Yes, if you think that it will be helpful to the review panel. However, the International Education Programs Service (IEPS) strongly suggests that you refrain from referring to your proposal as an application for "renewal" of your grant. A new competition for grant awards is held every four years. In selecting applications for funding, no preference is given to applicants who have received National Resource Centers (NRC) and Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) grants in the past. All successful applicants are considered to have competed effectively for new grant awards.

Applicants are advised to address each part of the selection criteria in the application narrative. References to the application budget and appendices are strongly recommended to facilitate the readers' evaluations.

Yes. However, the applicant will need to address selection criteria related to the strength of its graduate training in addition to those focusing on the strength of and development plans for the undergraduate curriculum.

No. Narrative page limits are 40 double-spaced pages for single institution applications and 50 double-spaced pages for consortia applications, regardless of whether they are for undergraduate or comprehensive NRC funding or FLAS fellowships or both. Please see the Closing Date Notice.

No. All consortia must comply with the 50 double-spaced page narrative limit.

No. Please refer to the Closing Date Notice and to Section C (page 2c) for specific guidance.

IEPS suggests that applicants limit requests to $250,000 per year for single institution centers and $260,000 per year for consortial centers. These amounts are guidelines based on the anticipated available funds. Limiting your requested funds to the suggested amounts allows the readers to evaluate proposals based on a more realistic scope of NRC-funded work.

No. Title VI of the Higher Education Act as amended specifies that the recipients be students at the graduate level.

Yes, but not in response to the "Outreach Activities" selection criterion, which asks readers to evaluate the regional and national impact of an applicant's activities. To the extent that your center engages in projects that facilitate overseas study and research or professional development opportunities for United States-based students and educators, these activities might be relevant in addressing other selection criteria.

Applicants are required to submit an original application and two copies. The original application stays in the program office and the copies are read by the peer review panel. Because each application is evaluated by three reviewers, the program office would appreciate receiving a total of one original plus three copies.

No.

Your application is delivered to the Application Control Center (ACC), the unit authorized to receive grant applications. ACC confirms receipt of an original application and copies and assigns each an identifying number (PR/Award number, e.g., P015A0--- P015B060---), and sends the applications to the program office, where applications are screened for eligibility. Applications that are eligible are then assigned to expert reviewers for the external "peer review" process.

The panels of experts read and score each eligible application. Program officers then review the readers' comments and scores and make funding recommendations to US/ED officials. Once recommendations are approved, grant award notifications (GANs) are issued, if appropriations are available.

It is not evaluated. Section 75.216 of EDGAR prohibits US/ED from evaluating an application if it does not meet the program eligibility criteria or does not otherwise comply with application requirements. An ineligible application is returned to the applicant with a letter explaining why it was not evaluated.

Each application is evaluated by three area or international studies experts, one of whom is a language specialist, from outside US/ED who represent a variety of disciplines. The experts are required to use the program statute and regulations, the program selection criteria, and any priorities and other requirements that have been published in the Federal Register as guidance in reviewing the applications. The review panels provide written comments and scores to support their judgments about the quality, significance, and impact of the proposed project.

Reviewers score each application using the selection criteria published in the Federal Register as part of the program regulations. Reviewers are instructed to use only the published criteria and to base their evaluation strictly on information provided in the application.

US/ED considers: (1) the information in each application; (2) the readers’ scores and comments resulting from the peer review of the applications; and (3) any other information relevant to a criteria, priority, or other requirement that applies to the selection of applications for new grants.

Most review processes take about six to eight months from the deadline date through the issuance of the signed Grant Award Notification.

There is one absolute priority for NRCs in this competition.

• Absolute Priority: Projects that include teacher training activities.

The National Resource Centers (NRC) program has one "absolute priority", which is to conduct Teacher Training activities. All NRC applicants must address this priority in their applications. This does not suggest applicants devote a separate section of their application to Teacher Training initiatives or activities. All that is required is that reviewers are able to discern what training activities for educators the applicant will conduct during the funding cycle. References to the teacher training activities can be placed in the narrative, budget, and/or timeline.

There is no absolute priorities for the FYs 2006-2009 Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) program competition.

Yes. Please note that the Closing Date Notice for FYs 2006-2009 funding announces one competitive preference priority and five invitational priorities for the National Resource Centers program and two competitive preference priorities for the FLAS Fellowships program.

Not necessarily. "Outreach activities" include many projects that are not teacher training. To meet the absolute priority, applicants must include information that demonstrates the existence, development, or expansion of effective teacher training activities.

Grantees are required to submit annual performance reports on time through the International Resource Information System (IRIS) that describe the project's accomplishments, Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) data, and budgetary status. These reports assist IEPS staff in determining continuation funding. Although estimated funding levels for all four years of the grant are established at the time of the initial grant award notification, the amount of funding received in Years 2, 3 and 4 of the grant can increase or decrease depending on: (1) the timely submission of all required reports; (2) evidence in the reports that you have made substantial progress toward meeting original grant objectives; (3) program officers' review and analysis of report data; (4) information from site visits; and (5) the congressional appropriation of funds for the programs.

Successful applicants will receive instructions for submitting electronic performance reports through IRIS soon after their grants have been awarded.

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