Headed for the ditch?
Geoff Daily (over at App-Rising) has been blogging about this BTOP process and I agree with him. Here's the lead from his latest post (click HERE to read the whole thing):
Over the weekend I learned something about NTIA's handling of BTOP that shook me to the core: last week they dumped all of their applications onto states without conducting any initial review to weed out ineligible projects or including any guidelines to help frame how states should go about making their recommendations.
While there's a chance they're going to announce an initial round of cuts today, I'm not optimistic given that the volunteer reviewers I know haven't been asked to do anything yet.
And while they're supposed to give guidelines to states this week, I'm not sure how those guidelines can overcome the many problems with relying on states to play a primary role in deciding who gets what. For one, most states don't have any formal decision-making process or the in-house tech or business expertise to enable them to pick the right projects. For two, few if any states have thoroughly read and tried to understand the NOFA, so they're not ready to pick the best projects relative to the original rules that were set out. Three, there's no end to the potential conflicts of interest that could negatively influence a state's recommendations, including the fact that some states have put in their own applications.
If I'm being brutally honest then I can't help but admit feeling like NTIA dumping these applications on states is a sign that they're punting, that they'd rather someone else make the tough decisions, and that they're positioning themselves to be able to deflect blame to the states if any bad projects end up getting funded.
I'm starting to get the same feeling, especially given I haven't heard a peep from the BTOP folks since I went through my initial reviewer-training webinar a week or so ago. Geoff and I had breakfast together a few weeks ago and he included some of my ideas in an earlier post on the same subject (click HERE to read the whole post). Here's a bit of what we talked about that rainy morning in Minneapolis:
My first concern about this review process doesn't stem from a blog post of Mike's but something he told me during a face-to-face meeting, namely how they're vetting reviewers to avoid conflicts of interest. Apparently all that Mike knows they've done so far is have him sign a piece of paper claiming he has no conflicts. There doesn't appear to be any other serious vetting going on of him.
Even if there is, I can't help be concerned that a reviewer would be totally unaware that it's going on, plus there's the matter of thoroughly vetting the thousand people who signed up to volunteer taking some significant time, and yet it appears as though they're either not doing anything or haven't started doing anything, both of which are troubling.
Many have been critical of using an all-volunteer army from the get go as it seems wide open to attempts to game the system, plus it can be a challenge to make sure that not only do the volunteers not have conflicts of interest, but also that they're competent.
But there are other issues with using volunteers that Mike brings up. Like how many hours in how short of a window of time are volunteers expected to invest in this process? He's heard 30-40 hours, but will he have a month to put that time in or a week? I don't think we can expect volunteers to devote full-time work to this, and yet stretching it out means the review process will drag on. Also, what support will reviewers have during odd hours like nights and weekends, which is likely when many of the will be working through these applications?
But none of this is what has me worried the most. What worries me more than anything is that after Mike went through an introductory orientation webinar on Aug 28th, he has not heard from NTIA since then. He has no idea if the review process has started yet. If he's made the final cut of reviewers. If a pile of applications is in the mail on its way to him as I type this. Nothing.
And yet a quick glance at the calendar shows that NTIA's supposed to have some initial recommendations to pass on to states for their input on Monday. That's four days from now.
So there you have it. My status? Silence. I haven't a clue.
What is clearly true is that we have, at least I have, no idea what's going on. But from posts here on Mike's blog and from general comments -- something is happening. Some people are getting apps to review, something is going to the states, and some of us (Mike, me, others) get trained and nothing more so far. I think one of the confusions is that the dates (like BIP's stage one 9-14 notification date for stage two) are getting confused with BTOP dates. And, I think NTIA is under real pressure from the volume of apps and volunteers. It is a lot to marshal after all.
Perhaps the reason the states got the applications is that the NOFA requires them to review and reply within 20 days. So they send a blast out to them (unreviewed, agreed) just to start the clock. So as a reminder, I list here the two different processes (BIP and BTOP). They are different and I have been getting confused on things like expecting BTOP due diligence to begin on September 14 when it doesn't have too - that's BIP.
Round One BIP .... 2 stage process:
Stage One qualifies basic eligibility – targeted for Sept 14th
Stage Two is a due diligence round – targeted for Early November
Awards expected by year end, Contracts within 60 days
Round One BTOP .... 2 Stage process (kind of):
Initial screen examines for basic eligibility (done by NTIA)
Stage One qualifies for both eligibility and evaluation criteria (done by three peer/experts review panel)
Stage Two examines “most highly qualified” asked to submit information like “due diligence” (reviewed by NTIA)
NTIA assigns a rating of 1 to 5 (5 is best: technical and budget weighted)
States given 20 days to prioritize and explain selections
Awards were expected in the same time frame as BIP (maybe)
Of course, that said, they don't even reply to my emails. A guy can get a real inferiority complex
The BTOP review process (or lack thereof) is puzzling.
Like you, I participated in the initial web briefing,
got a brief "thank you" note, then total silence.
I've asked twice what is going on, no response.
Oh well.
Reading this post and the comment thread makes me feel better, or at least not alone. I also attended the training webinar, got the thank you note and haven't been able to raise them since. Only in my case, I was starting to wonder if they had dropped me because I asked for clarification as to the circumstances (if any) where a reviewer could later consult to a grant applicant.
FTR the answer, as expected, was that even if you quit being a reviewer the conflict of interest rules continue to apply to you.
Anyway the delays and lack of communication are disappointing, if perhaps not surprising. Good to get some additional perspectives!