[Federal Register: September 17, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 180)]
[Notices]
[Page 54434-54436]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr17se03-50]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
[CFDA No.: 84.129B]
Rehabilitation Training: Rehabilitation Long-Term Training--
Vocational Rehabilitation Counseling; Notice Inviting Applications for
New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2004
Purpose of Program: The Rehabilitation Long-Term Training program
provides financial assistance for--
(1) Projects that provide basic or advanced training leading to an
academic degree in areas of personnel shortages in rehabilitation as
identified by the Secretary;
(2) Projects that provide a specified series of courses or program
of study leading to award of a certificate in areas of personnel
shortages in rehabilitation as identified by the Secretary; and
(3) Projects that provide support for medical residents enrolled in
residency training programs in the specialty of physical medicine and
rehabilitation.
For FY 2004, the competition for new awards focuses on projects
designed to meet the priority in the PRIORITY section of this
application notice.
Eligible Applicants: States and public or nonprofit agencies and
organizations, including Indian tribes and institutions of higher
education, are eligible for assistance under the Rehabilitation
Training program.
Applications Available: September 17, 2003.
Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: October 31, 2003.
Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: December 30, 2003.
Estimated Available Funds: The Administration has requested
$42,629,000 for the Rehabilitation Training program for FY 2004, of
which an estimated $3,600,000 would be allocated for this competition.
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.
Note: This competition is being conducted in FY 2003 for grants
that will be awarded using FY 2004 funds.
Estimated Average Size of Awards: $150,000.
Estimated Number of Awards: 24.
Note: The Department is not bound by any estimates in this
notice.
Project Period: Up to 60 months.
Page Limit: Part III of the application, the application narrative,
is where you, the applicant, address the selection criteria that
reviewers use to evaluate your application. You must limit Part III to
the equivalent of no more than 50 pages, using the following standards:
[sbull] A ``page'' is 8.5'' x 11,'' on one side only, with 1''
margins at the top, bottom, and both sides.
[sbull] Double space (no more than three lines per vertical inch)
all text in the application narrative, including titles, headings,
footnotes, quotations, references, and captions, as well as all text in
charts, tables, figures, and graphs.
[sbull] Use a font that is either 12-point or larger or no smaller
than 10 pitch (characters per inch).
The page limit does not apply to Part I, the cover sheet; Part II,
the budget section, including the narrative budget justification; Part
IV, the assurances and certifications; or the one-page abstract, the
resumes, the bibliography, or the letters of support. However, you must
include all of the application narrative in Part III.
We will reject your application if--
[sbull] You apply these standards and exceed the page limit; or
[sbull] You apply other standards and exceed the equivalent of the
page limit.
Applicable Regulations: (a) The Education Department General
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 79, 80,
81, 82, 85, 86, and 99. (b) The regulations for this program in 34 CFR
parts 385 and 386.
Note: The regulations in 34 CFR part 79 apply to all applicants
except federally recognized Indian tribes.
Note: The regulations in 34 CFR part 86 apply to institutions of
higher education only.
Selection Criteria: In evaluating an application for a new grant
under this competition, we use the selection criteria in 34 CFR 385.31
and 386.20. The selection criteria to be used for this competition will
be provided in the application package for this competition.
Priority: This competition focuses on projects designed to meet the
following priority in the notice of final priority for this program,
published in the Federal Register on January 15, 2003 (68 FR 2166).
Partnership With the State Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) Agency
This priority supports projects that will increase the knowledge of
students of the role and responsibilities of the VR counselor and of
the benefits of counseling in State VR agencies. This priority focuses
attention on and intends to strengthen the unique role of
rehabilitation educators and State VR agencies in the preparation of
qualified VR counselors by increasing or creating ongoing collaboration
between institutions of higher education and State VR agencies.
Projects funded under this priority must include within the degree
program information about and experience in the State VR system.
Projects must include partnering activities for students with the State
VR agency including experiential activities, such as formal internships
or practicum agreements. In addition, experiential activities for
students with community-based rehabilitation service providers are
encouraged.
Projects must include an evaluation of the impact of project
activities.
For FY 2004, this priority is an absolute priority. Under 34 CFR
75.105(c)(3), we consider only applications that meet the priority.
Performance Measures: The Government Performance and Results Act
(GPRA) of 1993 directs Federal departments and agencies to improve the
effectiveness of their programs by engaging in strategic planning,
setting outcome-related goals for programs, and measuring program
results against those goals. Program officials must develop performance
measures for all of their grant programs to assess their performance
and effectiveness. The Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) has
established a set of indicators to assess the effectiveness of the
Rehabilitation Training program and will use the following indicator
for the Rehabilitation Long-Term Training program projects:
[sbull] The percentage of graduates fulfilling their payback
requirement through acceptable employment.
Each grantee must report annually on this indicator using the
electronic grantee reporting system administered by RSA for this
purpose.
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.
[[Page 54435]]
Pilot Project for Electronic Submission of Applications
The Department is continuing to expand its pilot project for
electronic submission of applications to include additional formula
grant programs and additional discretionary grant competitions.
Rehabilitation Training: Rehabilitation Long-Term Training--Vocational
Rehabilitation Counseling, CFDA No. 84.129B, is one of the programs
included in the pilot project. If you are an applicant under
Rehabilitation Training: Rehabilitation Long-Term Training--Vocational
Rehabilitation Counseling, 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). Users of e-Application will be
entering data on-line while completing their applications. You may not
e-mail a soft copy of a grant application to us. If you participate in
this voluntary pilot project by submitting an application
electronically, the data you enter on-line 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 Federal Education Assistance (ED 424), Budget
Information--Non-Construction Programs (ED 524), 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 Federal Education
Assistance (ED 424) to the Application Control Center after following
these steps:
1. Print ED 424 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 ED 424.
4. Fax the signed ED 424 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.
[sbull] Application Deadline Date Extension in Case of System
Unavailability: If you elect to participate in the e-Application pilot
for Rehabilitation Training: Rehabilitation Long-Term Training--
Vocational Rehabilitation Counseling 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. For us to grant this
extension--
1. You must be a registered user of e-Application, and have
initiated an e-Application for this competition; and
2. (a) The e-Application system must be 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 must be unavailable for any period of
time during the last hour of operation (that is, for any period of time
between 3:30 and 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time) on the application
deadline date.
The Department must acknowledge and confirm these periods of
unavailability before granting you an extension. To request this
extension or to confirm the Department's acknowledgement of any system
unavailability, you may contact either (1) the person listed elsewhere
in this notice under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT or (2) the e-
GRANTS help desk at 1-888-336-8930.
You may access the electronic grant application for Rehabilitation
Training: Rehabilitation Long-Term Training--Vocational Rehabilitation
Counseling at: http://e-grants.ed.gov.
For Applications Contact: 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 84.129B.
Individuals with disabilities may obtain a copy of the application
package in an alternative format by contacting the Grants and Contracts
Services Team, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW.,
room 3317, Switzer Building, Washington, DC 20202-2550. Telephone:
(202) 205-8207. If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf
(TDD), you may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-
800-877-8339. However, the Department is not able to reproduce in an
alternative format the standard forms included in the application
package.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Edward R. Smith, U.S. Department of
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 3318, Switzer Building,
Washington, DC 20202-2649. Telephone: (202) 205-0136 or via Internet:
Edward.Smith@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 under FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
Electronic Access to This Document
You may view this document, as well as all other Department of
Education documents published in the Federal Register, in text or Adobe
Portable Document Format (PDF) on the Internet at the following site:
www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister.
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
.
Program Authority: 29 U.S.C. 772.
[[Page 54436]]
Dated: September 12, 2003.
Loretta Petty Chittum,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative
Services.
[FR Doc. 03-23741 Filed 9-16-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P