Advanced Education - Request for Proposal - Post Secondary Institution Funding and Alberta's Competitiveness: Data, Research, Analysis, and Engagement Support

The Request for Proposal (RFP) seeks a contractor to support an Expert Panel in assessing the funding mechanisms and competitiveness of Alberta's higher education system. The project aims to address rising costs, regulatory pressures, policy changes, and funding constraints that could undermine Alberta’s global competitiveness. Advanced Education plans to establish an Expert Panel on Post Secondary Institution Funding and Alberta’s Competitiveness (Panel) in December 2024. The Panel will review and evaluate provincial funding for public PSIs and Independent Academic Institutions as it relates to Alberta’s direction and priorities, look at funding models for higher education in similar jurisdictions within Canada and globally, and assess Alberta’s ability to compete on a global level in higher education. The contractor will provide data, research, analysis, and engagement support for the Expert Panel on Post Secondary Institution Funding and Alberta’s Competitiveness. The contractor's responsibilities include collecting data, conducting research, and providing analysis on current and alternative funding mechanisms, impacts of federal immigration policies on Alberta’s PSIs, the cost of the administrative and regulatory burden on PSIs, and the overall competitiveness of Alberta's higher education system. The contractor will develop six research summaries, 12 meeting packages, and one final report. Deliverables include a Project Work Plan and Schedule of Work, weekly progress meetings and reports, data collection and analysis, jurisdictional information gathering and engagement support, and support in drafting final recommendations.