers to questions IIE deems relevant to this RFP will be published on {May 20, 2016} on IIE s website under Subawards and Procurement ( Procurements). RFP TEMPLATE (March 2016)

2 Clare Banks Assistant Director, Center for International Partnerships, IIE Institute of International Education 809 United Nations Plaza New York, NY Proposal Submission: Proposals, including any attachments (limited to 6MB), should be sent electronically in PDF format to: Be sure to include in the subject line: {Creating a Web-Platform for IIE s Platform for Education in Emergencies Response (PEER)}.IIE will not accept proposals received by fax. IIE also reserves the right to revise and redistribute this proposal prior to the proposal due date. Event Date RFP distribution to offerors May 9, 2016 Offerors questions due May 16, 2016, 5:00 PM ET Responses to offeror s questions posted May 20, 2016, 5:00 PM ET Proposal due date May 30, 2016, 5:00 PM ET Anticipated decision and selection of offeror(s) June 6, 2016 Anticipated commencement date of work June 13, 2016 INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND 1. Background: Institute of International Education The Institute of International Education ( IIE or the Institute ) is a New York not-for-profit corporation that is among the world s largest and most experienced international education and training organizations. Founded in 1919, IIE promotes educational exchange around the world through a wealth of programs and services including Fellowship and Scholarship Management, Higher Education Institutional Development, Emergency Student and Scholar Assistance, and Leadership Development. For more than 90 years, IIE has promoted educational exchange around the world. The Institute currently implements more than 250 programs benefiting 25,000 men and women from 175 nations. Foremost among these programs is the world-renowned Fulbright Program, which IIE has had the honor to administer on behalf of the U.S. Department of State since the program s inception in In addition to the U.S. Department of State, program sponsors include: the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID); World Bank; major philanthropic foundations; private and public corporations; foreign governments; and individuals. With IIE s global headquarters in New York City, IIE has offices around the world, including offices in the United States (Washington D.C., Chicago, Denver, Houston and San Francisco) and in other countries (China, Egypt, Ethiopia, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, Thailand, Ukraine and Vietnam). 2. Purpose of Request for Proposal The purpose of this Request for Proposal ( RFP ) is to invite qualified individuals and organizations to submit a proposal to develop the IIE Platform for Education in Emergencies Response (PEER). PEER acts as a digital clearinghouse where existing higher education and K-12 opportunities for refugee students are catalogued, vetted, updated, and made widely available to the potential beneficiaries who need to access them. Attachment A outlines the Scope of Work more fully. Attachment D provides a detailed description of the PEER project. Contingent upon successful performance and at IIE s sole discretion, IIE may renew the selection(s) without recompetition for up to five years in total. Offerors are requested to submit proposals for the initial year with the understanding that work in subsequent years will include maintenance and refining web-platform. IIE may ask successful offerors to submit updated proposals annually as part of the renewal process. Prepared by IIE May 9, 2016 Page 2 of 16

3 The remainder of this RFP provides additional information that will allow an offeror to understand the scope of the effort and develop a proposal in the format desired by IIE. The information presented in this RFP is furnished solely for the purpose of assisting the offeror in making its own evaluation of the Scope of Work and does not purport to be all-inclusive or to contain all the information you may require. This RFP is not an offer by IIE to contract, but rather an attempt to establish a common framework for IIE to evaluate potential suppliers. The offeror should make its own investigations, projections and conclusions to verify independently the information contained in this RFP, and to obtain any additional information that it may require, prior to submitting a proposal. 3. Proposal Format to Offerors In order to be qualified for this RFP, all Offerors are requested to provide the following information, and format their proposal as follows: 1. Letter of transmittal, one page. 2. Basic information on the Offeror, one page, containing: a. Brief description of the organization/entity that illustrates overall services and capabilities to meet the terms of the RFP. b. Legal name of the entity, registered address and telephone number. c. Remit to mailing address if different from registered address. d. Name of authorized representative for this RFP, with telephone number(s), mailing address and e- mail address. e. Exceptions to the RFP Any exceptions to the RFP, statement of work and other requirements should be expressly noted. f. Include all required documentation and information as specified in this RFP. g. Include only your own work and no text copied from sources outside of your organization, unless those sources are adequately cited and credited. 3. Statement of Work a detailed description of the services being offered and any information relevant to meeting the technical specifications stated in Attachment A. 4. Cost Proposal - a detailed cost proposal in U.S. Dollars should be submitted, it is recommended that the Offeror use the format shown in Attachment B, including any additional cost items that the Offeror wishes to propose. 5. Additional Information - Offerors must submit a narrative description of relevant experience in Attachment C. 6. Attachment D provides additional background information on the purpose and goals of the PEER project. 4. Technical and Cost Proposal Preparation Instructions Proposals are expected to be comprehensive and include the information set forth below. Offerors also are Proposals are expected to be comprehensive and include the information set forth below. Offerors also are invited to send any additional information or supplemental material they believe will aid IIE in properly evaluating their service offerings. Please be sure to respond to each of the elements requested and frame your answers in direct response to the information being sought. In summary, proposals should address the following: A. General Questions i. Market presence ii. Prior experience Prepared by IIE May 9, 2016 Page 3 of 16

4 iii. General information about your organization and the services it offers iv. Description of relevant partnerships and business relationships v. References B. Planning i. Project Plan ii. Risk assessment and mitigation associated with the work, if relevant iii. Whether you will utilize subcontractors C. Other Planning Details (if applicable) i. Project communication plan ii. Training D. Post-Implementation Services (if applicable) i. Re touching, corrections E. Budget & Estimated Pricing i. In submitting a proposal, you must agree that your offer shall remain firm for a period of no less than 120 days from the RFP closing date. Failure to follow the specifications and requirements provided in this RFP may result in disqualification. 5. RFP Conditions IIE reserves the right to: Reject any or all offers and discontinue this RFP process without obligation or liability to any potential Offeror or other party. Accept other than the lowest price offered. Award a contract on the basis of initial offers received, without discussions or requests for best and final offers. Award more than one contract. Nothing in this RFP is, or should be relied on by Offeror as a promise or representation by IIE. IIE does not make any representation or warranty as to the completeness of this RFP or have any liability for any representations (express or implied) contained in, or omissions from, this RFP. This RFP and any replies to any written notifications are transmitted to the Offeror solely for the purposes of the Offeror preparing and submitting a Proposal. Each Offeror shall keep the RFP and its contents confidential and shall return the RFP (without keeping copies) to IIE if the Offeror elects not to submit a proposal, or upon being requested to do so by IIE. Any information or materials submitted in response to this RFP and/or as a proposal (whether successful or unsuccessful) shall become the property of IIE and will not be returned. 6. Terms of Payment Payment terms for the award shall be approximately net thirty (30) days after satisfactory completion of each deliverable or milestone agreed upon and established in the resulting agreement. Payment shall be made by the Institute of International Education ( IIE ) via check or electronic funds transfer/bank wire. The final payment terms in the contract will control, not this RFP. No advance payments will be provided. 7. Evaluation of Proposals Prepared by IIE May 9, 2016 Page 4 of 16

5 Basis of Award: The award will be made to the Offeror(s) whose offer presents the best value: the optimal combination of technical merits and reasonable cost. A. Technical Approach 60 points Provide a clear, specific and succinct technical proposal that covers both the conceptual and practical approaches of how to achieve the objectives described in this RFP. Specifically, please address the following: Item Requirement Points Available Qualifications and Capabilities Assessment of the bidder s qualifications and capacity to complete the scope of work, website or portfolio aesthetic. Staffing plan for this activity and a general overview of the expertise of the individuals included. 30 Implementation of the Scope of Work Assessment of proposed approach to completing the scope of work, including project timeline and proposed platform capabilities. Higher scores will be awarded to methodologies that indicate a greater practical understanding of implementing the work, and more innovative but realistic ways of carrying out the work. Higher scores will be awarded to materials that are more detailed, more accessible, and/or professionally developed. Total points B. Past Performance and Experience 10 points Document and summarize your proven track record of successfully implementing similar activities. Using the table format provided below, please list only the relevant projects you implemented within the past 3 years, a brief description of how each is relevant to the scope of the RFP, and the contact details for each previous client or donor. You may also include recommendation/appreciation letters and certificates as attachments. # (a) Name of Organization (b) Activity Title (c) Locations of activity (d) Synopsis of the activity and relevance to this RFP (e) Performance period (date and duration) (f) Cost for the activity (g) Name & Contact Info ( and phone) C. Cost Reasonableness and Financial Capability 30 points a) Submit a detailed budget to carry out this work. IIE s review of the Cost Proposal shall determine if the overall costs proposed are realistic for the work to be performed, reflect a correct understanding of the project requirements, and are consistent with the Offeror s Technical Proposal. Prepared by IIE May 9, 2016 Page 5 of 16

6 b) Submit a reasonably comprehensive budget narrative/budget notes to describe individual cost items as needed. 8. Annual Renewal: Annual Renewal: Selection(s) may be renewed annually, at IIE s sole discretion, for up to five years before recompetition. IIE reserves the right to exercise any one of the following options: Accept the updated proposal if changes are reasonable and within the scope of the original selection. Negotiate any updates/changes; or, Decide not to renew, if requested updates/changes are not justified and within the scope of the original selection. Prepared by IIE May 9, 2016 Page 6 of 16

7 Attachment A Statement of Work The successful offeror must develop, maintain, and, if required, expand the web platform. The offeror should work closely with IIE to throughout all stages of development to align expectations and needs. Web-Platform Purpose Phase I 1. Develop a fully searchable web-based platform that will host information on global education opportunities and resources for refugee and IDP students. In the initial phase the database should include the categories outlined below with the understanding that the scope of the platform will expand in phase II (both in features and targeted audiences): Scholarships Online Learning Opportunities Credential Evaluation Services Resources for Students Resources for Institutions All above outlined categories should be searchable by: Country Field of Study (if applicable) Degree Type (if applicable) Other Categories as needed 2. Since refugees and IDP students heavily depend on their mobile phones to access the internet, the platform must be mobile accessible when launched, using a responsive theming, compatible with lowerend phones. 3. The platform will initially address students from the MENA region and must be bilingual in Arabic and English when launched. Localization capability should future-proof for additional languages. 4. Develop a platform that allows institutions, organizations, etc. to create an account in order to enter, update, and maintain their profiles. Before listings go live, a workflow capability must allow IIE to vet information for accuracy, and communicate with profile creators to refine submissions. 5. Develop a data collection, analysis and reporting/dashboard tool to manage platform data. 6. Functionality should exist for real time or asynchronous advising of students who have questions related to the profile listings or anything else. Phase II 1. Develop a mobile app to mirror the web-based platform. The mobile app must be capable of addressing both modern smartphones and lower-end, text-based phones. 2. Add additional categories to the website: Translation Services Mentoring Services Volunteer Services Mental Support Services Community Discussion fora Other categories as needed 3. Develop a collaboration environment function that connects students with relevant resources on the website or connects them with virtual advisors with the ability to schedule advising sessions online. Technical Requirements While IIE considers the below mentioned technical requirements as essential for the development of the PEER platform, we look forward to discuss technical requirements with the successful offeror in more detail prior to the project start. Prepared by IIE May 9, 2016 Page 7 of 16

8 1. Global distribution across multiple regional data centers 2. Scalable resources (storage, network, elastic load balancers) 3. Fault tolerant (active-active) redundant server support 4. Extensible modular web-service component orchestration 5. Heterogeneous data source support 6. Guaranteed message delivery 7. Transactional workflow management 8. Content delivery network capable of delivering a broad range of media with low latency distribution 9. Responsive Web Design 10. Server and application health monitors and dashboards 11. Social platform integration 12. Automated information security monitoring and alerting 13. Incident response management tools 14. Data encryption and firewalling 15. Secure single sign on 16. Adaptive video streaming with latency management 17. Video transcription and translation with multi-lingual closed caption support 18. On demand translation capabilities to support multi-lingual social collaboration 19. Secure web conferencing support 20. Content and data versioning support 21. Data archival and long term storage support 22. Extensive metadata management to improve search relevancy support 23. MOOC or custom educational content delivery 24. Customer Relationship Management (SF HEDA compliant) 25. Analytics Data Warehouse 26. Big data analytics support for unstructured data 27. Website should comply to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 *Please include any additional specification (s) which you think should be included that are not noted above. Data Center hosting questions: 1.1 What is your Hosting solution? a) Describe in detail your hosting recommendation Public, Private, Hybrid, etc. (Example: multi-tenant cloud utilizing Amazon EC2 & S3 offerings) b) Where is your hosting facility located? c) Who owns and operates the hosting facility? (Is it your own or are you using a service?) d) Where is your primary support location? e) What are the hours of service? f) What is the problem escalation procedure? g) Who is responsible for support issues? (E.g., Will the Vendor be responsible for contacting the hosting facility for issues surrounding hosting?) h) What has been the average uptime in production for the past 3 years? i) Explain any unscheduled outages. 1.2 Describe your system s ability to handle load balancing, redundancy and fault tolerance? 1.3 In the event of a System outage; what are the standards of your Service Level Agreement? Specifically, in what timeframe can IIE expect issue resolution, full data restoration and 100% System functionality in order to be able to perform all business functions associated with the System? 1.4 How will IIE be notified of an outage? 1.5 Disaster Recovery (DR) How and where is DR performed? What is the expected recovery time? Prepared by IIE May 9, 2016 Page 8 of 16

9 II. Data Center and Security questions: Note: Access to electronic and physical repositories containing SSNs, ITINs and other personal identifiers must be controlled based upon reasonable and appropriate administrative, physical, technical, and organizational safeguards to those whose job functions require such access. 1.1 Does your data center have certifications such as: SOC 1/SSAE 16/ISAE 3402 (formerly SAS 70) SOC 2 SOC 3 FISMA, DIACAP, and FedRAMP DOD CSM Levels 1-5 PCI DSS Level 1 ISO 9001 / ISO Please specify: a) How often do you have audits to certify your compliance with the above certifications b) Who audits your data center? 1.2 How is the Web server segregated from the database server? 1.3 Describe how data is protected from other users? 1.4 How will Personal Identifiable Information (PII) data be controlled and maintained? a) Who in the datacenter will have access to PII data? b) If the contract with IIE is terminated for any reason, how will the data be returned to IIE, and how will they (vendor and hosting facility) purge IIE data? Including any backup data. 1.5 How do you ensure secure transmission of IIE s and end-users data including uploading of forms and documents? (Example: Built into web application, utilizes SSL/TLS, etc.) 1.6 Describe how this data is protected from unauthorized access. 1.7 Is the data encrypted at rest? If so, to what degree? (Example: full database encryption, specific user designated columns/tables, etc.) 1.8 Describe how your Firewall is setup and its capabilities. 1.9 Do you provide Firewall monitoring? 1.10 Do you provide IDS/IPS monitoring? 1.11 Will the hosting vendor provide security reviews, preventive maintenance, backup and recovery for the website and all the associated databases? Describe the following: a) Antivirus/Anti-Spam Software update schedule b) Hardware Monitoring (CPU, RAM, Disks) - Do you provide 24/7 system monitoring? c) Support: 1. Do you provide 24 7 x 365 live technical support? 2. What is the schedule for hardware and system software refreshes? 3. Provide a copy of the Service Level Agreement, (SLA) detailing all aspects of support and costs (for hosting as well as the development project) Prepared by IIE May 9, 2016 Page 9 of 16

10 Attachment B Detailed Proposal Format & Cost Proposal Submit a detailed budget for the services described in the technical proposal. IIE s review of the cost proposal shall determine if the overall costs proposed are: realistic for the work to be performed, reflect a correct understanding of the project requirements, and are consistent with the Offeror s Technical Proposal. The following is a format for the cost proposal. The Offeror may list any cost line items, but it is recommended that the Offeror follow the major categories listed below, breaking down all lump sum items as much as reasonably possible. Item No. Description Quantity Unit (day/month) Unit (USD) Price Total Price Prepared by IIE May 9, 2016 Page 10 of 16

11 Attachment C Additional Requirements. 1. Experience and qualifications: Submit a narrative description of relevant experience. This narrative cannot exceed two pages and must address the following: a) The number of years of relevant experience. A minimum of two years of relevant professional experience providing the services to clients or an employer is required. b) A brief description of experience in the field and, if available, links to work samples of comparable platforms previously designed. c) Number of employees that will be included in the development and maintenance of the platform. d) Timeline and Work plan e) A description of how the platform will be maintained. f) A description of how critical data will be collected, analyzed, and made available to IIE. g) A description of the possibility to expand the web platform in the future. h) A description of resources (personnel) currently available in-house to provide the required services. i) A description of any plans to outsource/subcontract the services j) A description of relevant personnel training and qualifications, including CVs for key individuals, where applicable. CVs are not included in the 2-page length limit. 2. Quality Control Plan: Submit a single narrative for this factor, regardless of the number of services offered. This narrative cannot exceed two pages and must address the following: a) A description of internal review procedures that facilitate high-quality standards b) Identification of individuals responsible for ensuring quality control c) Whether or not outsourcing/subcontractors are used and, if so, the quality control measures used to ensure acceptable subcontractor performance d) How potential problem areas and solutions are handled e) The procedures for ensuring quality performance when meeting urgent requirements f) How quality control will be managed when completing multiple projects for multiple clients Prepared by IIE May 9, 2016 Page 11 of 16

12 Attachment D Project Description Platform for Education in Emergencies Response Vision The Platform for Education in Emergencies Response (PEER) acts as a digital clearinghouse where existing opportunities are catalogued, vetted, updated, and made widely available to the potential beneficiaries who need to access them. A clearinghouse of education opportunities of this kind supports the full cycle of education access for refugee and IDP students, connecting students to schooling from K-12 th grade and into appropriate higher education options. Students who move through this cycle can then become educators, ushering future students through the same cycle, or join the labor force in other roles to help address the challenges facing their communities. IIE will launch a new platform with a database of higher education opportunities first, subsequently expanding to K-12 education opportunities. The following outlines the three interrelated and overlapping components, the core component of which is a web-based, mobile-ready Platform for Education in Emergencies Response (PEER) that will host vetted and updated information on global education opportunities and resources for refugee and IDP students and the institutions seeking to support them. PEER will also provide the support services critical to ensuring that students and institutions are not only able to access information but are also equipped to capitalize on it fully and efficiently. This partnership work will be in addition to other PEER wraparound services to support prospective students and institutions to use the database most effectively. PEER will initially focus on refugees and IDPs in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and we envision that we can scale PEER to reach globally following proof-of-concept. For its initial launch, PEER will be an interactive platform for those seeking entry into higher education or continuation of their interrupted higher education experience. We will also simultaneously collect and add K-12 opportunities to the platform so that PEER can become a comprehensive resource across all education levels. Component one: Compile information on initiatives and develop and launch the web platform, opening access to a comprehensive scope of education opportunities, application guidelines, and key resources. Component two: Develop and launch support services for students who access the web platform, working with in-country partners to create student advising centers and build the capacity of existing centers and initiatives to use PEER for student advising and support services; formalize partnerships with and offer support resources to institutions to strengthen advocacy for admitting refugee students. Component three: Collect and assess data from both the database itself and partnering institutions to analyze gaps in the field of higher education in emergencies, identify lessons learned, and refine the initiative in response. While there are currently multiple websites that feature lists of educational opportunities for refugee and IDP students, none of them allow users to filter opportunities by key terms, such as field or degree type; additionally, the lists are maintained, vetted, and updated only to varying degrees. Most of the platforms focus exclusively on scholarship programs and do not feature information on additional educational services for refugees and IDPs, such as translation services, grants for international academic tests, or language training, on the same platform. A major gap, however, is that none of these platforms offer academic advising or direct support services for students so that they can pursue the opportunities effectively with targeted guidance. What we propose is to not only develop a comprehensive database of scholarship opportunities and services for refugee and IDP students shared through an online platform, but to also optimize the platform with student support services, capacity building activities, and formalized partnerships with institutions to confirm that the platform is a sustainable and scalable resource. The proposed PEER will be a holistic platform that addresses gaps that no other existing platform addresses and that allows for constant updating to connect students with opportunities rapidly and on an ongoing basis. Prepared by IIE May 9, 2016 Page 12 of 16

13 Component One A. Develop and launch web platform in English and Arabic that is user-friendly, fully searchable, and mobile-ready. To populate the PEER database, IIE will collect all opportunities from across existing resources and confirm that the opportunities are active and appropriate. Following PEER s launch, we will include a simple webform so that visitors can continue to submit opportunities which IIE will review and vet. We will ask institutions and service providers to create a PEER website log-in so they may share information on their relevant programming and establish and confirm a formal partnership. Please see Component Two for more information on how we will partner with institutions and service providers. Though the initial PEER launch will focus on higher education, we will simultaneously collect and share information on K-12 opportunities. We will store all catalogued information for PEER, such as scholarship opportunities and refugee education services, in a back-end database maintained by IIE. This information will be accessible to the public via the PEER website, which will be viewable in English and Arabic. We will work with a developer experienced in mobile web development to make certain that users can easily navigate PEER on a computer or smartphone. We will also develop a mobile app to mirror the web-based PEER so that users can access information off-line and on-the-go. Users can view all of the database opportunities by category such as scholarships, online courses and MOOCs, translation services, education advocacy groups, etc. Users will also be able to filter search results e.g. by field, degree level, language requirements, or location within each category. Each opportunity in the database will include the relevant information necessary to act on the opportunity, such as important dates and deadlines, application requirements, key contacts, and important web links. IIE Scope of Activities Collect information on and analyze gaps in existing resources relevant to refugee and IDP students, such as translation services, academic credentials support, and education advocacy organizations, as well as data on scholarship opportunities, including provider information, funding specifications, important deadlines, applicant requirements, and key contacts. Design an easy-to-use online hub for institutions and service providers to submit information on relevant programming and/or services. Design a process for other stakeholders to share information on educational opportunities of which they are aware. IIE will vet and edit all submissions carefully. Build customized platform back end, with a front end that uses simple navigation and is fully searchable by categories such as country, education level, and field; fully mobile-ready; and offered in English and Arabic. Finalize initial list of opportunities and organize them by relevant category - e.g. scholarship programs, translation support, academic support services, and advocacy organizations and student groups. Component Two A. Provide student support. Although we will design the platform so that students can easily navigate it, we will offer additional support services to confirm that students can use the information fully and effectively. Student support services will be an integral component of the initiative to make certain students have the holistic tools to pursue opportunities. Support services will include an extensive Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section which will answer commonlycited questions and concerns users have about pursuing opportunities; resources such as guides on writing admissions essays and how to gather documentation for scholarship programs, webinars, video tutorials, and brief podcasts on relevant topics; and a Virtual Advising function. Users can also recommend resources to IIE that we can share on PEER. Virtual Advising. One of the key differentiators between PEER and the existing platforms that list scholarship opportunities is that PEER will offer a Virtual Advising mechanism to connect prospective students to the existing Prepared by IIE May 9, 2016 Page 13 of 16

14 services and resources that can most effectively address their need. Since the PEER database will include exhaustive information on education opportunities for prospective students, not all users will require the Virtual Advising function. For those who seek further guidance, PEER will feature a simple survey through which we can identify their individual needs with the goal of connecting them to existing services and resources. If we assess that one-on-one advising is necessary for the user, we will invite the user to either schedule a real-time virtual advising session, which we can conduct through existing video conferencing platforms such as Skype, or to the Virtual Advising inbox for further support. A Refugee Education Advising Coordinator, who will lead the capacity building activities detailed later in this section, will help to develop the survey based on their on-the-ground capacity work. We will point advisees toward the best resources to get the most effective help based on their needs so that only a limited number of users will require more direct IIE guidance. A Program Coordinator will organize direct advising as needed. These roles are detailed further in the Cost section. IIE Scope of Activities Provide support services to students such as advising on documentation or referring them to existing student groups or national agencies for further support. Peer mentorship utilizing volunteer mentors who have experience navigating the admissions process. B. Provide institutional support. Institutional support services will be key to confirming that partners work with IIE to continuously update and maintain platform information and collect and share important data on the refugee and IDP initiatives they manage. We will ask that institutions and service providers register to include their information on the PEER website, which will allow us to collect basic data on and keep in touch with institutional users. IIE Scope of Activities Develop a mechanism to formalize partnerships with institutions in PEER. Develop resources for institutions with existing initiatives or those seeking to create initiatives for refugee and IDP students. Coordinate best practices sharing, through webinars and other media, between institutions hosting refugee and IDP students. Component Three IIE will collect data from PEER partner institutions and platform analytics to assess the current state of the higher education in emergencies field. By analyzing data from the PEER database partner universities, we can identify gaps and collect important information for advocacy purposes. A. Collect and utilize data on higher education in emergencies to identify gaps and create resources. IIE Scope of Activities Collect data from platform analytics and partners, including data on the impact of hosting refugee and IDP students. Identify key findings and gaps in support and programming available for refugee and IDP students. Produce advocacy resources using data findings. Produce a final report on PEER activities and disseminate through IIE networks. Host a Best Practices conference to discuss lessons learned from this initiative and to develop solutions to identified challenges. Prepared by IIE May 9, 2016 Page 14 of 16

15 Timeline The timeline for project implementation is as follows. Development PEER Timeline - May 1, May 1, 2021 Activities/Year Year One Year Two - Five Ma y - Jul y Jul y - Sep t Oct - Dec Jan - Ma y Ma y - Jul y Jul y - Se pt Oct - Dec Procure Platform Vendor and Build Platform Collect, Vet, and Add Information to Database Ongoing Platform Management Identify and Hire PEER Team Members Translate Materials Build Capacity of Student Advising Centers/Establish Student Advising Centers Virtual Advising and Other Student Support Services Institutional Support Services and Partnering Collect Data on HE in Emergencies Activities HE in Emergencies Turkey Conference (Planning, Design, Implementation) Capacity Building Trip N. America Capacity Building Trip - Europe Capacity Building Trip - MENA Reporting (Annual Program and Financial Summaries) Monitor and Evaluate PEER Activities PEER will be a comprehensive online hub that provides functions that no other online platform currently provides for refugee and IDP students. We will maximize its impact by complementing such a resource with virtual advising for students and capacity building activities for advising centers in the region and constantly interacting with the growing group of organizations responding to the crisis. In order to launch such a platform, IIE will closely coordinate with a web developer and web designer to develop a customized database which will be maintained by IIE on the backend but accessible and searchable to the public on the frontend develop the Virtual Advising function, which integrates survey and appointment scheduling technology develop a function for users to submit new opportunities that IIE can review, vet, and approve for integration into the database Jan - Ma y Prepared by IIE May 9, 2016 Page 15 of 16

16 develop a function for institutional PEER partners to maintain their own program data in the database develop a page to share resources with users, such as PDFs and informational videos develop processes to continuously maintain the database and test PEER website functions IIE will provide continuous maintenance of the PEER website and all of its functions, including checking the database to make sure that opportunities are active, add new relevant resources, and test functions such as the Virtual Advising mechanism to confirm it is keeping pace with user traffic and bandwidth. This continuous maintenance will be especially important in the first year of the initiative because users must be able to access the most updated information for opportunities that are active and viable, and offered by reputable providers. Prepared by IIE May 9, 2016 Page 16 of 16