[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 61 (Wednesday, April 1, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14786-14790]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-7303]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


Office of Postsecondary Education; Overview Information Institute 
of International Public Policy; Notice Inviting Applications for New 
Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2009

    Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 84.269A.
    Dates:
    Applications Available: April 1, 2009.
    Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: May 1, 2009.
    Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: June 30, 2009.

Full Text of Announcement

I. Funding Opportunity Description

    Purpose of Program: To provide a grant that establishes an 
Institute for International Public Policy that will conduct a program 
to enhance the international competitiveness of the United States by 
increasing the participation of underrepresented populations in the 
international service, including private international voluntary 
organizations and the foreign service of the United States. The program 
shall include a program for students to study abroad in their junior 
year, fellowships for graduate study, internships, and intensive 
academic programs, such as summer institutes, or intensive language 
training.
    Priorities: Under this competition we are particularly interested 
in applications that address the following priority.
    Invitational Priority: For FY 2009 and any subsequent year in which 
we make awards from the list of unfunded applicants from this 
competition, 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.
    The priority is:
    Invitational Priority:
    Projects that focus on any of the following seventy-eight (78) 
priority languages selected from the U.S. Department of Education's 
list of Less Commonly Taught Languages (LCTLs):
    Akan (Twi-Fante), Albanian, Amharic, Arabic (all dialects), 
Armenian, Azeri (Azerbaijani), Balochi, Bamanakan (Bamana, Bambara, 
Mandikan, Mandingo, Maninka, Dyula), Belarusian, Bengali (Bangla), 
Berber (all languages), Bosnian, Bulgarian, Burmese, Cebuano (Visayan), 
Chechen, Chinese (Cantonese), Chinese (Gan), Chinese (Mandarin), 
Chinese (Min), Chinese (Wu), Croatian, Dari, Dinka, Georgian, Gujarati, 
Hausa, Hebrew (Modern), Hindi, Igbo, Indonesian, Japanese, Javanese, 
Kannada, Kashmiri, Kazakh, Khmer (Cambodian), Kirghiz, Korean, Kurdish 
(Kurmanji), Kurdish (Sorani), Lao, Malay (Bahasa Melayu or Malaysian), 
Malayalam, Marathi, Mongolian, Nepali, Oromo, Panjabi, Pashto, Persian 
(Farsi), Polish, Portuguese (all varieties), Quechua, Romanian, 
Russian, Serbian, Sinhala (Sinhalese), Somali, Swahili, Tagalog, Tajik, 
Tamil, Telugu, Thai, Tibetan, Tigrigna, Turkish, Turkmen, Ukrainian, 
Urdu, Uyghur/Uigur, Uzbek, Vietnamese, Wolof, Xhosa, Yoruba, and Zulu.
    Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1131-1131f.
    Applicable Regulations: (a) The Education Department General 
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 79, 81, 
82, 84, 85, 86, 97, 98, and 99; and (b) The regulations in 34 CFR part 
655.

    Note:  Because there are no program-specific regulations for the 
Institute for International Public Policy Program, applicants are 
encouraged to read the authorizing statute in sections 621 through 
629 of part C, Title VI, of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as 
amended (HEA) (20 U.S.C. 1131-1131f).

    Areas of National Need: In accordance with section 601(c) of the 
HEA (20 U.S.C. 1121(c)(1)), the Secretary has consulted with and 
received recommendations regarding national need for expertise in 
foreign languages and world regions from the head officials of a wide 
range of Federal agencies. The Secretary has taken these 
recommendations into account and a list of foreign languages and world 
regions identified by the Secretary as

[[Page 14787]]

areas of national need may be found on the following Web sites: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/policy.html; http://www.ed.gov/programs/iegpsiipp/legislation.html. Also included on these Web sites 
are the specific recommendations the Secretary received from Federal 
agencies.

II. Award Information

    Type of Award: Discretionary grants.
    Estimated Available Funds: $1,837,000.
    Estimated Average Size of Awards: $1,837,000.
    Maximum Award: We will reject any application that proposes a 
budget exceeding $1,837,000 for a single budget period of 12 months. 
The Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education may change the 
maximum amount through a notice published in the Federal Register.
    Estimated Number of Awards: 1.

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

    Project Period: Up to 60 months.

III. Eligibility Information

    1. Eligible Applicants: Consortia consisting of one or more of the 
following entities: (1) An institution eligible for assistance under 
part B of title III of the HEA (20 U.S.C. 1060 et seq.); (2) a 
tribally-controlled college or university or Alaska Native or Native 
Hawaiian-serving institution eligible for assistance under part A or B 
of title III of the HEA (20 U.S.C. 1057 et seq. or 1060 et seq.) or an 
institution eligible for assistance under title V of the HEA (20 U.S.C. 
1101 et seq.); (3) an institution of higher education that serves 
substantial numbers of underrepresented minority students; and (4) an 
institution of higher education with programs in training foreign 
service professionals.
    2. Cost Sharing or Matching: The matching requirement is described 
in section 621(e) of the HEA (20 U.S.C. 1131(e)). The eligible 
recipient of a grant in this competition shall contribute to the 
conduct of the program supported by the grant amount from non-Federal 
sources equal to at least one-half the amount of the grant. This 
contribution may be in cash or in kind.

IV. Application and Submission Information

    1. Address to Request Application Package: Tanyelle Richardson, 
International Education Programs Service, U.S. Department of Education, 
1990 K Street, NW., room 6017, Washington, DC 20006-8521. Telephone: 
(202) 502-7626 or by e-mail: [email protected].
    If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), call the 
Federal Relay Service (FRS), at 1-800-877-8339.
    Individuals with disabilities can obtain a copy of the application 
package in an accessible format (e.g., braille, large print, audiotape, 
or computer diskette) by contacting the program contact person listed 
in this section.
    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 for this program. Page 
Limit: The application narrative is where you, the applicant, address 
the selection criteria that reviewers use to evaluate your application. 
You must limit the application narrative [Part III] to no more than 60 
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, except titles, headings, 
footnotes, quotations, references, captions and all text in charts, 
tables, and graphs may be single spaced. Charts, tables, figures, and 
graphs in the application narrative count toward the page limit.
     Use a font that is either 12 point or larger, or no 
smaller than 10 pitch (characters per inch). However, you may use a 10 
point font 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 not be accepted.
    The page limit does not apply to Part I, the Application for 
Federal Assistance face sheet (SF 424); the supplemental information 
form required by the Department of Education; Part II, the budget 
information summary form (ED Form 524); and Part IV, the assurances and 
certifications. The page limit also does not apply to a table of 
contents. However, the page limit does apply to all of the application 
narrative section [Part III]. If you include any attachments or 
appendices not specifically requested, these items will be counted as 
part of the application narrative [Part III] for purposes of the page 
limit requirement. You must include your complete response to the 
selection criteria in the application narrative.
    We will reject your application if you apply these standards and 
exceed the page limit.
    3. Submission Dates and Times:
    Applications Available: April 1, 2009.
    Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: May 1, 2009.
    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 electronically, or in paper format 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 of this notice.
    We do not consider an application that does not comply with the 
deadline requirements.
    Individuals with disabilities who need an accommodation or 
auxiliary aid in connection with the application process should contact 
the person listed under For Further Information Contact in section VII 
of this notice. If the Department provides an accommodation or 
auxiliary aid to an individual with a disability in connection with the 
application process, the individual's application remains subject to 
all other requirements and limitations in this notice.
    Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: June 30, 2009.
    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 the 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 Institute for International 
Public Policy, CFDA number 84.269A, must be submitted electronically 
using the Governmentwide Grants.gov Apply 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

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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 Institute 
for International Public Policy at: www.Grants.gov. You must search for 
the downloadable application package for this program by the CFDA 
number. Do not include the CFDA number's alpha suffix in your search 
(e.g., search for 84.269, not 84.269A).
    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 date and time 
stamped. Your application must be fully uploaded and submitted and must 
be date and time stamped by the Grants.gov system no later than 4:30:00 
p.m., Washington, DC time, on the application deadline date. Except as 
otherwise noted in this section, we will not accept your application if 
it is received--that is, date and time stamped by the Grants.gov 
system--after 4:30:00 p.m., Washington, DC time, on the application 
deadline date. We do not consider an application that does not comply 
with the deadline requirements. When we retrieve your application from 
Grants.gov, we will notify you if we are rejecting your application 
because it was date and time stamped by the Grants.gov system after 
4:30:00 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 program 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 steps in the Grants.gov registration process (see http://www.grants.gov/applicants/get_registered.jsp). These steps include (1) 
Registering your organization, a multi-part process that includes 
registration with the Central Contractor Registry (CCR); (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/section910/Grants.govRegistrationBrochure.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 submit successfully an application via Grants.gov. In 
addition, you will need to update your CCR registration on an annual 
basis. This may take three or more business days to complete.
     You will not receive additional point value 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 you typically provide on the following forms: 
Application for Federal Assistance (SF 424), the Department of 
Education Supplemental Information for 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 in this paragraph 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 from Grants.gov an automatic notification of receipt that 
contains a Grants.gov tracking number. (This notification indicates 
receipt by Grants.gov only, not receipt by the Department.) The 
Department then will retrieve your application from Grants.gov and send 
a second notification to you by e-mail. This second notification 
indicates that the Department has received your application and has 
assigned your application 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 experiencing problems submitting 
your application through Grants.gov, please contact the Grants.gov 
Support Desk, toll free, at 1-800-518-4726. You must obtain a 
Grants.gov Support Desk Case Number and must keep a record of it.
    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 4:30:00 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 described elsewhere in this notice.
    If you submit an application after 4:30:00 p.m., Washington, DC 
time, on the application deadline date, please contact the person 
listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT in Section VII of this 
notice and provide an explanation of the technical problem you 
experienced with Grants.gov, along with the Grants.gov Support Desk 
Case Number. We will accept your application if we can confirm that a 
technical problem occurred with the Grants.gov system and that that 
problem affected your ability to submit your application by 4:30:00 
p.m., Washington, DC time, on the application deadline date. The 
Department will contact you after a determination is made on whether 
your application will be accepted.

    Note: The extensions to which we refer 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 application 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

[[Page 14789]]

     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: Tanyelle Richardson, 
U.S. Department of Education, 1990 K Street, NW., room 6017, 
Washington, DC 20006-8521. FAX: (202) 502-7859.
    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 following address: 
U.S. Department of Education, Application Control Center, Attention: 
(CFDA Number 84.269A), LBJ Basement Level 1, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., 
Washington, DC 20202-4260.
    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.
    (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.
    (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 84.269A), 550 12th Street, SW., Room 7041, Potomac Center 
Plaza, Washington, DC 20202-4260.
    The Application Control Center accepts hand deliveries daily 
between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30:00 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 11 of the SF 424, the CFDA number, including 
suffix letter, if any, of the competition under which you are 
submitting your application; and
    (2) The Application Control Center will mail to you a 
notification of receipt of your grant application. If you do not 
receive this notification 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

    1. General: Applications are randomly divided into groupings for 
review. International studies and foreign language experts, organized 
into panels of three, will review each application. Each panel reviews, 
scores, and ranks its applications separately from the applications 
assigned to the other panels. Ultimately, all applications, without 
being divided into groups, will be ranked from the highest to the 
lowest score for funding purposes.
    2. Selection Criteria: The selection criteria for this program are 
from section 75.210 of EDGAR and are as follows: (a) Significance of 
the project (20 points), (b) quality of the project design (20 points), 
(c) quality of project personnel (10 points), (d) quality of management 
plan (15 points), (e) adequacy of resources (15 points), and (f) 
quality of project evaluation (20 points). Applicants should review 
section 75.210 of EDGAR for a complete description of these criteria.
    3. Application Requirements: In addition to any other requirements 
outlined in the application package for this program, section 621(c) of 
the HEA (20 U.S.C. 1131(c)) requires that each application include a 
description of how the activities funded by the grant will reflect 
diverse perspectives and a wide range of views and generate debate on 
world regions and international affairs, where applicable.

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 Notice 
(GAN). We may notify you informally, also.
    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. Grantees are required to use the electronic data 
instrument International Resource Information System (IRIS) to complete 
both the annual and final report. The Secretary may also require more 
frequent performance reports under 34 CFR 75.720(c). For specific 
requirements on reporting, please go to http://www.ed.gov/fund/grant/apply/appforms/appforms.html.
    4. Performance Measure: The goal of the Institute for International 
Public Policy is to assist certain eligible institutions of higher 
education to produce experts in less commonly taught languages and area 
studies, particularly from members of underrepresented populations, who 
are capable of contributing to the needs of the U.S. Government and 
national security. The Department will use the following measures to 
evaluate the success of the Institute for International Public Policy 
program:
    1. Percentage of Institute for International Public Policy 
graduates

[[Page 14790]]

who are employed in government or international service.
    2. Percentage of Institute for International Public Policy program 
participants who complete a master's degree within six years of 
enrolling in the program.
    3. Federal cost per Institute for International Public Policy 
graduates employed in government or international service.
    The Department will use information provided by grantees in their 
performance reports submitted via IRIS as the source of data for this 
measure. Reporting screens for applicants can be viewed at: http://www.ieps-iris.org/iris/pdfs/IIPP.pdf.

VII. Agency Contact

    For Further Information Contact: Tanyelle Richardson, International 
Education Programs Service, U.S. Department of Education, 1990 K 
Street, NW., room 6017, Washington, DC 20006-8521. Telephone: (202) 
502-7626 or by e-mail: [email protected].
    If you use a TDD, call the FRS, toll free, at 1-800-877-8339.

VIII. Other Information

    Accessible Format: Individuals with disabilities can obtain this 
document and a copy of the application package in an accessible format 
(e.g., braille, large print, audiotape, or computer diskette) on 
request to the program contact person listed under For Further 
Information Contact in section VII in this notice.
    Electronic Access to This Document: You can 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.

    Delegation of Authority: The Secretary of Education has delegated 
authority to Daniel T. Madzelan, Director, Forecasting and Policy 
Analysis for the Office of Postsecondary Education, to perform the 
functions of the Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education.

    Dated: March 27, 2009.
Daniel T. Madzelan,
Director, Forecasting and Policy Analysis.
[FR Doc. E9-7303 Filed 3-31-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P