[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 30 (Monday, February 14, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7370-7372]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-3386]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


Office of Elementary and Secondary Education--Safe and Drug-Free 
Schools and Communities--National Programs--Federal Activities--Alcohol 
and Other Drug Prevention Models on College Campuses Grant Competition

AGENCY: Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice of Proposed Priority, Proposed Eligible Applicants, and 
Proposed Selection Criteria for Fiscal Year (FY) 2000 and Subsequent 
Years.

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SUMMARY: The Secretary announces a proposed priority, proposed eligible 
applicants, and proposed selection criteria for FY 2000 and, at the 
discretion of the Secretary, for subsequent years under the Safe and

[[Page 7371]]

Drug-Free Schools and Communities--National Programs--Federal 
Activities--Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention Models on College 
Campuses Grant Competition. The Secretary takes this action to use 
Federal financial assistance to identify and disseminate models of 
alcohol and other drug (AOD) prevention at institutions of higher 
education (IHEs).

DATES: We must receive your comments on or before March 15, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Address all comments about the proposed priority, proposed 
eligible applicants, and proposed selection criteria to Kimberly Light, 
US Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW, Room 3E222, 
Washington, DC 20202-6123. If you prefer to send your comments through 
the Internet, use the following address: [email protected]
    You must include the phrase ``Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention 
Models on College Campuses'' in the subject line of your electronic 
message.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kimberly Light, (202) 260-2647. If you 
use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you may call the 
Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339.
    Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in an 
alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer 
diskette) on request to the contact person listed in the preceding 
paragraph.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Invitation to Comment

    Interested persons are invited to submit comments and 
recommendations regarding the proposed priority, proposed eligible 
applicants, and proposed selection criteria. All comments submitted in 
response to this notice will be available for public inspection, during 
and after the comment period, in Room 3E222, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW, 
Washington, DC, between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., Eastern 
time, Monday through Friday of each week except Federal holidays.

Assistance to Individuals With Disabilities in Reviewing the 
Rulemaking Record

    On request, the Department supplies an appropriate aid, such as a 
reader or print magnifier, to an individual with a disability that 
needs assistance to review the comments. If you want to schedule an 
appointment for this type of aid, you may call (202) 205-8113 or (202) 
260-9895. If you use a TDD, you may call the Federal Information Relay 
Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339.

General

    Alcohol and other drug use are closely related problems that are 
frequently addressed together as part of comprehensive AOD prevention 
efforts. However, for the purposes of this competition, the Secretary 
is interested in making awards separately to IHEs that have innovative, 
effective programs aimed at alcohol prevention and to IHEs that have 
innovative, effective programs aimed at other drug prevention. These 
specific programs should be implemented within the context of a 
comprehensive AOD prevention effort on campus. IHEs that receive awards 
will use the funds to maintain, improve, or further evaluate their 
programs and disseminate information about these programs to other 
IHEs.
    In making awards under this grant program, the Secretary may take 
into consideration the geographic distribution of the projects and the 
diversity of activities addressed by the projects in addition to the 
rank order of applicants.
    We will announce the final priority in a notice in the Federal 
Register. We will determine the final priority after considering 
responses to this notice and other information available to the 
Department. This notice does not preclude us from proposing or funding 
additional priorities, subject to meeting applicable rulemaking 
requirements.


    Note: This notice does not solicit applications. A notice 
inviting applications under this competition will be published in 
the Federal Register concurrently with or following the publication 
of the notice of final priority. The notice inviting applications 
will specify the date and time by which applications for this 
competition must be received by the Department. Applications 
received after that time will not be eligible for funding. 
Postmarked dates will not be accepted.

Absolute Priority

    Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(3) and the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and 
Communities Act of 1994, the Secretary proposes to give an absolute 
preference to applications that meet the following priority and fund 
under this competition only those applications that meet this absolute 
priority:
    Under this priority, an IHE that wishes to be considered for an 
award for a model program must identify, propose to maintain, improve, 
or further evaluate, and propose to disseminate information about an 
effective alcohol or other drug prevention program currently being used 
on its campus. Applications must:
    (1) Describe an alcohol or other drug prevention program that has 
been implemented for at least one full academic year on the applicant's 
campus;
    (2) Provide evidence of the effectiveness of the program;
    (3) Provide a plan to maintain, improve, or further evaluate the 
program during the year following award; and
    (4) Provide a plan to disseminate information to assist other IHEs 
in implementing a similar program.

Eligible Applicants

    The Secretary proposes that institutions of higher education (IHEs) 
are the eligible applicants under this competition, and that to be 
eligible, an IHE must not have received an award under this competition 
(under either CFDA 84.116X or 84.184N) during the previous two (2) 
fiscal years.

Selection Criteria

    The Secretary proposes to use the following selection criteria to 
evaluate applications for new grants under this competition. The 
maximum score for all of these criteria is 100 points. The maximum 
score for each criterion or factor under that criterion is indicated in 
parentheses.

(1) Significance (25 points)

    In determining the significance of the model, the following factors 
are considered:
    (a) The extent to which the program involves the development or 
demonstration of innovative strategies that build on, or are 
alternatives to, existing strategies. (15 points)
    (b) The potential replicability of the program, including, as 
appropriate, the potential for implementation in a variety of settings. 
(5 points)
    (c) The extent to which the results of the program are to be 
disseminated in ways that will enable others to use the information or 
strategies. (5 points)

(2) Quality of the Program Design (40 points)

    In determining the quality of the design of the program, the 
following factors are considered:
    (a) The extent to which the design of the program reflects up-to-
date knowledge from research and effective practice. (20 points)
    (b) The extent to which the goals, objectives, and outcomes of the 
program are clearly specified and measurable. (5 points)
    (c) The extent to which the design of the program is appropriate 
to, and

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successfully addresses, the needs of the target population or other 
identified needs. (10 points)
    (d) The quality of the plan to maintain, improve, or further 
evaluate the program. (5 points) In applying the above criteria, the 
following information is considered:
    (1) The quality of the needs assessment and how well this 
assessment relates to the goals and objectives of the program.
    (2) How well the program is integrated within a comprehensive 
alcohol and other drug prevention effort.
    (3) The level of institutional commitment, leadership and support 
for alcohol and other drug prevention efforts.
    (4) The clarity and strength of the institution's alcohol or other 
drug policies and the extent to which those policies are broadly 
disseminated and consistently enforced.
    (5) The extent to which students and employees are involved in the 
program design and implementation process.
    (6) The extent to which the institution has joined with community 
leaders to address AOD issues.
    (7) If applying to be considered as an alcohol prevention model, 
what steps the institution is taking to limit alcoholic beverage 
sponsorship, advertising, and marketing on campus; and what steps are 
being taken to establish or expand upon alcohol-free living 
arrangements for students.

(3) Quality of the project evaluation. (35 points)

    In determining the quality of the evaluation, the following factors 
are considered:
    (a) The extent to which the methods of evaluation are thorough, 
feasible, and appropriate to the goals, objectives and outcomes of the 
program. (10 points)
    (b) The extent to which the evaluation data provide evidence of the 
effectiveness of the program in reducing either alcohol or other drug 
use, in reducing the problems resulting from either alcohol or other 
drug use, or in meeting outcome objectives that are associated with 
reductions in alcohol or other drug use or resulting problems. (25 
points)
    In applying the above criteria, the following information is 
considered:
    (1) The quality of the evaluation methodology and evaluation 
instruments.
    (2) Whether both process (formative) and outcome (summative) data 
are included for each year that the program has been implemented, 
including data collected both before and after initiation of the 
program.
    (3) How evaluation information has been used for continuous 
improvement of the program.

Intergovernmental Review

    This program is subject to Executive Order 12372 and the 
regulations in 34 CFR part 79. One of the objectives of the Executive 
order is to foster an intergovernmental partnership and a strengthened 
federalism. The Executive order relies on processes developed by State 
and local governments for coordination and review of proposed Federal 
financial assistance.
    This document provides early notification of our specific plans and 
actions for this program.

    Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 7131.

Electronic Access to This Document

    You may view this document, as well as all other Department of 
Education documents published in the Federal Register, in text or Adobe 
Portable Document Format (PDF) on the Internet at either of the 
following sites:

http://ocfo.ed.gov/fedreg.htm
http://www.ed.gov/news.html

To use the PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader Program with Search, 
which is available free at either of the preceding sites. If you have 
questions about using the PDF, call the U.S. Government Printing Office 
(GPO), toll free, at 1-888-293-6498; or in the Washington, DC area at 
(202) 512-1530.

    Note: The official version of this document is the document 
published in the Federal Register. Free Internet access to the 
official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of Federal 
Domestic Regulations is available on GPO Access at: http://www.access. gpo.gov/nara/index.html


(Catalogue of Federal Domestic Assistance Number 84.184N, Office of 
Elementary and Secondary Education-Safe and Drug-Free Schools and 
Communities-National Programs-Federal Activities-Alcohol and Other 
Drug Prevention Models on College Campuses Grant Competition)

    Dated: February 8, 2000.
Michael Cohen,
Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education.
[FR Doc. 00-3386 Filed 2-11-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-U