[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 50 (Thursday, March 14, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11543-11545]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-6149]


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DEPARTMENT OF STATE

[Public Notice 3945]


Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs Request for Grant 
Proposals: Balkans Junior Faculty Development Program

SUMMARY: The Office of Academic Exchange Programs/European Programs 
Branch of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs announces an 
open competition for the new Balkans Junior Faculty Development Program 
(JFDP). 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 place visiting faculty from Bosnia and 
Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia at U.S. universities in a 
one academic year (nine months) teacher training and curriculum 
development program. The grantee organization for this new program will 
support and oversee the activities of the faculty throughout their stay 
in the United States, including their undertaking a practical 
internship at the end of the academic program (an additional two 
months). In addition, the

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grantee organization will recruit and select candidates for the JFDP in 
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia to begin the 
program in the United States in Fall 2003.

Program Information

Overview

    The new Balkans Junior Faculty Development Program (JFDP) will 
offer fellowships to university instructors from Bosnia and 
Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. Selected through an 
open, merit-based competition, JFDP Fellows will attend U.S. 
universities for one academic year to work with faculty mentors and to 
audit courses in order to develop new curricula and approaches to 
teaching in their fields of study. The JFDP will encourage its Fellows 
to develop professional relationships with the U.S. academic community, 
and to forge ties between their U.S. colleagues and colleagues in their 
home countries, and to share their experiences and knowledge with U.S. 
students and professors. Throughout their stay in the United States, 
JFDP Fellows will attend conferences and seminars, and participate in 
two-month practical internships after completing the academic component 
of the program. The goals of the program are to allow U.S. scholars and 
scholars from the participating countries to exchange ideas on 
curriculum design and teaching, and to increase collaboration and 
cooperation between universities in the United States and Bosnia and 
Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. Participation in the 
JFDP under this grant is restricted to university instructors from 
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia in the 
following fields of study: American studies, business administration, 
economics, education administration, environmental studies, history, 
international affairs, journalism, law, library science, political 
science, public administration and public policy.
    Programs must comply with J-1 Visa regulations. Subject to the 
availability of funds, it is anticipated that this grant will begin on 
or about July 1, 2002. Please refer to the Solicitation Package for 
further information.

Budget Guidelines

    Grants awarded to eligible organizations with less than four years 
of experience in conducting international exchange programs will be 
limited to $60,000.
    Applicants must submit a comprehensive budget for the entire 
program. The Bureau anticipates awarding one grant in the amount of 
$1,240,000 ($140,000 for Bosnia and Herzegovina; $550,000 for 
Macedonia; $150,000 for Montenegro; and $400,000 for Serbia) to support 
the program and administrative costs required to implement this 
program. The Bureau encourages applicants to provide maximum levels of 
cost sharing and funding from private sources in support of its 
programs. 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.
    Allowable costs for the program include the following:
    (1) Overseas recruitment and selection of candidates
    (2) Participant travel expenses, stipends, accident and sickness 
insurance, visa fees, professional development costs
    (3) Orientations, participant conferences
    (4) Host university fees
    (5) Alumni and follow-on activities 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/A/
E/EUR-02-07.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT: The Office of Academic Exchanges, 
ECA/A/E/EUR, Room 246, U.S. Department of State, 301 4th Street, SW., 
Washington, DC 20547, tel. (202) 205-0525, fax (202) 260-7985, 
[email protected] to request a Solicitation Package. The 
Solicitation Package contains detailed award criteria, required 
application forms, specific budget instructions, and standard 
guidelines for proposal preparation. Please specify Bureau Program 
Officer Sheila Casey on all other inquiries and correspondence.
    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, May 10, 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 and eight (8) copies of the application should be 
sent to: U.S. Department of State, SA-44, Bureau of Educational and 
Cultural Affairs, Ref.: ECA/A/E/EUR-02-07, 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. The Bureau will 
transmit these files electronically to the Public Affairs Sections at 
U.S. Embassies (or Public Affairs Office in Montenegro) for review, 
with the goal of reducing the time it takes to obtain Embassy comments 
for the Bureau's grants review process.

Diversity, Freedom and Democracy Deadlines

    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

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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 by the Public Diplomacy 
Sections 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.

Review Criteria

    Technically eligible applications will be competitively reviewed 
according to the criteria stated below. These criteria are not rank 
ordered and all carry equal weight in the proposal evaluation:
    1. Program Development and Management: The proposal should exhibit 
originality, substance, precision, innovation, and relevance to the 
Bureau's mission. Objectives should be reasonable, feasible and 
flexible. The proposal should clearly demonstrate how the grantee 
organization will meet the program's objectives. A detailed agenda and 
relevant work plan should demonstrate substantive undertakings and 
logistical capacity. The agenda should adhere to the program overview 
and guidelines described above.
    2. Multiplier Effect/Impact: The JFDP should strengthen long-term 
mutual understanding, including maximum sharing of information and 
establishment of long-term institutional and individual linkages. The 
proposal should include creative ways to involve program participants 
in U.S. communities.
    3. Support of Diversity: The proposal should demonstrate the 
grantee organization's commitment to promoting the awareness and 
understanding of diversity through participant recruitment efforts, and 
through its selection of host universities.
    4. Institution's Record/Ability: The proposal should demonstrate an 
institutional record of successful exchange programs, including 
responsible fiscal management and full compliance with all reporting 
requirements for past Bureau/USIA grants as determined by the Bureau's 
Grants Division. Proposed personnel and institutional resources should 
be adequate and appropriate to achieve the program's goals.
    5. Follow-on and Alumni Activities: The proposal should provide a 
plan for continued follow-on activity that insures that Bureau-
supported programs are not isolated events, but have meaning and scope 
beyond the time the actual exchange took place.
    6. Project Evaluation: The proposal should include a plan to 
evaluate the success of the JFDP, both during and after the program. 
The Bureau recommends that the proposal include a draft survey 
questionnaire or other technique, plus a description of methodologies 
that can be used to link outcomes to original project objectives. The 
grantee organization will be expected to submit intermediate reports 
after each project component is concluded or quarterly, whichever is 
less frequent.
    7. Cost-effectiveness and Cost Sharing: The overhead and 
administrative components of the proposal, including salaries and 
honoraria, should be kept as low as possible. All other items should be 
necessary and appropriate. The proposal should maximize cost sharing 
through other private sector support as well as institutional direct 
funding contributions.

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 in part through the Support for East European 
Democracy (SEED) Act.

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: March 5, 2002.
Patricia S. Harrison,
Assistant Secretary for Educational and Cultural Affairs, Department of 
State.
[FR Doc. 02-6149 Filed 3-13-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4710-05-U