[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]
BILLING CODE 3410-22-P