[Federal Register: January 11, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 8)]
[Notices]
[Page 1454-1456]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr11ja02-49]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
[CFDA No. 84.116J]
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) 2002
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.
Eligible Applicants: Institutions of higher education and
vocational education and training or combinations of institutions and
other public and private nonprofit educational institutions and
agencies.
[[Page 1455]]
Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: April 1, 2002.
Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: May 15, 2002.
Applications Available: January 14, 2002.
Available Funds: $840,000 in fiscal year 2002; $2,370,000 over
three years.
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; $35,000 for one-year complementary activities 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.
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.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the Special Focus Competition, we will
award grants or enter into cooperative agreements that focus on problem
areas or improvement approaches in postsecondary education. We have
included an invitational priority 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. 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.
Priority
The Secretary is particularly interested in applications that meet
the following invitational priority. However, an application that meets
this invitational priority does not receive competitive or absolute
preference over other applications (34 CFR 75.105(c)(1)).
Invitational Priority: Projects that support consortia of
institutions of higher education that promote institutional cooperation
and student mobility between the United States and the Member States of
the European Union.
Methods for Applying Selection Criteria
The Secretary gives equal weight to the listed criteria. Within
each of the criteria, the Secretary gives equal weight to each of the
factors.
Selection Criteria
In evaluating applications for grants under this program
competition, the Secretary uses selection criteria chosen from those
listed in 34 CFR 75.210.
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 84.116J. 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 are also listed on the FIPSE Web Site: http://
www.ed.gov/FIPSE e-APPLICATIONS are available at: http://e-
grants.ed.gov.
Individuals who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD)
may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-
8339. 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.
Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in an
alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer
diskette) on request to the contact number listed under For
Applications Contact.
Individuals with disabilities also may obtain a copy of the
application package in an alternative format by contacting that number.
However, the Department is not able to reproduce in an alternative
format the standard forms included in the application package.
Application Procedures
Note: Some of the procedures in these instructions for
transmitting applications differ from those in 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
In Fiscal Year 2002 the U.S. Department of Education is continuing
to expand its pilot project of electronic submission of applications to
include additional 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 84.116J is included in the pilot project. If you are an
applicant under the European Community-United States of America
Cooperation Program in Higher Education and Vocational Education and
Training, 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, formerly e-GAPS) portion of the
Grant Administration and Payment System (GAPS). We request your
participation in this pilot project. We shall continue to evaluate its
success and solicit suggestions for improvement.
If you participate in this
e-APPLICATION pilot, please note the following:
Your participation is voluntary.
You will not receive any additional point value or penalty
because you submit a grant application in electronic or paper format.
You can submit all documents electronically, including the
Title Page, (substitutes for the ED Form 424), Budget Information-Non-
Construction Programs (substitutes for the ED Form 524), and all
necessary assurances and certifications.
Within three working days of submitting your electronic
application fax a signed copy of the Title Page to the Application
Control Center after following these steps:
1. Print the Title Page from the
e-APPLICATION system.
2. Make sure that the institution's Authorizing Representative
signs this form.
3. Before faxing this form, submit your electronic application via
the
e-APPLICATION system. You will receive an automatic acknowledgement,
which will include a PR/Award number (an identifying number unique to
your application).
[[Page 1456]]
4. Place the PR/Award number in the upper right hand corner of the
Title Page.
5. Fax the Title Page to the Application Control Center at (202)
260-1349.
We may request that you give us original signatures on all
other forms at a later date.
You may access the electronic grant application for the European
Community-United States of America Cooperation Program in Higher
Education and Vocational Education and Training at: http://e-
grants.ed.gov.
Due to software upgrades, it is anticipated that the e-Application
software will be unavailable for several days in mid-January. The
tentative dates for this system down time are January 11-21, 2002.
Please check this site for future updates on system availability.
We have included additional information about the e-APPLICATION
pilot project (see Parity Guidelines between Paper and Electronic
Applications) in the application package.
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.access.gpo.gov/nara/index.html.
Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1138-1138d.
Dated: January 8, 2002.
Kenneth W. Tolo,
Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy, Planning and Innovation,
Office of Postsecondary Education.
[FR Doc. 02-728 Filed 1-10-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4001-01-U