Title 34—Education--Volume 1
PART 663—FULBRIGHT-HAYS FACULTY RESEARCH ABROAD FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM
§ 663.1   What is the Fulbright-Hays Faculty Research Abroad Fellowship Program?
(a) The Fulbright-Hays Faculty Research Abroad Program is designed to contribute to the development and improvement of modern foreign language and area studies in the United States by providing opportunities for scholars to conduct research abroad.
(b) Under the program, the Secretary awards fellowships, through institutions of higher education, to faculty members who propose to conduct research abroad in modern foreign languages and area studies to improve their skill in languages and knowledge of the culture of the people of these countries.
§ 663.2   Who is eligible to receive an institutional grant under this program?
An institution of higher education is eligible to receive an institutional grant.
§ 663.3   Who is eligible to receive a fellowship under this program?
An individual is eligible to receive a fellowship if the individual—
(a)(1) Is a citizen or national of the United States; or
(2) Is a permanent resident of the United States;
(b) Is employed by an institution of higher education;
(c) Has been engaged in teaching relevant to his or her foreign language or area studies specialization for the two years immediately preceding the date of the award;
(d) Proposes research relevant to his or her modern foreign language or area specialization which is not dissertation research for a doctoral degree; and
(e) Possesses sufficient foreign language skills to carry out the research project.
§ 663.4   What is the amount of a fellowship?
(a) The Secretary pays—
(1) Travel expenses to and from the residence of the fellow and the country or countries of research;
(2) A maintenance stipend for the fellow related to his or her academic year salary; and
(3) An allowance for research-related expenses overseas, such as books, copying, tuition and affiliation fees, local travel, and other incidental expenses.
(b) The Secretary may pay—
(1) Emergency medical expenses not covered by the faculty member's health and accident insurance; and
(2) The costs of preparing and transporting the remains of a fellow or dependent who dies during the term of the fellowship to his or her former home.
(c) The Secretary announces the amount of benefits expected to be available in an application notice published in the Federal Register .
§ 663.5   What is the duration of a fellowship?
(a) A fellowship is for a period of not fewer than three nor more than twelve months.
(b) A fellowship may not be renewed.
§ 663.6   What regulations apply to this program?
The following regulations apply to this program:
(a) The regulations in this part 663; and
(b) The Education Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) (34 CFR parts 75, 77, 81, 82, and 86).
(c)(1) 2 CFR part 180 (OMB Guidelines to Agencies on Governmentwide Debarment and Suspension (Nonprocurement)), as adopted at 2 CFR part 3485; and
(2) 2 CFR part 200 (Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards), as adopted at 2 CFR part 3474.
§ 663.7   What definitions apply to this program?
(a) Definitions of the following terms as used in this part are contained in 2 CFR part 200, subpart A, or 34 CFR part 77:
(b) The definition of institution of higher education as used in this part is contained in 34 CFR 600.4.
(c) The following definitions of other terms used in this part apply to this program:
Area studies means a program of comprehensive study of the aspects of a society or societies, including the study of their geography, history, culture, economy, politics, international relations, and languages.
Binational commission means an educational and cultural commission established, through an agreement between the United States and either a foreign government or an international organization, to carry out functions in connection with the program covered by this part.
Dependent means any of the following individuals who accompany the recipient of a fellowship under this program to his or her training site for the entire fellowship period if the individual receives more than 50 percent of his or her support from the recipient during the fellowship period:
(1) The recipient's spouse.
(2) The recipient's or spouse's children who are unmarried and under age 21.
J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board means the presidentially-appointed board that is responsible for supervision of the program covered by this part.
§ 663.8   Severability.
If any provision of this part or its application to any person, act, or practice is held invalid, the remainder of the part or the application of its provisions to any person, act, or practice will not be affected thereby.
§ 663.10   How does an individual apply for a fellowship?
(a) An individual applies for a fellowship by submitting an application to the Secretary through the institution of higher education at which the individual is employed.
(b) The applicant shall provide sufficient information concerning his or her personal and academic background and proposed research project to enable the Secretary to determine whether the applicant—
(1) Is eligible to receive a fellowship under § 663.3; and
(2) Should be selected to receive a fellowship under subparts C and D of this part.
§ 663.11   What is the role of the institution in the application process?
An institution of higher education that participates in this program is responsible for—
(a) Making fellowship application materials available to its faculty;
(b) Accepting and screening applications in accordance with its own technical and academic criteria; and
(c) Forwarding screened applications to the Secretary through a request for an institutional grant.
§ 663.20   How is a Fulbright-Hays Faculty Research Abroad Fellow selected?
(a) The Secretary considers applications for fellowships under this program that have been screened and submitted by eligible institutions. The Secretary evaluates these applications on the basis of the criteria in § 663.21.
(b) The Secretary does not consider applications to carry out research in a country in which the United States has no diplomatic representation.
(c) In evaluating applications, the Secretary obtains the advice of panels of United States academic specialists in modern foreign languages and area studies.
(d) The Secretary gives preference to applicants who have served in the armed services of the United States if their applications are equivalent to those of other applicants on the basis of the criteria in § 663.21.
(e) The Secretary considers information on budget, political sensitivity, and feasibility from binational commissions or United States diplomatic missions, or both, in the proposed country or countries of research.
(f) The Secretary presents recommendations for recipients of fellowships to the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board, which reviews the recommendations and approves recipients.
§ 663.21   What criteria does the Secretary use to evaluate an application for a fellowship?
(a) General. The Secretary evaluates an application for a fellowship on the basis of the criteria in this section. The Secretary informs applicants of the maximum possible score for each criterion in the application package or in a notice published in the Federal Register .
(b) Quality of proposed project. The Secretary reviews each application to determine the quality of the research project proposed by the applicant. The Secretary considers—
(1) The statement of the major hypotheses to be tested or questions to be examined, and the description and justification of the research methods to be used;
(2) The relationship of the research to the literature on the topic and to major theoretical issues in the field, and the project's importance in terms of the concerns of the discipline;
(3) The preliminary research already completed or plans for research prior to going overseas, and the kinds, quality and availability of data for the research in the host country or countries;
(4) The justification for overseas field research, and preparations to establish appropriate and sufficient research contacts and affiliations abroad;
(5) The applicant's plans to share the results of the research in progress with scholars and officials of the host country or countries and the American scholarly community; and
(6) The objectives of the project regarding the sponsoring institution's plans for developing or strengthening, or both, curricula in modern foreign languages and area studies.
(c) Qualifications of the applicant. The Secretary reviews each application to determine the qualifications of the applicant. In coordination with any priorities established under paragraph (d) of this section, the Secretary considers one or more of the following—
(1) The overall strength of applicant's academic record (teaching, research, contributions, professional association activities);
(2) The applicant's excellence as a teacher or researcher, or both, in his or her area or areas of specialization;
(3) The applicant's proficiency in one or more of the languages (other than English) of the host country or countries of research;
(4) The extent to which the applicant's academic record demonstrates steps taken to further improve advanced language proficiency to overcome any anticipated language barriers relative to the proposed research project;
(5) The applicant's ability to conduct research in a foreign cultural context, as evidenced by the applicant's previous overseas experience, or documentation provided by the sponsoring institution, or both.
(d) Priorities. (1) The Secretary determines the extent to which the application responds to any priority that the Secretary establishes for the selection of fellows in any fiscal year. The Secretary announces any priorities in an application notice published in the Federal Register .
(2) Priorities may relate to certain world areas, countries, academic disciplines, languages, topics, or combinations of any of these categories. For example, the Secretary may establish a priority for—
(i) A specific geographic area or country, such as East Asia or Latvia;
(ii) An academic discipline, such as history or political science;
(iii) A language, such as Hausa or Telegu; or
(iv) A topic, such as religious fundamentalism or migration.
§ 663.22   How does the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board select fellows?
The J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board selects fellows on the basis of the Secretary's recommendations and the information described in § 663.20(e) from binational commissions or United States diplomatic missions.
§ 663.30   What are an institution's responsibilities after the award of a grant?
(a) An institution to which the Secretary awards a grant under this part is responsible for administering the grant in accordance with the regulations described in § 663.6.
(b) The institution is responsible for processing individual applications for fellowships in accordance with procedures described in § 663.11.
(c) The institution is responsible for disbursing funds in accordance with procedures described in § 663.4.
(d) The Secretary awards the institution an administrative allowance of $100 for each fellowship listed in the grant award document.
§ 663.41   What are a fellow's responsibilities after the award of a fellowship?
As a condition of retaining a fellowship, a fellow shall—
(a) Maintain satisfactory progress in the conduct of his or her research;
(b) Devote full time to research on the approved topic;
(c) Not engage in unauthorized income-producing activities during the period of the fellowship; and
(d) Remain employed by the grantee institution during the period of the fellowship.
§ 663.42   How may a fellowship be revoked?
(a) The fellowship may be revoked only by the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board upon the recommendation of the Secretary.
(b) The Secretary may recommend a revocation of a fellowship on the basis of—
(1) The fellow's failure to meet any of the conditions in § 663.41; or
(2) Any violation of the standards of conduct adopted by the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.