[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 242 (Tuesday, December 17, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 77244-77246]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-31691]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[CFDA No. 84.116M]


Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education--Special 
Focus Competition: US-Brazil Higher Education Consortia Program 
(Institutional Cooperation and Student Mobility in Postsecondary 
Education Between the United States and Brazil)

AGENCY: Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice inviting applications for new awards for fiscal year 
(FY) 2003.

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    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: December 17, 2002.
    Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: March 28, 2003.
    Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: May 27, 2003.
    Estimated Available Funds: $300,000. The estimated amount of funds 
available for awards is based on the Administration's request for this 
program for FY 2003. The actual level of funding, if any, depends on 
final congressional action. However, we are inviting applications to 
allow enough time to complete the grant process if Congress 
appropriates funds for this program.
    Estimated Range of Awards: $28,000-$32,000 for FY 2003; $190,000-
$210,000 for 4-year duration of grant.
    Estimated Average Size of Awards: $30,000 for FY 2003; $200,000 for 
4-year duration of grant. (The first year grant is a preparatory phase. 
The grant amounts in subsequent years will be higher during the 
implementation phase of the grant).
    Estimated Number of Awards: 10.

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

    Project Period: Up to 48 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: This program is a Special Focus Competition 
under the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (Title 
VII, Part B of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended) 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 and Brazilian 
institutions to encourage cooperation in the coordination of curricula, 
the exchange of students, and the opening of educational opportunities 
between the United States and Brazil. The invitational priority is 
issued in cooperation with Brazil. These awards support only the 
participation of U.S. institutions and students in these consortia. 
Brazilian institutions participating in any consortium proposal 
responding to the invitational priority may apply, respectively, to the 
Coordination of Improvement of Personnel of Superior Level (CAPES), 
Brazilian Ministry of Education, for additional funding under a 
separate but parallel Brazilian competition.

Priority

Invitational Priority

    We are particularly interested in applications that meet the 
following invitational priority:
    Projects that support consortia of institutions of higher education 
that promote institutional cooperation and student mobility between the 
United States and Brazil.
    Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(1) we do not give an application that meets 
the priority a competitive or absolute preference over other 
applications.
    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 the following selection criteria chosen 
from those listed in 34 CFR 75.210.
    (1) The significance of the proposed project, as determined by--
    (a) The extent to which the proposed project involves the 
development or demonstration of promising new strategies that build on, 
or are alternatives to, existing strategies;
    (b) The likely utility of the products (such as information, 
materials, processes, or techniques) that will result from the proposed 
project, including the potential for their being used effectively in a 
variety of other settings; and
    (c) The importance or magnitude of the results or outcomes likely 
to be attained by the proposed project, especially improvements in 
teaching and student achievement.
    (2) The quality of the design of the proposed project, as 
determined by--
    (a) The extent to which the goals, objectives, and outcomes to be 
achieved by the proposed project are clearly specified and measurable; 
and
    (b) The extent to which the design of the proposed project is 
appropriate to, and will successfully address, the needs of the target 
population or other identified needs.
    (3) The adequacy of resources, as determined by--
    (a) The extent to which the costs are reasonable in relation to the 
objectives, design, and potential significance of the proposed project;
    (b) The potential for continued support of the project after 
Federal funding ends, including, as appropriate, the demonstrated 
commitment of

[[Page 77245]]

appropriate entities to such support; and
    (c) The relevance and demonstrated commitment of each partner in 
the proposed project to the implementation and success of the project.
    (4) The quality of the project personnel, as determined by--
    (a) The qualifications, including relevant training and experience, 
of key project personnel; and
    (b) The extent to which the applicant encourages applications for 
employment from persons who are members of groups that have 
traditionally been underrepresented based on race, color, national 
origin, gender, age, or disability.

Application Procedures:

    Note: Some of the procedures in these instructions for 
transmitting 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 2003, the U.S. Department of Education is continuing 
to expand its pilot project for electronic submission of applications 
to include additional formula grant programs and additional 
discretionary grant competitions. The US-Brazil Higher Education 
Consortia Program--CFDA No. 84.116M is one of the programs included in 
the pilot project. If you are an applicant under the US-Brazil Higher 
Education Consortia Program--CFDA No. 84.116M, 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) portion of the Grant Administration 
and Payment System (GAPS). Users of e-Application will be entering data 
on-line while completing their applications. You may not e-mail a soft 
copy of a grant application to us. If you participate in this voluntary 
pilot project by submitting an application electronically, the data you 
enter on-line will be saved into a database. We request your 
participation in e-Application. We shall continue to evaluate its 
success and solicit suggestions for improvement.
    If you participate in e-Application, please note the following:
    [sbull] Your participation is voluntary.
    [sbull] You will not receive any additional point value because you 
submit a grant application in electronic format, nor will we penalize 
you if you submit an application in paper format. When you enter the e-
Application system, you will find information about its hours of 
operation.
    [sbull] You may submit all documents electronically, including the 
Application for Federal Assistance (ED 424), Budget Information--Non-
Construction Programs (ED 524), and all necessary assurances and 
certifications.
    [sbull] After you electronically submit your application, you will 
receive an automatic acknowledgement, which will include a PR/Award 
number (an identifying number unique to your application).
    [sbull] Within three working days after submitting your electronic 
application, fax a signed copy of the Application for Federal 
Assistance (ED 424) to the Application Control Center after following 
these steps:
    (1) Print ED 424 from the e-Application system.
    (2) The institution's Authorizing Representative must sign this 
form.
    (3) Place the PR/Award number in the upper right hand corner of the 
hard copy signature page of the ED 424.
    (4) Fax the signed ED 424 to the Application Control Center at 
(202) 260-1349.
    [sbull] We may request that you give us original signatures on all 
other forms at a later date.
    [sbull] Closing Date Extension in Case of System Unavailability: If 
you elect to participate in the e-Application pilot for the US-Brazil 
Higher Education Consortia Program--CFDA No. 84.116M and you are 
prevented from submitting your application on the closing date because 
the e-Application system is unavailable, we will grant you an extension 
of one business day in order to transmit your application 
electronically, by mail, or by hand delivery.
    For us to grant this extension--
    (1) You must be a registered user of e-Application, and have 
initiated an e-Application for this competition; and
    (2) (a) The e-Application system must be unavailable for 60 minutes 
or more between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., Washington, DC 
time, on the deadline date; or
    (b) The e-Application system must be unavailable for any period of 
time during the last hour of operation (that is, for any period of time 
between 3:30 and 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time) on the deadline date. 
The Department must acknowledge and confirm these periods of 
unavailability before granting you an extension. To request this 
extension you must contact either (1) the person listed elsewhere in 
this notice under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT or (2) the e-Grants 
help desk at 1-888-336-8930.
    You may access the electronic grant application for the US-Brazil 
Higher Education Consortia Program--CFDA No. 84.116M at: http://e-grants.ed.gov.
    We have included additional information about the e-Application 
pilot project (see Parity Guidelines between Paper and Electronic 
Applications) in the application package.
    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 84.116M.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Copies of the application materials 
and further program information may also be obtained from Cindy Fisher, 
Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), U.S. 
Department of Education, 1990 K Street, NW., 8th Floor, Washington, DC 
20006-8544. Telephone: (202) 502-7500. You may also request application 
guidelines by submitting the name of the competition (US-Brazil) and 
your name and postal address to: [email protected].
    Applications are also available on the FIPSE Web site at: http://www.ed.gov/offices/OPE/FIPSE/Brazil/.
    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 a copy of the application 
package in an alternative format (e.g. Braille, large print, audiotape, 
or computer diskette) on request to the program contact person listed 
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. However, the Department is not 
able to reproduce in an alternative format the standard forms included 
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

[[Page 77246]]

Register, in text or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) on the 
Internet at the following site: http://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: December 12, 2002.
Sally L. Stroup,
Assistant Secretary, Office of Postsecondary Education.
[FR Doc. 02-31691 Filed 12-16-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P