Note the Deadline for Submissions was extended from October 28th, 2024 to November 8th, 2024.

BC ELN is seeking a consultant or consultancy to lead its Removing Barriers Initiative. View the full Request for Proposals [1].

Project Background and Goals

BC ELN is seeking to better understand the information and resource needs of post-secondary Indigenous students, educators, and researchers in B.C. Additionally, BC ELN recognizes a need to investigate barriers that might be impeding the consortium from serving and supporting Indigenous post-secondary students. BC ELN is seeking a strategy to foster relationships with and remove barriers to participation for Indigenous-led post-secondary institutions interested in joining the consortium.

This work supports BC ELN’s mandate to equitably meet the information needs of the province’s post-secondary learners, educators, and researchers. Furthermore, this work advances the following BC ELN strategic goals [2]:

• Review services to ensure they are steeped in a culture of continuous improvement and inclusion.
• Reach out to Indigenous communities to build respectful relationships in support of Indigenous information needs.

In relation to BC ELN’s mandate, project goals include:

• Building relationships with post-secondary Indigenous-focused organizations such as the Indigenous Adult and Higher Learning Association (IAHLA), the First Nations Education Steering Committee (FNESC), Métis Nation British Columbia, and the First Nations Technology Council.
• Listening to and learning from Indigenous-led institutions about the needs and barriers Indigenous students, educators, and researchers face with regards to information access, preservation, and control.
• Raising awareness of BC ELN services and identifying where barriers to joining the consortium exist for Indigenous-led institutions.
• Recommending actions that will remove barriers to consortial participation for interested Indigenous-led post-secondary institutions and increase their membership in BC ELN.

Application deadline

Proposal requirements are outlined in the Request for Proposals [1].

Proposals are due November 8th, 2024, at 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time.

Please submit proposals to office@bceln.ca [3], quoting ‘RFP# 2024-001 Removing Barriers Initiative’ in the subject line.

Questions can be submitted via email to Leah Hopton (leahh@bceln.ca [4]). BC ELN reserves the right to seek clarification on any proposal submitted by a proponent to assist in making its evaluation, without notifying any other proponent of such. BC ELN reserves the right to not award the contract.