The U.S. Departments Of Education, HHS, And Justice Are Currently Seeking Qualified Peer Reviewers

The U.S. Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, and Justice are currently seeking qualified peer reviewers to read and evaluate grant applications that will be submitted under the Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative grant competition.?

Reviewers selected by the Departments will read and evaluate 6* grant applications, post scores and comments online, and participate in three mandatory conference calls.? This review is scheduled to include two rounds:?

Round One: The first round will occur from June 21 through July 2, 2007, with three mandatory conference calls scheduled for:?????

1. Monday, June 25, 2007 from 1:00pm-3:00pm OR 3:30pm-5:30pm (ET)
2. Wednesday, June 27, 2007 from 1:00pm-3:00pm OR 3:30pm-5:30pm(ET)
3. Friday, June 29, 2007 from 1:00pm-3:00pm OR 3:30pm-5:30pm (ET)

Round Two: The second round will occur from July 5 through July 16, 2007, with three mandatory conference calls scheduled for:???

1. Monday, July 9, 2007 from 1:00pm-3:00pm OR 3:30pm-5:30pm (ET)
2. Wednesday, July 11, 2007 from 1:00pm-3:00pm OR 3:30pm-5:30pm (ET)
3. Friday, July 13, 2007 from 1:00pm-3:00pm OR 3:30pm-5:30pm (ET)

In anticipation of this review, the Departments are requesting prospective reviewers to send an e-mail message indicating interest and a copy of their current resume to Jane Hodgdon-Young at the Department of Education in the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools (OSDFS) at Jane.Hodgdon@ed.gov.? In an e-mail message, please indicate availability for the first or second round of reviews, or both.

Current Resume: The resume should include the reviewer?s area(s) of expertise (see below); preferred address and telephone number to be used for the review (including receipt of Fed Ex package); and preferred email address.? If selected as a peer reviewer, we will request the reviewer?s social security number for payment, but for security purposes please do not include it with your resume.

Areas of Expertise: Qualified reviewers for this grant competition MUST have expertise and experience in at least one of the following areas: comprehensive, collaborative planning; law enforcement; juvenile justice; mental health; early childhood development; school-community partnerships; alcohol, tobacco, other drug and violence prevention and early intervention; social and emotional learning; program management; or evaluation of community or school-based programs.?

Required Trainings: Prospective reviewers must fully participate in two trainings to be considered for the review.? The first training is the U.S. Department of Education E-Reader on-line peer review platform.? The E-Reader training will be offered on the following dates:

1. May 16, 2007 from 2:00pm-3:00pm (ET)
2. May 23, 2007 from 2:00pm-3:00pm (ET)
3. May 30, 2007 from 2:00pm-3:00pm (ET)

If a potential reviewer has already taken the 2007 Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools E-Reader Training, it does not need to be repeated.? Simply inform us of the date on which the training was completed.

The second required training is the 2007 Safe Schools/Healthy Students Peer Reviewer Training.? This on-line training will cover the logistics of peer review and the 2007 Safe Schools/Healthy Students grant application.? The training is scheduled to go live on Friday, May 25, 2007, and a link to the training will be available on the Safe Schools/Healthy Students web site: www.sshs.samhsa.gov.

Confirmation of reviewers is based on the number of applications received, appropriate mix of reviewers' qualifications, availability, and other factors.

Conflict of Interest: Please be aware that if you were involved in the writing of an FY 2007 application or are named in an application that is submitted under this competition, and would have a financial interest if the project were funded, you have a conflict of interest and may not participate as a peer reviewer under this grant competition.

The honorarium for reviewing 6* applications, according to the established review schedule, is $800.

If you have any questions or need additional information about this peer reviewer opportunity, please send an e-mail message to Jane.Hodgdon@ed.gov, referencing Potential Peer Reviewer (84.184L) in the subject line.

*We anticipate that each panel will be assigned 6 applications; however, the peer review?s signed agreement will allow for reading up to 7 applications in the event that a panel must be assigned an additional application.