| Publication Date: December 2003 FRPart: |
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| RegPartsAffected: |
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Page Numbers: 75221-75224
Notice;Inviting Applications for New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2004 Fund
for the Improvement of Postsecondary
Education--Special Focus Competition
Posted on 12-31-2003
[Federal Register: December 30, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 249)]
[Notices]
[Page 75221-75224]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr30de03-52]
=======================================================================
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Office of Postsecondary Education; Overview Information; Fund for
the Improvement of Postsecondary Education--Special Focus Competition:
European Community-United States of America Cooperation Program in
Higher Education and Vocational Education and Training: Notice Inviting
Applications for New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2004
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 84.116J.
DATES: Applications Available: January 16, 2004.
Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: April 16, 2004.
Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: June 16, 2004.
Eligible Applicants: Institutions of higher education and
vocational education and training or combinations of these institutions
and other public and private nonprofit educational institutions and
agencies.
Estimated Available Funds: The Administration has requested
$700,000 under this program for FY 2004. The actual level of funding,
if any, depends on final congressional action. However, we are inviting
applications to allow enough time to complete the grant process if
Congress appropriates funds for this program.
Estimated Range of Awards: $25,000-$200,000 total for up to three
years.
Estimated Average Size of Awards: $25,000 for one-year preparatory
projects; $75,000 for two-year complementary activities projects;
$50,000 for year one of a three-year consortia implementation project
with a $200,000 three-year total.
Estimated Number of Awards: 12.
Note: The Department is not bound by any estimates in this
notice.
Project Period: Up to 36 months.
Full Text of Announcement
I. Funding Opportunity Description
Purpose of Program: To provide grants or enter into cooperative
agreements to improve postsecondary education opportunities by focusing
on problem areas or improvement approaches in postsecondary education.
This program is a Special Focus Competition under the Fund for the
Improvement of Postsecondary
[[Page 75222]]
Education (Title VII, Part B of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as
amended) to support projects addressing a particular problem area or
improvement approach in postsecondary education.
Priority: Under this program we are particularly interested in
applications that meet the following priority.
Invitational Priority: For FY 2004 this priority is an invitational
priority. Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(1) we do not give an application that
meets this invitational priority a competitive or absolute preference
over other applications.
This priority is to encourage proposals designed to support the
formation of educational consortia of institutions and organizations in
the United States and the European Union to encourage cooperation in
the coordination of curricula, the exchange of students and the opening
of educational opportunities between the United States and the European
Union. This includes the new member States scheduled to join the
European Union in Summer 2004. The invitational priority is issued in
cooperation with the European Union. European institutions
participating in any consortium proposal responding to the invitational
priority may apply to the European Commission's Directorate General for
Education and Culture for additional funding under a separate European
competition.
Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1138-1138d.
Applicable Regulations: The Education Department General
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 79, 80,
82, 85, 86, 97, 98, and 99.
Note: The regulations in 34 CFR part 86 apply to institutions of
higher education only.
II. Award Information
Type of Award: Discretionary grants or cooperative agreements.
Estimated Available Funds: The Administration has requested
$700,000 under this program for FY 2004. The actual level of funding,
if any, depends on final congressional action. However, we are inviting
applications to allow enough time to complete the grant process if
Congress appropriates funds for this program.
Estimated Range of Awards: $25,000-$200,000 total for up to three
years.
Estimated Average Size of Awards: $25,000 for one-year preparatory
projects; $75,000 for two-year complementary activities projects;
$50,000 for year one of a three-year consortia implementation project
with a $200,000 three-year total.
Estimated Number of Awards: 12.
Note: The Department is not bound by any estimates in this
notice.
Project Period: Up to 36 months.
III. Eligibility Information
1. Eligible Applicants: Institutions of higher education and
vocational education and training or combinations of these institutions
and other public and private nonprofit educational institutions and
agencies.
2. Cost Sharing or Matching: This program does not involve cost
sharing or matching.
IV. Application and Submission Information
1. Address to Request Application Package: Education Publications
Center (ED Pubs), P.O. Box 1398, Jessup, MD 20794-1398. Telephone (toll
free): 1-877-433-7827. FAX: (301) 470-1244. If you use a
telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you may call (toll free):
1-877-576-7734.
You may also contact ED Pubs at its Web site: http://www.ed.gov/pubs/edpubs.html
or you may contact ED Pubs at its e-mail address:
edpubs@inet.ed.gov.
If you request an application from ED Pubs, be sure to identify
this competition as follows: CFDA number 84.116J.
Individuals with disabilities may obtain a copy of the application
package in an alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print,
audiotape, or computer diskette) by contacting the program office at
FIPSE, U.S. Department of Education, 1990 K Street, NW., 6th floor,
Washington, DC 20006-8544. Telephone: 202-502-7500 or via the Internet
at http://www.ed.gov/FIPSE. However, the Department is not able to reproduce
in an alternative format the standard forms included in the application
package.
2. Content and Form of Application Submission: Requirements
concerning the content of an application, together with the forms you
must submit, are in the application package for this program.
You may also request application forms by calling 732-544-2504 (fax
on demand), or application guidelines by calling 202-358-3041 (voice
mail), or submitting the name of the competition and your name and
postal address to FIPSE@ed.gov (e-mail). Applications also are
available on the FIPSE Web site: http://www.ed.gov/FIPSE.
3. Submission Dates and Times:
Applications Available: January 16, 2004.
Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: April 16, 2004.
The dates and times for the transmittal of applications by mail or
by hand (including a courier service or commercial carrier) are in the
application package for this program. The application package also
specifies the hours of operation of the e-Application Web site.
We do not consider an application that does not comply with the
deadline requirements.
Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: June 16, 2004.
4. Intergovernmental Review: This program is subject to Executive
Order 12372 and the regulations in 34 CFR part 79. Information about
Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs under Executive Order
12372 is in the application package for this program.
5. Funding Restrictions: We reference regulations outlining funding
restrictions in the Applicable Regulations section of this notice.
6. Other Submission Requirements: Instructions and requirements for
the transmittal of applications by mail or by hand (including a courier
service or commercial carrier) are in the application package for this
program.
Application Procedures:
Note: Some of the procedures in these instructions for
transmitting applications differ from those in the Education
Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) (34 CFR
75.102). Under the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 553) the
Department generally offers interested parties the opportunity to
comment on proposed regulations. However, these amendments make
procedural changes only and do not establish new substantive policy.
Therefore, under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(A), the Secretary has determined
that proposed rulemaking is not required.
Pilot Project for Electronic Submission of Applications: We are
continuing to expand our pilot project for electronic submission of
applications to include additional formula grant programs and
additional discretionary grant competitions. The European Community-
United States of America Cooperation Program in Higher Education and
Vocational Education and Training--CFDA Number 84.116J is one of the
programs included in the pilot project. If you are an applicant under
the EC-US Cooperation Program you may submit your application to us in
either electronic or paper format.
The pilot project involves the use of the Electronic Grant
Application System (e-Application). If you use e-Application, you will
be entering data online while completing your
[[Page 75223]]
application. You may not e-mail an electronic copy of a grant
application to us. If you participate in this voluntary pilot project
by submitting an application electronically, the data you enter online
will be saved into a database. We request your participation in e-
Application. We shall continue to evaluate its success and solicit
suggestions for its improvement.
If you participate in e-Application, please note the following:
[sbull] Your participation is voluntary.
[sbull] When you enter the e-Application system, you will find
information about its hours of operation. We strongly recommend that
you do not wait until the application deadline date to initiate an e-
Application package.
[sbull] You will not receive additional point value because you
submit a grant application in electronic format, nor will we penalize
you if you submit an application in paper format.
[sbull] You may submit all documents electronically, including the
application for the EC-US Cooperation Program in Higher Education and
Vocational Education and Training, the EC-US Program Budget, the US and
EC partner identification forms, and all necessary assurances and
certifications.
[sbull] Your e-Application must comply with any page limit
requirements described in this notice.
[sbull] After you electronically submit your application, you will
receive an automatic acknowledgement, which will include a PR/Award
number (an identifying number unique to your application).
[sbull] Within three working days after submitting your electronic
application, fax a signed copy of the application for the EC-US
Cooperation Program in Higher Education and Vocational Education and
Training to the Application Control Center after following these steps:
1. Print the application for the EC-US Cooperation Program in
Higher Education and Vocational Education and Training from e-
Application.
2. The institution's Authorizing Representative must sign this
form.
3. Place the PR/Award number in the upper right hand corner of the
hard copy signature page of the application for the EC-US Cooperation
Program in Higher Education and Vocational Education and Training.
4. Fax the signed application for the EC-US Cooperation Program in
Higher Education and Vocational Education and Training to the
Application Control Center at (202) 260-1349.
[sbull] We may request that you give us original signatures on
other forms at a later date.
Application Deadline Date Extension in Case of System
Unavailability: If you elect to participate in the e-Application pilot
for the EC-US Cooperation Program in Higher Education and Vocational
Education and Training and you are prevented from submitting your
application on the application deadline date because the e-Application
system is unavailable, we will grant you an extension of one business
day in order to transmit your application electronically, by mail, or
by hand delivery. We will grant this extension if--
1. You are a registered user of e-Application, and you have
initiated an e-Application for this competition; and
2. (a) The e-Application system is unavailable for 60 minutes or
more between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., Washington, DC time,
on the application deadline date; or
(b) The e-Application system is unavailable for any period of time
during the last hour of operation (that is, for any period of time
between 3:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time) on the
application deadline date.
We must acknowledge and confirm these periods of unavailability
before granting you an extension. To request this extension or to
confirm our acknowledgement of any system unavailability, you may
contact either (1) the person listed elsewhere in this notice under FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT (see VII. Agency Contact) or (2) the e-
GRANTS help desk at 1-888-336-8930.
You may access the electronic grant application for the EC-US
Cooperation Program in Higher Education and Vocational Education and
Training at: http://e-grants.ed.gov.
V. Application Review Information
1. Selection Criteria: The selection criteria for this program are
in 34 CFR 75.210.
VI. Award Administration Information
1. Award Notices: If your application is successful, we notify your
U.S. Representative and U.S. Senators and send you a Grant Award Notice
(GAN). We may also notify you informally.
If your application is not evaluated or not selected for funding,
we notify you.
2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements: We identify
administrative and national policy requirements in the application
package and reference these and other requirements in the Applicable
Regulations section of this notice.
We reference the regulations outlining the terms and conditions of
an award in the Applicable Regulations section of this notice and
include these and other specific conditions in the GAN. The GAN also
incorporates your approved application as part of your binding
commitments under the grant.
3. Reporting: At the end of your project, you must submit a final
performance report, including financial information as directed by the
Secretary. If you receive a multi-year award, you must submit an annual
performance report that provides the most current performance and
financial expenditure information as specified by the Secretary in 34
CFR 75.118.
4. Performance Measures: Under the Government Performance and
Results Act (GPRA), FIPSE performance is focused on (1) the extent to
which funded projects are being replicated--i.e., adopted or adapted--
by others; and (2) the manner in which projects are being
institutionalized and continued after grant funding. These two results
constitute FIPSE's indicators of the success of our program.
Consequently, applicants for FIPSE grants are advised to give careful
consideration to these two outcomes in conceptualizing the design,
implementation, and evaluation of the proposed project. If funded, you
will be asked to collect and report data in your project's annual
performance report on steps taken toward these goals.
VII. Agency Contact
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Beverly Baker, Fund for the
Improvement of Postsecondary Education, U.S. Department of Education,
1990 K Street, NW., suite 6140, Washington, DC 20006-8544. Telephone:
(202) 502-7503 or by e-mail: Beverly.Baker@ed.gov.
If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you may
call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339.
Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in an
alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer
diskette) on request to the program contact person listed in this
section.
For additional program information call the FIPSE office (202-502-
7500) between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., Eastern Time, Monday
through Friday.
VIII. Other Information
Electronic Access to This Document: You may view this document, as
well as all other documents of this Department published in the Federal
Register, in text or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) on the
Internet at the following site: http://www.ed.gov/news/fedregister.
[[Page 75224]]
To use PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available
free at this site. If you have questions about using PDF, call the U.S.
Government Printing Office (GPO), toll free, at 1-888-293-6498; or in
the Washington, DC, area at (202) 512-1530.
Note: The official version of this document is the document
published in the Federal Register. Free Internet access to the
official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of Federal
Regulations is available on GPO Access at: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/nara/index.html
.
Dated: December 23, 2003.
Sally L. Stroup,
Assistant Secretary, Office of Postsecondary Education.
[FR Doc. 03-32063 Filed 12-29-03; 8:45 am]