[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 163 (Friday, August 22, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44856-44857]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-22333]



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Part VII





Department of Education





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Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education--Comprehensive 
Program (Preapplications and Applications); Notice

  Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 163 / Friday, August 22, 1997 / 
Notices  

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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[CFDA Nos. 84.116A; 84.116B]


Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education--
Comprehensive Program (Preapplications and Applications)

    Subect: Notice inviting applications for new awards for fiscal year 
(FY) 1998.
    Purpose of Program: To provide grants or enter into cooperative 
agreements to improve postsecondary education opportunities.
    Eligible Applicants: Institutions of higher education or 
combinations of such institutions and other public and private 
nonprofit educational institutions and agencies.
    Deadline for Transmittal of Preapplications: October 24, 1997.
    Deadline for Transmittal of Final Applications: March 20, 1998.

    Note: All applicants must submit a preapplication to be eligible 
to submit a final application.

    Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: May 19, 1998.
    Applications Available: August 25, 1997.
    Available Funds: The Administration's request for the Fund for the 
Improvement of Postsecondary Education for FY 1998 is $18,000,000. Of 
this amount, it is anticipated that approximately $5,000,000 will be 
available for an estimated 72 new awards under the Comprehensive 
Program. The Congress has not yet completed action on the FY 1998 
appropriation. The estimates in this notice assume passage of the 
Administration's request.
    Estimated Range of Awards: $15,000 to $150,000 per year.
    Estimated Average Size of Awards: $70,000.
    Estimated Number of Awards: 72.

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

    Project Period: Up to 36 months.
    Applicable Regulations: (a) The Education Department General 
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 79, 80, 
82, 85, and 86.

Priorities:

Invitational Priorities

    While applicants may propose any project within the scope of 20 
U.S.C. 1135(a), pursuant to 34 CFR 75.105(c)(1) the Secretary is 
particularly interested in applications that meet one or more of the 
following invitational priorities. However, an application that meets 
one or more of these invitational priorities does not receive 
competitive or absolute preference over other applications:
Invitational Priority 1
    Projects to support new ways of ensuring equal access to 
postsecondary education, and to improve rates of retention and program 
completion, especially for low-income and under-represented minority 
students, whose retention and completion rates continue to lag 
disturbingly behind those of other groups.
Invitational Priority 2
    Projects to improve campus climates for learning by creating an 
environment that is safe, welcoming, and conducive to academic growth 
for all students.
Invitational Priority 3
    Projects to support innovative reforms of undergraduate, graduate, 
and professional curricula that improve not only what students learn, 
but how they learn.
Invitational Priority 4
    Projects to make more productive use of resources to improve 
teaching and learning; and to increase learning productivity--that is, 
to transform programs and teaching to promote more student learning 
relative to institutional resources expended.
Invitational Priority 5
    Projects to support the professional development of full- and part-
time faculty by assessing and rewarding effective teaching; promoting 
new and more effective teaching methods; and improving the preparation 
of graduate students who will be future faculty members.
Invitational Priority 6
    Projects to promote innovative school-college partnerships and to 
improve the preparation of K-12 teachers, in order to enhance students' 
preparation for, access to, and success in college.
Invitational Priority 7
    Projects to disseminate innovative postsecondary educational 
programs which have already been locally developed, implemented, and 
evaluated.

Selection Criteria

    In evaluating preapplications and final applications for grants 
under this program competition, the Secretary uses the following 
selection criteria chosen from those listed in 34 CFR 75.210.

Preapplications

     In evaluating preapplications, the Secretary uses the following 
selection criteria:
(a) Need for Project
     The Secretary reviews each proposed project for its need, as 
determined by the following factors:
    (1) The magnitude or severity of the problem to be addressed by the 
proposed project.
    (2) The magnitude of the need for the services to be provided or 
the activities to be carried out by the proposed project.
(b) Significance
     The Secretary reviews each proposed project for its significance, 
as determined by the following factors:
    (1) The potential contribution of the proposed project to increased 
knowledge or understanding of educational problems, issues, or 
effective strategies.
    (2) The extent to which the proposed project involves the 
development or demonstration of promising new strategies that build on, 
or are alternatives to, existing strategies.
    (3) The importance or magnitude of the results or outcomes likely 
to be attained by the proposed project, especially improvements in 
teaching and student achievement.
    (4) The potential replicability of the proposed project or 
strategies, including, as appropriate, the potential for implementation 
in a variety of settings.
(c) Quality of the Project Design
     The Secretary reviews each proposed project for the quality of its 
design, as determined by the extent to which the design of the proposed 
project is appropriate to, and will successfully address, the needs of 
the target population or other identified needs.
(d) Quality of the Project Evaluation
     The Secretary reviews each proposed project for the quality of its 
evaluation, as determined by the extent to which the evaluation will 
provide guidance about effective strategies suitable for replication or 
testing in other settings.

Final Applications

     In evaluating final applications, the Secretary uses the following 
selection criteria:
(a) Need for the Project
     The Secretary reviews each proposed project for its need, as 
determined by the following factors:

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    (1) The magnitude or severity of the problem to be addressed by the 
proposed project.
    (2) The magnitude of the need for the services to be provided or 
the activities to be carried out by the proposed project.
(b) Significance
     The Secretary reviews each proposed project for its significance, 
as determined by the following factors:
    (1) The potential contribution of the proposed project to increase 
knowledge or understanding of educational problems, issues, or 
effective strategies.
    (2) The extent to which the proposed project involves the 
development or demonstration of promising new strategies that build on, 
or are alternatives to, existing strategies.
    (3) The importance or magnitude of the results or outcomes likely 
to be attained by the proposed project, especially improvements in 
teaching and student achievement.
    (4) The potential replicability of the proposed project or 
strategies, including, as appropriate, the potential for implementation 
in a variety of settings.
(c) Quality of the Project Design
     The Secretary reviews each proposed project for the quality of its 
design, as determined by the following factors:
    (1) The extent to which the design of the proposed project is 
appropriate to, and will successfully address, the needs of the target 
population or other identified needs.
    (2) The extent to which the goals, objectives, and outcomes to be 
achieved by the proposed project are clearly specified and measurable.
    (3) The extent to which the design for implementing and evaluating 
the proposed project will result in information to guide possible 
replication of project activities or strategies, including information 
about the effectiveness of the approach or strategies employed by the 
project.
(d) Quality of the Project Evaluation
     The Secretary reviews each proposed project for the quality of its 
evaluation, as determined by the following factors:
    (1) The extent to which the evaluation will provide guidance about 
effective strategies suitable for replication or testing in other 
settings.
    (2) The extent to which the methods of evaluation are thorough, 
feasible, and appropriate to the goals, objectives, and outcomes of the 
proposed project.
    (3) The extent to which the methods of evaluation include the use 
of objective performance measures that are clearly related to the 
intended outcomes of the project and will produce quantitative and 
qualitative data to the extent possible.
(d) The Quality of the Management Plan
     The Secretary reviews each proposed project for the quality of its 
management plan, as determined by the plan's adequacy to achieve the 
objectives of the proposed project on time and within budget, including 
clearly defined responsibilities, timelines, and milestones for 
accomplishing project tasks.
(e) Quality of Project Personnel
     The Secretary reviews each proposed project for the quality of 
project personnel who will carry out the proposed project, as 
determined by the following factors:
    (1) The extent to which the applicant encourages applications for 
employment from persons who are members of groups that have 
traditionally been underrepresented based on race, color, national 
origin, gender, age, or disability.
    (2) The qualifications, including relevant training and experience, 
of key project personnel.
(f) Adequacy of Resources
     The Secretary reviews each proposed project for the adequacy of 
its resources, as determined by the following factors:
    (1) The extent to which the budget is adequate to support the 
proposed project.
    (2) The extent to which the costs are reasonable in relation to the 
objectives, design, and potential significance of the proposed project.
    (3) The relevance and demonstrated commitment of each partner in 
the proposed project to the implementation and success of the project.
    (4) The adequacy of support, including facilities, equipment, 
supplies, and other resources, from the applicant organization or the 
lead applicant organization.
    (5) The potential for continued support of the project after 
Federal funding ends, including, as appropriate, the demonstrated 
commitment of appropriate entities to such support.
    For preapplications (preliminary applications) and final 
applications (applications), the Secretary gives equal weight to each 
of the selection criteria. Within each of these criteria, the Secretary 
gives equal weight to each of the factors.
    For Applications or Information Contact: Fund for the Improvement 
of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), U.S. Department of Education, 600 
Independence Avenue SW., Room 3100, ROB-3, Washington, DC 20202-5175. 
Telephone: (202) 358-3041 to order applications; or (202) 708-5750 
between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., Eastern time, Monday through 
Friday, for information. Individuals may also request applications by 
submitting the name of the competition, their name, and postal mailing 
address to the e-mail address [email protected]. Individuals may obtain the 
application text from Internet address http://www.ed.gov/offices/OPE/
FIPSE/. Individuals who use a telecommunications device for the deaf 
(TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-
877-8339 between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Eastern time, Monday through 
Friday.
    Information about the Department's funding opportunities, including 
copies of application notices for discretionary grant competitions, can 
be viewed on the Department's electronic bulletin board (ED Board), 
telephone (202) 260-9950; on the Internet Gopher Server (at gopher://
gcs.ed.gov); or on the World Wide Web (at http://gcs.ed.gov). However, 
the official application notice for a discretionary grant competition 
is the notice published in the Federal Register.

    Program Authority: U.S.C. 1135-1135a-3.

    Dated: August 19, 1997.
David A. Longanecker,
Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education.
[FR Doc. 97-22333 Filed 8-21-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P