The Midwest Region of the National Wildlife Refuge System manages the Conservation Internship Program (CIP) for eight states: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin. CIP exists to introduce culturally-diverse college students to natural resource careers through hands on work with, and training by, natural resource professionals employed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). The goal of CIP is to help develop a new generation of enthused and effective conservationists and ecologists from the ranks of college students with traditionally- disadvantaged or otherwise diverse ethnic backgrounds. Each selected student is given the opportunity to serve a 12-week summertime on-site internship, usually scheduled between May 15th and September 30th. During the internships, CIP students are introduced to various real-world conservation and rehabilitation activities such as invasive species management, habitat restoration, wildlife management, and public education and interpretation, mixed with informal and formal training sessions directed by USFWS. The Midwest Region hereby invites submission of proposals from all potential sources willing and able to cooperatively administer a program for identifying and recruiting college students for CIP internships at Midwest Region USFWS stations. Specifically, we anticipate the establishment of one or more five-year blanket cooperative agreements under which USFWS will issue task orders to the selected Recipient(s) of award for managing the recruitment, screening, transportation, and payroll services for suitable and qualified interns at the participating USFWS stations. CIP is funded annually by Congress, so USFWS reserves the right to discontinue or suspend any such award whenever limited by lack of appropriated funds. Under the Midwest Region CIP, the total federally-reimbursable costs for identifying, recruiting, placing and compensating interns (including transportation of the student interns to and from the agency-chosen USFWS stations) cannot exceed $7,500 per intern per year. From that amount, each participating student must receive from the cooperating Recipient a stipend of at least $4,800, at a rate of $10 per hour, no less frequently than bi-weekly, during the12-week internship. This individual student intern stipend may be less than $4,800 only when a student intern fails to complete the full term, in which case the stipend reduction cannot be more than $10 per unfulfilled hour of on-site internship. Any necessary medical insurance and workman s compensation insurance costs and the cost of food and other incidental expenses will be the responsibility of Recipients and/or students [proposals are to stipulate]. In addition to the $7,500 federal share, USFWS will also provide either no-cost on-site student housing (when available) or a housing stipend of up to $1,000 per student for the 12-week internship. Applicants for award are to explain in their proposal, preferably by itemization, additional amounts they are willing and able to contribute to the balance of reasonable and necessary costs associated with these internships.Within the aforementioned financial constraints, the cooperating Recipient of one of these awards must be able to identify and recruit interns from a pool of culturally-diverse college students in their junior or senior year of undergraduate conservation/ecology/biology/education study at federally-accredited U.S. colleges or universities. Students must be U.S. citizens to be eligible for the CIP program. Preference is to be given to those within that pool of eligible candidates who are both qualified for and intending to pursue an advanced degree (i.e. Masters or PhD). It is estimated that the Midwest Region will annually need between 5 and 15 interns, each serving a 12-week internship at 5 to15 participating stations as chosen by USFWS. While the selected interns will be temporarily stationed at USFWS sites, they will be considered volunteers rather than employees of USFWS for payroll, liability insurance and benefit administration purposes. Upon completion of their internships, some interns may be offered appointments to the USFWS Student Career Experience Program (SCEP) program or they could be offered other USFWS employment opportunities, but these future opportunities are not guaranteed under one of these internships.USFWS shall retain final selection and retention authority over each intern nominated for the CIP. A Recipient of award must be willing to make reasonable efforts to fill the funded slots . Proposals received in response to this announcement shall be evaluated based on the following criteria [listed in no particular order of importance or ranking]: Responsiveness to the stated requirements; Responsibility (including specific demonstrated ability to make and administer targeted college student recruitments); Financial wherewithal to conduct this program (including any limitations of applicant s willingness and ability to subsidize or otherwise contribute the balance of the cost of this diversity program in excess of the Midwest Region s $7,500 CIP reimbursement limits whether in cash or in-kind); Applicant s existing connections/ arrangements with source colleges and universities; Academic quality of available students; Sufficient quantity of students from which to choose; Geographical limits, if any, for placing interns anywhere within the Midwest Region; and Methods to be used for recruiting interns and managing the internships. Upon award of a blanket cooperative agreement, USFWS will place Task Orders with the Recipient of award (i.e., the Cooperator) to find and propose qualified candidates for each internship assignment. USFWS station management will work closely with the Recipient of award during the interviewing and selection phases of this process, which must be accomplished in a timely manner so that selected interns can report to their assigned USFWS work stations annually by May 31st of the assignment year. While USFWS will retain final selection/retention rights with regard to all CIP student interns, the Recipient of award will be responsible for finding and screening candidates, and will ensure that applicant students are screened for suitability in the project. Payments by USFWS will only be made upon the successful completion of Task Orders. Completion of Task Orders is defined as USFWS acceptance of eligible candidates referred by Recipient into the USFWS CIP program. No payments will be made for candidates referred but not accepted into the USFWS CIP program.No applicants currently listed in the federal Excluded Parties List System (EPLS) will be eligible for one of these awards, nor may those named individuals and companies otherwise partake in the Midwest Region CIP. Application for this opportunity must be made by an authorized official of the applicant s organization, using federal forms SF424, SF424A and SF424D plus a narrative that sufficiently explains the applicant s ability and willingness to establish and manage this type of diversity-student placement process. Applications must be sent to the attention of Dan Sobieck, Regional SCEP Coordinator, USFWS, 1 Federal Drive, Fort Snelling, MN, 55111 or electronically at Dan_Sobieck@ fws.gov. For more information on this assistance opportunity, contact Dan Sobieck at 612-713-5426. Applications will be due by close of business on February 15, 2008. The Government also reserves the right to reject late applications, and may refuse to consider or evaluate them for award.
