Request for Proposals

Facilities & Services Environmental Conservation Seed Grants Request for Proposals Facilities and Services and the Environmental Council seek proposals from faculty-student teams that connect scholarship to campus environmental conservation. The challenge of creating a more sustainable campus provides wonderful opportunities to connect learning and research to our campus facilities. Facilities & Services will provide financial support to faculty-student teams that make tangible, significant improvements to our campus and add value to F&S scheduled projects, while engaging in teaching or research activities. New and innovative projects are highly encouraged. An example of project areas includes but is not limited to the following: Carbon Neutral Buildings Native Landscaping Green Lifestyles Stormwater Management Littering Awareness Environmental Awareness Education Specifications for all topics, or questions about additional ideas, can be discussed with David B. Wilcoxen, dwilcoxe@illinois.edu or 217-333-3655. F&S has allocated $45,000 for this effort and will fund projects with budgets up to $15,000. Proposals are accepted throughout the year however allocation decisions are generally made by early November. Projects should be completed by July 30th of the associated fiscal year. Proposal Content Faculty-student teams should submit brief proposals not exceeding two pages that address the following: Plan of Work  Problem and objectives  Methodology  Rationale Products  List and describe the specific reports, plans, and designs that will be produced.  Include a timeline with specific dates to complete research and analysis, design options, and develop preliminary, interim, and final recommendations. Project Team  Briefly describe the project team and the roles of each member. Please note that teams should be lead by one or more faculty members and include graduate and/or undergraduate students. Integration with classes and other opportunities to involve students in the learning process are encouraged. In addition to the two-page maximum, please submit:  CVs for all team members, not to exceed 2 pages per member.  Budget and budget justification: o Table or spreadsheet summarizing cost for each major task. o Describe the level of effort and work products that will be produced to justify the proposed budget. Submission Guidelines Proposals should be submitted electronically by 4:30 p.m. on November 1st to: dwilcoxe@illinois.edu. Documents should be in Word format. Budgets may be submitted in Excel and should be named with the applicant’s last name. Selection Criteria Proposals will be evaluated according to the following criteria:  Quality of Proposal – all required information is clearly addressed and summarized including the qualifications and interest of submitters.  Technical Feasibility – plan of work and budget are designed to identify a cost-effective approach.  Quality of deliverables – the plan of work yields the most definitive results.  Creativity & Innovation – special consideration will be given to innovative approaches and/or recommendations to partner with or build on current research. Exceptions  If there is inadequate response to this RFP, F&S reserves the right to re-solicit proposals or adjust funding.  Following selection, F&S intends to work closely with the submitters and may request mutually agreeable plan of work and budget modifications to more closely meet F&S budget or operational needs. Questions Please David B. Wilcoxen dwilcoxe@illinois.edu or 217.333.3655 with questions.