U.S. Embassy in Cameroon seeking Applications for strengthening University e-Learning Capacity Platforms

Deadline: 20-Aug-20

The U.S. Embassy in Cameroon has announced an open competition for project proposals to strengthen the capacity of university faculty for using e-learning platforms.

The program will equip university administration and/or faculty with the knowledge and tools to build and/or teach from modern e-learning platforms for distance education. This capability will make universities more resilient when circumstances interfere with in-person learning and will expand opportunities for partnership with American higher education institutions.

Program Objectives

Help Cameroonian universities identify barriers to e-learning (including but not limited to: buy-in of administration and staff, skill level of faculty, and technology and infrastructure gaps) and identify ways to resolve or overcome these barriers;
Improve Cameroonian university officials’ understanding of distance learning tools and best practices and assist them to adopt remote teaching;
Assist Cameroonian universities in developing and implementing context-appropriate strategies for deployment of e-learning, supporting both faculty and students, and monitoring and adapting as needed to ensure quality of learning.

Projects

Projects may target specific universities or benefit faculty and/or administrations from multiple universities. Because different universities are at different stages with e-learning platforms, projects should be based on existing needs-analysis data or include activities to conduct a needs analysis of the target audience.
Projects may target one or more of the following areas: development of institutional e-learning strategies, creation of new e-learning platforms or implementation of commercially available or free e-learning platforms, faculty skills in using e-learning platforms for teaching, or the various factors related to student use of such platforms, e.g. cost-prohibitive and unreliable internet. However, if a project targets only one or two factors, it should discuss the impact that other factors may have on the success and sustainability of project activities. For example, if a project focuses only on training professors how to use e-learning technology, it should explain how other potential barriers (such as administration buy-in) will be addressed or explain how such barriers have already been overcome.
Projects must include one or more of the following:
- Collaboration between a Cameroonian and an American university
- An American expert as a member of the project team or as a speaker or consultant for the project activities
- Use of best practices for distance learning as developed by an American university or expert
- Use of distance learning technology developed in the United States.

Funding Information

Award amounts: awards may range from a minimum of $15,000 to a maximum of $50,000
Total available funding: $50,000
Length of performance period: 4 to 9 months

Eligibility Criteria

PAS encourages applications from the United States and Cameroon:

Registered not-for-profit organizations, including think tanks, community associations, and civil society/non-governmental organizations with programming experience
Individuals
Non-profit media organizations
Non-profit or governmental educational institutions
For-profit or commercial entities are not eligible to apply

Evaluation Criteria

Organizational capacity: The organization has expertise in its stated field and PAS is confident of its ability to undertake the program. This includes a financial management system appropriate to the amount of funding being requested and a bank account.
Quality and feasibility of the program idea: The program idea is well developed, with detail about how program activities will be carried out. The proposal includes a reasonable implementation timeline.
Goals and objectives: Goals and objectives are clear, realistic, and measurable, and program approach is likely to provide maximum impact in achieving the proposed results.
Embassy priorities: Applicant has clearly described how stated goals are related to and support U.S. Embassy Yaoundé’s priority program areas and/or target audiences.
Budget: The budget justification is detailed. Costs are reasonable in relation to the proposed activities and anticipated results. The budget is realistic, accounting for all necessary expenses to achieve proposed activities.
Monitoring and evaluation: Applicant demonstrates ability to measure program success against key indicators and provide milestones to indicate progress toward goals outlined in the proposal. The program includes output and outcome indicators, and shows how and when those will be measured.
Sustainability: Program activities will continue to have positive impact after the end of the program.