University of California

california institute for energy and environment

Request for Qualifications: Technical Editors - CIEE TEA-2008

Introduction

On behalf of the California Energy Commission’s Public Interest Energy Research (PIER) Program, the California Institute for Energy and Environment (CIEE), The Regents of the University of California (The Regents) are seeking qualified Technical Report Editors. 

Energy Commission’s PIER program focuses on a broad cross-section of energy and environmental research, development and demonstration (RD&D) projects. More information about the Energy Commission’s PIER Program can be found on their website: http://www.energy.ca.gov/pier/

The selected organization  will work as an independent contractor (IRS definition, and not as an employee of the University of California or the California Energy Commission). Technical Editors will work with UC and the PIER Project Managers editing reports and facilitating the report production cycle.  Each report will have to meet a unique set of requirements (format requirements, schedule) and will involve a unique set of stakeholders (such as research team - who produced the report) and a different CEC project manager.

For each assignment the technical editor will need to clarify task assignments, including objectives and goals, approach, output/products, format requirements, timeframe for completion, and identify all stakeholders (CEC departments, CEC employees, research contractor employees, etc) whose combined efforts need to be coordinated by the technical editor. The technical editor should have the ability to understand the technical aspects of the reports being edited, and be able to insure that the writing is technically accurate.

DEADLINE FOR RECEIPT OF YOUR SUBMISSION:

5:00 PM Pacific Time, April 18, 2008

At this time, we are seeking qualified individuals or teams with one or more of the following preferred attributes, or competences (including experience or recognized credentials) to work as a technical editor:

1. Ability to collaborate with and work at the direction of a large and varied stakeholder group, assist in the development of consensus, and fully incorporate stakeholder input into technical report editing
2. Ability to write clearly and understandably, especially to targeted audience.
3. Self -Organized and Self - Managing

Responses to will be posted on the Technical Editor Question and Answer web page

Tasks & Responsibilities:

Task 1:  Technical report review and editing

The Technical Editor  will assist UC and the PIER staff in reviewing and editing various reports required in the RD&D Programs. As part of this activity, the UC Editor may be required to attend workshops, meetings, and participate in special project activities.   The reviews may occur during all phases of report preparation from developing the initial draft up to and including the approval of final reports for public release.

Project reports are edited to attain compliance with the appropriate PIER report style manual, prior to their publication by the California Energy Commission. Several different types of reports are anticipated (see below). We have also provided current references to the current version of the style manual for each report type. The style manual is constantly evolving and the technical editor must keep abreast of changes.

1.      Research Project Technical Final Report (Style Manual: CEC-500-2006-006-REV2 PIER Manual.pdf) –

2.      Research Project Summary (Summaries are often completely constructed by the technical editor, requiring that the technical editor perform research on specific topics and projects.);

3.      Staff Reports (Style Manual: CEC-180-2008-001.pdf) such as a research strategic and tactical plan (known as a roadmap),

4.      Consultant Reports (Style Manual: CEC-180-2008-002.pdf)

5.      Technical papers including reports to the legislature or the governor’s office, and

6.   Competitive Solicitations

Task 2:  Facilitation of Report Production Process.

The Technical Editor will need to take responsibility for attaining progress in the production process. This requires coordination and communication with CEC and project stakeholders. The CEC report production process is outlined in Table 1, attached. The technical editor will be responsible specifically for tasks 4, 13, 19, 20 and 21 of the process for each report. The technical editor will also be responsible for collecting ‘peer review’ comments (when conducted) and working with the report author to address these as well as any other editorial comments. In addition, the editor will need to work closely with all individuals responsible for the successor tasks – to insure that their effort and timing meets the successor task needs.

Task 3: Administration

The technical editor will also be required to perform some administrative functions, including:

• Attend Kick-off and any other coordination meetings requested by the UC or CEC
• Provide periodic reports (with invoices) describing project reports addressed in a particular reporting period
• Provide UC copies of all reports that have completed the editing process.
• Track your level of effort by individual project report, as it proceeds through the production cycle.

Eligibility

All individuals are allowed to respond to this request for qualifications.  (Please note that because CIEE is administering these Subcontracts, some UC personnel may require specific authorizations from their department to participate.)

DEADLINE FOR RECEIPT OF YOUR SUBMISSION:

5:00 PM Pacific Time, April 18, 2008

Schedule

An award is anticipated for this RFQ between July 2008 and September 2008 and the award is expected to last one (1) year. UC will utilize a contract to engage the technical editor;  the prototype Terms & Conditions are:

1. Prototype Contract
    

No work is to be performed until a fully executed agreement is received by the technical editor.

Submission (not to exceed 10 pages (single-spaced) inclusive of all requirements below)

Please send your application electronically with the following material, by 5:00PM April 18th, 2008:

• Cover page TITLE PAGE
• Statement of Qualifications
• Resume/ Curriculum Vitae for all named principal investigator(s) (A maximum of two pages per person)
• Requested Rates - include hourly rates (only and not expected hours) for each key personnel in the tasks outlined above and any other requirements (such as equipment, travel) that you anticipate.  This information should be submitted in this format: Budget Template, Budget Template Instruction. Effort level will be limited to 50% time for sole proprietorships

 Also, please note that questions asked by potential respondents will be posted (anonymously) with a CIEE response on Technical Editor Question and Answer web page

Responses to will be posted on the Technical Editor Question and Answer web page

CIEE does not require an original hardcopy version of your qualifications submittal. Your authorized institutional representative should email your completed submission to Brad.Niess@ucop.edu  with the following statement in the subject line of the email:

 [organization’s name] Qualifications, Technical Editor RFQ (CIEE-TEA-2008).

We do request that you also forward a copy of the signed Title Page that includes the appropriate signatures. You may provide this signed version as either a PDF (to the submission) or as a separate fax or mail a hardcopy (see contact information in the Technical Editor checklist).

DEADLINE FOR RECEIPT OF YOUR SUBMISSION:

5:00 PM Pacific Time, April 18, 2008