Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education--Special Focus Competition: US-Brazil Higher Education Consortia Program (Institutional Cooperation and Student Mobility in Postsecondary Education Between the United States and Brazil); CFDA No. 84.116M [OPE]

[Federal Register: December 17, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 242)]
[Notices]
[Page 77244-77246]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr17de02-38]

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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[CFDA No. 84.116M]

Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education--Special
Focus Competition: US-Brazil Higher Education Consortia Program
(Institutional Cooperation and Student Mobility in Postsecondary
Education Between the United States and Brazil)

AGENCY: Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice inviting applications for new awards for fiscal year
(FY) 2003.

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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 or
combinations of institutions and other public and private nonprofit
institutions and agencies.
Applications Available: December 17, 2002.
Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: March 28, 2003.
Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: May 27, 2003.
Estimated Available Funds: $300,000. The estimated amount of funds
available for awards is based on the Administration's request for this
program for FY 2003. 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: $28,000-$32,000 for FY 2003; $190,000-
$210,000 for 4-year duration of grant.
Estimated Average Size of Awards: $30,000 for FY 2003; $200,000 for
4-year duration of grant. (The first year grant is a preparatory phase.
The grant amounts in subsequent years will be higher during the
implementation phase of the grant).
Estimated Number of Awards: 10.

Note: The Department is not bound by any estimates in this
notice.

Project Period: Up to 48 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: This program is a Special Focus Competition
under the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (Title
VII, Part B of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended) to support
projects addressing a particular problem area or improvement approach
in postsecondary education. The competition also includes an
invitational priority to encourage proposals designed to support the
formation of educational consortia of American and Brazilian
institutions to encourage cooperation in the coordination of curricula,
the exchange of students, and the opening of educational opportunities
between the United States and Brazil. The invitational priority is
issued in cooperation with Brazil. These awards support only the
participation of U.S. institutions and students in these consortia.
Brazilian institutions participating in any consortium proposal
responding to the invitational priority may apply, respectively, to the
Coordination of Improvement of Personnel of Superior Level (CAPES),
Brazilian Ministry of Education, for additional funding under a
separate but parallel Brazilian competition.

Priority

Invitational Priority

We are particularly interested in applications that meet the
following invitational priority:
Projects that support consortia of institutions of higher education
that promote institutional cooperation and student mobility between the
United States and Brazil.
Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(1) we do not give an application that meets
the priority a competitive or absolute preference over other
applications.
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 the following selection criteria chosen
from those listed in 34 CFR 75.210.
(1) The significance of the proposed project, as determined by--
(a) The extent to which the proposed project involves the
development or demonstration of promising new strategies that build on,
or are alternatives to, existing strategies;
(b) The likely utility of the products (such as information,
materials, processes, or techniques) that will result from the proposed
project, including the potential for their being used effectively in a
variety of other settings; and
(c) The importance or magnitude of the results or outcomes likely
to be attained by the proposed project, especially improvements in
teaching and student achievement.
(2) The quality of the design of the proposed project, as
determined by--
(a) The extent to which the goals, objectives, and outcomes to be
achieved by the proposed project are clearly specified and measurable;
and
(b) The extent to which the design of the proposed project is
appropriate to, and will successfully address, the needs of the target
population or other identified needs.
(3) The adequacy of resources, as determined by--
(a) The extent to which the costs are reasonable in relation to the
objectives, design, and potential significance of the proposed project;
(b) The potential for continued support of the project after
Federal funding ends, including, as appropriate, the demonstrated
commitment of

[[Page 77245]]

appropriate entities to such support; and
(c) The relevance and demonstrated commitment of each partner in
the proposed project to the implementation and success of the project.
(4) The quality of the project personnel, as determined by--
(a) The qualifications, including relevant training and experience,
of key project personnel; and
(b) The extent to which the applicant encourages applications for
employment from persons who are members of groups that have
traditionally been underrepresented based on race, color, national
origin, gender, age, or disability.

Application Procedures:

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.

Pilot Project for Electronic Submission of Applications

In Fiscal Year 2003, the U.S. Department of Education is continuing
to expand its pilot project for electronic submission of applications
to include additional formula grant programs and additional
discretionary grant competitions. The US-Brazil Higher Education
Consortia Program--CFDA No. 84.116M is one of the programs included in
the pilot project. If you are an applicant under the US-Brazil Higher
Education Consortia Program--CFDA No. 84.116M, 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) portion of the Grant Administration
and Payment System (GAPS). 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. If you participate in this voluntary
pilot project by submitting an application electronically, the data you
enter on-line will be saved into a database. We request your
participation in e-Application. We shall continue to evaluate its
success and solicit suggestions for improvement.
If you participate in e-Application, please note the following:
[sbull] Your participation is voluntary.
[sbull] You will not receive any 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. When you enter the e-
Application system, you will find information about its hours of
operation.
[sbull] You may submit all documents electronically, including the
Application for Federal Assistance (ED 424), Budget Information--Non-
Construction Programs (ED 524), and all necessary assurances and
certifications.
[sbull] 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).
[sbull] Within three working days after submitting your electronic
application, fax a signed copy of the Application for Federal
Assistance (ED 424) to the Application Control Center after following
these steps:
(1) Print ED 424 from the e-Application system.
(2) The institution's Authorizing Representative must sign this
form.
(3) Place the PR/Award number in the upper right hand corner of the
hard copy signature page of the ED 424.
(4) Fax the signed ED 424 to the Application Control Center at
(202) 260-1349.
[sbull] We may request that you give us original signatures on all
other forms at a later date.
[sbull] Closing Date Extension in Case of System Unavailability: If
you elect to participate in the e-Application pilot for the US-Brazil
Higher Education Consortia Program--CFDA No. 84.116M and you are
prevented from submitting your application on the closing 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--
(1) You must be a registered user of e-Application, and have
initiated an e-Application for this competition; and
(2) (a) 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 deadline date; or
(b) 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 deadline date.
The Department must acknowledge and confirm these periods of
unavailability before granting you an extension. To request this
extension you must 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 US-Brazil
Higher Education Consortia Program--CFDA No. 84.116M at: http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leavingFR.html&log=linklog&to=http://e-grants.ed.gov
.
We have included additional information about the e-Application
pilot project (see Parity Guidelines between Paper and Electronic
Applications) in the application package.
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://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leavingFR.html&log=linklog&to=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 84.116M.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Copies of the application materials
and further program information may also be obtained from Cindy Fisher,
Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), U.S.
Department of Education, 1990 K Street, NW., 8th Floor, Washington, DC
20006-8544. Telephone: (202) 502-7500. You may also request application
guidelines by submitting the name of the competition (US-Brazil) and
your name and postal address to: fipse@ed.gov.
Applications are also available on the FIPSE Web site at: http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leavingFR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.ed.gov/offices/OPE/FIPSE/Brazil/
.
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 a copy of the application
package 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. However, the Department is not
able to reproduce in an alternative format the standard forms included
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

[[Page 77246]]

Register, in text or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) on the
Internet at the following site: http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leavingFR.html&log=linklog&to=http://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: December 12, 2002.
Sally L. Stroup,
Assistant Secretary, Office of Postsecondary Education.
[FR Doc. 02-31691 Filed 12-16-02; 8:45 am]

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