Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad Program; Notice inviting applications for new awards for fiscal year (FY) 2004; CFDA No. 84.021A [OPE]

[Federal Register: August 11, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 154)]
[Notices]
[Page 47553-47555]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr11au03-58]

Download:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[CFDA No. 84.021A]

Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad Program

AGENCY: Office of Postsecondary Education, Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice inviting applications for new awards for fiscal year
(FY) 2004.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Purpose of Program: The Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad (GPA)
Program supports overseas projects in training, research, and
curriculum development in modern foreign languages and area studies for
groups of teachers, students, and faculty engaged in a common endeavor.
Projects may include short-term seminars, curriculum development, or
group research or study. This competition will not support advanced
overseas intensive language projects.
Eligible Applicants: (1) Institutions of higher education, (2)
State departments of education, (3) nonprofit private educational
organizations, and (4) consortia of these entities.
Applications Available: August 18, 2003.
Deadline for Transmittal of applications: October 14, 2003.
Estimated Available Funds: The Administration has requested
$2,715,000 for GPA Program 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: $50,000--$80,000.
Estimated Average Size of Awards: $68,000.
Estimated Number of Awards: 40.

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

Project Period: Up to 12 months.
Page Limit: The application narrative 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 35 pages, using the following standards:
[sbull] A ``page'' is 8.5'' x 11'', on one side only, with 1''
margins at the top, bottom, and both sides.
[sbull] 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.
[sbull] 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.
We will reject your application if--
[sbull] You apply these standards and exceed the page limit; or
[sbull] 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, 81,
82, 85, 86, 97, 98, and 99; and (b) The regulations for this program in
34 CFR part 664.

Note: The regulations in 34 CFR part 86 apply to institutions of
higher education only.

Priorities

Absolute Priority: This competition focuses on projects designed to
meet the

[[Page 47554]]

priority in the regulations for this program (34 CFR 664.32(a)(2)).
Specific geographic regions of the world: A group project funded
under this priority must focus on one or more of the following
geographic regions of the world: Africa, East Asia, South Asia,
Southeast Asia and the Pacific, the Western Hemisphere (Central and
South America, Mexico, and the Caribbean), East Central Europe and
Eurasia, and the Near East.
Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(3) we consider only applications that meet
the priority.
Competitive Priority: Within the absolute priority specified in
this application notice we will focus on projects that meet the
following competitive priority.
Short-term seminars that develop and improve foreign language and
area studies at elementary and secondary schools.
Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(2)(i), 664.30(b), and 664.31(g) we award up
to five (5) points to an application, depending upon how well the
application meets the priority.
Invitational Priority: Within the absolute priority specified in
this application notice, we are particularly interested in applications
that meet the following invitational priority.
Group study projects that provide opportunities for nationally
recruited undergraduate students to study in a foreign country for
either a semester or a full academic year.
Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(1) we do not give an application that meets
the invitational priority 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 (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
GPA 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:
Dr. Lungching Chiao, U.S. Department of Education, 1990 K Street, NW.,
Suite 6066, 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 of electronic submission of applications to include additional
formula grant programs and additional discretionary grant competitions.
The GPA Program--CFDA 84.021A is one of the programs included in the
pilot project. If you are an applicant under the GPA 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 request your participation in e-
Application. 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:
[sbull] 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.
[sbull] 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.
[sbull] 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.
[sbull] Your e-Application must comply with any page limit
requirements described in this notice.
[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 Education
Assistance (ED 424) to the Application Control Center after following
these steps:
1. Print ED 424 from e-Application.
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
other forms at a later date.
[sbull] 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--
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 application deadline date; or
(b) The e-Application system must be unavailable for any period of
time

[[Page 47555]]

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
availability, 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 GPA Program
at: http://e-grants.ed.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lungching Chiao, U.S. Department of
Education, International Education and Graduate Programs Service, 1990
K Street, NW., Suite 6066, Washington, DC 20006-8521. Telephone: (202)
502-7624 or via Internet: lungching.chiao@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.

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://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.
You may also view this document in PDF at the following site:
.

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.gpoaccess.gov/fr/
.

Program Authority: 22 U.S.C. 2452.

Dated: August 6, 2003.
Sally L. Stroup,
Assistant Secretary, Office of Postsecondary Education.
[FR Doc. 03-20434 Filed 8-8-03; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4000-01-P