Americorps*VISTA Assignment Description (VAD)

Americorps*VISTA Assignment Description (VAD)

Z Logos Signatures MTCC logos MTCC VISTA jpg

For further information, technical assistance and to submit your completed proposal contact:

Erin Barstow, VISTA Program Manager Email:

Montana Campus CompactPhone: 406-243-5458

020 Davidson Honors CollegeWebsite:

Missoula, MT 59812

PLEASE COMPLETE THIS APPLICATION AND INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING ITEMS TO COMPLETE THIS HOST SITE APPLICATION

Required Supporting Documents:
1)Letter of support from primary project partner: Successful VISTA projects include both a campus partner and community partner. Please submit a letter of support from a community-based partner (if applicant is a campus entity) or campus partner (if applicant is a community entity). Letters should delineate partner roles and responsibilities related to the specific activities outlined in the narrative and VAD. (Note: Special consideration afforded to site applicants who leverage the support of local businesses or for-profit entities).
2)Letter of commitment from Executive Leadership: Prospective host sites must demonstrate organizational commitment to supporting MTCC’s mission and compliance with AmeriCorps VISTA funding guidelines. Campus-based projects should submit a letter from the institution’s CEO, CAO, or campus administrator and non-profit applicants must include a letter of support from a board chair.
3)Memorandum of Understanding (MOU): This agreementdelineatestheterms,conditions,andresponsibilities regardingthe participation ofthe HostSite intheMontana Campus CompactAmeriCorps*VISTA Project.
4)Attachment A: Site Supervisor Agreement
5)Attachment B: Host Site Cost Share Agreement
6)Certification Page: Includes assurances signed by the designated host site representative as well as the partnering campus administrator (CEO, CAO, etc.)

MTCC VISTA RFP Timeline:

October 21st10:00 AM host site webinar

RSVP to by October 20th.

October 31stPriority deadline

Oct 31st - Nov 4thClarification period

November 4rdAward notification/Candidate recruitment begins

January TBAHost site preparation webinar

January 10th, 2017Final offers extended to candidates

January TBA Pre-Service Orientation for members

January 30, 2017Service begins for members!

Priority Submission instructions: All applicationssubmitted to the MTCC network officeby October 31, 2016 will beconsidered a priority placement. Submit the application electronically. Required Supporting Documents mustbe submitted with signatures electronically AND mailed as original hard copies.Submissions turned in after October 31, 2016will be reviewed on a first-come, first-served basis, and funding priority will be given to those whose applications arrive by the deadline.

MTCC VISTA Program Overview

The Montana Campus Compact AmeriCorps VISTA (MTCC VISTA) Program engages campuses – students, faculty and staff – in service to the community, instilling long-term civic engagement habits while making a credible contribution to community life. This Request for Proposal and application provides potential host sites an understanding of what it means to be a MTCC VISTA host site.
As the largest higher education network in Montana, MTCC is committed to making service, service learning, volunteerism, and civic engagement programming available to students, faculty, and staff. MTCC’s current membership includes representation from Montana’s two- year, four-year, public, private, tribal, and community colleges and universities, as well as a state network office located in Missoula.

Montana Campus Compact Mission Statement: The Montana Campus Compact (MTCC) advances the public purposes of colleges and universities by deepening their ability to improve community life and to educate students for civic and social responsibility.

Program Goal Statement: The Montana Campus Compact (MTCC) will provide resources and support to campuses and community partners that seek to improve educational outcomes for economically disadvantaged students and veterans.

MTCC VISTA: MTCC VISTA projects address poverty problems utilizing campus-community partnerships. MTCC VISTA offers organizations and campuses the opportunity to build sustainable infrastructure to address poverty problems. MTCC VISTA utilizes a 6-stage community building lifecycle, which engages students and community members in needs assessment, strategic planning, implementation, and evaluation phases of the project.

MTCC VISTA Project Focuses
K-12 Success and School Readiness
College Access and Success
Veterans and Military Families

The Montana Campus Compact assesses organizational priorities and aligns them with the funder’s priorities to determine the scope of MTCC VISTA programming for the year. The following section outlines MTCC funding priorities for AmeriCorps VISTA projects in the July 2016 - 2017 program year.

MTCC gives priority to host sites proposing campus-community partnerships in the focus areas of Education and Veterans and Military Families. For campus-based projects, this means projects must address poverty-related problems surrounding higher education i.e. support services for economically disadvantaged students to improve post-secondary completion. For community-based projects, this means developing a formal partnership with a local campus; e.g. a local United Way partners with the local higher education institution to leverage college students to serve as tutors in an afterschool program.

EDUCATION: MTCC VISTA will give priority to projects that provide support and/or facilitate access to services and resources that contribute to improved educational outcomes for economically disadvantaged children and veterans.

K-12 Success and School Readiness: Educational and behavioral outcomes of students in low-achieving elementary, middle, and high schools (enhance college readiness in K to 12 educations).
College Access and Success: Preparation for and prospects of success in post-secondary education institutions for economically disadvantaged students (improve college access and retention).

VETERANS AND MILITARY FAMILIES: MTCCVISTA will support projects that either focus specifically on low-income veterans and military families as beneficiaries, or enhance existing projects to begin or better serve low-income veterans and military families. The emphasis this funding cycle is to expand programming in support of National Guard members and their families.

RURAL AND TRIBAL COMMUNITY FOCUS: Rural and tribal communitieshave special consideration when applying under the above criteria.

Examples of MTCC VISTA projects:
  • Create an adult literacy awareness campaign and recruit/train volunteer tutors;

  • Set up a campus veterans center; set up free and affordable afterschool programs;

  • Develop a recruitment campaign for college students to serve with K-12 academic success programs;

  • Expand programs to help low-income families navigate college application/enrollment;

  • Develop a mentoring program for students identified as at-risk of dropping out;

  • Develop systems for organized job shadowing and internship opportunities for students;

  • Create a STEM-based educational outreach for underserved students; and

  • Expand veterans outreach for those returning to education after service.

History of AmeriCorps VISTA

AmeriCorps VISTA is the national service program designed specifically to fight poverty. Authorized in 1964 and founded as Volunteers in Service to America in 1965, VISTAwas incorporated into the AmeriCorps network of programs in 1993 as a part of the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS).

VISTA members commit to serve full-time for one year at nonprofit organizations, local government agencies and higher education institutions, working to fight illiteracy, improve health services, create businesses, strengthen community groups, and much more. With passion, commitment, and hard work, VISTAs create or expand programs designed to bring individuals and communities out of poverty.VISTA projects adhere to the following four principles:

Anti-Poverty Focus: The statutory purpose of VISTA is to support efforts to fight poverty. The goal of every project must be to help individuals and communities out of poverty.
Community Empowerment: Prospective and current VISTA project sponsors must ensure their project engages low-income community residents in planning, developing, implementing, and evaluating the project.
Sustainable Solutions: As directed by Congress, VISTAs are short-term resources that serve to build the long-term sustainability of anti-poverty programs. VISTA projects are developed with a goal to phase out the need for VISTA members.
Capacity Building: VISTA projects leverage resources or expand the scale, reach, efficiency and effectiveness of programs or organizations that fight poverty. Rather than providing direct services to low-income individuals and communities, VISTAs strengthen and support organizations by building infrastructure and expanding community resources.

MTCC VISTA Host Sites

Campuses, community organizations and governmental agencies serve as host sites to design and lead a project within the MTCC VISTA framework. Host sites support the VISTA member before, during and after that member’s term of service. This section outlines host site responsibilities, expectations, and benefits.

Host Site Supervision:

As part of the ongoing development of a host site, supervision of the VISTA member is assigned to the host site. This will ensure the project progresses toward its stated objectives. Meetings between VISTA members and their Site Supervisors should occur on a weekly basis, and likely more oftenearly in the member’s service.

Office Space and Equipment:
Host Sites are required to provide the VISTA member with a computer, internet access, phone, voicemail, and other necessary office supplies.
See MOU (posted on website) for more detail.
  • A full-time staff member must be assigned to supervise the VISTA member, dedicating 5% - 10% of their time to the VISTA project.
  • The site supervisor will meet regularly with the VISTA member, formally and informally, and
  • Will provide program assistance and professional mentoring.
  • The site supervisor should have previous supervision experience and be willing and able to serve as both a mentor and supervisor.
  • The site supervisor is required to attend the Site Supervisor Training at the beginning of the VISTA term (exact date: TBA).
  • The site supervisor is to attend all required trainings and events included in the annual MTCC VISTA Program Year Calendar,
  • Participate in regular site visits, calls and check-ins from the MTCC network office, and
  • In the event that the designated site supervisor is no longer able to hold the position, the host site is responsible for designating a replacement site supervisor.

Expectations of MTCC VISTA host sites: / Benefits of Hosting a VISTA:
Ensure the campus-community partnership described in the project application is vigorously pursued / Build organizational capacity to address poverty problems
Assist with Recruitment: interview and select their VISTA member / Engage community members in strategic planning process
Understand that once selected, the VISTA member cannot be replaced for any reason / Leverage resources to assist community problem solving
Assure VISTA member attendance at MTCC events and service days / Expand financial resources to assist with grassroots anti-poverty work
Assist the VISTA member with free or low-cost housing, if possible / Expand campus-sponsored student volunteerism
Provide a vehicle, if available, to allow the VISTA to attend program training / Create service-learning and research opportunities for students and faculty
Complete all reporting requirements by assigned deadlines / Participate in a national movement to renew the public purposes of higher education
Execute MOU and Site Supervisor agreement
Pay host site participation fees

Financial Requirements:

The Montana Campus Compact provides awarded host organizations a human resource (in the form of a VISTA) to develop the capacity of campuses and community partners to address poverty in the community.

MTCC is the recipient of a VISTA grant that provides the budget for a portion (approximately 75%) of the costs to place VISTAs. The remainder of the budget is the responsibility of host sites. As a result, host sites are required to pay a cash host site participation fee. This fee, billed either all at once or quarterly, directly supports program operations (via member living allowances, training and administration). For more information, email Josh Vanek, MTCC Associate Director at

MTCC administers the biweekly VISTApay (called “living allowance”); provides relocation funds for members; facilitates pre-service orientation, in-service and close-of-service training; manages reporting systems and reporting to the federal funder; administers end-of-service stipends and end-of-service benefit elections; manages the member recruitment process; provides coaching resources and training to site supervisors and VISTAs; and provides ongoing technical support for members and site supervisors.

MTCC VISTA Assignment Description

THE VAD BREAKDOWN:
Address how VISTA resources will:
Move individuals and communities out of poverty
Support organizations’ efforts in the community
Increase the number of clients served
Improve or increase the number of services provided
Build capacity

The VISTA Assignment Description (VAD) closely follows the community building lifecycle, a tried and true method of engaging the community in antipoverty work to ensure long-term sustainability of initiatives. The outline below is the roadmap for the work that the VISTA member will complete during their service year. Note: different projects will likely be at different stages in the Community Building Lifecycle and not all steps will be utilized during one project year.

Please use this as a guide to develop your VAD. Develop long-term and short-term objectives and activities for the VISTA member to complete throughout the service year. Be as descriptive as possibleand attach numeric values to objectives and activities.

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THE VAD GOAL STATEMENT MUST ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:
What is the community need that the organization is trying to resolve and why?
When the issue is resolved, what will the result look like? What will success look like?
Which changes (if any) were made in order to achieve success in resolving this issue?
What capacity was built to assist in resolving the issue? Must be stated specifically, i.e. amount of funds to be generated, number of volunteers to be recruited, etc.; what will this capacity allow your organization to do?
Will this increase/improve services to clients? What services were added and/or how were they improved?
How will this help move people out of poverty?

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HOST SITE READINESS ASSESSMENT

The following section is to provide prospective host sites a quick assessment of preparedness for hosting an MTCC VISTA. This tool evaluates a potential site’s capacity, priority alignment, service-position type and resources available to host a VISTA member.
Select ‘YES’ or ‘NO’ for the following statements and write down any thoughts regarding your responses.
We have clearly identified a problem such as improve graduation or completion rates or increasing the number of first generation college students enrolling and succeeding in college, (etc.) and have some data or expert opinion to support our beliefs: / Yes / No
The need we have identified relates primarily to education or veterans and military families, or a large portion of the work we’re planning to undertake involves one of these two focuses: / Yes / No
We are committed to a methodical, community-driven approach to addressing this problem: / Yes / No
We have organized a group of stakeholders, including those affected by the problem: / Yes / No
We have thought about ways to address this problem, e.g. developing a mentor program: / Yes / No
IF A COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY IS APPLYING: We have plans for partnering with our local community so our work is broadly supported: / Yes / No
IF A NONPROFIT, SCHOOL OR GOVERNMENT AGENCY IS APPLYING: We have plans for involving the local campus in the response to the problem e.g. college student volunteers as mentors: / Yes / No
We have identified a staff member and dedicated 5-10% of their time to locally supervise a VISTA: / Yes / No
We have available work space (i.e. a computer, phone, desk, etc.) to sufficiently support a full-time VISTA: / Yes / No
We have funding available to support hiring a VISTA: / Yes / No
If all “Yes” - You are ready to go! Now is the chance to set your VISTA project up for success. A thorough, thoughtful application is the first step toward laying the groundwork for your VISTA project.
If mostly “Yes” - Consider how you may move all responses to ‘Yes’, particularly those questions concerning organizational capacity (supervision, workspace, funding). It is imperative that a host site be ready when the VISTA arrives on site. Work with your staff and local campus to ensure preparedness for an MTCC VISTA.
If mostly “No” - Carefully consider if MTCC VISTA is the right fit for your project at this time. Discuss with MTCC staff the minimum requirements for a first year project. MTCC recruits VISTA host sites on an annual basis and is continually seeking new partners.

January2017VISTAHost Site Application

Priority Deadline: October 31, 2016.Applications are reviewed upon submission, therefore applying before the deadline may ensure that finite grant resources are still available.

Please complete the following information and submitas a Word Document to itrequired Supporting Documents with signatures electronically AND via mail with original signatures.

Part I: APPLICATION SUMMARY & PRIORITIES
Organization Name: / Click here to enter text. / Site Supervisor: / Click here to enter text. /
Organization EIN: / Click here to enter text. / Title: / Click here to enter text. /
Project Title: / Click here to enter text. / E-Mail Address: / Click here to enter text. /
Physical Address: / Click here to enter text. / Phone Number: / Click here to enter text. /
Mailing Address: / Click here to enter text. / City, State, zip+4: / Click here to enter text. /
Website: / Click here to enter text. / Partnering MTCC Institution:
(full list at ) / Click here to enter text. /
Community where VISTA will serve: / Click here to enter text. /
# of VISTA Members Requested: / Click here to enter text. / Project Period: / January 2017 –2018
Organization Description (200 characters): / Click here to enter text. /
Application Type: / MTCC Affiliate
$6,250 / Non-Affiliate
$8,350 / Non-Competing
$12,000
MTCC Affiliate: Any MTCC dues-paying campus is a ‘MTCC Affiliate’. The campus must be current on Annual dues to qualify. Please see a full list here. The VISTA service site must be located on a campus to qualify for the affiliate rate.
Non-Affiliate: Non-affiliate campuses, community organizations or governmental agencies/departments. The additional $2,000 admin fee assessed to cover the costs of program administration.
Non-Competing: Any campus, community organization or governmental agency/department that wishes to cover the total cost of the member living allowance and remove their application from the standard competitive review process may apply as a ‘non-competing’ host site. The non-competing placement will receive a VISTA member as long as the MTCC and CNCS requirements alignwithin the project application.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR FILLING OUT THE HOST SITE APPLICATION:

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