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Grant Panelists Needed

The Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (ETA) used a peer review process for the review and selection of Recovery Act grants. Building on the positive feedback, ETA has decided to continue this process for our appropriated competitive funds into the future.

To ensure an ongoing talent pool, ETA will recruit experts to serve as grant review panelists on a continuous basis. ETA is seeking a diverse pool of expertise from the workforce system, institutions of higher education, community and faith-based organizations, labor, business and industry partners, and other related organizations to review and score these applications along with federal staff. The resumes will be kept on file for future ETA competitions unless otherwise directed by applicants. We anticipate the wide ranging expertise of selected panelists in assisting us in continuing to award grants of the highest quality.

We welcome potential panelists with these particular areas of expertise:

  • Delivering services in the Public Workforce Investment System;
  • Analyzing labor market information and research;
  • Administering or teaching in a technical college, a community college or a four year college with an interest in workforce connections;
  • Creating or implementing an apprenticeship program;
  • Creating or implementing a training program focused on career pathways, career clusters, or competency models;
  • Developing or operating training or hiring outreach programs for energy efficiency and renewable energy businesses and related industries;
  • Providing supportive services to individuals engaged in training;
  • Recruitment or retention of out-of-school youth in job training programs;
  • Human resources strategies within a business or industry;
  • Experience and knowledge in implementing training programs with a track record in recruiting, placing and retaining populations with multiple barriers to employment (this population may include but is not limited to: seniors, veterans, displaced homemakers, low-income adults, disconnected youth, limited English proficient persons.)
  • Designing or delivering:
    • Open education resources (OER), including but not limited to accelerated learning, hybrid on-site, and other online educational content resources and tools;
    • Clinical training in the health care industry;
    • integrated basic reading, numeracy, writing or English language skills with occupational skills training;  

Prospective panelists should know that federal paneling is a serious responsibility that requires a commitment of time and expertise. If selected, nonfederal panelists will be compensated for their service. Panelists will not be required to travel to Washington, DC, but will be required to read and evaluate grants independently and subsequently participate in conference calls with other panelists to discuss the grants. Selected panelists must make a commitment to be available for the preparation work leading up to the paneling, which could last as long as two weeks. The estimated workload for selected panelists in reviewing and evaluating grants is between 10 and 15 applications. Panelists will be required to provide written documentation detailing the rationale in support of each score.

No person may serve as a panelist if a conflict of interest, real or perceived, exists. A conflict exists when the prospective panelist, any member of his or her immediate family, his or her partner, or an organization which employs or is about to employ any of the parties indicated herein, has a financial or other interest in an organization seeking financial assistance or which may otherwise benefit by an award decision. In addition, grant writers, retired federal staff, LLCs and many adjunct professors or consultants that may have business connections in our grantee community would be considered to have a conflict of interest.

Additionally, panelists should not serve if they have a close personal relationship with someone whose financial interests will be affected by awarding of the grant or who is a party or represents a party to the grant award process, such as a close relative, friend or former colleague.

Prospective panelists should note any other biases that may inhibit their ability to fairly and objectively rate an applicant's proposal for a particular solicitation. A bias may also exist relative to organizations that are named sub-recipients or partners in an application. For example, biases could include but are not limited to: biases against a rival school, a rival state, a rival organization, a rival industry, etc. Any person selected as a panelist must notify the grant officer immediately if, in the course of performing an evaluation of applications, he/she discovers any fact that would disqualify him/her from being a panelist. All selected panelists will be required to sign a "Conflict of Interest/Non Disclosure Statement."

If you are interested in serving as a panelist, please go to the panelist registration page to get started. From there, you will receive instructions on a three-step process that must be completed by all candidates to be considered for future panel review assignments. We anticipate the entire process will take approximately 90 minutes to complete and is designed to give a realistic preview of the responsibilities of a grant review panelist. Thank you for considering becoming a part of our efforts. If you have any additional questions, please contact ETA's identified Contractor for this task:

Linda Metchikoff-Hooker
Performance Excellence Partners, Inc.
Phone: (714) 374-1140
Fax: (714) 374-1120
E-Mail: lindamh@performexcel.com