FR Doc 03-21815
[Federal Register: August 26, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 165)]
[Notices]
[Page 51261-51263]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr26au03-66]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
[CFDA No. 84.017A]
Office of Postsecondary Education; International Research and
Studies Program; Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards for Fiscal
Year (FY) 2004
Purpose of Program: The International Research and Studies Program
provides grants to conduct research and studies to improve and
strengthen instruction in modern foreign languages, area studies, and
other international fields.
For FY 2004, we encourage applicants to design projects that focus
on the invitational priorities in the Priorities section of this
application notice.
Eligible Applicants: Public and private agencies, organizations,
institutions, and individuals.
Applications Available: August 26, 2003.
Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: November 3, 2003.
Estimated Available Funds: The Administration has requested
$2,053,000 for International Research and Studies new awards for FY
2004. The actual level of funding, if any, depends on final
congressional action. However, we are inviting applications to allow
enough time to complete the grant process if Congress appropriates
funds for this program.
Estimated Range of Awards: $30,000--$170,000 per year.
Estimated Average Size of Awards: $108,053 per year.
Estimated Number of Awards: 19.
Note: The Department is not bound by any estimates in this
notice.
Project Period: Up to 36 months.
Page Limit: The application narrative, section C, is where you, the
applicant, address the selection criteria that reviewers use to
evaluate your application. You must limit the narrative to the
equivalent of no more than 30 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.
- Double space (no more than three lines per vertical inch)
all text in the application narrative, including titles, headings,
footnotes, quotations, references, and captions. However, you may
single space all text in charts, tables, figures and graphs. Charts,
tables, figures, and graphs presented in the application narrative do
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.
The page limit does not apply to the cover sheet; the budget
section, including the narrative budget justification; the assurances
and certifications; the one-page abstract; or the appendices. However,
you must include your complete response to the selection criteria in
the application narrative in section C.
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.
Applicable Regulations: (a) The Education Department General
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 80, 82,
85, 86, 97, 98, and 99; (b) the regulations in 34 CFR part 655; and (c)
the regulations for this program in 34 CFR part 660.
Note: The regulations in 34 CFR part 86 apply to institutions of
higher education only.
Priorities
Invitational Priorities: We are particularly interested in
applications that meet the following invitational priorities.
Invitational Priority 1
Research, surveys, studies, or development of instructional
materials that are nonbiased, factually accurate and solicitous of
diverse views, and that serve to enhance international understanding
for use at the elementary and secondary education levels, or for use in
teacher education programs.
Invitational Priority 2
The development of instructional materials that are nonbiased,
factually accurate and solicitous of diverse views on the Middle East,
Central Asia, and South Asia or the languages spoken in these regions.
Invitational Priority 3
Studies assessing the outcomes and effectiveness of programs
authorized under title VI of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as
amended, and related programs supported under section 102(b)(6) of the
Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961.
Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(1) we do not give an application that meets
the invitational priorities a competitive or absolute preference over
other applications.
Application Procedures: The Government Paperwork Elimination Act
(GPEA) of 1998 (Pub. L. 105-277) and the Federal Financial Assistance
Management Improvement Act of 1999
[[Page 51262]]
(Pub. L. 106-107) encourage us to undertake initiatives to improve our
grant processes. Enhancing the ability of individuals and entities to
conduct business with us electronically is a major part of our response
to these Acts. Therefore, we are taking steps to adopt the Internet as
our chief means of conducting transactions in order to improve services
to our customers and to simplify and expedite our business processes.
Note: Some of the procedures in these instructions for
transmitting applications differ from those in the Education
Department General Administrative Regulations (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.
We are requiring that applications for grants for FY 2004 under the
International Research and Studies Program be submitted electronically
using e-Application available through the Department's e-GRANTS system.
The e-GRANTS system is accessible through its portal page at: http://e-grants.ed.gov.
An applicant who is unable to submit an application through the e-
GRANTS system may submit a written request for a waiver of the
electronic submission requirement. In the request, the applicant should
explain the reason or reasons that prevent the applicant from using the
Internet to submit the application. The request should be addressed to:
Jose Martinez, U.S. Department of Education, 1990 K St., NW., Suite
6000, Washington, DC 20006-8521. Please submit your request no later
than two weeks before the application deadline date.
If, within two weeks of the application deadline date, an applicant
is unable to submit an application electronically, the applicant must
submit a paper application by the application deadline date in
accordance with the transmittal instructions in the application
package. The paper application must include a written request for a
waiver documenting the reasons that prevented the applicant from using
the Internet to submit the application.
Pilot Project for Electronic Submission of Applications
In FY 2004, the Department is continuing to expand its pilot
project for electronic submission of applications to include additional
formula grant programs and additional discretionary grant competitions.
The International Research and Studies Program--CFDA 84.017A is one of
the programs included in the pilot project. If you are an applicant
under the International Research and Studies Program, you must submit
your application to us in electronic format or receive a waiver.
The pilot project involves the use of the Electronic Grant
Application System (e-Application). Users of e-Application will be
entering data on-line while completing their applications. You may not
e-mail a soft copy of a grant application to us. The data you enter on-
line will be saved into a database. We shall continue to evaluate the
success of e-Application and solicit suggestions for its improvement.
If you participate in e-Application, please note the following:
- When you enter the e-Application system, you will find
information about its hours of operation. We strongly recommend that
you do not wait until the application deadline date to initiate an e-
Application package.
- You will not receive additional point value because you
submit a grant application in electronic format, nor will we penalize
you if you submit an application in paper format.
- You must submit all documents electronically, including the
Application for Federal Education Assistance (ED 424), Budget
Information--Non-Construction Programs (ED 524), and all necessary
assurances and certifications.
- Your e-Application must comply with any page limit
requirements described in this notice.
- After you electronically submit your application, you will
receive an automatic acknowledgement, which will include a PR/Award
number (an identifying number unique to your application).
- Within three working days after submitting your electronic
application, fax a signed copy of the Application for Federal Education
Assistance (ED 424) to the Application Control Center after following
these steps:
- Print ED 424 from e-Application.
- The institution's Authorizing Representative must sign this
form.
- Place the PR/Award number in the upper right hand corner of the
hard copy signature page of the ED 424.
- Fax the signed ED 424 to the Application Control Center at (202)
260-1349.
- We may request that you give us original signatures on
other forms at a later date.
- Application Deadline Date Extension in Case of System
Unavailability: If you are prevented from submitting your application
on the application deadline date because the e-Application system is
unavailable, we will grant you an extension of one business day in
order to transmit your application electronically, by mail, or by hand
delivery. For us to grant this extension--
- You must be a registered user of e-Application and have
initiated an e-Application for this competition; and
- The e-Application system must be unavailable for 60 minutes
or more between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., Washington, DC
time, on the application deadline date; or
- The e-Application system must be unavailable for any period of
time during the last hour of operation (that is, for any period of time
between 3:30 and 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time) on the application
deadline date.
The Department must acknowledge and confirm these periods of
unavailability before granting you an extension. To request this
extension or to confirm the Department's acknowledgement of any system
unavailability, you may contact either (1) the person listed elsewhere
in this notice under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT or (2) the e-
GRANTS help desk at 1-888-336-8930.
You may access the electronic grant application for the
International Research and Studies Program at: http://e-grants.ed.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jose L. Martinez, U.S. Department of
Education International Education and Graduate Programs Service, 1990 K
Street, NW., Suite 6000, Washington, DC 20006-8521. Telephone: (202)
502-7635, or via Internet: jose.martinez@ed.gov. If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you may
call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) 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 under FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
Individuals with disabilities may obtain a copy of the application
package in an alternative format by contacting that person. However,
the Department is not able to reproduce in an alternative format the
standard forms included in the application package.
[[Page 51263]]
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 any 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. 1125.
Dated: August 21, 2003.
Sally L. Stroup,
Assistant Secretary, Office of Postsecondary Education.
[FR Doc. 03-21815 Filed 8-25-03; 8:45 am]
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