The TICFIA program supports projects that develop innovative techniques or programs using electronic technologies to collect, organize, preserve, and disseminate information from foreign sources on world regions and countries in order to address teaching and research needs in international education and foreign languages in the United States.

The TICFIA grants were awarded for four years. The average award in FY 2010 was $162,000. In FY 2012, due to budget cuts, the program was cancelled.

Grants may be used to:

• Facilitate access to or to preserve foreign information resources in print or electronic forms;
• Develop new means of immediate, full-text document delivery for information and scholarship from abroad;
• Develop new means of shared electronic access to international data;
• Support collaborative projects for indexing, cataloging, and providing other means of bibliographic access for scholars to important research materials published or distributed outside the United States;
• Develop methods for the wide dissemination of resources written in non-Roman alphabets;
• Assist teachers of less commonly taught languages in acquiring, via electronic and other means, materials suitable for classroom use;
• Promote collaborative technology-based projects in foreign languages, area studies, and international studies among grant recipients under Title VI of the Higher Education Act; and
• Support other eligible activities consistent with the purposes and intent of the legislation.

Competitions are held every four years. The last TICFIA competition was held in 2009.

Yes. The federal share of the total cost of carrying out a grant supported by this program shall not be more than 66 2/3 percent. The non-federal share of such costs may be provided either in-kind or in cash, and may include contributions from private sector corporations or foundations.

Grant recipients are required to submit interim and annual performance reports through the International Resource Information System (IRIS). Grantees are expected to report on the following categories:

• Objectives and Accomplishments
• Adjustments to Project
• Exemplary Activities
• Use of Technology
• Priorities
• International Travel
• Budget – Use of Funds and Expected Use
• Partners and Collaborations
• Resources Collected
• Resource Dissemination

All funded projects must have an evaluation plan for their grant and report on evaluation activities in accordance with that plan through the International Resource Information System (IRIS).

The evaluation plan should discuss goals, objectives, performance measures to monitor progress, data gathering techniques, funding, and personnel. Activities should focus on both formative and summative evaluation. The formative evaluation will provide feedback to you on your progress in meeting goals and objectives and reveal areas for improvement. The summative evaluation should focus on outcomes and should be completed by an independent evaluator that does not have a relationship with your project.

Yes. The Department will use the following measures to evaluate the success of the program:

Performance Measure 1: Percentage of Technological Innovation and Cooperation for Foreign Information Access Program projects judged to be successful by the program officer, based on a review of information provided in annual performance reports.

Efficiency Measure: cost per high-quality, successfully-completed Technological Innovation and Cooperation for Foreign Information Access project.

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