1. APPLICATION PANEL CHAIR ORIENTATION 2015Community Economic Development (CED) 2015 CED- Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI) Grant Application Review Division of Community Discretionary Programs Office of Community Services

2. Purpose & Goals Panel Chairs will understand: Panel Roles & Expectations Panel Management for Panel Chairs Panel Summary Report (PSR) development & review Key resources 2

3. Agenda Panel Chair Roles & Expectations Panel Facilitation & Management Panel Summary Report (PSR) Development Panel Chair Logistics Review of Resources 3

4. PANEL CHAIR ROLES & EXPECTATIONS

5. Panel Chair Responsibilities Coordinate with SAM to establish schedule Facilitate panel kick-off Review applications Ensure panel members comply with guidelines Ensure panel members actively engaged Compile reviewer comments into PSR Ensure PSR adheres to guidelines Guide panel members to revise scores and/or comments Communicate regularly with SAM Address comments from SAM/PAM 5

6. Panel Chair Expectations Coordinate with SAM immediately (within one day of review start) Conduct panel kick-off call immediately (after SAM call) Respond to messages daily (including weekends and evenings) Establish schedule and communicate to panel and SAM (within two days) Notify SAM about conflicts or issues Update SAM daily Work with panel to complete and submit PSR Address SAM/PAM comments, resubmit PSR (within two days) Maintain confidentiality of applications and process 6

7. Additional Guidance Toolkit Resources: OCS Application Review Process Map http://www.reviewerrecruitment.net/reviewerinfo/ocs/downlo ads/CED/Application%20Review%20Process%20Flow.pdf Roles and Responsibilities for Panel Members, Panel Chairs, SAMs, and PAMs http://www.reviewerrecruitment.net/reviewerinfo/ocs/downloads/CED/Role s%20and%20Responsibilities%20Relationships%20Guide.pdf 7

8. PANEL MANAGEMENT FOR PANEL CHAIRS

9. First Panel Meeting Prepare for first panel meeting with SAM During meeting: Introduce yourself and get acquainted Establish schedule and exchange phone numbers Discuss member challenges (if any) to full participation Remind members to review FOA Remind members to review other relevant resources Define rules for discussion Establish time limits for each discussion Identify and resolve potential conflicts of interest Go over schedule for completing review and receive affirmations of commitment to complete review 9

10. Facilitating Panel Meeting Set meeting tone and direction Ask open ended questions Watch group dynamics, address challenges immediately Ask reviewers to expand on comments to facilitate further discussion Practice problem solving and consensus building Develop panel summary report as a team Summarize points discussed Remind the group about pre-set time limits Reiterate panel objective and goals 10

11. Building Consensus & Managing Conflict Consensus building: Good-faith effort to meet interests of all members General agreement to accept final outcome When conflict arises: Diffuse pressure by looking for commonalities in discussion Ask person to support their comments with specific citations in this application only Remind member that reaching consensus is a Panel requirement Ask SAM for help 11

12. Building Consensus & Managing Conflict Include all panel members: Direct questions to more reserved members Ask more dominant members to “hold their thought” Assign a panelist as a “discussion starter” for each application Communicate with dominators or quiet members separately Relatively easy to replace a reviewer, especially early in the process 12

13. The Panel’s Comments Remind Reviewers that comments should be: Based ONLY on criteria in the program announcement Specific, detailed, and concise Consistent with individual reviewer’s scores Evaluative and constructive Remember, applicants will use them to strengthen their applications Written in complete sentences with proper grammar 13

14. PANEL SUMMARY REPORT (PSR) DEVELOPMENT & REVIEW FOR PANEL CHAIRS

15. PSR Development PSR produced inside ARM system PSR is an important tool for making and justifying funding decisions Thorough and well-written assessment of application May be reviewed by Congress or staff Two areas of focus: Content Quality 15

16. PSR Content PSR addresses each of the FOA criteria and subcriteria PSR accurately reflects panel’s review Guidance: Reviewers and Panel Chairs must read FOA and understand intent, design, and nuances of the Program Scoring and comment form for each criterion is included in Application Review Module (ARM) Checklist of FOA Evaluation Criteria and Subcriteria available to Reviewers and Panel Chairs to facilitate review 16

17. FOA Criteria and Sub-criteria Checklist Excerpt from toolkit resource: 17

18. Ex: Objectives & Need for Assistance 18

19. Criteria Critical To Project Success Criteria that address financial viability Project Viability Project Implementation Financial Strategies Budget and Budget Justification Guide your panel in looking for: Clear and reasonable request for CED funds Cost per job requirements clearly met Financial feasibility clear, thus ensuring sustainable jobs will be created All sources of funding (CED and non-CED) clearly identified 19

20. PSR Quality Panel member input PSR scores PSR comments PSR document quality PSR style guide Toolkit Resource: Checklist for Reviewing the Panel Summary Reports (PSRs) http://www.reviewerrecruitment.net/reviewerinfo/ocs/downloads/CED/Checklis t%20for%20Reviewing%20the%20PSR.pdf 20

21. Panel Member Input Chair’s responsibilities Comments reflects a thorough review Scores commensurate with comments Chair checklist for each panel member Full points = no weaknesses Zero points = no strengths Weigh scores and comments Full range of points SAM’s responsibility = confirm with chair PAM’s responsibility = confirm with SAM * Toolkit Resource: Checklist for Reviewing the Panel Summary Reports (PSRs) 21

22. PSR Scores 22

23. PSR Scores Scores reflect application’s overall strength or weakness Review the scores and comments Review the application Panel has general consensus Modest variation possible (and desired): 4 points for 20 point criterion 3 points for 15 point criterion 2 points for 10 point criterion 2 points for 5 point criterion Example of unacceptable scoring range: * Toolkit Resource: Checklist for Reviewing the Panel Summary Reports (PSRs) 23

24. PSR Scores (cont) Variation may include mix of zero and non-zero scores, or perfect and non-perfect scores * Toolkit Resource: Checklist for Reviewing the Panel Summary Reports (PSRs) 24

25. PSR Comments Relevant comment Addresses FOA criteria, sub-criteria, requirement Belongs to the section Separate statements for strengths and weaknesses Each sub-criterion, at least one comment Duplicative Multiple comments per criterion okay, but must be distinct One comment should not appear under more than one criterion Constructive Factual – evidence from application Objective – no opinions or inappropriate comments Specific – no combining of subcriteria statements Toolkit Resource: Checklist of FOA Evaluation Criteria and Subcriteria http://www.reviewerrecruitment.net/reviewerinfo/ocs/downloads/CED/Checklist%20for%20FOA %20Evaluation%20Criteria.pdf * Toolkit Resource: Checklist for Reviewing the Panel Summary Reports (PSRs) 25

26. PSR Document Quality Final document One voice Well-written Summary of the application General statement about application quality, applicant and project information, amount requested, project summary Under Objectives and Need for Assistance section Page number citation Consistent Applicant reference Chair as Editor Revise comments Consolidate, separate comments Contribute to report * Toolkit Resource: Checklist for Reviewing the Panel Summary Reports (PSRs) 26

27. PSR Style Guide Proofreading Spelling, grammar, punctuation Formatting Page citations Multiple page numbers separated by commas (e.g., 1, 3, 17) Page ranges hyphenated (e.g., 16-20) If no citation available, use NA No symbols, “pg”, “pp”, “page”, etc. Acronyms (spell out first time only) Numbers (spell out 1 – 9) Symbols Panel should not copy/paste text from Word Use Notepad to copy/paste text * Toolkit Resource: Checklist for Reviewing the Panel Summary Reports (PSRs) 27

28. TOOLKIT RESOURCES & WRAP-UP

29. Resources Overview Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs) for CED and CED-HFFI OCS Application Review Process Map Roles and Responsibilities for Panel Members, Panel Chairs, SAMs, and PAMs Communication and Coordination Kick-off Call Agenda template Contact Information template Schedule/Timeline template Application Review and Panel Summary Report Checklist of FOA Evaluation Criteria and Subcriteria Panel member and Panel Chair training slides Checklist for Reviewing the Panel Summary Reports (PSRs) ARM System ARM System training 29

30. Wrap Up & Next Steps Read and understand FOAs Review Application Review Toolkit & resources available at: CED: www.reviewerrecruitment.net/reviewerinfo/ocs/ced.html CED-HFFI: www.reviewerrecruitment.net/reviewerinfo/ocs/cedhffi.html Respond to SAM request for kick-off call Schedule panel kick-off call Review all assigned applications Get comfortable with ARM system Thank you! 30

31. Questions? Contact the OCS Grant Review Team OCS@reviewops.org 31