[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 242 (Friday, December 17, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70687-70690]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-32732]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service
Higher Education Challenge Grants Program for Fiscal Year 2000;
Request for Proposals and Request for Input
AGENCY: Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service,
USDA.
ACTION: Notice of request for proposals and request for input.
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SUMMARY: The Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension
Service (CSREES) is announcing the Higher Education Challenge Grants
Program for Fiscal Year (FY) 2000. Proposals are hereby requested from
eligible institutions as identified herein for competitive
consideration of Challenge Grant awards. CSREES also is soliciting
comments regarding this request for proposals from any interested
party. These comments will be considered in the development of the next
request for proposals for this program. Such comments will be forwarded
to the Secretary or his designee for use in meeting the requirements of
section 103(c)(2) of the Agricultural Research, Extension, and
Education Reform Act of 1998.
DATES: Proposals must be received on or before February 14, 2000.
Proposals received after the closing date will not be considered for
funding. Forms indicating intent to submit a proposal are due on
January 17, 2000. User comments are requested within six months from
the issuance of the request for proposals. Comments received after that
date will be considered to the extent practicable.
ADDRESSES: Hand-delivered proposals (brought in person by the applicant
or through a courier service) must be received on or before March 6,
2000, at the following address: Challenge Grants Program; c/o Proposal
Services Unit; Office of Extramural Programs; Cooperative State
Research, Education, and Extension Service; U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Room 303, Aerospace Center, 901 D Street, SW; Washington,
DC 20024. The telephone number is (202) 401-5048. Proposals transmitted
via a facsimile (fax) machine will not be accepted.
Proposals submitted through the U.S. mail must be received on or
before February 14, 2000. Proposals submitted through the U.S. mail
should be sent to the following address: Challenge Grants Program; c/o
Proposal Services Unit, Office of Extramural Programs, Cooperative
State Research, Education, and Extension Service, U.S. Department of
Agriculture, STOP 2245, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC
20250-2245.
Form CSREES-711, ``Intent to Submit a Proposal,'' is requested for
the Higher Education Challenge Grants Program and is due February 7,
2000. Applicants may either mail Form CSREES-711 to Higher Education
Programs, Mail Stop 2251; CSREES-USDA, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W.,
Washington, DC 20250-2251, or fax Form CSREES-711 to the Higher
Education Programs office at (202) 720-2030.
[[Page 70688]]
Written user comments should be submitted by first-class mail to:
Policy and Program Liaison Staff, Office of Extramural Programs, USDA-
CSREES, STOP 2299; 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250-
2299; or via e-mail to: [email protected]. In your comments, please
include the name of the program and the fiscal year of the request for
proposals to which you are responding.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeffrey L. Gilmore, Ph.D., Higher
Education Programs, Cooperative State Research, Education, and
Extension Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, STOP 2251, 1400
Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250-2251; telephone: (202)
720-2211; e-mail: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Table of Contents
A. Administrative Provisions and Legislative Authority
B. Program Description
C. Evaluation Criteria
D. How to Obtain Application Materials
E. Submission of a Proposal
F. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance
G. Stakeholder Input
A. Administrative Provisions and Legislative Authority
This Program is subject to the provisions found at 7 CFR Part 3405.
These provisions set forth procedures to be followed when submitting
grant proposals, rules governing the evaluation of proposals and the
awarding of grants, and regulations relating to the post-award
administration of grant projects.
This program is authorized by section 1417(b)(1) of the National
Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977, as
amended (NARETPA) (7 U.S.C. 3152(b)(1)).
B. Program Description
Proposals may be submitted by land-grant and other U.S. colleges
and universities offering a baccalaureate degree or first professional
degree in at least one discipline or area of the food and agricultural
sciences and having a demonstrable capacity for, and a significant
ongoing commitment to, the teaching of food and agricultural sciences
generally and to the specific need and/or subject area(s) for which a
grant is requested. For FY 2000, grants will be made to U.S. colleges
and universities to strengthen their baccalaureate-level teaching
programs in the food and agricultural sciences. Proposals directed to
the first professional degree in veterinary medicine also are requested
for this program. Other projects directed to the graduate level of
study will not be supported. An institution eligible under this program
includes a research foundation maintained by an eligible college or
university. For the purposes of this program, the individual branches
of a State university system or public system of higher education, that
are separately accredited at the college level as degree granting
institutions, are treated as separate institutions. It is intended that
projects supported by the program will: (1) Address a State, regional,
national, or international educational need; (2) involve a creative or
nontraditional approach toward addressing that need which can serve as
a model to others; (3) encourage and facilitate better working
relationships in the university science and education community, as
well as between universities and the private sector, to enhance program
quality and supplement available resources; and (4) result in benefits
which will likely transcend the project duration and USDA support.
CSREES anticipates that the total amount available for project
grants under this program in FY 2000 will be approximately $4,082,000.
Projects may be for 18-36 months duration. Grant awards must be matched
on a one-for-one basis from a non-Federal source(s). Awards may be up
to $100,000 for regular or complementary projects, and up to $250,000
for a joint project. (Please refer to the Administrative Provisions at
7 CFR 3405.2 for the definitions of complementary and joint project
proposals.)
Pursuant to section 1462 of NARETPA, 7 U.S.C. 3310, indirect costs
charged against a grant award under this program may not exceed 19
percent of the total Federal funds provided under the award. An
alternate method to calculate this limit is to multiply total direct
costs by 23.456 percent.
For FY 2000, a maximum of two grants may be awarded to any one
institution under the Higher Education Challenge Grants Program. This
ceiling excludes any subcontracts awarded to an institution pursuant to
other grants issued under this program. In FY 2000, there are no limits
on the total funds that may be awarded to any one institution. The
award of any grants under this program is subject to the availability
of appropriations.
The Administrative Provisions require applicant institutions
receiving grant awards for joint project proposals to transfer at least
one-half of the awarded funds to the two or more other colleges,
universities, community colleges, or other institutions assuming a
major role in the conduct of the project. For FY 2000, the applicant
institution submitting a joint project proposal must retain at least 30
percent of awarded funds to demonstrate a substantial involvement with
the project.
For a joint project proposal, each cooperating institution also
must provide a project budget for each year of support under the grant
as well as a summary budget using Form CSREES-713.
Proposals for FY 2000 must address one or more of the following
targeted need areas: (1) Curricula Design and Materials Development;
(2) Faculty Preparation and Enhancement for Teaching; (3) Instruction
Delivery Systems; and (4) Student Experiential Learning.
C. Evaluation Criteria
NARETPA requires that certain priorities be given for teaching
enhancement projects in awarding grants under section 1417(b). CSREES
considers all applications received in response to this solicitation as
teaching enhancement project applications. To implement the NARETPA
priorities for proposals submitted for the FY 2000 competition, the
evaluation criteria used to evaluate proposals, as stated in the
Administrative Provisions (7 CFR 3405.15), have been modified to
include new criteria or extra points for proposals demonstrating
enhanced coordination among eligible institutions and for proposals
focusing on innovative, multidisciplinary education programs, material,
or curricula.
Evaluation Criterion andWeight
(a) Potential for addressing a State, regional, national or
international need: 65 points.
This criterion assesses the potential of the project to add value
by advancing the quality of food and agricultural sciences higher
education and producing graduates capable of strengthening the Nation's
food and agricultural scientific and professional work force. This
criterion includes the following elements: impact, innovation,
multidisciplinary, expected products and results, and continuation
plans.
(1) Impact--Does the project address a significant and clearly
documented State, regional, multistate, national, or international
need? Will the benefits to be derived from the project transcend the
applicant institution and/or the grant period?
(2) Innovative and Multidisciplinary Focus--Does the project focus
on innovative, multidisciplinary education programs, material, or
curricula? Is the project based on a non-traditional approach toward
solving a higher
[[Page 70689]]
education problem? Is the project relevant to multiple fields in the
food and agricultural sciences? Will the project expand partnership
ventures among disciplines at a university?
(3) Products and results--Are the expected products and/or results
of the project clearly explained? Will the project contribute to an
improvement in the quality or diversity of the Nation's food and
agricultural scientific and professional expertise base?
(4) Continuation plans--Are there plans for continuation or
expansion of the project beyond USDA support? Are there indications of
external, non-Federal support? Are there realistic plans for making the
project self-supporting?
(b) Potential of submitting institution(s) to successfully complete
project objectives: 70 points.
This criterion assesses the soundness of the proposed approach, the
adequacy of human and physical resources available to carry out the
project, the institution's commitment to the project, partnerships and
collaborative efforts involving all types of institutions, its cost-
effectiveness, and the extent to which the total budget adequately
supports the project.
(1) Proposed approach--Are the objectives achievable, logical, and
based on review of literature? Is the plan of operation managerially,
educationally, and/or scientifically sound? Is the overall plan
integrated with or does it expand upon other major efforts to improve
the quality of food and agricultural sciences higher education? Is the
timetable realistic?
(2) Resources--Are there adequate institutional resources to carry
out the project? Do the project personnel possess requisite expertise
to complete successfully the project? Have personnel committed adequate
effort to achieve stated objectives and anticipated outcomes? Will the
project have adequate administrative support to carry out the proposed
activities? Will the project have access to needed resources such as
instrumentation, facilities, computer services, library, and other
instruction support resources?
(3) Institutional commitment--Is there evidence to substantiate
that the institution has a long term commitment to support the
result(s) and/or product(s) produced by this project, that it will help
satisfy the institution's high-priority objectives, or that the project
is supported by the strategic plans?
(4) Coordination and partnership efforts--Will the project
demonstrate enhanced coordination between the applicant institution(s)
and other colleges and universities with food and agricultural sciences
programs eligible for grants under this program? Will the project
expand partnership ventures among eligible colleges and universities,
or with the private sector, that are likely to enhance program quality
or supplement resources available to food and agricultural sciences
higher education? Will the arrangements for partner(s) and/or
collaborator(s) enhance dissemination of the result(s) and/or
product(s)?
(5) Budget and cost-effectiveness--Is the budget request
justifiable? Are costs reasonable and necessary? Will the total budget
be adequate to carry out project activities? Are the source(s) and
amount(s) of non-Federal matching support clearly identified and
appropriately documented? For a joint project proposal, is the shared
budget for three or more institutions explained clearly and in
sufficient detail? Is the proposed project cost-effective? Does it
demonstrate a creative use of limited resources, maximize educational
value per dollar of USDA support, achieve economies of scale, leverage
additional funds or have the potential to do so, focus expertise and
activity on a targeted need area, or promote coalition building for
current or future ventures?
(c) Effectiveness of evaluation plan and potential for
dissemination of the result(s) and/or product(s) to other institutions
and for utilization by other institutions: 65 points.
This criterion assesses the adequacy of the evaluation strategy,
the quality of outcome measures, the expertise and availability of
human resources to conduct the evaluation, the record of the key
personnel is disseminating advancements in education, e.g., publishing
educational articles in peer reviewed journals, the adequacy of the
plan for dissemination, and the potential for utilization by other
institutions.
(1) Evaluation--Does the proposal contain a well-designed plan to
evaluate results of the project? Will this plan provide conclusions
suitable for convincing a peer review audience of the accomplishment?
Does it allow for continuous and/or frequent feedback during the life
of the project? Does the evaluation plan contain outcome measures? Are
the outcome measures capable of assessing the quality and usefulness of
project results and products? Are the individuals involved in project
evaluation skilled in evaluation strategies and procedures? Can the
outcome measures provide an objective evaluation? Is the outcome
assessment designed in such a way that it can assist faculty at other
institutions in deciding whether to use project results or products?
(2) Dissemination--Is there a commitment to submit the results of
the project evaluation to peer review by the academic community in the
food and agricultural sciences? Does the proposed project include
clearly outlined and realistic mechanisms that will lead to widespread
dissemination of project results, including national electronic
communication systems, publications, presentations at professional
conferences, and/or use by faculty development or research/teaching
skills workshops?
(3) Utilization--Is it probable that other institutions will adapt
the result(s) and/or product(s) of this project for their own use? Can
the project serve as a model for others? If successful, is the project
likely to lead to education reform? Is the product(s) and/or result(s)
likely to provide a significant contribution to the advancement of
higher education in the food and agricultural sciences? Are partner(s)
and/or collaborator(s) committed to utilize the product(s) and/or
result(s)?
D. How to Obtain Application Materials
An Application Kit containing program application materials will be
made available to eligible institutions upon request. These materials
include the Administrative Provisions, forms, instructions, and other
relevant information needed to prepare and submit grant applications.
Copies of the Application Kit may be requested from the Proposal
Services Unit, Office of Extramural Programs, Cooperative State
Research, Education, and Extension Service, U.S. Department of
Agriculture, STOP 2245; 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC
20250-2245. The telephone number is (202) 401-5048. When contacting the
Proposal Services Unit, please indicate that you are requesting forms
for the FY 2000 Challenge Grants Program.
Application materials may also be requested via Internet by sending
a message with your name, mailing address (not e-mail) and telephone
number to [email protected] that states that you wish to receive a copy
of the application materials for the FY 2000 Challenge Grants Program.
The materials will then be mailed to you (not e-mailed) as quickly as
possible.
E. Submission of a Proposal
An original and seven (7) copies of a proposal must be submitted.
Proposals should contain all requested information when submitted.
Further information regarding proposal submission is provided in the
Program
[[Page 70690]]
Announcement in the FY 2000 Application Kit.
F. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance
This program is listed in the Catalog of Federal Domestic
Assistance under No. 10.217, Higher Education Challenge Grants Program.
G. Stakeholder Input
CSREES is soliciting comments regarding this solicitation of
applications from any interested party. These comments will be
considered in the development of the next request for proposals for the
program. Such comments will be forwarded to the Secretary or his
designee for use in meeting the requirements of section 103(c)(2) of
the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998
(7 U.S.C. 7613(c)(2)). Written comments should be submitted by first-
class mail to: Policy and Program Liaison Staff, Office of Extramural
Programs, USDA-CSREES; STOP 2299, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW.,
Washington, DC 20250-2299; or via e-mail to: [email protected]. (This
e-mail address is intended only for receiving stakeholder input
comments regarding this RFP, and not for requesting information or
forms.)
In your comments, please indicate that you are responding to the FY
2000 Higher Education Challenge Grants Program. Submissions of comments
are requested within six months from the issuance of the solicitation
of applications. Comments received after that date will be considered
to the extent practicable.
Done at Washington, D.C., this 10th day of December 1999.
Charles W. Laughlin,
Administrator, Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension
Service.
[FR Doc. 99-32732 Filed 12-16-99; 8:45 am]
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