NEH Grant ProgramsHumanities Initiatives at Institutions with High Hispanic Enrollment, Receipt Deadline January 15, 2009
Date posted: November 12, 2008
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance
(CFDA) Number: 45.162
Questions?
Contact the staff of NEH’s Division of Education Programs at 202-606-8380 and education@neh.gov. Hearing-impaired applicants can contact NEH via TDD at 1-866-372-2930.
Grant Program Description
Humanities Initiatives are intended to strengthen and enrich humanities education and scholarship at Institutions with High Hispanic Enrollment. These grants may be used to enhance the humanities content of existing programs, develop new programs, or lay the foundation for more extensive endeavors in the future. Each project must be organized around a core topic or set of themes.
Humanities Initiatives may:
Support is available for two types of projects: Faculty Humanities Initiatives and Institutional Grants for Core Humanities. Since they have different goals and outcomes, applicants should choose carefully the type of grant most appropriate for their proposed project.
For 2009, in addition to its Picturing America initiative, NEH is particularly interested in proposals in the following categories:
Applications for projects in all disciplines of the humanities are, however, eligible for funding and encouraged.
Applicants are encouraged to draw on the knowledge of outside scholars who may contribute expertise and fresh insights to the project.
Applicants are also encouraged to collaborate with other institutions to share resources and expand the project’s potential audience.
Grant funds may be used to pay for: travel expenses and honoraria for guest scholars and visiting consultants, books and other materials, modest purchases of computer equipment and materials directly related to the project, logistical support, staff salaries during project pilot phases, and released time for the project director. Project participants should also be remunerated for their participation.
Humanities Initiatives may not be used for:
III. Award Information
Successful applications for Humanities Initiatives may receive up to $100,000 in outright funds. The grant period may run between twelve and thirty-six months, depending on the project. Funds may be disbursed according to project needs.
Cost Sharing
Cost sharing is not required for Humanities Initiatives.
(Learn more about different types of grant funding.)
Eligibility
Any U.S. nonprofit institution with 501(c)(3) tax exempt status that is an institution of higher education with an FTE enrollment of at least 25 percent Hispanic students is eligible to apply. Submission of the application by the Authorized Organization Representative (AOR) to Grants.gov will be accepted as assurance that the institution meets this eligibility criterion. If you are uncertain as to the status of your institution, please refer to the Department of Education’s Web site.
Individuals are not eligible to apply.
Collaboration with other organizations is welcome, but the project director must be from an eligible institution.
NEH generally does not award grants to other federal entities or to applicants whose projects are so closely intertwined with a federal entity that the project takes on characteristics of the federal entity’s own authorized activities. This does not preclude applicants from using grant funds from, or sites and materials controlled by, other federal entities in their projects.
Ineligible applications will not be reviewed.
Application and Submission Information
HOW TO PREPARE YOUR APPLICATION
Application advice and proposal drafts
Preliminary contacts with NEH are a normal part of the application process. The staff recommends that an applicant submit a preliminary draft so that it is received by December 15, 2008, in order to allow time for a response. A response cannot be guaranteed if the draft arrives later. The staff may explain how the application review criteria apply to a proposal, note material that may be missing, and anticipate the questions that panelists are likely to raise during the review process. Once an applicant submits a formal application, NEH will not comment on its status until the review process is complete.
NEH staff may also give a prospective applicant the narrative sections of successful proposals. Please keep in mind that these are samples, not models. Each application makes its own case for funding.
Prior to beginning, applicants should review the evaluation criteria listed below in Section V.
In addition to two forms described below (the Federal Domestic Assistance Short Organizational—SF 424 Short—and the Supplementary Cover Sheet for NEH Grant Programs), your application should consist of the following five parts (attached via the NEH Attachment Form):
  1. Table of contents
    Include all parts of the application, with page numbers.
  2. Summary
    Provide a one-page, single-spaced summary of the narrative.
  3. Narrative
    The narrative is an extended discussion of the project’s content, activities, and intended audience. Limit the narrative to ten double-spaced pages. The font size should be no smaller than eleven point and all pages should have one-inch margins. It must include the following:
    • Intellectual Rationale
      Explain the central issue that the project will address, the audience it is intended to reach, and how it will improve the quality of humanities teaching and learning at the institution.
    • Content and design
      Describe the project's humanities content in detail, discussing topics that will be explored. Describe all of the project activities, the texts to be used, and why they were chosen. Use an appendix to provide a work plan, schedule of activities, and list of readings for the project.
    • Institutional context
      Briefly describe (in one paragraph) how the project relates to the mission, curricular history, and students of the institution. If more than one institution is involved, describe any previous collaboration, and include letters of commitment from each institution in an appendix. Briefly describe the humanities programs and resources at your institution and those of collaborating institutions.
      Briefly show (in one paragraph) how the resources (e.g., faculty, library, archival or museum holdings) of the participating institution(s) support the project, and describe any previous efforts to address the objectives of the project. If the proposal is related to a project previously funded by NEH, describe how the current effort builds on past work, and include, in an appendix, an evaluation of the initial project.
    • Follow-up and dissemination
      Describe the anticipated long-term impact of the project and any activities (e.g., workshops with colleagues or dissemination of new curricula) planned after the grant period. If digital materials will be developed, describe arrangements for maintaining them after the end of the grant period.
    • Evaluation
      Include a specific internal evaluation plan that is appropriate to the project. Explain the benchmarks for evaluating the project while it is ongoing. Describe the anticipated impact of the project and the criteria by which this impact will be measured. The plan should include an evaluation of the grant products and the success of dissemination efforts.
      Outside evaluation is not required for Humanities Initiatives grants.
  4. Budget
    Using the instructions, complete the budget form (PDF). A sample budget (1-page PDF) is also available. If you wish, you may attach separate pages with notes to explain any of the budget items in more detail. Applicants are advised to retain a copy of the PDF containing their budget form.
    • Salaries and wages
      Include all project personnel employed by the applicant institution. Calculations for faculty compensation must conform to the policies of the institution. Commonly, the budget includes a percentage of academic year or annual salary for those faculty members participating in the project. Such amounts may be used to release faculty members from normal duties for a specified amount of time or, alternatively, to pay them for time they devote to the project over and above their normal duties. In some cases, such as professional development activities conducted in the summer, a uniform stipend may be provided for faculty participation. In no case, however, may this grant support replacement teachers or pay faculty members for performing their regular duties. Compensation for support staff may be calculated as a percentage of salary or based on an hourly rate.
      Salary compensation for employees of colleges and universities should be shown in the project budget as follows:
      • For project directors during the academic year, released time normally should not exceed one course per quarter or semester.
      • For project directors during the summer, compensation is based on a percentage of the director's academic year salary. For example, one month of full-time work would equal one-ninth or 11.1 percent of a nine-month academic year salary.
      • Faculty participants and any school teachers who may be involved in a workshop or who may have other responsibilities in the implementation of a project may receive stipends, typically $100 per day or $500 on completion of a week-long summer workshop, or as appropriate for other responsibilities in a project.
    • Fringe Benefits
      Fringe benefits may include contributions for social security, employee insurance, pension plans, etc. Only those benefits that are not included in an organization’s indirect cost pool may be shown as direct costs.
    • Indirect Costs (Overhead)
      These are costs that are incurred for common or joint objectives and therefore cannot be readily identified with a specific project or activity of an organization. Typical examples of indirect costs are the salaries of executive officers, the costs of operating and maintaining facilities, local telephone service, office supplies, and accounting and legal services.
      Indirect costs are computed by applying a negotiated indirect cost rate to a distribution base (usually the direct costs of the project). Organizations that wish to include overhead charges in the budget but do not have a current federally negotiated indirect cost rate or have not submitted a pending indirect cost proposal to a federal agency may choose one of the following options:
      1. NEH will not require the formal negotiation of an indirect cost rate, provided the charge for indirect costs does not exceed 10 percent of direct costs, less distorting items (e.g., capital expenditures, participant stipends, major subcontracts), up to a maximum total project charge of $5,000 per year. (Applicants who choose this option should understand that they must maintain documentation to support overhead charges claimed as part of project costs.)
      2. If your organization wishes to use a rate higher than 10 percent or claim more than $5,000 in indirect costs per year, an estimate of the indirect cost rate and the charges should be provided on the budget form. If the application is approved for funding, you will be instructed to contact the NEH Office of the Inspector General to develop an indirect cost proposal.
    • Consultant fees
      List individuals contributing to the project as visiting lecturers or leaders of faculty study sessions. The honoraria for visiting faculty and other consultants range from $350 to $750 per person per day or up to a maximum of $3,750 per person per week, not including travel and subsistence costs. Travel and subsistence costs should be entered in budget Section 4.
    • Travel
      Calculate travel and subsistence costs, including participant travel, in conformity with institutional policy. The lowest available commercial fares for coach or equivalent accommodations must be used. All project directors will attend a planning meeting at NEH’s offices in Washington, D.C. Directors should budget accordingly for a one-day meeting for the first year of the requested grant period.
    • Supplies and Materials; Services
      List all materials or equipment to be purchased with grant funds. See “Inadmissible Budget Items,” below.
    • Other costs
      Include stipends for any project participants not employed by the applicant institution. (Reminder: consultant fees are entered on line 3.)
    • Inadmissible budget items
      The following costs are not allowable and may not appear in project budgets:
      • compensation for faculty members performing their regular duties;
      • the rental of recreational facilities and costs related to social events such as banquets, receptions, and entertainment;
      • tuition fees for participants;
      • travel associated with independent scholarly research; or
      • development of educational technologies or materials that are solely pedagogical.
    • Budget narrative (optional)
      If needed, include a brief supplement to the narrative explaining projected expenses or other items in the financial information provided on NEH’s budget form.
  5. Appendices
    Use appendices to provide supplementary but essential materials, such as work plans, reading lists, syllabi, brief résumés (two pages each), and letters of commitment. Include only relevant information concisely presented. Each appendix should be identified clearly and listed in the table of contents. Pages of the appendices should be numbered consecutively. The proposal narrative should refer to items included in the appendices or samples of work.
    A one-page appendix should provide a brief institutional history, as well as key institutional data, including number of faculty, number of departments, graduate programs (if applicable), student enrollments, etc.
    Projects proposing a digital component (e.g., Web site, CD-ROM, or DVD) may wish to provide samples that demonstrate the proposed component and its relationship to the goals of the project. Applicants may provide a Web site address, screen shots, or material on CD-ROM or on DVD (eight copies). Any samples that cannot be included in the Grants.gov application must be clearly labeled with the name of the project director, the applicant institution, and the title of the project. When applicable, include operating instructions.
HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION VIA GRANTS.GOV
Register or Verify Registration with Grants.gov

Applications for this program must be submitted via Grants.gov. Before using Grants.gov for the first time, each organization must register with the Web site to create an institutional profile. Once registered, your organization can then apply for any government grant on the Grants.gov Web site.
If your organization has already registered and you have verified that your registration is still valid, you may skip this step. If not, please see our handy checklist to guide you through the registration process. We strongly recommend that you complete or verify your registration at least two weeks before the application deadline, as it takes time for your registration to be processed. If you have problems registering with Grants.gov, call the Grants.gov help desk at 1-800-518-4726.
Download the Free Adobe Reader Software
To fill out a Grants.gov application package, you will need to download and install the current version of Adobe Reader. The latest version of Adobe Reader, which is designed to function with PCs and Macintosh computers using a variety of popular operating systems, is available at no charge from the Adobe Web site (www.adobe.com).
Once installed, the current version of Adobe Reader will allow you to view and fill out Grants.gov application packages for any federal agency. If you have a problem installing Adobe Reader, it may be because you do not have permission to install a new program on your computer. Many organizations have rules about installing new programs. If you encounter a problem, contact your system administrator.
Download the Application Package
To submit your application, you will need to download the application package from the Grants.gov Web site. You can download the application package at any time. (You do not have to wait for your Grants.gov registration to be complete.) Click the button at the right to download the package.
Save the application package to your computer’s hard drive. To open the application package, select the file and double click. You do not have to be online to work on it. You can save your application package at any time by clicking the “Save” button at the top of your screen. Tip: If you choose to save your application package before you have completed it, you may receive an error message indicating that your application is not valid if all of the forms have not been completed. Click “OK” to save your work and complete the package another time. You can also use e-mail to share the application package with members of your organization or project team.
The application package contains three forms that you must complete in order to submit your application:
  1. Application for Federal Domestic Assistance - Short Organizational (SF-424 Short)—this form asks for basic information about the project, the project director, and the institution.
  2. Supplementary Cover Sheet for NEH Grant Programs—this form asks for additional information about the project director, the institution, and the budget.
  3. NEH Attachment Form—this form allows you to attach your narrative, budget, and the other parts of your application.
HOW TO FILL OUT THE APPLICATION FOR FEDERAL DOMESTIC ASSISTANCE SF-424 SHORT FORM
Select the form from the menu and double click to open it. Please provide the following information:
  1. Name of Federal Agency: This will be filled in automatically with “National Endowment for the Humanities.”
  2. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number: This will be filled in automatically with the CFDA number and title of the NEH program to which you are applying.
  3. Date Received: Please leave blank.
  4. Funding Opportunity Number: This will be filled in automatically.
  5. Applicant Information: In this section, please supply the name, address, employer/taxpayer identification number (EIN/TIN), DUNS number, Web site address, and congressional district of the institution. Also choose the “type” that best describes your institution (you only need to select one).
    If your institution is located, for example, in the 5th Congressional District of your state, put a “5.” If your institution doesn't have a congressional district (e.g. it is in a state or U.S. territory that doesn't have districts or is in a foreign country), put a “0” (zero).
    All institutions applying to federal grant programs are required to provide a DUNS number, issued by Dun & Bradstreet, as part of their application. Project directors should contact their institution’s grant administrator or chief financial officer to obtain their institution’s DUNS number. Federal grant applicants can obtain a DUNS number free of charge by calling 1-866-705-5711. (Learn more about the requirement.)
  6. Project Information:
    Provide the title of your project. Your title should be brief, descriptive, and substantive. It should also be informative to a non-specialist audience. Provide a brief description of your project. The description should be written for a non-specialist audience and clearly state the importance of the proposed work and its relation to larger issues in the humanities. List the starting and ending dates for your project.
  7. Project Director: Provide the Social Security Number, name, title, mailing address, e-mail address, and telephone and fax numbers for the project director.
    Disclosure of Social Security Numbers is optional. NEH uses them for internal application processing only.
  8. Primary Contact/Grants Administrator: Provide the contact information for the official responsible for the administration of the grant (i.e., negotiating the project budget and ensuring compliance with the terms and conditions of the award). This person is often a grants or research officer, or a sponsored programs official. Normally, the Institutional Grants Administrator is not the same person as the Project Director. If the project director and the grant administrator are the same person, skip to Item 9.
  9. Authorized Representative: Provide the contact information for the Authorized Organization Representative (AOR) who is submitting the application on behalf of the institution. This person, often called an “Authorizing Official,” is typically the president, vice president, executive director, provost, or chancellor. In order to become an AOR, the person must be designated by the institution’s E-Business Point of Contact. For more information, please consult the Grants.gov user guide, which is available at: www07.grants.gov/applicants/app_help_reso.jsp.
HOW TO FILL OUT THE SUPPLEMENTARY COVER SHEET FOR NEH GRANT PROGRAMS
Select the form from the menu and double click to open it. Please provide the following information:
  1. Project Director: Use the pull-down menu to select the major field of study for the project director.
  2. Institution Information: Use the pull-down menu to select your type of institution.
  3. Project Funding: Enter your project funding information. Note that applicants for Challenge Grants should use the right column only; applicants to all other programs should use the left column only.
  4. Application Information: Indicate whether the proposal will be submitted to other NEH grant programs, government agencies, or private entities for funding. If so, please indicate where and when. NEH frequently cosponsors projects with other funding sources. Providing this information will not prejudice the review of your application.
    For Type of Application, check “new” if the application requests a new period of funding, whether for a new project or the next phase of a project previously funded by NEH. Check “supplement” if the application requests additional funding for a current NEH grant. If requesting a supplement, provide the current grant number (applicants should discuss their request with a NEH program officer before submitting such an application).
    For Project Field Code, use the pull-down menu to select the humanities field of the project. If the project is multidisciplinary, choose the field that corresponds to the project’s predominant discipline.
HOW TO USE THE NEH ATTACHMENT FORM
You will use this form to attach the various files that make up your application.
Your attachments must be in Portable Document Format (.pdf). We cannot accept attachments in their original word processing or spreadsheet formats. If you don’t already have software to convert your files into PDFs, there are many low-cost and free software packages available. To learn more, go to www.neh.gov/grants/grantsgov/pdf.html.
When you open the NEH Attachment Form, you will find 15 attachment buttons, labeled “Attachment 1” through “Attachment 15.” By clicking on a button, you will be able to choose the file from your computer that you wish to attach. You must name and attach your files in the proper order so that we can identify them. Please attach the proper file to the proper button as listed below:
ATTACHMENT 1: To this button, please attach your table of contents. Please name the file “contents.pdf”.
ATTACHMENT 2: To this button, please attach your one-page summary. Please name the file “summary.pdf”.
ATTACHMENT 3: To this button, please attach your narrative. Please name the file “narrative.pdf”.
ATTACHMENT 4: To this button, please attach your budget. Please name the file “budget.pdf”.
ATTACHMENT 5: To this button, please attach your appendices. Please name the file “appendices.pdf”.
Use the remaining buttons to attach any additional materials (if appropriate). Please give these attachments meaningful file names and ensure that they are PDFs.
UPLOADING YOUR APPLICATION TO GRANTS.GOV
When you have completed all three forms, use the right-facing arrow to move each of them to the “Mandatory Documents for Submission” column. Once they have been moved over, the “Submit” button will activate. You are now ready to upload your application package to Grants.gov.
During the registration process, your institution designated one or more AORs (Authorized Organization Representatives). These AORs typically work in your institution’s Sponsored Research Office or Grants Office. When you have completed your application, you must ask your AOR to submit the application, using the special username and password that was assigned to him or her during the registration process.
To submit your application, your computer must have an active connection to the Internet. To begin the submission process, click the “submit” button. A page will appear, asking you to sign and submit your application. At this point, your AOR will enter his or her username and password. When you click the “sign and submit application” button, your application package will be uploaded to Grants.gov. Please note that it may take some time to upload your application package, depending on the size of your files and the speed of your Internet connection.
After the upload is complete, a confirmation page, which includes a tracking number, will appear, indicating that you have submitted your application to Grants.gov. Please print this page for your records. The AOR will also receive a confirmation e-mail.
NEH suggests that you submit your application no later than 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on the day of the deadline. That way, should you encounter a technical problem of some kind, you will still have time to contact the Grants.gov help desk for support. The Grants.gov help desk is open Monday to Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time at 1-800-518-4726. You can also send an e-mail to support@grants.gov.
HOW TO SUBMIT SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS TO GRANTS.GOV
If you are sending supplementary materials (those that cannot be submitted electronically), please send eight copies of each item and include a list of the materials to be mailed separately in your Grants.gov submission.
NEH continues to experience lengthy delays in the delivery of mail by the U.S. Postal Service, and in some cases materials are damaged by the irradiation process. We recommend that supplementary materials be sent by a commercial delivery service to ensure that they arrive by the receipt deadline.
Send the materials to:
Humanities Initiatives
Division of Education Programs
National Endowment for the Humanities
Room 302
1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20506
If you wish to have the materials returned to you, please include a self-addressed, pre-paid mailer.
DEADLINES
Preliminary proposals (optional): The staff recommends that preliminary proposals be sent so as to be received by December 15, 2008.
Applications must be received by Grants.gov by January 15, 2009. Grants.gov will date- and time-stamp your application after it is fully uploaded. Applications submitted after that date will not be accepted. Supplementary materials must also arrive at NEH by January 15, 2009, to be considered as part of the application.
Application Review
Proposals for Humanities Initiatives are evaluated according to their:
  1. Intellectual quality
    • Is the rationale for the project clear and persuasive?
    • Does the project engage significant humanities topics or texts?
    • Does the project draw on sound scholarship?
    • Are the proposed study plans thoughtful and stimulating?
    • Does the project effectively address the appropriate issues of teaching and learning in its subject area?
  2. Design quality
    • Are the activities well planned and described in adequate detail?
    • Are the personnel qualified to carry out their responsibilities?
    • Do the activities advance the project in thoughtful and creative ways?
    • Are the plans for administration sound?
    • Do the letters from scholars, other consultants, and prospective participants demonstrate their interest in and commitment to the project?
    • Is evidence provided that the participating institution(s) are committed to the project and support it?
    • Do the plans include appropriate evaluation?
    • Is the project budget reasonable?
  3. Potential for significant impact
    • Will the project lead to opportunities for enhanced humanities teaching and learning?
    • Will the results be disseminated to those who would find them most useful?
    • Will the results extend beyond the period of the grant?
Late applications will not be reviewed.
Review and Selection Process
Knowledgeable persons outside NEH will read each application and advise the agency about its merits. The Endowment’s staff comments on matters of fact or on significant issues that otherwise would be missing from these reviews, then makes recommendations to the National Council on the Humanities. The National Council meets at various times during the year to advise the NEH chairman on grants. The chairman takes into account the advice provided by the review process and, by law, makes all funding decisions.
Award Administration Information
Award notices
Applicants will be notified by mail in June 2009 of the decision. Institutional grants administrators and project directors of successful applications will also receive at that time award documents by mail. Applicants may obtain the reasons for funding decisions on their applications by sending a letter or e-mail to NEH, Division of Education Programs, Room 302, 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20506 or education@neh.gov.
Administrative requirements
Before submitting an application, applicants should review their responsibilities as an award recipient.
Award Conditions
The requirements for awards are contained in the General Terms and Conditions for Awards to Organizations, any specific terms and conditions contained in the award document, and the applicable OMB circulars governing federal grants management.
Reporting Requirements
A schedule of report due dates will be included with the award document.
Interim and final performance reports will be required. Further details can be found in Performance Reporting Requirements (formerly Enclosure 2).
A Federal Cash Transactions Report (2-page PDF) will be due within 30 days after the end of each calendar quarter. A final Financial Status Report (2-page PDF) will be due within 90 days after the completion date of the award period. Further details can be found in Financial Reporting Requirements (formerly Enclosure 1).
Points of Contact
If you have questions about the program, contact:
Division of Education Programs
National Endowment for the Humanities
Room 302
1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20506
202-606-8500
education@neh.gov
If you need help using Grants.gov, contact:
Grants.gov: www.grants.gov
Grants.gov help desk: support@grants.gov
Grants.gov customer support tutorials and manuals: www07.grants.gov/applicants/app_help_reso.jsp
Grant.gov support line: 1-800-518-GRANTS (4726)
Grants.gov troubleshooting tips
Other Information
Privacy Policy
Information in these guidelines is solicited under the authority of the National Foundation on the Arts and Humanities Act of 1965, as amended, 20 U.S.C. 956. The principal purpose for which the information will be used is to process the grant application. The information may also be used for statistical research, analysis of trends, and Congressional oversight. Failure to provide the information may result in the delay or rejection of the application.
Application Completion Time
The Office of Management and Budget requires federal agencies to supply information on the time needed to complete forms and also to invite comments on the paperwork burden. NEH estimates the average time to complete this application is fifteen hours per response. This estimate includes time for reviewing instructions, researching, gathering, and maintaining the information needed, and completing and reviewing the application.
Please send any comments regarding the estimated completion time or any other aspect of this application, including suggestions for reducing the completion time, to the Office of Publications, National Endowment for the Humanities, Washington, D.C. 20506; and to the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project (3136-0134), Washington, D.C. 20503. According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB number.