[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 69 (Tuesday, April 11, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18294-18298]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-5332]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


Office of Postsecondary Education; Overview Information; Fund for 
the Improvement of Postsecondary Education--Special Focus Competition: 
EU-U.S. Atlantis Program; Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards 
for Fiscal Year (FY) 2006

    Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 84.116J.
    Dates: Applications Available: April 11, 2006.
    Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: July 7, 2006.
    Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: September 7, 2006.
    Eligible Applicants: Institutions of higher education (IHEs) or 
combinations of IHEs and other public and private nonprofit 
institutions and agencies.
    Estimated Available Funds: $500,000.
    Estimated Range of Awards: $50,000-$150,000 for the first year; 
$200,000-

[[Page 18295]]

$600,000 for the four-year duration of the grant.
    Estimated Average Size of Awards: $100,000 for the first year; 
$400,000 for the four-year duration of the grant.
    Maximum Award: $696,000 for four years. The Assistant Secretary for 
Postsecondary Education may change the maximum amount through a notice 
published in the Federal Register.
    Estimated Number of Awards: 5.


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


    Project Period: Up to 48 months.

Full Text of Announcement

I. Funding Opportunity Description

    Purpose of Program: The purpose of this program is to provide 
grants or enter into cooperative agreements with eligible applicants to 
improve postsecondary education opportunities by developing and 
implementing undergraduate joint or dual degree programs. The EU-U.S. 
Atlantis program is a revision of the European Union-United States 
Cooperation Program in Higher Education and Vocational Education and 
Training.
    Priority: Under this competition, we are particularly interested in 
applications that address the following priority.
    Invitational Priority: For FY 2006 this priority is an invitational 
priority. Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(1), we do not give an application that 
meets this invitational priority a competitive or absolute preference 
over other applications.
    This priority is designed to support the formation of educational 
consortia of American and European institutions to support cooperation 
in the coordination of curricula, the exchange of students, and the 
opening of educational opportunities between the United States and the 
European Union. This priority relates to the purpose of the program to 
develop and implement undergraduate joint or dual degree programs.
    This invitational priority is established in cooperation with the 
European Union. These awards support only the participation of U.S. 
institutions and students in these consortia. European Union 
institutions participating in any consortium proposal responding to the 
invitational priority may apply, respectively, to the Directorate-
General for Education and Culture (DG EAC), European Commission for 
funding under a separate but parallel EU competition.


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

    Applicable Regulations: The Education Department General 
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 79, 80, 
82, 84, 85, 86, 97, 98, and 99.

II. Award Information

    Type of Award: Discretionary grants.
    Estimated Available Funds: $500,000.
    Estimated Range of Awards: $50,000 to $150,000 for the first year; 
$200,000-$600,000 for the four-year duration of the grant.
    Estimated Average Size of Awards: $100,000 for the first year; 
$400,000 for the four-year duration of the grant.
    Maximum Award: $696,000 for four years. The Assistant Secretary for 
Postsecondary Education may change the maximum amount through a notice 
published in the Federal Register.
    Estimated Number of Awards: 5.


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


    Project Period: Up to 48 months.

III. Eligibility Information

    1. Eligible Applicants: IHEs or combinations of IHEs and other 
public and private nonprofit institutions and agencies.
    2. Cost Sharing or Matching: Although this program does not require 
cost sharing or matching for eligibility, it is expected that U.S 
applicants will provide an institutional financial commitment to the 
project.

IV. Application and Submission Information

    1. Address to Request Application Package: Frank Frankfort, Fund 
for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education, EU-U.S. Atlantis 
Program, 1990 K Street, NW., room 6152, Washington, DC 20006-8544. 
Telephone: (202) 502-7513.
    If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you may 
call the Federal Relay Service (FRS) at 1-800-877-8339. Individuals 
with disabilities may contact the 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.
    Individuals with disabilities may obtain a copy of the application 
package in an alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print, 
audiotape, of computer diskette) by contacting the program contact 
person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT in section VII of 
this notice.
    2. Content and Form of Application Submission: Requirements 
concerning the content of an application, together with the forms you 
must submit, are in the application package and instructions for this 
competition.
    Page Limit: The application narrative (Part III of the application) 
is where you, the applicant, address the selection criteria that 
reviewers use to evaluate your application. You must limit the section 
of the narrative that addresses the selection criteria to the 
equivalent of no more than twenty (20) pages, using the following 
standards:
     A ``page'' is 8.5 x 11'', one side only, with 1'' margins 
at the top, bottom, and both sides. Page numbers and a document 
identifier may be within the 1'' margin.
     Double space (no more than three lines per vertical inch) 
all text in the application narrative, except titles, headings, 
footnotes, quotations, references, and captions, and all text in 
charts, tables, figures, and graphs.
     Use one of the following fonts: Times New Roman, Courier, 
Courier New, or Arial. Applications submitted in any other font 
(including Times Roman and Arial Narrow) will be rejected.
     Use not less than 12-point font.
    The page limit applies only to the project narrative and does not 
include Part I, the cover sheet; Part II, the budget section, including 
an optional budget narrative; Part IV, the assurances and 
certifications; the table of contents or any of the appended materials 
such as the bibliography, or the letters of support. We strongly 
recommend that you limit the resumes to one page. However, you must 
include all of the application narrative in Part III.
    We will reject your application if--
     You apply these standards and exceed the page limit or
     You apply other standards and exceed the equivalent of the 
page limit.
    3. Submission Dates and Times:
    Applications Available: April 11, 2006.
    Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: July 7, 2006.
    Applications for grants under this program must be submitted 
electronically using the Grants.gov Apply site (Grants.gov). For 
information (including dates and times) about how to submit your 
application

[[Page 18296]]

electronically or by mail or hand delivery if you qualify for an 
exception to the electronic submission requirement, please refer to 
section IV. 6. Other Submission Requirements in this notice.
    We do not consider an application that does not comply with the 
deadline requirements.
    Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: September 7, 2006.
    4. Intergovernmental Review: This program is subject to Executive 
Order 12372 and the regulations in 34 CFR part 79. Information about 
Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs under Executive Order 
12372 is in the application package for this program.
    5. Funding Restrictions: We reference regulations outlining funding 
restrictions in the Applicable Regulations section of this notice.
    6. Other Submission Requirements: Applications for grants under 
this program must be submitted electronically unless you qualify for an 
exception to this requirement in accordance with the instructions in 
this section.
    a. Electronic Submission of Applications. Applications for grants 
under the EU-U.S. Atlantis Program--CFDA Number 84.116J must be 
submitted electronically using the Grants.gov site at: http://www.grants.gov. Through this site, you will be able to download a copy 
of the application package, complete it offline, and then upload and 
submit your application. You may not e-mail an electronic copy of a 
grant application to us.
    We will reject your application if you submit it in paper format 
unless, as described elsewhere in this section, you qualify for one of 
the exceptions to the electronic submission requirement and submit, no 
later than two weeks before the application deadline date, a written 
statement to the Department that you qualify for one of these 
exceptions. Further information regarding calculation of the date that 
is two weeks before the application deadline date is provided later in 
this section under Exception to Electronic Submission Requirement.
    You may access the electronic grant application for the EU-U.S. 
Atlantis Program at: http://www.grants.gov. You must search for the 
downloadable application package for this program by the CFDA number 
84.116J. Do not include the CFDA number's alpha suffix in your search.
    Please note the following:
     When you enter the Grants.gov site, you will find 
information about submitting an application electronically through the 
site, as well as the hours of operation.
     Applications received by Grants.gov are time and date 
stamped. Your application must be fully uploaded and submitted, and 
must be date/time stamped by the Grants.gov system no later than 4:30 
p.m., Washington, DC time, on the application deadline date. Except as 
otherwise noted in this section, we will not consider your application 
if it is date/time stamped by the Grants.gov system later than 4:30 
p.m., Washington, DC time, on the application deadline date. When we 
retrieve your application from Grants.gov, we will notify you if we are 
rejecting your application because it was date/time stamped by the 
Grants.gov system after 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, on the 
application deadline date.
     The amount of time it can take to upload an application 
will vary depending on a variety of factors including the size of the 
application and the speed of your Internet connection. Therefore, we 
strongly recommend that you do not wait until the application deadline 
date to begin the submission process through Grants.gov.
     You should review and follow the Education Submission 
Procedures for submitting an application through Grants.gov that are 
included in the application package for this competition to ensure that 
you submit your application in a timely manner to the Grants.gov 
system. You can also find the Education Submission Procedures 
pertaining to Grants.gov at http://e-Grants.ed.gov/help/GrantsgovSubmissionProcedures.pdf.
     To submit your application via Grants.gov, you must 
complete all of the steps in the Grants.gov registration process (see 
http://www.Grants.gov/GetStarted). These steps include (1) registering 
your organization, (2) registering yourself as an Authorized 
Organization Representative (AOR), and (3) getting authorized as an AOR 
by your organization. Details on these steps are outlined in the 
Grants.gov 3-Step Registration Guide (see http://www.grants.gov/assets/GrantsgovCoBrandBrochure8X11.pdf). You also must provide on your 
application the same D-U-N-S Number used with this registration. Please 
note that the registration process may take five or more business days 
to complete, and you must have completed all registration steps to 
allow you to successfully submit an application via Grants.gov.
     You will not receive additional points because you submit 
your application in electronic format, nor will we penalize you if you 
qualify for an exception to the electronic submission requirement, as 
described elsewhere in this section, and submit your application in 
paper format.
     You must submit all documents electronically, including 
all information typically included on the Application for Federal 
Education Assistance (SF 424), Budget Information--Non-Construction 
Programs (ED 524), and all necessary assurances and certifications. You 
must attach any narrative sections of your application as files in a 
.DOC (document), .RTF (rich text), or .PDF (Portable Document) format. 
If you upload a file type other than the three file types specified 
above or submit a password protected file, we will not review that 
material.
     Your electronic application must comply with any page 
limit requirements described in this notice.
     After you electronically submit your application, you will 
receive an automatic acknowledgement from Grants.gov that contains a 
Grants.gov tracking number. The Department will retrieve your 
application from Grants.gov and send you a second confirmation by e-
mail that will include a PR/Award number (an ED-specified identifying 
number unique to your application).
     We may request that you provide us original signatures on 
forms at a later date.
    Application Deadline Date Extension in Case of Technical Issues 
with the Grants.gov System: If you are prevented from electronically 
submitting your application on the application deadline date because of 
technical problems with the Grants.gov system, we will grant you an 
extension until 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, the following business 
day to enable you to transmit your application electronically, or by 
hand delivery. You also may mail your application by following the 
mailing instructions as described elsewhere in this notice. If you 
submit an application after 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, on the 
deadline date, please contact the person listed elsewhere in this 
notice under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, and provide an 
explanation of the technical problem you experienced with Grants.gov, 
along with the Grants.gov Support Desk Case Number (if available). We 
will accept your application if we can confirm that a technical problem 
occurred with the Grants.gov system and that the problem affected your 
ability to submit your application by 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, 
on the application deadline date. The Department will contact you

[[Page 18297]]

after a determination is made on whether your application will be 
accepted.

    Note: Extensions referred to in this section apply only to the 
unavailability of or technical problems with the Grants.gov system. 
We will not grant you an extension if you failed to fully register 
to submit your application to Grants.gov before the deadline date 
and time or if the technical problem you experienced is unrelated to 
the Grants.gov system.


    Exception to Electronic Submission Requirement: You qualify for an 
exception to the electronic submission requirement, and may submit your 
application in paper format, if you are unable to submit an application 
through the Grants.gov system because--
     You do not have access to the Internet; or
     You do not have the capacity to upload large documents to 
the Grants.gov system; and
     No later than two weeks before the application deadline 
date (14 calendar days or, if the fourteenth calendar day before the 
application deadline date falls on a federal holiday, the next business 
day following the federal holiday), you mail or fax a written statement 
to the Department, explaining which of the two grounds for an exception 
prevent you from using the Internet to submit your application. If you 
mail your written statement to the Department, it must be postmarked no 
later than two weeks before the application deadline date. If you fax 
your written statement to the Department, we must receive the faxed 
statement no later than two weeks before the application deadline date.
    Address and mail or fax your statement to: Frank Frankfort, Fund 
for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education, EU-U.S. Atlantis 
Program, 1990 K Street, NW., room 6152, Washington, DC 20006-8544. FAX: 
(202) 502-7877. Your paper application must be submitted in accordance 
with the mail or hand delivery instructions described in this notice.
    b. Submission of Paper Applications by Mail.
    If you qualify for an exception to the electronic submission 
requirement, you may mail (through the U.S. Postal Service or a 
commercial carrier) your application to the Department. You must mail 
the original and two copies of your application, on or before the 
application deadline date, to the Department at the applicable 
following address:
    By mail through the U.S. Postal Service: U.S. Department of 
Education, Application Control Center, Attention: (CFDA Number 
84.116J), 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20202-4260;
     or By mail through a commercial carrier:
    U.S. Department of Education, Application Control Center--Stop 
4260, Attention: (CFDA Number 84.116J), 7100 Old Landover Road, 
Landover, MD 20785-1506.
    Regardless of which address you use, you must show proof of mailing 
consisting of one of the following:
    (1) A legibly dated U.S. Postal Service postmark,
    (2) A legible mail receipt with the date of mailing stamped by the 
U.S. Postal Service,
    (3) A dated shipping label, invoice, or receipt from a commercial 
carrier, or
    (4) Any other proof of mailing acceptable to the Secretary of the 
U.S. Department of Education.
    If you mail your application through the U.S. Postal Service, we do 
not accept either of the following as proof of mailing:
    (1) A private metered postmark, or
    (2) A mail receipt that is not dated by the U.S. Postal Service.
    If your application is postmarked after the application deadline 
date, we will not consider your application.

    Note: The U.S. Postal Service does not uniformly provide a dated 
postmark. Before relying on this method, you should check with your 
local post office.

    c. Submission of Paper Applications by Hand Delivery.
    If you qualify for an exception to the electronic submission 
requirement, you (or a courier service) may deliver your paper 
application to the Department by hand. You must deliver the original 
and two copies of your application by hand, on or before the 
application deadline date, to the Department at the following address: 
U.S. Department of Education, Application Control Center, Attention: 
(CFDA Number 84.116J), 550 12th Street, SW., Room 7041, Potomac Center 
Plaza, Washington, DC 20202-4260.
    The Application Control Center accepts hand deliveries daily 
between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, except Saturdays, 
Sundays and Federal holidays.
    Note for Mail or Hand Delivery of Paper Applications: If you mail 
or hand deliver your application to the Department:
    (1) You must indicate on the envelope and--if not provided by the 
Department--in Item 4 of the Application for Federal Education 
Assistance (SF 424) the CFDA number--and suffix letter, if any--of the 
competition under which you are submitting your application.
    (2) The Application Control Center will mail a grant application 
receipt acknowledgment to you. If you do not receive the grant 
application receipt acknowledgment within 15 business days from the 
application deadline date, you should call the U.S. Department of 
Education Application Control Center at (202) 245-6288.

V. Application Review Information

    Selection Criteria: The selection criteria for this competition are 
from 34 CFR 75.210 of EDGAR and are listed in the application package.

VI. Award Administration Information

    1. Award Notices: If your application is successful, we notify your 
U.S. Representative and U.S. Senators and send you a Grant Award 
Notification (GAN). We may also notify you informally.
    If your application is not evaluated or not selected for funding, 
we notify you.
    2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements: We identify 
administrative and national policy requirements in the application 
package and reference these and other requirements in the Applicable 
Regulations section of this notice.
    We reference the regulations outlining the terms and conditions of 
an award in the Applicable Regulations section of this notice and 
include these and other specific conditions in the GAN. The GAN also 
incorporates your approved application as part of your binding 
commitments under the grant.
    3. Reporting: At the end of your project period, you must submit a 
final performance report, including financial information, as directed 
by the Secretary. If you receive a multi-year award, you must submit an 
annual performance report that provides the most current performance 
and financial expenditure information as specified by the Secretary in 
34 CFR 75.118.
    4. Performance Measures: The success of this competition depends 
upon (1) the percentage of students pursuing a joint or dual degree who 
persist from one academic year to the next (persistence); and (2) the 
percentage of students who graduate within the project's stated time 
for completing a joint or dual degree (completion). These two 
performance measures constitute the Fund for the Improvement of 
Postsecondary Education's (FIPSE) indicators of the success of the 
program. If funded, you will be asked to collect and report data from 
your project on steps taken toward achieving these goals. Consequently, 
applicants are advised to include these two outcomes in conceptualizing 
the design,

[[Page 18298]]

implementation, and evaluation of their proposed projects. Persistence 
and completion rates are important outcomes that ensure the ultimate 
success of international consortia funded through this program.

VII. Agency Contact

    For Further Information Contact: Frank Frankfort, Fund for the 
Improvement of Postsecondary Education, EU-U.S. Atlantis Program, 1990 
K Street, NW., room 6152, Washington, DC 20006-8544. Telephone: (202) 
502-7513.
    If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you may 
call the Federal Relay Service (FRS) at 1-800-877-8339.
    Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in an 
alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer 
diskette) on request to the program contact person listed in this 
section.

VIII. Other Information

    Electronic Access to This Document: You may view this document, as 
well as all other documents of this Department published in the Federal 
Register, in text or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) on the 
Internet at the following site: http://www.ed.gov/news/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.gpoaccess.gov/nara/index.html.


    Dated: April 6, 2006.
Sally L. Stroup,
Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education.
[FR Doc. E6-5332 Filed 4-10-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P