[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 173 (Thursday, September 7, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46685-46688]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-22193]



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UNITED STATES INFORMATION AGENCY

Freedom Support Act Secondary School Initiative--U.S./NIS 
Academic Studies Inbound/Outbound Program

ACTION: Notice--request for proposals.

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SUMMARY: The Division for the Secondary School Initiative, Office of 
Citizen Exchanges of the United States Information Agency's Bureau of 
Educational and Cultural Affairs announces an open competition for an 
assistance award to facilitate academic exchanges between American high 
school students and students from the 12 New Independent States (NIS) 
of the former Soviet Union. Public and private non-profit organizations 
and educational institutions meeting the provisions described in IRS 
regulation 25 CFR 1.501(c)(3)-1 may apply to develop projects that 
promote the purposes of this program, which are to: (a) Build the 
capacity of organizations to conduct academic exchanges at the 
secondary school level between the U.S. and the NIS; (b) sponsor study 
opportunities in the U.S. for NIS high-school-aged students; and (c) 
promote study abroad opportunities in the NIS for Americans. Applicants 
may apply for grants of up to two years duration. Exchanges of three to 
six months duration may take place during the 1997 spring semester, the 
1997 fall semester, the 1998 spring semester, and the 1998 fall 
semester. Full year inbound and outbound exchanges may take place 
during the 1997-98 academic year.
    The countries of the NIS are: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, 
Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, 
Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.
    Overall grant making authority for this program is contained in the 
Secondary School Exchange Initiative, as originally authorized in the 
Freedom Support Act of 1992 (P.L. 102-391). It is anticipated that $4 
million will be allotted to this program.
    Programs and projects must conform with Agency requirements and 
guidelines as outlined in the Solicitation Package. USIA projects are 
subject to the availability of funds.

ANNOUNCEMENT TITLE AND NUMBER: All communications with USIA concerning 
this announcement should refer to the above title and reference number 
E/P-96-15. This is a request for proposals only for the program models 
described above. Requests for proposals in support of other youth 
exchange programs with the NIS are being published separately.

DEADLINE FOR PROPOSALS: All copies must be received at the U.S. 
Information Agency by 5 p.m. Washington, D.C. time on Friday, January 
12, 1996. Faxed documents will not be accepted, nor will documents 
postmarked on January 12, 1996 but received at a later date. It is the 
responsibility of each applicant to ensure that proposals are received 
by the above deadline. Notification of awards will be announced on or 
after April 12, 1996. Grant funds should be available by June 1, 1996.


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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

The Division for the Secondary School Initiative, E/PY, Room 320, U.S. 
Information Agency, 301 4th Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20547, 
telephone: (202) 619-6299; fax (202) 619-5311, internet address: 
[email protected] to request a Solicitation Package, which includes more 
detailed criteria; all application forms; and guidelines for preparing 
proposals, including specific criteria for preparation of the proposal 
budget. Please specify USIA Program Officer, Shalita Jones on all 
inquiries and correspondences. Interested applicants should read the 
complete Federal Register announcement before addressing inquiries or 
submitting their proposals to the Division of the Secondary School 
Initiative. Once the RFP deadline has passed, Division representatives 
may not discuss this competition in any way with applicants until the 
Bureau's proposal review process has been completed.

SUBMISSIONS: Applicants must follow all instructions given in the 
Solicitation Package. The original and 10 copies of the complete 
application should be sent to: U.S. Information Agency, Ref.: E/P-96-
15, Office of Grants Management, E/XE, Room 326, 301 4th Street, SW., 
Washington, DC 20547.
    Applicants must also submit the ``Executive Summary'' and 
``Proposal Narrative,'' sections of the proposal on a 3.5'' diskette, 
formatted for DOS. This material must be provided in ASCII text (DOS) 
format with a maximum line length of 65 characters. USIA will transmit 
these files electronically to USIS posts overseas for their review, 
with the goal of reducing the time it takes to get posts' comments for 
the Agency's grants review process.

DIVERSITY GUIDELINES: Pursuant to the Bureau's authorizing legislation, 
programs must maintain a non-political character and should be balanced 
and representatives of the diversity of American political, social, and 
cultural life. ``Diversity'' should be interpreted in the broadest 
sense and encompass differences including but not limited to ethnicty, 
race, gender, religion, geographic location, socio-economic status, and 
physical challenges. Applicants are strongly encouraged to adhere to 
the advancement of this principle both in program and administration of 
its program content. Please refer to the review criteria under the 
``Support for Diversity'' section for specific suggestions on 
incorporating diversity into the total proposal.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Overview

    The purpose of this program is to provide the opportunity for 
American students to study at a school and experience life with a host 
family and its community in one of the 12 New Independent States of the 
former Soviet Union, and, to sponsor students from the NIS to study at 
an American school and experience life with a host family and its 
community in the U.S. The programs are intended to provide avenues that 
will enhance the students' understanding of each country's political, 
social, and cultural and ethnic diversity; to promote the exchange of 
ideas; and to foster long-term friendships, through courses of study 
such as history, social studies, civics, and global economics and 
environmental issues, as well as through living and interacting with 
their host families and communities. Initial grant funding is also 
intended to facilitate the creation of partnerships with NIS 
organizations seeking to promote exchanges, and to assist U.S. non-
profit organizations to build their own capacity to conduct exchange 
business in the NIS which will promote a long-term future for exchanges 
beyond federal funding.
    This program has four components. Please note that each component 
is independent of the other and is not subject to reciprocity. 
Applicants may opt to apply for any or a combination of any or all four 
of the following components:

A. Outbound Semester

    This component will give American high-school students a chance to 
live with a host family and study at the secondary school level in an 
NIS country for a period of no less than three months.

B. Inbound Semester

    This component provides opportunities for NIS high-school students 
to live with a host family and study at secondary-level institutions 
for one academic semester in the U.S.

C. Academic Year Outbound

    This component provides opportunities for American high-school 
students to study for a school year (no less than 9 months) in a 
country of the former Soviet Union, and to more fully experience the 
life and culture of a host family and its community.

D. Academic Year Inbound

    This component provides the opportunity for students from the 
former Soviet Union to study for a school year (no less than 9 months) 
at an American high school, and to experience the life and culture of a 
host family and its community.

Guidelines

    There is no prescribed formula for either component of the program, 
however, organizations should encourage students to participate in 
extracurricular activities and provide students with community-based 
activities. Also, organizations have the option to concentrate groups 
of students in regional clusters or disperse students wisely. The 
purpose of clustering is to facilitate periodic gatherings for ongoing 
orientation, excursions and cultural programming, and well as 
supervision and feedback. Organizations should identify in their 
proposals the target regions, states and/or communities in which 
placements will be sought, and describe how placements in those areas 
will benefit students and the overall purpose of the program. The names 
and addresses of prospective schools and letters of agreement to 
participate from relevant school/district/community officials should be 
included in the proposal. Regardless of the placement plan, 
organizations may propose periodic gatherings of students locally, 
regionally, or nationally.
    Grantee organizations working with their offices overseas and/or 
NIS partners will: Recruit and select students based on merit using 
their own criteria; arrange for their placement in schools; select host 
families; make all travel and logistical arrangements; conduct 
orientation, re-entry, and debriefing sessions for students and hosts; 
supervise students, solve problems, and provide counseling as needed; 
develop a mechanism for the transfer of academic credit and/or the 
certification of school attendance; interact with the schools on an 
ongoing basis; and evaluate the program's success.
    Proposals should succinctly describe how these elements will be 
handled, with special attention to the following factors:
    A. Proposals must demonstrate the organization's capacity to secure 
quality homestays and school placements for the number of students on 
which they are bidding by describing the process it uses to identify 
and screen potential host families, as well as its system for making 
school placements.
    B. Organizations using the cluster method should: specify the 
cluster size and likely locations; and include a description of how 
clustering will affect the program, such as scheduling 

[[Page 46687]]
periodic gatherings of the students. A sample schedule of gatherings 
and topics or themes to be addressed should be included.
    C. Organizations using the dispersal method should explain its 
placement philosophy; describe how dispersal will affect the program; 
and if planning periodic gatherings the proposal should include a 
tentative itinerary for sample meetings.
    D. Inbound students should be sufficiently proficient in English 
upon arrival in the U.S. in order to function in a high-school 
environment. However, no USIA grant funding will be provided for 
English training under this program.
    Preference will be given to proposals that include language skills 
as a selection criterion for American students going to the NIS. 
Applicant organizations with alternative approaches to language 
qualifications should discuss them in the proposal.
    Programs must comply with J-1 visa regulations. Visa applications 
(IAP-66 forms) for NIS participants will be processed by the program 
office. Please refer to program specific guidelines in the POGI section 
of the Solicitation Package for further details.

Eligibility

    Private not-for-profit organizations and public educational 
instructions including secondary schools, school districts, state 
education agencies, and organizational and educational consortiums are 
invited to participate. Grants awarded to eligible organizations with 
less than four years of experience in conducting international exchange 
programs will be limited to $60,000.

Proposed Budget

    Applicants must submit a comprehensive line-item budget for the 
entire program. There must be a summary budget as well as a break-down 
reflecting both the administrative budget and the program budget. For 
better understanding or further clarification, applicants may provide 
separate sub-budgets for each program component, phase, location, or 
activity in order to facilitate USIA decisions on funding. Cost-sharing 
is encouraged and may be in the form of allowable direct or indirect 
costs. Please refer to the Solicitation Package and Guidelines for 
complete budget and formatting instructions, and allowable costs.

Review Process

    USIA will acknowledge receipt of all proposals and will review them 
for technical eligibility. Proposals will be deemed ineligible if they 
do not fully adhere to the guidelines stated herein and in the 
Solicitation Package. Eligible proposals will be forwarded to panels of 
USIA officers for advisory review. All eligible proposals will also be 
reviewed by the Agency contracts office, as well as the Agency's Area 
Office and the relevant USIA post overseas. Proposals may also be 
reviewed by the Office of the General Counsel or by other Agency 
elements. Funding decisions are at the discretion of the Associate 
Director for Educational and Cultural Affairs. Final technical 
authority for grant awards resides with the USIA grants officer.

Review Criteria

    Technically eligible applications will be competitively reviewed 
according to the criteria stated below. These criteria are not rank 
ordered and all carry equal weight in the proposal evaluation:
    1. Quality of the program idea: Proposals should exhibit 
originality, substance, precision, and relevance to Agency's mission.
    2. Program planning: Detailed agenda and relevant work plan should 
demonstrate substantive undertakings and logistical capacity. Agenda 
and plan should adhere to the program overview and guidelines described 
above. Proposals should also clearly demonstrate how students will be 
selected on the basis of merit and the qualifications needed for a 
successful program.
    3. Ability to achieve program objectives: Objectives should be 
reasonable, feasible, and flexible. Proposals should clearly 
demonstrate how the institution will meet the program's objectives and 
plan.
    4. Multiplier effect/impact: Proposed programs should strengthen 
long-term mutual understanding, including maximum sharing of 
information and establishment of long-term institutional and individual 
linkages.
    5. Support of Diversity: Proposals should demonstrate the 
recipient's commitment to promoting the awareness and understanding of 
diversity throughout the program. This can be accomplished through 
documentation (such as a written statement or account) summarizing past 
and/or ongoing activities and efforts that further the principle of 
diversity within both the organization and the program activities.
    6. Institutional Capacity: Proposed personnel and institutional 
resources should be adequate and appropriate to achieve the program or 
project's goals.
    7. Institution's Record/Ability: Proposals should demonstrate an 
institutional record of successful exchange programs, including 
responsible fiscal management and full compliance with all reporting 
requirements for past Agency grants as determined by USIA's Office of 
Contracts. The Agency will consider the past performance of prior 
recipients and the demonstrated potential of new applicants.
    8. Follow-on Activities: Proposals should provide a plan for 
continued follow-on activity (without USIA support) which ensures that 
USIA supported programs are not isolated events.
    9. Project Evaluation: Proposals should include a plan to evaluate 
the success of the program, both as the activities unfold and at the 
end of the program. USIA recommends that the proposal include a draft 
survey questionnaire or other technique, plus a description of a 
methodology to use to link outcomes to original project objectives. 
Award-receiving organizations/institutions will be expected to submit 
intermediate reports after each project component is concluded or 
quarterly reports, whichever is less frequent.
    10. Cost-effectiveness: The overhead and administrative components 
of the proposal, including salaries and honoraria, should be kept as 
low as possible. All other items should be necessary and appropriate.
    11. Cost-sharing: Proposals should maximize cost-sharing through 
other private sector support as well as institutional direct funding 
contributions.
    12. Value to U.S.-Partner Country Relations: Proposed projects 
should receive positive assessments by USIA's geographic area desk and 
overseas officers of program need, potential impact, and significance 
in the partner country(ies).

Notice

    The terms and conditions published in this RFP are binding and may 
not be modified by any USIA representative. Explanatory information 
provided by the Agency that contradicts published language will not be 
binding. Issuance of the RFP does not constitute an award commitment on 
the part of the Government. The Agency reserves the right to reduce, 
revise, or increase proposal budgets in accordance with the needs of 
the program and the availability of funds. Final awards cannot be made 
until funds have been appropriated by Congress, allocated and committed 
through internal USIA procedures.

Notification

    All applicants will be notified of the results of the review 
process on or about 

[[Page 46688]]
April 12, 1996. Awards made will be subject to periodic reporting and 
evaluation requirements.

    Dated: September 1, 1995.
Dell Pendergrast,
Deputy Associate Director, Educational and Cultural Affairs.
[FR Doc. 95-22193 Filed 9-6-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8230-01-M