[Federal Register: May 14, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 92)]
[Notices]
[Page 27098-27102]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr14my07-27]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Office of Postsecondary Education; Overview Information; Fund for
the Improvement of Postsecondary Education--Comprehensive Program;
Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2007
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 84.116B
DATES: Applications Available: May 14, 2007.
Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: June 13, 2007.
Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: August 13, 2007.
Eligible Applicants: Institutions of higher education (IHEs) or
combinations of those institutions and other public and private
nonprofit institutions and agencies.
Estimated Available Funds: $3,400,000.
Estimated Range of Awards: $100,000-$250,000 per year.
Estimated Average Size of Awards: $160,000 per year.
Maximum Award: We will reject any application that proposes a
budget exceeding $250,000 for a single budget period of 12 months. The
Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education may change the maximum
amount through a notice published in the Federal Register.
Estimated Number of Awards: 16-20.
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: The Comprehensive Program supports innovative
grants and cooperative agreements to improve postsecondary education.
It supports reforms, innovations, and significant improvements of
postsecondary education that respond to problems of national
significance and serve as national models.
Priorities: In accordance with 34 CFR 75.105(b)(2)(i), we are
particularly interested in applications that meet the following
invitational priorities.
Invitational Priorities: For FY 2007 these priorities are
invitational priorities. Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(1) we do not give an
application that meets these invitational priorities a competitive or
absolute preference over other applications.
These priorities are:
Invitational Priority 1:
Projects encouraging higher levels of access, persistence, and
completion of graduation requirements for higher education.
Invitational Priority 2:
Projects aligning curriculum on a state or multi-state level
between high schools and colleges, and between two-year and four-year
postsecondary programs, to ensure continuing academic progress and
transferability of credits.
Invitational Priority 3:
Projects improving the mathematics and science proficiency of
postsecondary students including preservice math and science teachers.
Invitational Priority 4:
Projects to enable postsecondary students, including preservice
teachers, to achieve proficiency or advanced proficiency or
postsecondary institutions to develop programs in one or more of the
less commonly taught languages: Arabic, Chinese, Korean, Japanese,
Russian, and languages in the Indic, Iranian, and Turkic language
families.
Invitational Priority 5:
Projects designed to disseminate successful strategies to achieve
the goals of any of the above invitational priorities serving
postsecondary education.
Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1138-1138d.
Applicable Regulations: The Education Department General
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in
[[Page 27099]]
34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 79, 80, 82, 84, 85, 86, 97, 98, and 99.
Note: The regulations in 34 CFR part 86 apply to IHEs only.
II. Award Information
Type of Award: Discretionary grants or cooperative agreements.
Estimated Available Funds: $3,400,000.
Estimated Range of Awards: $100,000-$250,000 per year.
Estimated Average Size of Awards: $160,000 per year.
Maximum Award: We will reject any application that proposes a
budget exceeding $250,000 for a single budget period of 12 months. The
Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education may change the maximum
amount through a notice published in the Federal Register.
Estimated Number of Awards: 16-20.
Note: The Department is not bound by any estimates in this
notice.
Project Period: Up to 36 months.
III. Eligibility Information
1. Eligible Applicants: IHEs or combinations of those institutions
and other public and private nonprofit institutions and agencies.
2. Cost Sharing or Matching: Although this program does not require
cost sharing or matching for eligibility, it is expected that
applicants will provide an institutional financial commitment to the
project.
IV. Application and Submission Information
1. Address to Request Application Package: Levenia Ishmell, Fund
for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education, U.S. Department of
Education, 1990 K Street, NW., room 6147, Washington, DC 20006-8544.
Telephone: (202) 502-7668 or by e-mail: Levenia.Ishmell@ed.gov.
If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you may
call the Federal Relay Service (FRS) at 1-800-877-8339.
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 contact
person listed in this section.
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.
Page Limit: The application narrative (Part III of the application)
is where you, the applicant, address the selection criteria that
reviewers use to evaluate the application. You must limit your
narrative to the equivalent of no more than 20 pages, using the
following standards:
A ``page'' is 8.5 x 11, on one side
only, with 1 margins at the top, bottom, and both sides.
Page numbers and an identifier may be outside of the 1
margin.
Double space (no more than three lines per vertical inch)
all text in the application narrative, except titles, headings,
footnotes, quotations, references, and captions. Charts, tables,
figures, and graphs in the application narrative may be singled spaced
and will count toward the page limit.
Use a font that is either 12-point or larger or no smaller
than 10 pitch (characters per inch). However, you may use a 10-point
font in charts, tables, figures, and graphs.
Use one of the following fonts: Times New Roman, Courier,
Courier New or Arial. Applications submitted in any other font
(including Times Roman and Arial Narrow) will be rejected.
The page limit does not apply to Part I, the Title Page;
Part II, the Budget Summary form (ED Form 524); Part IV, the assurances
and certifications; the table of contents, the appendix, which shall
only include letters of support, or the response to section 427 of the
Department of Education's General Education Provisions Act (GEPA). If
you include any attachments or appendices not specifically requested,
these items will be counted as part of the program narrative (Part III)
for purposes of the page limit requirement.
We will reject your application if:
You apply these standards and exceed the page limit; or
You apply other standards and exceed the equivalent of the
page limit.
3. Submission Dates and Times: Applications Available: May 14,
2007.
Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: June 13, 2007.
Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: August 13, 2007.
Applications for grants under this program must be submitted
electronically using the Grants.gov Apply site (Grants.gov). For
information (including dates and times) about how to submit your
application electronically or by mail or by hand delivery if you
qualify for an exception to the electronic submission requirement,
please refer to section IV. 6. Other Submission Requirements in this
notice.
Individuals with disabilities who need an accommodation or
auxiliary aid in connection with the application process should contact
the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT in Section VII
of this notice.
We do not consider an application that does not comply with the
deadline requirements.
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: Applications for grants under the
Comprehensive Program must be submitted electronically unless you
qualify for an exception to this requirement in accordance with the
instructions in this section.
a. Electronic Submission of Applications.
Applications for grants under the Comprehensive Program, CFDA
Number 84.116B must be submitted electronically using the
Governmentwide Grants.gov Apply site at http://www.Grants.gov. Through
this site, you will be able to download a copy of the application
package, complete it offline, and then upload and submit your
application. You may not e-mail an electronic copy of a grant
application to us.
We will reject your application if you submit it in paper format
unless, as described elsewhere in this section, you qualify for one of
the exceptions to the electronic submission requirement and submit, no
later than two weeks before the application deadline date, a written
statement to the Department that you qualify for one of these
exceptions. Further information regarding calculation of the date that
is two weeks before the application deadline date is provided later in
this section under Exception to Electronic Submission Requirement.
You may access the electronic grant application for the
Comprehensive Program at: http://www.Grants.gov You must search for the
downloadable application package for this program by the CFDA number.
Do not include the CFDA number's alpha suffix in your search (e.g.,
search for 84.116, not 84.116B).
Please note the following:
When you enter the Grants.gov site, you will find
information about submitting an application electronically through the
site, as well as the hours of operation.
[[Page 27100]]
Applications received by Grants.gov are date and time
stamped. Your application must be fully uploaded and submitted, and
must be date and time stamped by the Grants.gov system no later than
4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, on the application deadline date.
Except as otherwise noted in this section, we will not consider your
application if it is date and time stamped by the Grants.gov system
later than 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, on the application deadline
date. When we retrieve your application from Grants.gov, we will notify
you if we are rejecting your application because it was date and time
stamped by the Grants.gov system after 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time,
on the application deadline date.
The amount of time it can take to upload an application
will vary depending on a variety of factors including the size of the
application and the speed of your Internet connection. Therefore, we
strongly recommend that you do not wait until the application deadline
date to begin the submission process through Grants.gov.
You should review and follow the Education Submission
Procedures for submitting an application through Grants.gov that are
included in the application package for this program to ensure that you
submit your application in a timely manner to the Grants.gov system.
You can also find the Education Submission Procedures pertaining to
Grants.gov at: http://e-Grants.ed.gov/help/GrantsgovSubmissionProcedures.pdf
.
To submit your application via Grants.gov, you must
complete all steps in the Grants.gov registration process (see http://www.grants.gov/applicants/get_registered.jsp
). These steps include (1)
registering your organization, a multi-part process that includes
registration with the Central Contractor Registry (CCR); (2)
registering yourself as an Authorized Organization Representative
(AOR); and (3) getting authorized as an AOR by your organization.
Details on these steps are outlined in the Grants.gov 3-Step
Registration Guide (see http://www.grants.gov/section910/Grants.govRegistrationBrochure.pdf
). You also must provide on your
application the same D-U-N-S Number used with this registration. Please
note that the registration process may take five or more business days
to complete, and you must have completed all registration steps to
allow you to submit successfully an application via Grants.gov. In
addition you will need to update your CCR registration on an annual
basis. This may take three to five days to complete.
You will not receive additional point value because you
submit your application in electronic format, nor will we penalize you
if you qualify for an exception to the electronic submission
requirement, as described elsewhere in this section, and submit your
application in paper format.
You must submit all documents electronically including all
information you typically provide on the following forms: Application
for Federal Assistance (SF 424), the Department of Education
Supplemental Information for SF 424, Budget Information--Non-
Construction Programs (ED 524), and all necessary assurances and
certifications. Please note that two of these forms--the SF 424 and the
Department of Education Supplemental Information for SF 424--have
replaced ED 424 (Application for Federal Education Assistance).
You must attach any narrative sections of your application
as files in a .DOC (document), .RTF (rich text), or .PDF (Portable
Document) format. If you upload a file type other than the three file
types specified in this paragraph or submit a password protected file,
we will not review that material.
Your electronic application must comply with any page-
limit requirements described in this notice.
After you electronically submit your application, you will
receive from Grants.gov an automatic notification of receipt that
contains a Grants.gov tracking number. (This notification indicates
receipt by Grants.gov only, not receipt by the Department.) The
Department will then retrieve your application from Grants.gov and send
a second notification to you by e-mail. This second notification
indicates that the Department has received your application and has
assigned your application a PR/Award number (an ED-specified
identifying number unique to your application).
We may request that you provide us original signatures on
forms at a later date.
Application Deadline Date Extension in Case of Technical Issues
with the Grants.gov System: If you are experiencing problems submitting
your application through Grants.gov, please contact the Grants.gov
Support Desk at 1-800-518-4726. You must obtain a Grants.gov Support
Desk Case Number and must 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 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 as described elsewhere in this notice.
If you submit an application after 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time,
on the deadline date, please contact the person listed elsewhere in
this notice under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT and provide an
explanation of the technical problem you experienced with Grants.gov,
along with the Grants.gov Support Desk Case Number. We will accept your
application if we can confirm that a technical problem occurred with
the Grants.gov system and that that problem affected your ability to
submit your application by 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, on the
application deadline date. The Department will contact you after a
determination is made on whether your application will be accepted.
Note: Extensions referred to in this section apply only to the
unavailability of, or technical problems with, the Grants.gov
system. We will not grant you an extension if you failed to fully
register to submit your application to Grants.gov before the
application deadline date and time or if the technical problem you
experienced is unrelated to the Grants.gov system.
Exception to Electronic Submission Requirement: You qualify for an
exception to the electronic submission requirement, and may submit your
application in paper format, if you are unable to submit an application
through the Grants.gov system because--
You do not have access to the Internet; or
You do not have the capacity to upload large documents to
the Grants.gov system; and
No later than two weeks before the application deadline
date (14 calendar days or, if the fourteenth calendar day before the
application deadline date falls on a Federal holiday, the next business
day following the Federal holiday), you mail or fax a written statement
to the Department, explaining which of the two grounds for an exception
prevent you from using the Internet to submit your application.
If you mail your written statement to the Department, it must be
postmarked no later than two weeks before the application deadline
date. If you fax your written statement to the Department, we must
receive the faxed statement no later than two weeks before the
application deadline date.
Address and mail or fax your statement to: Levenia Ishmell, FIPSE
Comprehensive Program Assistant, U.S.
[[Page 27101]]
Department of Education, 1990 K Street, NW., room 6147, Washington, DC
20006-8544. FAX: (202) 502-7877.
Your paper application must be submitted in accordance with the
mail or hand delivery instructions described in this notice.
b. Submission of Paper Applications by Mail
If you qualify for an exception to the electronic submission
requirement, you may mail (through the U.S. Postal Service or a
commercial carrier) your application to the Department. You must mail
the original and two copies of your application, on or before the
application deadline date, to the Department at the applicable
following address:
By mail through the U.S. Postal Service: U.S. Department of
Education, Application Control Center, Attention: (CFDA Number
84.116B), 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20202-4260; or
By mail through a commercial carrier: U.S. Department of Education,
Application Control Center--Stop 4260, Attention: (CFDA Number
84.116B), 7100 Old Landover Road, Landover, MD 20785-1506.
Regardless of which address you use, you must show proof of mailing
consisting of one of the following:
(1) A legibly dated U.S. Postal Service postmark.
(2) A legible mail receipt with the date of mailing stamped by the
U.S. Postal Service.
(3) A dated shipping label, invoice, or receipt from a commercial
carrier.
(4) Any other proof of mailing acceptable to the Secretary of the
U.S. Department of Education.
If you mail your application through the U.S. Postal Service, we do
not accept either of the following as proof of mailing:
(1) A private metered postmark.
(2) A mail receipt that is not dated by the U.S. Postal Service.
If your application is postmarked after the application deadline
date, we will not consider your application.
Note: The U.S. Postal Service does not uniformly provide a dated
postmark. Before relying on this method, you should check with your
local post office.
c. Submission of Paper Applications by Hand Delivery.
If you qualify for an exception to the electronic submission
requirement, you (or a courier service) may deliver your paper
application to the Department by hand. You must deliver the original
and two copies of your application by hand, on or before the
application deadline date, to the Department at the following address:
U.S. Department of Education, Application Control Center,
Attention: (CFDA Number 84.116B), 550 12th Street, SW., Room 7041,
Potomac Center Plaza, Washington, DC 20202-4260.
The Application Control Center accepts hand deliveries daily between 8
a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, except Saturdays, Sundays, and
Federal holidays.
Note for Mail or Hand Delivery of Paper Applications: If you
mail or hand deliver your application to the Department:
(1) You must indicate on the envelope and--if not provided by
the Department--in Item 11 of the SF 424 the CFDA number including
suffix letter, if any, of the competition under which you are
submitting your application; and
(2) The Application Control Center will mail to you a
notification of receipt of your application. If you do not receive
this notification within 15 business days from the application
deadline date, you should call the U.S. Department of Education
Application Control Center at (202) 245-6288.
V. Application Review Information
Selection Criteria: The selection criteria for this program are
from 34 CFR 75.210 and are listed in the application package.
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
Notification (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 period, 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. Grantees are required to use the electronic data
instrument provided by the program office to complete the annual and
final reports.
4. Performance Measures: Under the Government Performance and
Results Act (GPRA), the following measures will be used by the
Department in assessing the performance of the Fund for the Improvement
of Postsecondary Education's Comprehensive Program:
(1) The percentage of projects that are adopted in full or in part,
or whose materials are used by other institutions; and
(2) The percentage of projects with a high likelihood of
sustainability beyond Federal funding, based on the project officer's
determination.
If funded, you will be asked to collect and report data in your
project's annual performance report (EDGAR, 34 CFR 75.590) on steps
taken toward these goals. Consequently, applicants are advised to
include these two indicators in conceptualizing the design,
implementation and evaluation of the proposed project. Consideration of
the two performance indicators is an important part of many of the
review criteria. Thus, it is important to the success of your
application that you include these indicators. Their measure should be
a part of the project evaluation plan, along with measures of goals and
objectives specific to your project.
VII. Agency Contact
For Further Information Contact:
Levenia Ishmell, Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary
Education, U.S. Department of Education, 1990 K Street, NW., room 6147,
Washington, DC 20006-8544. Telephone: (202) 502-7668 or by e-mail:
Levenia.Ishmell@ed.gov.
If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you may
call the Federal Relay Service (FRS) 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.
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 27102]]
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: May 8, 2007.
James F. Manning,
Delegated the Authority of the Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary
Education.
[FR Doc. 07-2341 Filed 5-11-07; 8:45 am]
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