March 2, 2020
Public Affairs Section
U.S. Embassy Mongolia

Notice of Funding Opportunity: PAS-Ulaanbaatar-010/FY2020
The 2020 Orientation for Visiting Scholars and Students

The Public Affairs Section at the Embassy of the United States of American in Ulaanbaatar is seeking proposals from higher education institutes and other education organizations (“facilitator”) with experience in organizing orientations to oversee the implementation of the 2020 In-country Orientation for Visiting Scholars and Students that will be held August 3-14, 2020. 

The orientation consists of English language co-teaching methodology and practicums, and Mongolian language and cultural classes for visiting English Language Fellows (EL Fellows, scholars) and Fulbright English Teaching Assistants (ETAs, students) to help them familiarize themselves with their new living and working environment.  The facilitator will also arrange for logistics including local transportation and lodging during the orientation. 

The orientation aims to:

• Provide understanding on the Mongolian academic system and classroom culture;
• Provide an introduction to Mongolian language and culture; and
• Provide resources participants can use and adapt for their needs in Mongolia (to include the resources published by the U.S. Department of State’s Office of English Language Programs).

Orientation will continue for two weeks and will have a minimum of five to a maximum of ten contact hours every day. Activities must include:

• Co-teaching ESL sessions, a minimum of 21 hours;
• Co-teaching ESL practicums, a minimum of 12 hours;
• Survival Mongolian language sessions, of a minimum of 12 hours;
• Mongolian cultural sessions under varying themes, a minimum of 9 hours;

Most of the participants have no experience in Mongolian language or culture.  Facilitators should design an orientation that is tailored to those who have varying degrees of experience. 

Timeline	Expected Activities
	COMPONENT I	COMPONENT II
Day 1 – 2 August 1 – 2, 2020 Ulaanbaatar		Participants arrivals and airport pick ups Cellphone SIM cards purchase, ATM, supermarket, etc.
Day 3 – 6 August 3 – 6, 2020 Ulaanbaatar	Orientation opening Visits to Embassy, immigration, district hospital, and other organizations  Co-teaching ESL Training Overview	Survival Mongolian language and cultural classes Cultural activities (visits to museums, folk performance, etc.)
Day 7 – 8 August 7 – 8, 2020 Outside of Ulaanbaatar – Stay at a ger camp		Survival Mongolian language classes Cultural sessions/activities (visit to a nomadic family, making aaruul, riding horses, etc.)
Day 9 August 9, 2020  Ulaanbaatar		City Tour
Day 10 – 13 August 10 – 13, 2020 Ulaanbaatar	Co-teaching ESL Training and Practicum Activities at American Corner
Day 14 August 14, 2020 Ulaanbaatar	Orientation closing	End of orientation reception

 

Facilitators will oversee the implementation of Component II, whereas Component I will be overseen by Embassy staff.

At the conclusion of the orientation, participants should:

• Recognize the education structures, systems, and classroom culture in Mongolia;
• Be familiar with various classroom management techniques and challenges, including local discipline practices, and establishing and maintaining productive relationships with students, parents, teachers, and administrators;
• Be able to co-develop and use a coherent lesson plan that is adaptable as unexpected issues arise;
• Be able to use simple language teaching techniques such as pairs-practice, substitution drills, and role play to practice various learning points in both oral and written situations;
• Be able to present a variety of language topics with different levels of complexity, illustrate them with examples, and elicit responses from students in group settings;
• Recognize that flexibility is necessary for success; 
• Be familiar with a range of online English language teaching resources and tools; and
• Be prepared to work effectively in locations where resources for lesson planning and implementation are limited.

Facilitator Qualifications and Compensation:

Interested institutes or organizations are encouraged to apply as a team with two to three individuals. Each team is required to have an administrator with previous experience organizing similar activities and one or two Mongolian language and culture teacher/s with a minimum of a Master’s degree in Teaching Mongolian or related field, and three or more years of teaching Mongolian at the time of application.  Significant experience in active training design and/or training-the-trainer is strongly preferred. Team proposals must include a separate biographical narrative for each team member. Embassy will work closely with selected facilitators on refining orientation agenda to meet the needs of the participants.

Schedule and Due Dates:

Proposals should be submitted via email to exchange@usembassy.mn by 8:30 a.m. on Monday, April 27, 2020.  Paper proposals will not be accepted.

Any inquiries about the program will not be answered via phone. Please direct all inquiries to Embassy’s Facebook page, or email at exchange@usembassy.mn.

Proposal Guidelines

Award of the grant resulting from this call for proposals will be based upon the most responsive applicants whose application is most advantageous to the Embassy in terms of the factors specified in this call for proposals.  Under no circumstances will the Embassy be responsible for costs and expenses incurred in connection with this call for proposals including reviewing and/or submitting a proposal.

About this call for proposals

Embassy reserves the right to:

• Reject any or all offers and discontinue this call for proposals process without obligation or liability to any potential grantee.
• Award a grant on the basis of initial offers received, without discussions or requests for best and final offers.
• Award more than one grant.

Nothing in this call for proposals is, or should be relied on by the applicant as, a promise or representation by the Embassy.  Neither does the Embassy make any representation or warranty as to the completeness of this call for proposals nor have any liability for any representations (express or implied) contained in, or omissions from, this call for proposals. 

This call for proposals and any replies to any written notifications are transmitted to the applicant solely for the purposes of the applicant preparing and submitting a proposal. 

Any information or materials submitted as a response to this call for proposals and/or as a proposal (whether successful or unsuccessful) will not be returned. 

Orientation Proposal Guidelines

The proposal must be in Microsoft Word format and should be no more than five pages in length. It must include the following:

Proposal Body (Microsoft Format):

• A one-page cover sheet with general information;
• A brief description of the applicant and his/her qualifications, knowledge and expertise that address the goals of the program.  If applicable, applicants should highlight the extent of current and previous Fulbright Program or community engagement and any experience working in Mongolia or in the region (should not exceed one page); and
• A proposed Mongolian language and cultural classes that must meet the goals of the orientation outlined above and correspond with the timeframe in the Sample ETA Orientation Agenda below.  The agenda should include all required content components and a clear description of how each session will be delivered. Please note that the timeframe outlined in the Sample ETA Orientation Agenda is an example for purposes of this proposal.  Actual timelines will be finalized in consultation with the Embassy.

Appendices (Microsoft Word or PDF formats):

• Resume or Curriculum Vitae (no more than six pages);
• Sample toolkit materials – a list with descriptions of proposed materials is acceptable; and
• One letter from a professional reference for each applicant.

Appendices do not count toward the five-page maximum.

Proposal Review Criteria

The Proposal will be evaluated and scored on the following factors (100 point scale):

• Proposed activities and plan for implementation (30 max points);
• The degree to which the program meets the orientation goals (30 max points);
• Practicality of orientation toolkit (10 max points); and
• Strength of applicant’s experience in teaching Mongolian language and cultural (30 max points).

Sample ETA Orientation Agenda

Day 1 – 2:

• Arrival and settling in

Day 3 – 6: 

• Orientation opening (arranged by Embassy)
• Visits to various organizations, including Embassy, district hospitals, immigration, etc. (arranged by Embassy and ETA host institutes)
• Cultural activities (arranged by Facilitators)
• Co-teaching ESL Training (arranged by Embassy)

Day 7 – 8: 

• Travel between Ulaanbaatar and a ger camp (arranged by Facilitators)
• Mongolian language and cultural sessions* (arranged by Facilitators)

Day 9:

• Travel in the city (arranged by Facilitators)

Day 10 – 14:

• Co-teaching ESL Training (arranged by Embassy)
• Co-teaching ESL Practicums (arranged by Facilitators and Embassy)
• Orientation closing and closing reception (arranged by Embassy and Facilitators)
• Sending ETAs to host institutions (arranged by Embassy and ETA host institutes)

*Cultural session topics may include the following and the design should be interactive:

• Mongolian holidays, costumes, and customs;
• Mongolian food;
• Mongolian politics;
• Mongolian music, drama, dance, and art;
• Mongolian flora and fauna, hiking at camp, etc.; and
• Spend afternoon and evening with a herding family, milk a goat, ride a horse, share a meal, etc.

By U. S. Embassy Ulaanbaatar | 2 March, 2020 | Topics: News