[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 8 (Friday, January 11, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1454-1456]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-728]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[CFDA No. 84.116J]


Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education--Special 
Focus Competition: European Community--United States of America 
Cooperation Program in Higher Education and Vocational Education and 
Training; Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards for Fiscal Year 
(FY) 2002

    Purpose of Program: To provide grants or enter into cooperative 
agreements to improve postsecondary education opportunities by focusing 
on problem areas or improvement approaches in postsecondary education.
    Eligible Applicants: Institutions of higher education and 
vocational education and training or combinations of institutions and 
other public and private nonprofit educational institutions and 
agencies.

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    Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: April 1, 2002.
    Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: May 15, 2002.
    Applications Available: January 14, 2002.
    Available Funds: $840,000 in fiscal year 2002; $2,370,000 over 
three years.
    Estimated Range of Awards: $25,000-$200,000 total for up to three 
years.
    Estimated Average Size of Awards: $25,000 for one-year preparatory 
projects; $35,000 for one-year complementary activities projects; 
$75,000 for two-year complementary activities projects; $50,000 for 
year one of a three-year consortia implementation project with a 
$200,000 three-year total.
    Estimated Number of Awards: 12.

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

    Project Period: Up to 36 months.
    Applicable Regulations: The Education Department General 
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 79, 80, 
82, 85, 86, 97, 98, and 99.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the Special Focus Competition, we will 
award grants or enter into cooperative agreements that focus on problem 
areas or improvement approaches in postsecondary education. We have 
included an invitational priority to encourage proposals designed to 
support the formation of educational consortia of institutions and 
organizations in the United States and the European Union to encourage 
cooperation in the coordination of curricula, the exchange of students 
and the opening of educational opportunities between the United States 
and the European Union. The invitational priority is issued in 
cooperation with the European Union. European institutions 
participating in any consortium proposal responding to the invitational 
priority may apply to the European Commission's Directorate General for 
Education and Culture for additional funding under a separate European 
competition.

Priority

    The Secretary is particularly interested in applications that meet 
the following invitational priority. However, an application that meets 
this invitational priority does not receive competitive or absolute 
preference over other applications (34 CFR 75.105(c)(1)).
    Invitational Priority: Projects that support consortia of 
institutions of higher education that promote institutional cooperation 
and student mobility between the United States and the Member States of 
the European Union.

Methods for Applying Selection Criteria

    The Secretary gives equal weight to the listed criteria. Within 
each of the criteria, the Secretary gives equal weight to each of the 
factors.

Selection Criteria

    In evaluating applications for grants under this program 
competition, the Secretary uses selection criteria chosen from those 
listed in 34 CFR 75.210.
    For Applications Contact: Education Publications Center (ED Pubs), 
P.O. Box 1398, Jessup, MD 20794-1398, Telephone (toll free) 1-877-433-
7827, fax (301) 470-1244. If you use a telecommunications device for 
the deaf (TDD), you may call (toll free) 1-877-576-7734. You may also 
contact ED Pubs at its web site: http://www.ed.gov/pubs/edpubs.html or 
you may contact ED Pubs at its e-mail address: [email protected].
    If you request an application from ED Pubs, be sure to identify 
this competition as follows: CFDA number 84.116J. You may also request 
application forms by calling 732-544-2504 (fax on demand), or 
application guidelines by calling 202-358-3041 (voice mail) or 
submitting the name of the competition and your name and postal address 
to [email protected] (e-mail).
    Applications are also listed on the FIPSE Web Site: http://www.ed.gov/FIPSE e-APPLICATIONS are available at: http://e-grants.ed.gov.
    Individuals who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) 
may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-
8339. For additional program information call the FIPSE office (202-
502-7500) between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., Eastern Time, Monday 
through Friday.
    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 number listed under For 
Applications Contact.
    Individuals with disabilities also may obtain a copy of the 
application package in an alternative format by contacting that number. 
However, the Department is not able to reproduce in an alternative 
format the standard forms included in the application package.

Application Procedures

    Note: Some of the procedures in these instructions for 
transmitting applications differ from those in EDGAR (34 CFR 
75.102). Under the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 553) the 
Department generally offers interested parties the opportunity to 
comment on proposed regulations. However, these amendments make 
procedural changes only and do not establish new substantive policy. 
Therefore, under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(A), the Secretary has determined 
that proposed rulemaking is not required.

Pilot Project for Electronic Submission of Applications

    In Fiscal Year 2002 the U.S. Department of Education is continuing 
to expand its pilot project of electronic submission of applications to 
include additional grant programs and additional discretionary grant 
competitions. The European Community-United States of America 
Cooperation Program in Higher Education and Vocational Education and 
Training CFDA 84.116J is included in the pilot project. If you are an 
applicant under the European Community-United States of America 
Cooperation Program in Higher Education and Vocational Education and 
Training, you may submit your application to us in either electronic or 
paper format.
    The pilot project involves the use of the Electronic Grant 
Application System (e-APPLICATION, formerly e-GAPS) portion of the 
Grant Administration and Payment System (GAPS). We request your 
participation in this pilot project. We shall continue to evaluate its 
success and solicit suggestions for improvement.
    If you participate in this 
e-APPLICATION pilot, please note the following:
     Your participation is voluntary.
     You will not receive any additional point value or penalty 
because you submit a grant application in electronic or paper format.
     You can submit all documents electronically, including the 
Title Page, (substitutes for the ED Form 424), Budget Information-Non-
Construction Programs (substitutes for the ED Form 524), and all 
necessary assurances and certifications.
     Within three working days of submitting your electronic 
application fax a signed copy of the Title Page to the Application 
Control Center after following these steps:
    1. Print the Title Page from the 
e-APPLICATION system.
    2. Make sure that the institution's Authorizing Representative 
signs this form.
    3. Before faxing this form, submit your electronic application via 
the 
e-APPLICATION system. You will receive an automatic acknowledgement, 
which will include a PR/Award number (an identifying number unique to 
your application).

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    4. Place the PR/Award number in the upper right hand corner of the 
Title Page.
    5. Fax the Title Page to the Application Control Center at (202) 
260-1349.
     We may request that you give us original signatures on all 
other forms at a later date.
    You may access the electronic grant application for the European 
Community-United States of America Cooperation Program in Higher 
Education and Vocational Education and Training at: http://e-grants.ed.gov.
    Due to software upgrades, it is anticipated that the e-Application 
software will be unavailable for several days in mid-January. The 
tentative dates for this system down time are January 11-21, 2002. 
Please check this site for future updates on system availability.
    We have included additional information about the e-APPLICATION 
pilot project (see Parity Guidelines between Paper and Electronic 
Applications) in the application package.

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 the following site: 
www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister.
    To use PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available 
free at this site. If you have questions about using 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 
Regulations is available on GPO Access at: http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/index.html.


    Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1138-1138d.

    Dated: January 8, 2002.
Kenneth W. Tolo,
Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy, Planning and Innovation, 
Office of Postsecondary Education.
[FR Doc. 02-728 Filed 1-10-02; 8:45 am]
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