WBRS Transition Update

Greetings all! I know you all want to know when the new member management functions will be available in the My AmeriCorps portal. Due to recent technology challenges, I can only tell you that we are committed to letting you know as soon as we have a firm date.

While we have no firm date to announce, we can assure you that the date of this release will not be before this July, at the very earliest. Until the portal is open for business, you must continue to enroll your members in WBRS. Once the release takes place, member management functions will have to take place in the portal, which becomes the new front door to our Trust database.

We appreciate your patience as we work on our technology issues. If you have questions or concerns, you can e-mail ReportingQuestion@cns.gov. We also are continuing to collect and post examples of how you are planning to handle reporting and timekeeping once the new system is live on the WBRS Transition Page. To contribute an example, e-mail it to ReportingPractice@cns.gov. Finally, see the Communications Center for more information on how you can showcase your new procedures at the National Conference in Atlanta.

Preview: Changes in Grant Provisions

You will notice quite a few changes in the 2008 Grant Provisions that will be attached to your 2008 grant award. First, there is now just one set of Provisions for EAP and non-EAP grants. In addition, last year, in preparation for rulemaking and the eventual development of Corporation-wide terms and conditions, AmeriCorps staff, the Office of Grants Management, and the Office General Counsel reviewed the Provisions. We identified some Provisions that are in the AmeriCorps regulations. Others were better characterized as policies, suggestions, or best practices, and have been relocated to the Policy FAQs. The 2008 provisions are the result of this editing process.

Except for a few superfluous or no longer accurate elements, all of the material that has been removed from the Provision is still available and in effect. We have listed where you can find each removed provision by regulation citation or Policy FAQ number and title. This list appears right after the Table of Contents in the 2008 Provisions.

Timeline for the 2009 Grant Competitions

We will be releasing the 2009 Notice of Federal Funding Opportunity at the National Conference in Atlanta. Application Instructions will be available, and eGrants will be open for applications in September, once the new Rule becomes final. The deadline for State and National competitions this year is January 13, 2009.

AmeriCorps Week!

We are very excited about AmeriCorps Week, kicking off this Monday. If you haven’t already, be sure and register your events on the AmeriCorps Week website, and schedule a few minutes to check out the amazing videos that are entered in our video contest and vote for your favorite. We look forward to celebrating with you next week!

Need Your Input: EAPs in the 2009 Competition

Currently, Education Award Programs (EAPs) that operate in one state and are sponsored by institutions of higher education are eligible for funding through the National EAP program. We propose to change this policy to align eligibility requirements for these EAP applicants with most other state and national applicants.

We are proposing that, starting in the 2009 competition, all applicants to the National EAP applications program must operate in more than one state. All EAPs that operate in one state, including educational institutions, will be required to apply through their state service commission for funding.

This change will not affect current single-state National EAP grantees until the next time they recompete for funding. Please provide your feedback on this proposed policy change via e-mail to aborgstrom@cns.gov with a cc to your program officer, and the subject line “EAP Change.”

Living Allowance Waiver for State Formula Professional Corps

Our appropriations language this year allows professional corps programs funded with state formula funds to offer higher-than-the-maximum living allowance, like their national counterparts. The inclusion of a professional corps program in your formula portfolio is the equivalent of an approved waiver.

Dates to Remember

• May 11-18, 2008: AmeriCorps Week
      
• May 15, 2008: Estimate of unexpended funds due
      
• June 1-3, 2008: National Conference, Atlanta / 2009 NOFO Released
      
• July 7, 2008: State formula grants due
      
• September 2008: Estimated date for publication of final rule / Application Instructions released
      
• September 22-24: State Commission ED Meeting in DC
      
• November 3, 2008: Admin-PDAT-Disability applications due
      
• December 1, 2008: Grantee Progress Reports due
      
• January 13, 2009: State and National application deadline

What Do You Think?

How can we make this periodic update more useful? What other policy tools would be helpful? Contact aborgstrom@cns.gov with your ideas.