[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 8 (Friday, January 11, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1456-1457]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-729]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[CFDA No. 84.116N]


Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education--Special 
Focus Competition (Institutional Cooperation and Student Mobility in 
Postsecondary Education Among the United States, Canada and Mexico); 
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 or 
combinations of institutions and other public and private nonprofit 
institutions and agencies.
    Applications Available: January 18, 2002.
    Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: March 29, 2002.
    Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: July 15, 2002.
    Available Funds: $300,000 for FY 2002.
    Estimated Range of Awards: $30,000 for FY 2002.$200,000-$215,000 
for 
four-year duration of grant.
    Estimated Average Size of Awards: $30,000 for FY 2002. $210,000 for 
four-year duration of grant.
    Estimated Number of Awards: 10.

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

    Project Period: Up to 48 months.
    Page Limit: The application narrative is where you, the applicant, 
address the selection criteria that reviewers use to evaluate your 
application. You must limit your narrative to the equivalent of no more 
than twenty (20) double-spaced pages using the following standards:
     A ``page'' is 8.5"  x  11" on one side only, with 1" 
margins at the top, bottom, and both sides.
     Double space (no more than three lines per vertical inch) 
all text in the application narrative, including titles, headings, 
footnotes, quotations, references, and captions, as well as all text in 
charts, tables, figures, and graphs.
     Use a font that is either 12-point or larger or no smaller 
than 10 pitch (characters per inch).
    The page limit does not apply to the title page, the budget 
section, including the narrative budget justification, the assurances 
and certifications, the resumes, the bibliography, or the letters of 
support.
    Our reviewers will not read any pages of your application narrative 
that--
     Exceed the page limit if you apply these standards; or
     Exceed the equivalent of the page limit if you apply other 
standards.
    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: This program is a Special Focus 
Competition to support projects addressing a particular problem area or 
improvement approach in postsecondary education. The competition also 
includes an invitational priority to encourage proposals designed to 
support the formation of educational consortia of American, Canadian 
and Mexican institutions to encourage cooperation in the coordination 
of curricula, the exchange of students and the opening of educational 
opportunities throughout North America. The invitational priority is 
issued in cooperation with Canada and Mexico. Canadian and Mexican 
institutions participating in any consortium proposal responding to the 
invitational priority may apply, respectively, to Human Resources 
Development Canada and the Mexican Department of Public Education for 
additional funding under separate Canadian and Mexican competitions.

Priority

    We are particularly interested in applications that meet the 
following invitational priority.
    Under 34 CFR 75.105(C)(1) we do not give an application that meets 
the invitational priority a competitive or absolute preference over 
other applications.
    Invitational Priority: Projects that support consortia of 
institutions of higher education that promote institutional cooperation 
and student mobility among the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

Methods for Applying Selection Criteria

    We give equal weight to the listed criteria. Within each of the 
criteria, we give equal weight to each of the factors.

Selection Criteria

    In evaluating applications for grants under this program 
competition, we use selection criteria chosen from those listed in 34 
CFR 75.210 of EDGAR.
    For Applications or Information Contact: Fund for the Improvement 
of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), U.S. Department of Education, 1990 
K Street, NW, 8th Floor, Washington, DC 20006-8544. You may also 
request application forms by calling 732-544-2504 (fax on demand), or 
application guidelines by

[[Page 1457]]

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
    If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) you 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 or Information 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 electronic applications differ from those in the 
Education Department General Administrative Regulations (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 project of electronic submission of applications to 
include additional formula grant programs and additional discretionary 
grant competitions. The Program for North American Mobility in Higher 
Education (CFDA No. 84.116N) is one of the programs included in this 
project. If you are an applicant under the Program for North American 
Mobility in Higher Education, 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 Summary Form 
(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 (replaces ED 424) to 
the ApplicationQ Control Center after the 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).
    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 within three working days of submitting your electronic 
application.
     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 Program for 
North American Mobility in Higher
    Education 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, Policy Planning and Innovation, 
Office of Postsecondary Education.
[FR Doc. 02-729 Filed 1-10-02; 8:45 am]
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