[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 12 (Thursday, January 17, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2499-2501]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-1261]


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DEPARTMENT OF STATE

[Public Notice 3877]


Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs Request for Grant 
Proposals: Secondary School Partnership Program in Armenia, Azerbaijan 
and Belarus

SUMMARY: The Office of Citizen Exchanges, Youth Programs Division, of 
the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs announces an open 
competition for the Secondary School Partnership Program in Armenia, 
Azerbaijan and Belarus. Public and private non-profit organizations 
meeting the provisions described in Internal Revenue Code section 26 
U.S.C. 501(c)(3) may submit proposals to either enhance or expand 
existing partnerships or develop new school partnership programs with 
Armenia, Azerbaijan or Belarus. All proposals must have a thematic 
focus and feature on-going joint project activity between the schools, 
a student exchange component, and an educator (teacher/administrator) 
exchange component.

Program Information

    The Secondary School Partnership Program is funded under the 
FREEDOM Support Act to assist young people in building an open society 
and developing democratic processes and institutions in Armenia, 
Azerbaijan, and Belarus. This program provides grants to link schools 
in the three countries noted above with schools in the United States. 
The U.S. recipient of the grant is responsible for recruiting, 
selecting, and organizing a U.S. network of a minimum of two secondary 
schools; strengthening an existing working relationship with an 
organization or agency of government in Armenia, Azerbaijan, or Belarus 
responsible for a network of at least two schools there; and linking 
the two networks in one-to-one school partnerships through thematic 
projects and substantive exchange activities.

Overview

    The short-term goal of the school partnership program is to provide 
partial funding for linkages between U.S. and Armenian, Azerbaijani, 
and Belarussian schools featuring collaborative substantive projects 
and reciprocal student and educator exchanges with strong academic 
content. The long-term goals are to: (1) Develop lasting, sustainable 
institutional ties between U.S. and Armenian, Azerbaijani and 
Belarussian schools and communities; (2) support democracy and 
educational reform in the above countries; (3) advance mutual 
understanding between youth and teachers; and (4) promote partnerships 
developed through governmental, educational, and not-for-profit sector 
cooperation that serve the needs and interests of the schools.
    The program has several defining features to help the participating 
schools develop their partnership:

--Each partnership has a project theme and the students and teachers in 
the paired schools work on a joint project throughout the school year 
related to this theme;
--The two schools develop a relationship over the course of an academic 
year, through the planning process and the work on their joint project, 
which is highlighted by exchanges from three weeks to ten months in 
duration. Exchanges take place while the host school is in session.
--The student and teacher exchanges must be reciprocal.
--The program includes educators (teachers and/or administrators) in 
order to involve them in all aspects of the partnership and to provide 
them access to resources for curriculum development and educational 
training.
--During the exchange, participants attend class, are involved in 
school-based activities, work on their joint project, perform community 
service, visit educational and cultural sites, and reside with host 
families.
    Dates: Grants may begin on or about July 2002 and cover the 2002-
2003 academic year. The exact starting date of the grant will be 
dependent on availability of funds.

Guidelines

    A competitive proposal will present a project that builds upon 
previous contacts and interaction between the proposed schools to help 
ensure a solid foundation for the partnership. Partnerships should have 
an existence beyond the scope of this initiative; that is, there should 
be an inherent reason for the linkage apart from the availability of 
grant funds.
    Organizers and school networks in the U.S. and Armenia, Azerbaijan 
and Belarus should collaborate in planning and preparation. Applicants 
must have an organizational partner that has its base of operation in 
the partner country. Proposals should support a working relationship 
that will produce something tangible and lasting in addressing the 
interests of both sides, beyond the confines of the funded project, 
such as the development of educational materials. The proposal should 
specify measurable goals and objectives of the program.
    Proposals must clearly describe and define substantive 
thematically-based projects for each school partnership that are the 
focus of the exchange for both students and educators and on-going 
joint project activity between the two schools. Specific activities, 
products, curriculum materials, and pre-planning are areas that can be 
addressed. For example, what will the participants be doing and how is 
it relevant to the thematic focus of the program? Applicants should 
present a program that involves the greater school community. All 
participating schools must be identified. Proposals should describe the 
selected theme, its importance to the schools and

[[Page 2500]]

communities, the specific academic activities, and the expected outcome 
or product of the project. Possible themes include civic education, 
such as citizen activism, volunteerism or community service, youth 
leadership training, multicultural education, rule of law, and free and 
independent media.
    Proposals must clearly present independent educator programs for 
teachers/administrators. These programs could include curriculum 
development seminars, shadowing of host peers in the classroom, 
university-level courses, or other substantive activities, with an 
emphasis on such themes as parent-teacher cooperation, model schools, 
teacher training, and collaboration with local businesses. A program 
that relies on the educator to act as just an escort will not be 
competitive.
    Competitive proposals will demonstrate a solid and comprehensive 
follow-on plan to sustain the partnerships after the grant has expired.

Responsibilities

    The U.S. organization receiving the grant will (1) design the 
overall plan that integrates the joint project activity and the 
exchange components of the partnership; (2) ensure quality control for 
all program elements; (3) keep the Bureau informed of its progress; (4) 
manage all travel arrangements, logistics, travel documents, etc.; (5) 
provide competent and informed escorts for student groups; and (6) 
disburse and account for grant funds. Recipients of a grant are 
responsible for ensuring the selection of exchange participants who are 
most suited for the program and for providing them with a meaningful 
pre-departure orientation. Selection of individual participants in the 
exchange components of the program must be open, competitive, and 
merit-based; the proposal should describe the mechanisms used for 
participant selection. All participants from the U.S. and Armenia, 
Azerbaijan, and Belarus should represent the full diversity of their 
communities (racial, ethnic, economic status, religious, etc.) to give 
greater understanding to the culture and society as a whole.
    Preference will be given to proposals that include schools that 
have not already received funding under the NIS Secondary School 
Initiative for a total of three years or more.
    Significant cost-sharing is mandatory in all proposals, and those 
that show more generous and creative cost-sharing will be more 
favorably viewed. The Bureau encourages proposals that include non-
Bureau funded components such as additional students and/or educators 
on the exchange, U.S. participants paying for some of their own costs, 
computer software purchases, cultural excursions, or capital city 
civics programs. However, participants from Armenia,Azerbaijan and 
Belarus may not be charged to participate in the program, aside from 
paying for home country costs, (such as transportation to the point of 
departure the costs of hosting the U.S. students and educators, and 
miscellaneous expenses such as pocket money.
    Please be sure to refer to the Project Objectives, Goals, and 
Implementation (POGI) section of the Solicitation Package for greater 
detail regarding the design of the component parts as well as other 
program information. Also consult the Proposal Submission Instructions 
(PSI) for information on budget presentation and required forms.

Budget Guidelines

    Applicants must submit a comprehensive budget for the entire 
program. Only partnerships between secondary schools in the United 
States and these three countries are eligible for this competition. 
Organizations may apply to work in more than one country. Funding for 
each country is expected to be as follows: Armenia, $100,000, 
Azerbaijan; $150,000; and Belarus,$50,000. The Bureau reserves the 
right to reduce, revise, or increase proposal budgets in accordance 
with the needs of the program and the availability of funds.
    Grants awarded to eligible organizations with less than four years 
of experience in conducting international exchange programs will be 
limited to $60,000.
    There must be a summary budget as well as breakdowns reflecting 
both administrative and program budgets. Applicants may provide 
separate sub-budgets for each program component, phase, location, or 
activity to provide clarification. All program costs should clearly 
indicate whether they cover U.S., Armenian, Azerbaijani, or Belarussian 
participants. Be sure to note the statement on cost-sharing in the 
Guidelines section. Please refer to the Solicitation Package for 
complete budget guidelines and formatting instructions.

Announcement Title and Number

    All correspondence with the Bureau concerning this RFGP should 
reference the above title and number ECA/PE/C/PY-02-50.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The Youth Programs Division, Office of 
Citizen Exchanges, ECA/PE/C/PY, Room 568, U.S. Department of State, 301 
4th Street, SW., Washington, DC 20547, telephone (202) 619-4788; fax 
(202) 619-5311; E-mail: [email protected] to request a Solicitation 
Package. TheSolicitation Package contains detailed award criteria, 
required application forms, specific budget instructions, and standard 
guidelines for proposal preparation. Please specify Bureau 
ProgramOfficer Randall Biggers on all other inquiries and 
correspondence, email: [email protected], tel: (202) 401-7356.
    Please read the complete Federal Register announcement before 
sending inquiries or submitting proposals. Once the RFGP deadline has 
passed, Bureau staff may not discuss this competition with applicants 
until the proposal review process has been completed.

To Download a Solicitation Package Via Internet

    The entire Solicitation Package may be downloaded from the Bureau's 
website at http://exchanges.state.gov/education/rfgps. Please read all 
information before downloading.

Deadline for Proposals

    All proposal copies must be received at the Bureau of Educational 
and Cultural Affairs by 5 p.m. Washington, DC time on Friday, March 1, 
2002. Faxed documents will not be accepted at any time. Documents 
postmarked the due date but received on a later date will not be 
accepted. Each applicant must ensure that the proposals are received by 
the above deadline.
    Applicants must follow all instructions in the Solicitation 
Package. The original proposal, one fully-tabbed copy, and six copies 
including tabs A-E and appendices should be sent to: U.S. Department of 
State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, Ref.: ECA/PE/C/PY-
02-50, Program Management, ECA/EX/PM, Room 534, 301 4th Street, SW., 
Washington, DC 20547.
    Applicants must also submit the ``Executive Summary'' and 
``Proposal Narrative'' sections of the proposal on a 3.5'' diskette, 
formatted for DOS. These documents must be provided in ASCII text (DOS) 
format with a maximum line length of 65 characters. Applicants are also 
encouraged to submit proposals as Microsoft Word or Excel documents as 
well. The Bureau will transmit these files electronically to the Public 
Affairs section at the U.S. Embassy for its review, with the goal of 
reducing the time it takes to get embassy comments for the Bureau's 
grants review process.

[[Page 2501]]

Diversity, Freedom and Democracy Guidelines

    Pursuant to the Bureau's authorizing legislation, programs must 
maintain a non-political character and should be balanced and 
representative of the diversity of American political, social, and 
cultural life. ``Diversity'' should be interpreted in the broadest 
sense and encompass differences including, but not limited to 
ethnicity, race, gender, religion, geographic location, socio-economic 
status, and physical challenges. Applicants are strongly encouraged to 
adhere to the advancement of this principle both in program 
administration and in program content. Please refer to the review 
criteria under the `Support for Diversity' section for specific 
suggestions on incorporating diversity into the total proposal. Public 
Law 104-319 provides that ``in carrying out programs of educational and 
cultural exchange in countries whose people do not fully enjoy freedom 
and democracy,'' the Bureau ``shall take appropriate steps to provide 
opportunities for participation in such programs to human rights and 
democracy leaders of such countries.'' Public Law 106-113 requires that 
the governments of the countries described above do not have 
inappropriate influence in the selection process. Proposals should 
reflect advancement of these goals in their program contents, to the 
full extent deemed feasible.

Review Process

    The Bureau will acknowledge receipt of all proposals and will 
review them for technical eligibility. Proposals will be deemed 
ineligible if they do not fully adhere to the guidelines stated herein 
and in the Solicitation Package. All eligible proposals will be 
reviewed by the program office, as well as the Public Diplomacy section 
overseas, where appropriate. Eligible proposals will be subject to 
compliance with Federal and Bureau regulations and guidelines and 
forwarded to Bureau grant panels for advisory review. Proposals may 
also be reviewed by the Office of the Legal Adviser or by other 
Department elements. Final funding decisions are at the discretion of 
the Department of State's Assistant Secretary for Educational and 
Cultural Affairs. Final technical authority for assistance awards 
(grants or cooperative agreements) resides with the Bureau's Grants 
Officer.

Authority

    Overall grant making authority for this program is contained in the 
Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961, Public Law 87-
256, as amended, also known as the Fulbright-Hays Act. The purpose of 
the Act is ``to enable the Government of the United States to increase 
mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the 
people of other countries * * *; to strengthen the ties which unite us 
with other nations by demonstrating the educational and cultural 
interests, developments, and achievements of the people of the United 
States and other nations * * * and thus to assist in the development of 
friendly, sympathetic and peaceful relations between the United States 
and the other countries of the world.'' The funding authority for the 
program above is provided through the FREEDOM Support Act of 1992.

Notice

    The terms and conditions published in this RFGP are binding and may 
not be modified by any Bureau representative. Explanatory information 
provided by the Bureau that contradicts published language will not be 
binding. Issuance of the RFGP does not constitute an award commitment 
on the part of the Government. The Bureau reserves the right to reduce, 
revise, or increase proposal budgets in accordance with the needs of 
the program and the availability of funds. Awards made will be subject 
to periodic reporting and evaluation requirements.

Notification

    Final awards cannot be made until funds have been appropriated by 
Congress, allocated and committed through internal Bureau procedures.

    Dated: January 7, 2002.
Patricia S. Harrison,
Assistant Secretary for Educational and Cultural Affairs, U.S. 
Department of State.
[FR Doc. 02-1261 Filed 1-16-02; 8:45 am]
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