The goals of this grant competition are to identify and disseminate information about exemplary and effective alcohol or other drug abuse prevention programs implemented on college campuses. Through this grant competition, ED also will recognize colleges and universities whose programs, while not yet exemplary or effective, show evidence that they are promising.

The goals of this grant competition are to identify and disseminate information about exemplary and effective alcohol or other drug abuse prevention programs implemented on college campuses. Through this grant competition, ED also will recognize colleges and universities whose programs, while not yet exemplary or effective, show evidence that they are promising.

This competition limits eligibility to institutions of higher education (IHEs) that offer an associate or baccalaureate degree.

Limitations on Eligibility Exemplary or effective programs: The length of time an IHE is ineligible for a subsequent award after receiving recognition for an exemplary or effective program is three years.

Promising programs: Programs recognized as promising may be eligible for a new award when their current grant is no longer active. A grant is considered active until the end of the grant’s project or funding period, including any extensions of those periods that extend the grantee’s authority to obligate funds. A project that fails to achieve exemplary or effective status after a second designation as a promising program may not reapply for three years after its second project period is no longer active.

Yes. Applications that do not clearly address all four required elements of the absolute priority will be deemed ineligible.

Applicants have discretion as to where they clearly consent to a site visit in their application. However, it is recommended that you clearly consent to a site visit in the Abstract section of your proposal and in your narrative response to subelement (a) listed under Project Evaluation.

No. Applicants may receive a one-day site visit by two peer reviewers, who will not be the same reviewers who evaluated and scored your proposal. The site visit’s purpose is to provide another source of information about each project to ED. Since grantees under this program will be recognized as having an exemplary, effective, or promising program, a site visit is conducted to confirm the program’s effectiveness and to clarify any concerns or questions raised by the first-stage reviewers. Under this grant competition, ED selects an institution of higher education for recognition as having an exemplary, effective, or promising program based on the recommendation from the two peer reviewers who conduct the site visit. Therefore, please note that selection for a site visit does not ensure recognition as an exemplary, effective, or promising program by ED. We expect site visits to be conducted in June 2008 and expect applicants selected for a site visit to be available during that time.

The project periods for this grant are 18 months for exemplary and effective programs and 12 months for promising programs. We intend the project and budget periods for projects funded under this grant competition to be August 1, 2008 - January 31, 2010 for exemplary and effective programs and August 1, 2008 - July 31, 2009 for promising programs. However, awards may be made as late as September 30, 2008.

It is estimated that five new awards will be made. Projects will be funded for approximately $100,000 to $150,000, plus indirect costs, depending on the scope of work. These figures are only estimates and do not bind ED to a specific number of grants or amount of any grant.

No. You should provide a comprehensive response to the three selection criteria and their respective subelements. ED selects an institution of higher education for recognition as having an exemplary, effective, or promising program based on the recommendation from the two peer reviewers who conduct the site visit. Therefore, please note that selection for a site visit does not ensure recognition as an exemplary, effective, or promising program by ED.

No. However, if you volunteer to provide matching funds or other non-federal resources to the project, you must complete Section B on ED Form 524 (Budget Information Form). You also will be required to account for voluntary matching funds or other non-federal resources to this project in your final performance report.

No. For this grant competition, you may charge indirect costs using the rate negotiated with your cognizant federal agency (e.g., Department of Education, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of the Interior). Note: Since these grants are not research grants, it is not appropriate to use your institution’s indirect cost rate for organized research. If you intend to claim indirect costs during the project period, you should use the indirect cost rate for other sponsored activities, as specified in your institution’s federally-approved indirect cost rate agreement.

You are encouraged to give priority to direct services to students by limiting the indirect costs charged to the project. You will not be penalized for failure to reduce indirect costs nor will you gain a competitive advantage if you do.

If you claim indirect costs in the budget for your proposed project and do not have a negotiated rate with the federal government, ED will establish a temporary indirect cost rate for your project (i.e., 10 percent of the direct salaries and wages included in the budget for the project). You will be allowed to draw at the temporary rate during the first 90 days after ED made the grant, as determined by the date of the Grant Award Notification. If you do not submit an indirect cost rate proposal to your cognizant agency within that first 90 days, you will not be allowed to draw any more funds for indirect costs until you obtain a federally recognized indirect cost rate from your cognizant agency. For more information about indirect cost rates, visit www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocfo/intro.html.

Yes, as long as the activities directly support the purposes of the grant.

There is no daily limit or cap for consultant fees. Information related to these fees should be included on ED Form 524 under the Contractual budget category. Also, applicants must fully substantiate all expenditures in the budget narrative.

No. Applications may be submitted electronically or in paper format by mail or hand delivery. The electronic submission of applications is voluntary. However, if you choose to submit your application electronically you must use the Grants.gov site. Note: You may not submit your application by e-mail or facsimile.

May 19, 2008

Waivers for individual applications failing to meet the deadline will not be granted, regardless of the circumstances. Under very extraordinary circumstances ED may change the closing date for a grant competition. When this occurs, ED announces such a change in a notice published in the Federal Register.

If you experience problems submitting your application electronically through Grants.gov, please contact the Grants.gov Support Desk at 800/518-4726. You must obtain a Grants.gov Support Desk Case Number and keep a record of it.

If you are prevented from electronically submitting your application on the application deadline date because of technical problems with the Grants.gov system, we will grant you an extension until 4:30:00 p.m. (Washington, DC time) the following business day to enable you to transmit your application electronically or by hand delivery. You also may mail your application by following the mailing instructions described elsewhere in this application package.

If you submit your application electronically via Grants.gov, then you need to provide these numbers. They are located on the Grants.gov Web site on the application download page and also on the application package page once it is downloaded. If you submit your application in paper format by mail or hand delivery, then you do not need to provide these numbers as they are used strictly for the electronic package submitted via Grants.gov.

Grants.gov uses two viewer products - Adobe Acrobat Reader and PureEdge - that predate the release of Windows Vista. Adobe Reader 7.0.9 may work with Vista, but Adobe does not fully support this configuration. PureEdge Viewer v.6.0.2 is only compatible with Vista when using a Citrix server connection. Grants.gov is anticipating the release of Adobe Reader 8.1.1 shortly, which will be compatible with Microsoft Vista. Until Adobe Reader 8.1.1 is released, you have two choices: Use an operating system other than Vista or use Citrix, which has been identified as an option for any applicant that is using Vista. The Grants.gov Web site (www.grants.gov/help/general_faqs.jsp#18) has been updated to provide applicants with instructions on how to utilize the Citrix solution.

The new version of Microsoft Word saves documents with the extension .docx. The Grants.gov system does not process Microsoft Word documents with the extension .docx. When submitting Microsoft Word attachments to Grants.gov, please use the version of Microsoft Word that ends in .doc. If any of the documents included in the application are saved with the .docx extension, the entire application will be rejected by Grants.gov. If you have any questions regarding this matter, please e-mail the Grants.gov Contact Center at support@grants.gov or call 800/518-4726.

No, do not assume that you are finished. If you submit your application via Grants.gov, there is a two-step validation process. Within two days of submitting your grant application, you will receive two e-mail messages. The first e-mail will confirm receipt of your application by the Grants.gov system. The second e-mail will indicate whether your application was successfully validated by the system or if it was rejected due to errors. You should track your application via the Grants.gov system to determine the progress of your application until the system shows a "Validated" or "Rejected" status, or until you receive the e-mail indicating that it was successfully validated or rejected.

If you submit your application within two days prior to the application transmittal deadline, you may not receive your validation or rejection notification until after the closing date. We recommend that if you have not received the two e-mail notifications indicating receipt and validation by 4:30:00 p.m. (Washington, DC time) on the application deadline date, then print your application and mail a hard copy of it, adhering to the hard copy application submission procedures and requirements written in this application. For example, cover pages with signatures must be included in hard copy applications and cannot be faxed later.

• You submitted your application after the application transmittal deadline date and time.
• The E-Business Point of Contact at your organization did not respond to the registration e-mail from Grants.gov and authorize you as an Authorized Organization Representative (AOR).
• You did not provide the D-U-N-S Number on your application (SF-424 form) that was used when you registered as an AOR.
• You uploaded a file type that is not compatible with Grants.gov.
• You did not fill out all of the mandatory fields in the application package.

Additional reasons that Grants.gov may reject an application can be found on the Grants.gov Web site: www.grants.gov/applicants/applicant_faqs.jsp#54. We also suggest reading all of the FAQs on Grants.gov (www.grants.gov/help/submit_application_faqs.jsp#10) to provide you with additional information to assist with your submission.

Yes. You must contact the appropriate State Single Point of Contact to find out about, and to comply with, your state’s process under Executive Order 12372, and include a copy of your letter to the State Single Point of Contact with your application. For more information about this requirement, see the Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs section in this application package.

On the Application for Federal Assistance (Standard Form 424), you also must check the appropriate box in Item 19. Specifically, check box (a) and provide the date on which you made your application available to the State Single Point of Contact for review or check box (b) if the State Single Point of Contact indicated that they will not review the application. Note: Do not check box (c) since this grant program is covered by Executive Order 12372.

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) provides an individual the right to request access to federal agency records or information. All U.S. Government agencies are required to disclose records upon receiving a written request for them, except for those records that are protected from disclosure by the nine exemptions listed in the FOIA. All applications submitted for funding consideration under this grant competition are subject to the FOIA. To read the text of the Freedom of Information Act, visit www.usdoj.gov/04foia/foiastat.htm. TOP


24. Who do I contact for more information about this grant competition?

Richard Lucey, Jr., Education Program Specialist, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW - Room 3E335, Washington, DC 20202-6450, Phone: 202/205-5471, Fax: 202/260-7767, Email: richard.lucey@ed.gov