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Request for Proposals
For: JFK University Professional Development Program – Diversity Certificate to Enhance Cultural
Competence
Issued: February 17, 2017
Submission Deadline: April 3, 2017
Question Period: March 6-10, 2017
Statement of Purpose: As a Hispanic-Serving Institution and a Title V grant recipient, JFK University
has a specific grant objective to improve and bring forward new methodology and pedagogy in its
curriculum that provides instruction reflective of cultural competence and inclusion to serve an
increasingly-diverse student body. The University’s campuses are located within the nine-county Bay
Area that encompasses a rapidly-growing Latino population which is reflected in our students. The
Diversity Certificate will serve as a catalyst for change that enhances the knowledge, skills and
awareness of all core faculty and full-time staff through professional development activities to learn
more about serving Hispanic and underserved students. This objective is aligned with JFK
University’s Commitment to Diversity and the University’s initiative to expand cultural competence
to support diverse perspectives of learning and enhance all University interactions with students.
The diversity certificate will serve to address the stated, specific outcome of the HSI grant as well as
serve as a key component of a larger, University, diversity initiative.
Background Information:
John F. Kennedy University offers programs on three campuses in the greater San Francisco Bay
area: Pleasant Hill, San Jose, and Berkeley - each with its own character. Undergraduate, Graduate
and Doctoral degree programs are available within our three colleges: College of Law, College
of Business and Professional Studies, and College of Psychology and Holistic Studies.
Classes are offered in the late afternoons, evenings, and some mornings and weekends with each
course meeting once a week, so students can manage work, family, and other commitments while
earning their degrees. An increasing number of online offerings are available. The average student
age is 37 and the majority of the student body is female. John F. Kennedy University - Community,
Teaching Philosophy, Hands-on Experience,
John F. Kennedy University –Grants Received:
Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) Grant : Qualifying as a Hispanic Serving Institution with a
minimum of 25% Latina/o undergraduate students, the University is focused on retaining and
graduating the Latina/o and underserved undergraduate students, reflective of the nine-county Bay
Area demographic, as the focus of the HSI Title V grant awarded by the U.S. Department of
Education in October, 2015.
RFP: JFK University Diversity Certificate to Enhance Cultural Competence
Award #: P031S50009 Funded by the U.S. Dept. of Education – Feb. 16, 2017
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A U.S. Department of Education Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) grant
awarded October, 2015 funds the University’s VALOR Center (Veteran Academic Ladder for
Opportunity and Resiliency). The VALOR Center serves as a centralized point providing a broad range
of support services to Veterans throughout their academic careers at the University.
A U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Grant provides internship stipends to MA
Counseling Psychology MFT students to encourage training of individuals from diverse cultures and
backgrounds as mental health professionals and to support enhanced services to marginalized
communities. The HRSA stipends were awarded to students in both the Counseling Psychology MFT
and Counseling Psychology Holistic programs who were enrolled in their practicum at any one of the
three JFKU Community Counseling Centers in Concord, Oakland and Sunnyvale.
Challenges and Opportunities:
The grant also provides for the creation of the Undergraduate Success Center opened July 20, 2016,
which serves as a central resource for students by providing bilingual (English and Spanish) advising
to complement existing services for Latina/o, underrepresented and undergraduate students along
with bilingual tutoring and mentoring services. Various University surveys demonstrated students’
need for such services to help them succeed and persist in bachelor-degree completion. A needbased lending library of electronic equipment (laptops, tablets and digital recorders) is available to
ensure this student population has access to the tools needed to thrive in their academic careers
and complete their degree in a timely manner. Until the advent of the Center, these resources were
not available and made attending the University challenging, from both economic and support
perspectives.
Additionally, the Center serves to promote and share awareness of Latina/o culture and that of
other minority groups, not only within the undergraduate student population, but with students
from the graduate and doctoral programs, the faculty and staff, and the community. As such, the
Center is breaking ground through educational and cultural programming activities related to
awareness of Latina/o issues and culture. For instance, a Latino Speaker Series in its second year is
broaching topics from Latinas/os on finance, educational and social advocacy, as well as social
entrepreneurism for undocumented students. Including these topics and experiences are significant
for the University, which has not focused on specific initiatives targeting Latina/o students’ needs on
campus until now. As such, the Center is collaborating with the Diversity Council and the Diversity
Officer to continuously improve and strengthen the campus climate around issues of diversity and
inclusion.
This paradigm shift is more challenging given that only 4% of the University’s current faculty is
representative of Latino populations and that the rising proportion of Latina/o undergraduate
students is not represented in the proportion of faculty and staff of color. In this context, training on
diversity issues becomes an imperative to ensure an inclusive learning environment and the use of
techniques and methods to support teaching, advising and interactions with students that respond
to the culturally-specific needs of the University’s diverse student body.
RFP: JFK University Diversity Certificate to Enhance Cultural Competence
Award #: P031S50009 Funded by the U.S. Dept. of Education – Feb. 16, 2017
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The development of the diversity certificate to enhance cultural competence is driven as a specific
outcome of the professional development objective contained within the HSI Grant. Grant outcomes
will be institutionalized into the University. The diversity certificate is aligned with the broader
University objective to provide opportunities for professional development for its faculty and staff.
Scope of Work: Create a diversity certificate program for all of the University’s employees (core
faculty and full-time staff, 48 and 90 respectively, per the October 1, 2015 baseline at the start of
the grant.)
As part of a sustainable, University, diversity initiative that supports the HSI grant outcomes and the
University’s commitment to professional development and diversity:
 Develop course content with accompanying facilitator and participant materials
 Have a pilot ready to conduct no later than September 1, 2017 and present to a small group
before September 28, 2017
 Facilitate an initial, on-site, Pleasant Hill, CA area, session to the University’s full- and part-time
employees in the Fall of 2017
 Conduct an on-site train-the-trainer session with 10 University employees
The diversity certificate will comprise content relevant to faculty and to staff. For faculty, it will
enhance their understanding of students’ cultural orientation and how best they learn, interact and
relate to add value to course content when interacting with students in both onsite and online
learning environments. For staff, an enhanced understanding of students’ cultural orientation will
support their interactions with students, whether in-person, by phone or via email. The course
content should encompass experiential learning with opportunities to transfer knowledge into initial
practice sessions. Blended learning with hybrid modality is encouraged as it is reflective of the
majority of courses offered by the University and will enhance certificate participants’ insight on the
student learning experience. The intent of the train-the-trainer session is to prepare a group of
University employees as facilitators to conduct ongoing sessions of the training to include the
adjunct faculty.
Opportunity for Questions:
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Questions pertaining to this RFP will be accepted from March 6-10, 2017 by phone, mail or
Skype session with Marcey Vasumpaur, Activity Director, Undergraduate Success Center, JFK
University and Dr. Benisa Berry, Diversity Officer, JFK University. Please contact Marcey
Vasumpaur at [email protected] 925.969.3537 to set an appointment between 9 am and
5 pm Pacific time within that week.
RFP Due Date:
RFP due: April 3, 2017
RFP: JFK University Diversity Certificate to Enhance Cultural Competence
Award #: P031S50009 Funded by the U.S. Dept. of Education – Feb. 16, 2017
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Email to [email protected]
Mail to:
John F. Kennedy University
Attn: M. Vasumpaur Room S228
100 Ellinwood Way
Pleasant Hill, CA 94523-4817
The submission of a proposal implies general acceptance on the part of the bidder of the terms of
this form of contract, and especially of those parts establishing warranties, guarantees and JFK
University’s rights to intellectual property. In addition, all aspects of the proposed work must
comply with JFK University’s standards.
Evaluation and Award Process: All completed bids received by April 3, 2017, will be reviewed by
the Evaluation Committee. The three finalists will make a presentation either onsite, if local to the
San Francisco Bay Area, or via Skype to the Evaluating Committee no later than May 5, 2017. The
vendor awarded the contract will be notified by certified letter and the other two finalists by email
no later than close of business, May 15, 2017. All other bidders will be notified by email no later
than the close of business, April 24, 2017.
RFP: JFK University Diversity Certificate to Enhance Cultural Competence
Award #: P031S50009 Funded by the U.S. Dept. of Education – Feb. 16, 2017