To obtain a
printed version of these |
guidelines, call
202-606-8446, send an |
e-mail to info@neh.gov, or
write to |
NEH, Office of Public
Affairs, |
1100 Pennsylvania Avenue,
NW, |
Washington, DC 20506. |
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Date posted: October 5, 2007
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 45.163
Questions?
Contact Barbara Ashbrook or Julia Huston Nguyen of NEH's Division of Education Programs at 202-606-8380 and
education@neh.gov. Hearing-impaired applicants can contact NEH via TDD at 1-866-372-2930.
The National Endowment for the Humanities invites proposals for workshops that offer academically rigorous professional
development programs for K-12 educators seeking to use digital resources to strengthen the teaching of the humanities.
Workshops must have a cohesive course of study, address well-defined topics, and foster deeper and more informed engagement
with the content-rich resources of the Internet, particularly the materials and lesson plans available through
NEH's EDSITEment, a nationally recognized gateway to the best humanities
materials on the World Wide Web.
The goals of the Digital Humanities Workshops are:
- to provide training and experience in the use of new technologies to strengthen the teaching of significant themes
and topics in the humanities;
- to engage teachers in deepening their knowledge and understanding of the humanities through the use of online
archives and other digital materials;
- to give teachers opportunities to observe and share models for effective use of digital resources in the K-12
classroom; and
- to encourage collaboration with humanities scholars who bring appropriate expertise on
the topic of the project and on the use of new technologies in humanities teaching.
Workshops should be designed to offer a minimum of four full days of instruction, or the equivalent amount
of hours spread over a longer period of time. As appropriate, workshops could, for example,
be designed for one consecutive four-day session, or for a series of one-day or half-day sessions
held at regular intervals over one or more months. Workshops must accommodate a minimum of 20
teachers at each session, not including any teachers served by a distance learning component.
Participating teachers may be identified in the application or after the proposal is funded,
as appropriate. Projects should feature humanities scholars who have expertise relevant to
the workshop topic and appropriate experience in the use of new technologies in their
teaching. Faculty for the workshop must be identified in the proposal, with
evidence of their commitment to participate included in the application.
Projects serving 20 or more teachers from a single institution are eligible
for funding up to $30,000. Projects serving a cluster of institutions and a
larger number of teachers are eligible for funding up to $100,000. These
larger projects also should explore distance education delivery through
video, web-conferencing, or digital platforms. NEH expects that
all programs to be held at locations that offer suitable technological
infrastructure to support the proposed activities. Funds may be used
to pay for visiting scholars, books and other materials, logistical
support, and appropriate release time for project staff. Participants
who complete the workshop will receive a stipend.
Proposals to provide workshops for teachers with limited access to professional
development in the humanities are encouraged. These workshops may include
classroom teachers in public, private, parochial, and charter schools,
as well as home schooling parents. Project directors are encouraged to
make arrangements with the appropriate state agency for participants to
receive continuing education units (CEUs) or in-service credit.
Projects must have a plan for appropriate evaluation that will provide firm evidence of increased
knowledge and skills on the part of the participants. Workshops must produce evidence of each
participating teacher's new knowledge and increased skills, such as new lesson plans,
course materials, or a research project. Master teachers may be involved to assist participants
in carrying out individual projects or constructing new learning resources.
Providing Access to Grant Products
As a taxpayer-supported federal agency, the NEH endeavors to make the products of
its grants available to the broadest possible audience. Our goal is for
scholars, educators, students, and the American public to have ready and easy
access to the wide range of NEH grant products. For projects that lead to the
development of Web sites, all other considerations being equal, the NEH gives
preference to those that provide free access to the public.
Types of Projects NOT Supported
Digital Humanities Workshops do not support:
- large-scale acquisition of computer equipment by schools or colleges;
- empirical social scientific research;
- specific policy studies;
- educational or technical impact assessments;
- work undertaken in the pursuit of an academic degree;
- the preparation or publication of textbooks;
- projects that focus on pedagogical theory, research on educational methods, tests, or measurements;
- cognitive psychology; or
- projects devoted to advocacy.
The Endowment currently sponsors
one agency-wide program, We the People, and two initiatives, Rediscovering Afghanistan
and the Digital Humanities Initiative. Below is information on each. The NEH encourages applications
in these three special areas of interest.
We the People Grant
Program
To help Americans make sense of
their history and of the world around them, NEH established the We the
People program. NEH encourages applications that explore significant
events and themes in our nation's history and culture and that advance
knowledge of the principles that define America. To learn more about
We the People, visit the
program's Web site. Proposals will be evaluated through NEH's
established review process and will not receive special consideration.
Rediscovering
Afghanistan
NEH invites applications for
projects that focus on Afghanistan's history and culture. The special
initiative is designed to promote research, education, and public programs
about Afghanistan and to encourage United States institutions to assist
Afghanistan in efforts to preserve and document its cultural resources. Learn
more about the initiative.
Digital Humanities
Initiative
NEH is interested in receiving
applications for projects that use or study the impact of digital
technology. Digital technologies offer humanists new methods of conducting
research, conceptualizing relationships, and presenting scholarship.
Digital humanities projects deploy these technologies and methods to
enhance our understanding of a topic or issue. NEH is also interested in
projects that study the impact of digital technology on the
humanities—exploring the ways in which it changes how we read, write,
think, and learn. Learn more about the initiative.
Digital Humanities Workshops can be funded up to $30,000 in outright funds
for projects serving a single institution; regional or multi-institutional programs may receive
awards of up to $100,000. The grant period may run between twelve and eighteen months, depending on the project.
When two or more institutions or organizations collaborate on an application, one of them must serve
as the lead applicant and administer the project on behalf of all participating units.
Cost Sharing
Cost sharing is not required.
Any U.S. nonprofit organization or institution with IRS 501(c)(3) status is eligible, as are state and local governmental
agencies and tribal governments. Individuals are not eligible to apply.
NEH generally does not award grants to other federal entities or to applicants whose projects are so closely intertwined with a federal entity that the project takes on characteristics of the federal entity's own authorized activities. This does not preclude applicants from using grant funds from, or sites and materials controlled by, other federal entities in their projects.
Ineligible applications will not be reviewed.
How to Prepare your Application
Application advice and proposal drafts
Prior to submitting a proposal, applicants are encouraged to contact program officers who can offer advice about preparing the proposal, supply samples of funded applications, and review draft proposals. These comments are not part of the formal review process and have no bearing on the final outcome of the proposal, but previous applicants have found them helpful in strengthening their applications. Program staff recommend that draft proposals be submitted four weeks before the deadline. Time restraints may prevent staff from reviewing draft proposals submitted after that date. Draft narratives may be submitted by e-mail
attachment (education@neh.gov, fax (202-606-8394), or overnight mail
(Division of Education Programs, NEH, Room 302, 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20506).
You will prepare your application for submission via Grants.gov just as you would
a paper application. Your application should consist of the following parts:
- Table of contents
Include all parts of the application, with page numbers.
- Summary
Provide a one-page, single-spaced summary of the narrative.
- Narrative
The narrative is an extended discussion of the project's content, activities,
and intended beneficiaries. Narrative descriptions are limited to fifteen
double-spaced pages. The font size should be no smaller than eleven point,
and all pages should have one-inch margins. The narrative should refer to
items included in the appendices. It must include the following:
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Intellectual Rationale |
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The intellectual rationale must justify in a clear and persuasive manner the specific content,
activities, and topics set forth in the project's plan. Describe which online resources will
form the core of the study and why; explain the significance of the topics for the Digital
Humanities Workshop. Place the project in its scholarly and educational context, and identify
the intended impact on school teachers and their students.
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Content of the Project |
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Explain the nature and structure of the digital resources to be used and how they are
appropriate to learning the subject. Describe the approach, including presentation and
discussion topics, and, in an appendix, provide a detailed work plan. Describe how the
program will be structured and what will be expected of the participants. Describe plans
for facilitating participants' individual projects, such as lesson plans, new curricula,
or research papers.
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Project Faculty and Staff |
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Identify, as appropriate, principal faculty, visiting lecturers, master teachers,
and support staff. Describe their qualifications and responsibilities, and define the role
that each member of the project team will have in ensuring successful completion of
project goals. Enumeration of personnel should be supported in an appendix by
up-to-date letters of commitment and brief résumés (two pages). The persons who
bear primary intellectual responsibility for the workshop should submit full
résumés in an appendix.
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Selection of Participants |
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Include, when appropriate, information on how participants will be chosen.
If participants are already selected, provide relevant information about them.
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Professional Development of Participants |
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When appropriate, describe how the project will help teachers meet applicable curriculum
frameworks and academic and technology standards. NEH recognizes that many participants
will want to obtain continuing education units (CEUs) or in-service credit for their
participation in a workshop. If the workshop has the potential for conveying professional
development credit equivalency, then the application should discuss how the program will
provide documentation for teachers interested in obtaining such credit from their school
district or state.
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Institutional Context |
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Briefly describe how the resources (e.g., faculty, digital humanities centers, libraries,
archival or museum holdings) of the participating institution(s) support the project.
Provide, in an appendix, a letter of commitment from an academic administrator that
demonstrates institutional commitment to the implementation of the project.
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Dissemination and Evaluation |
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Describe how the workshop will generate follow-up activity, maintain and extend a community
of inquiry, and disseminate project materials. All other considerations being equal, NEH
will give preference to projects that provide free, online access to digital materials
produced with grant funds.
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Describe how the workshop will be evaluated. Directors should conduct their own
formative and summative evaluations without the involvement of an outside evaluator.
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- Project Budget
Using the instructions, complete the budget
form (PDF). Review the following budget instructions in
addition to those accompanying the budget forms. If you wish, you may
attach separate pages with notes to explain any of the budget items
in more detail. Applicants are advised to retain a copy of the PDF containing
their budget form.
- Appendices
Include only relevant supplementary materials, such as detailed agendas and workplans, reading lists,
brief résumés (two pages), and letters of commitment. Each appendix should be identified clearly,
listed in the table of contents, and numbered consecutively. The proposal narrative should refer to items included in the appendices.
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How to submit your application via Grants.gov |
Register or verify registration with Grants.gov
Applications for this program must be submitted via Grants.gov. Before using Grants.gov for the first time, each organization must register with the Web site to create an institutional profile. Once registered, your organization can then apply for any government grant on the Grants.gov Web site.
If your organization has already registered, you may skip this step.
If not, please see our handy checklist
to guide you through the registration process. We recommend you complete your registration at least two
weeks before the application deadline, as it takes time for your registration to be processed.
If you have problems registering with Grants.gov, call the Grants.gov help desk at 1-800-518-4726.
Download the free PureEdge Viewer software
In order to fill out a Grants.gov application package, you will need to
download and install the free PureEdge Viewer software. This software is
available at no charge from the Grants.gov Web site. Please select the link
below that corresponds to the type of computer you are using:
Once installed, this software will allow you to view and fill out
Grants.gov application packages for any federal agency. If you have a
problem installing PureEdge Viewer, it may be because you do not have
permission to install a new program on your computer. Many organizations
have rules about installing new programs. If you encounter a problem,
contact your system administrator.
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Attention Microsoft Vista users: Please note that Grants.gov does not currently support
the new Microsoft Vista Operating system. The PureEdge software used by Grants.gov forms are not
compatible with Vista. Grants.gov will be reviewing this new product to determine if it can be
supported in the future. If you have any questions regarding this matter please email the Grants.gov help desk at
support@grants.gov or call 1-800-518-4726.
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Download the Application Package
To submit your application, you will need to download the application package from the
Grants.gov Web site. You can download the application package at any time.
(You do not have to wait for your Grants.gov registration to be complete.)
Click the button at the right to download the package.
Save the application package to your computer's hard drive. To open the application package, select the file and double click. You do not have to be online to work on it.
You can save your application package at any time by clicking the "Save" button at the top of your screen. Tip: If you choose to save your application package before you have completed it, you may receive an error message indicating that your application is not valid if all of the forms have not been completed. Click "OK" to save your work and complete the package another time. You can also use e-mail to share the application package with members of your organization or project team.
The application package contains three forms that you must complete in order to submit your application:
- Application for Federal Domestic Assistance - Short Organizational (SF-424 Short) -- this form asks for basic information about the project, the project director, and the institution.
- Supplementary Cover Sheet for NEH Grant Programs -- this form asks for additional information about the project director, the institution, and the budget.
- NEH Attachment Form -- this form allows you to attach your narrative, budget, and the other parts of your application.
How to Fill Out Application for Federal Domestic Assistance SF-424 Short Form
Select the form from the menu and double click to open it. Please provide the following information:
- Name of Federal Agency: This will be filled in automatically with "National Endowment for the Humanities."
- Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number: This will be filled in automatically with the CFDA number and title of the NEH program to which you are applying.
- Date Received: Please leave blank.
- Funding Opportunity Number: This will be filled in automatically.
- Applicant Information: In this section, please supply the name, address, employer/taxpayer identification number (EIN/TIN), DUNS number, Web site address, and congressional district of the institution. Also choose the "type" that best describes your institution (you only need to select one).
If your institution is located in the 5th Congressional District of your state, put a "5." If your institution doesn't have a congressional district (e.g. it is in a state or U.S. territory that doesn't have districts or is in a foreign country), put a "0" (zero).
All institutions applying to federal grant programs are required to provide a DUNS number, issued by Dun & Bradstreet, as part of their application. Project directors should contact their institution’s grant administrator or chief financial officer to obtain their institution’s DUNS number. Federal grant applicants can obtain a DUNS number free of charge by calling 1-866-705-5711. (Learn more about the requirement.)
- Project Information: Provide the title of your project. Your title should be brief, descriptive, and substantive. It should also be informative to a non-specialist audience. Provide a brief description of your project. The description should be written for a non-specialist audience and clearly state the importance of the proposed work and its relation to larger issues in the humanities. List the starting and ending dates for your project.
- Project Director: Provide the Social Security Number, name, title, mailing address, e-mail address, and telephone and fax numbers for the project director.
Disclosure of Social Security Numbers is optional. NEH uses them for internal application processing only.
- Primary Contact/Grants Administrator: Provide the contact information for the official responsible for the administration of the grant (e.g., negotiating the project budget and ensuring compliance with the terms and conditions of the award). This person is often a grants or research officer, or a sponsored programs official. Normally, the Institutional Grants Administrator is not the same person as the Project Director. If the project director and the grant administrator are the same person, skip to item 9.
- Authorized Representative: Provide the contact information
for the Authorized Organization Representative (AOR) who is submitting
the application on behalf of the institution. This person, often called
an "Authorizing Official," is typically the president, vice president,
executive director, provost, or chancellor. In order to become an AOR,
the person must be designated by the institution's E-Business Point
of Contact. For more information, please consult the Grants.gov user
guide, which is available at: http://www.grants.gov/CustomerSupport.
How to fill out supplementary cover sheet for NEH Grant Programs
Select the form from the menu and double click to open it. Please provide the following information:
- Project Director: Use the pull down menu to select the major field of study for the project director.
- Institution Information: Use the pull down menu to select your type of institution.
- Project Funding: Enter your project funding information. Note that applicants for Challenge Grants should use the right column only; applicants to all other programs should use the left column only.
- Application Information: Indicate whether the proposal will be submitted to other NEH grant programs, government agencies, or private entities for funding. If so, please indicate where and when. NEH frequently cosponsors projects with other funding sources. Providing this information will not prejudice the review of your application.
For Type of Application, check "new" if the application requests a new period of funding, whether for a new project or the next phase of a project previously funded by NEH. Check "supplement" if the application requests additional funding for a current NEH grant. If requesting a supplement, provide the current grant number (applicants should discuss their request with an NEH program officer before submitting such an application).
For Project Field Code, use the pull down menu to select the humanities field of the project. If the project is multidisciplinary, choose the field that corresponds to the project's predominant discipline.
How to use the NEH Attachment Form
You will use this form to attach the various files that make up your application.
Your attachments must be in Portable Document Format (.pdf). We cannot accept attachments in their original word processing or spreadsheet formats. If you don't already have software to convert your files into PDFs, there are many low-cost and free software packages available. To learn more, go to http://www.neh.gov/grants/grantsgov/pdf.html.
When you open the NEH Attachment Form, you will find 15 attachment buttons, labeled "Attachment 1" through "Attachment 15." By clicking on a button, you will be able to choose the file from your computer that you wish to attach. You must name and attach your files in the proper order so that we can identify them. Please attach the proper file to the proper button as listed below:
ATTACHMENT 1: To this button, please attach your table of contents.
Please name the file "contents.pdf".
ATTACHMENT 2: To this button, please attach your summary. Please name the file "summary.pdf".
ATTACHMENT 3: To this button, please attach your narrative. Please name the file "narrative.pdf".
ATTACHMENT 4: To this button, please attach your budget. Please name the file "budget.pdf".
ATTACHMENT 5: To this button, please attach your detailed work plan, including the
reading list for participants, the letters of commitment, and résumés.
Please name the file "appendix.pdf".
If you are submitting a large number of appendices, please bundle them together and send them as a single attachment.
If you are concerned about the file size, you can group your appendices into multiple attachments.
In this case, please name your attachments appendix1.pdf, appendix2.pdf, appendix3.pdf, etc.
Please note that you are limited to 15 attachments total for your entire application.
Do not embed any additional .pdf files within any of the attachments.
Use the remaining buttons to attach any additional materials (if appropriate). Please give these attachments meaningful file names and ensure that they are PDFs.
Uploading your application to Grants.gov
When you have completed all three forms, use the right-facing arrow to move each of them to the "Mandatory Documents for Submission" column. Once they have been moved over, the "Submit" button will activate. You are now ready to upload your application package to Grants.gov.
During the registration process, your institution designated one or more AORs (Authorized Organization Representatives). These AORs typically work in your institution's Sponsored Research Office or Grants Office. When you have completed your application, you must ask your AOR to submit the application, using the special username and password that was assigned to him or her during the registration process.
To submit your application, your computer must have an active connection to the Internet. To begin the submission process, click the "submit" button. A page will appear asking you to sign and submit your application. At this point, your AOR will enter his or her username and password. When you click the "sign and submit application" button, your application package will be uploaded to Grants.gov. Please note that it may take some time to upload your application package depending on the size of your files and the speed of your Internet connection.
After the upload is complete, a confirmation page, which includes a tracking number, will appear indicating that you have submitted your application to Grants.gov. Please print this page for your records. The AOR will also receive a confirmation e-mail.
NEH suggests that you submit your application no later than 5:00 p.m. Eastern
Time on the day of the deadline. That way, should you encounter a technical
problem of some kind, you will still have time to contact the Grants.gov
help desk for support. The Grants.gov help desk is open Monday to Friday
from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time at 1-800-518-4726. You can also
send an e-mail to support@grants.gov.
How to submit supplementary materials
Applicants may include supplementary materials (those that cannot be submitted electronically),
please provide 8 copies of each item and include a list of the materials to be mailed separately
in your Grants.gov submission. Send the materials to:
To identify the proposal that the samples accompany, indicate the title of the project, the name of the project director, and the applicant institution.
Send the materials to:
Digital Humanities Workshops
Division of Education Programs
National Endowment for the Humanities
Room 302
1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20506
202-606-8380
NEH continues to experience lengthy delays in the delivery of mail by the U.S. Postal Service, and in some cases materials are damaged by the irradiation process. We recommend that supplementary materials be sent by a commercial delivery service to ensure that they arrive intact by the receipt deadline.
Deadlines
Applications: Must be received by Grants.gov by January 17, 2008.
Grants.gov will date/time stamp your application after it is fully uploaded.
Applications submitted after that date will not be accepted. Supplementary
materials must also arrive at NEH by January 17, 2008, to be considered
as part of the application.
The application submitted to Grants.gov must contain all the required elements,
including résumés of advising scholars and letters of commitment. No material missing from
the Grants.gov submission may be submitted in hard copy after the deadline.
Proposals for the Digital Humanities Workshops program are evaluated according to the following criteria:
- Intellectual Quality and Significance
- Is the proposal's intellectual rationale clear and persuasive?
- Does the study engage topics and texts important for understanding the humanities?
- Does the project use online resources that are grounded in sound and current humanities research?
- Do the principal faculty members have strong scholarly credentials and a demonstrated
understanding of the role of digital resources in excellent humanities teaching?
- Design and Feasibility
- Are project activities well planned and described in adequate detail?
- Are the project personnel qualified to carry out their proposed responsibilities?
- Do letters from program directors, scholars, and master teachers demonstrate interest and commitment?
- Does the institutional setting support the project's objectives, both
in terms of intellectual resources and technological resources?
- Are the plans for administration sound and well developed?
- Are the costs of the project reasonable in view of its design and likely results?
- Impact
- Will the project strengthen the teaching of significant, well-defined topics in the humanities?
- Will the experience stimulate teachers intellectually and professionally?
- Will the project actively engage participants in the use of significant digital humanities resources?
- Are there plans to disseminate the results of this project to those who will find them most useful?
All other considerations being equal, preference will be given to projects that provide free access to digital materials produced with grant funds.
Late applications will not be reviewed.
Review and Selection Process
Knowledgeable persons outside NEH will read each application and advise the agency about its merits. The Endowment’s staff comments on matters of fact or on significant issues that otherwise would be missing from these reviews, then makes recommendations to the National Council on the Humanities. The National Council meets at various times during the year to advise the NEH chairman on grants. The chairman takes into account the advice provided by the review process and, by law,
makes all funding decisions.
Award notices
Applicants will be notified by e-mail of the decision by June 15, 2008. Institutional grants administrators and project directors of successful applications will receive award documents by mail after the June notification. Applicants may obtain the reasons for funding decision on their application by sending a letter or e-mail to NEH, Division of Education Programs, Room 302, 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20506 or
education@neh.gov.
Administrative requirements
Before submitting an application, applicants should review their responsibilities as an award recipient and the lobbying certification requirement.
Award conditions
The requirements for awards are contained in the General Terms and Conditions for Awards to Organizations, any specific terms and conditions contained in the award document, and the applicable OMB circulars governing federal grants management.
Reporting requirements
A schedule of report due dates will be included with the award document.
Interim and final performance reports will be required.
Further details can be found in Performance Reporting Requirements (formerly Enclosure 2).
A Federal Cash Transactions Report (2-page PDF) will be due within 30 days after the end of each calendar quarter. A final Financial Status Report (2-page PDF) will be due within 90 days after the completion date of the award period. Further details can be found in Financial Reporting Requirements (formerly Enclosure 1).
If you have questions about the program, contact:
Digital Humanities Workshops
Division of Education Programs
National Endowment for the Humanities
Room 302
1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20506
202-606-8380
education@neh.gov
If you need help using Grants.gov, contact:
Grants.gov: http://www.grants.gov
Grants.gov help desk: support@grants.gov
Grants.gov customer support tutorials and manuals: http://www.grants.gov/CustomerSupport
Grant.gov support line: 1-800-518-GRANTS (4726)
Privacy Policy
Information in these guidelines is solicited under the authority of the National Foundation on the Arts and Humanities Act of 1965, as amended, 20 U.S.C. 956. The principal purpose for which the information will be used is to process the grant application. The information may also be used for statistical research, analysis of trends, and Congressional oversight. Failure to provide the information may result in the delay or rejection of the application.
Application Completion Time
The Office of Management and Budget requires federal agencies to supply information on the time needed to complete forms and also to invite comments on the paperwork burden. NEH estimates the average time to complete this application is fifteen hours per response. This estimate includes time for reviewing instructions, researching, gathering, and maintaining the information needed, and completing and reviewing the application.
Please send any comments regarding the estimated completion time or any other aspect of this application, including suggestions for reducing the completion time, to the Office of Publications, National Endowment for the Humanities, Washington, D.C. 20506; and to the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project (3136-0134), Washington, D.C. 20503. According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB number.
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