[Federal Register: December 27, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 249)]
[Notices]
[Page 79064-79065]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr27de02-73]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
[CFDA No. 84.116J]
Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education--Special
Focus Competition: European Community-United States of America
Cooperation Program in Higher Education and Vocational Education and
Training; Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards for Fiscal Year
(FY) 2003
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 and
vocational education and training or combinations of institutions and
other public and private nonprofit educational institutions and
agencies.
Applications Available: December 20, 2002.
Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: March 28, 2003.
Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: May 30, 2003.
Estimated Available Funds: $700,000 in fiscal year 2003; $2,370,000
over three years. 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: $25,000[n<dash]$200,000 total
for up to three years.
Estimated Average Size of Awards: $25,000 for one-year preparatory
projects; $35,000 for one-year complementary activities projects;
$75,000 for two-year complementary activities projects; $50,000 for
year one of a three-year consortia implementation project with a
$200,000 three-year total.
Estimated Number of Awards: 13.
Note: The Department is not bound by any estimates in this
notice.
Project Period: Up to 36 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: Under the Special Focus Competition, we will
award grants or enter into cooperative agreements that focus on problem
areas or improvement approaches in postsecondary education. We have
included an invitational priority to encourage proposals designed to
support the formation of educational consortia of institutions and
organizations in the United States and the European Union to encourage
cooperation in the coordination of curricula, the exchange of students
and the opening of educational opportunities between the United States
and the European Union. The invitational priority is issued in
cooperation with the European Union. European institutions
participating in any consortium proposal responding to the invitational
priority may apply to the European Commission's Directorate General for
Education and Culture for additional funding under a separate European
competition.
Priority: The Secretary is particularly interested in applications
that meet the following invitational priority. However, an application
that meets this invitational priority does not receive competitive or
absolute preference over other applications (34 CFR 75.105(c)(1)).
Invitational Priority: Projects that support consortia of
institutions of higher education that promote institutional cooperation
and student mobility between the United States and the Member States of
the European Union.
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 selection criteria chosen
from those listed in 34 CFR 75.210.
For Applications Contact: Education Publications Center (ED Pubs),
PO 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 84.116J. You may also request
application forms by calling (732) 544-2504 (fax on demand), or
application guidelines by calling (202) 358-3041 (voice mail) or
submitting the name of the competition and your name and postal address
to FIPSE@ed.gov (e-mail).
Applications are also listed on the FIPSE Web site: http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leavingFR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.ed.gov/
[[Page 79065]]
FIPSE. e-APPLICATIONS are available at: http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leavingFR.html&log=linklog&to=http://e-grants.ed.gov.
Individuals who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD)
may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-
8339. For additional program information call the FIPSE office (202-
502-7500) between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., Eastern Time, Monday
through Friday.
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
Applications Contact.
Individuals with disabilities may obtain a copy of the application
package in an alternative format by contacting ED Pubs. However, the
Department is not able to reproduce in an alternative format the
standard forms included in the application package.
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 European Community/United States
of America Cooperation Program in Higher Education and Vocational
Education and Training--84.116J is one of the programs included in the
pilot project. If you are an applicant under the European Community/
United States of America Cooperation Program in Higher Education and
Vocational Education and Training, 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 European
Community/United States of America Cooperation Program in Higher
Education and Vocational Education and Training 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 European
Community/United States of America Cooperation Program in Higher
Education and Vocational Education and Training 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.
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:
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leavingFR.html&log=linklog&to=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 20, 2002.
Sally L. Stroup,
Assistant Secretary, Office of Postsecondary Education.
[FR Doc. 02-32713 Filed 12-26-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4001-01-M