4396 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 19 / Wednesday, January 29, 1997 / Notices

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[CFDA No. 84.116J]

Fund for the Improvement of

Postsecondary Education—Special

Focus Competition: Higher Education

Collaboration Between the United

States and the European Community;

Notice Inviting Application for New

Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 1997

Purpose of Program: To provide

grants to 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

such institutions and other public and

private nonprofit educational

institutions and agencies.

Deadline for Transmittal of

Applications: May 16, 1997.

Deadline for Intergovernmental

Review: July 15, 1997.

Applications Available: January 30,

1997.

Available Funds: $1,150,000.

Estimated Range of Awards:

$100,000–$175,000 for three years.

Estimated Average Size of Awards:

$160,000 for three years.

Estimated Number of Awards: 5–10.

Note: The Department is not bound by any

estimates in this notice.

Project Period: Up to 36 months.

Applicable Regulations: (a) The

Education Department General

Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in

34 CFR Parts 74, 75 [except as noted in

34 CFR 630.4(a)(2)], 77, 79, 82, 85, and

86; and (b) the regulations for this

program in 34 CFR Part 630.

Priority

Invitational Priority

Under 34 CFR 630.11(b)(1), the

Secretary is particularly interested in

applications that meet the invitational

priority in the next paragraph. However,

an application that meets this

invitational priority does not receive

competitive or absolute preference over

other applications (34 CFR 75.105(c)(1)).

Invitational Priority: Projects that

support consortia of institutions of

higher education that promote

institutional cooperation and student

mobility between the United States and

the member states of the European

Union.

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 630.32:

(a) Significance for Postsecondary

Education. The Secretary reviews each

proposed project for its significance in

improving postsecondary education by

determining the extent to which it

would—

(1) Achieve the purposes of the

particular program competition as

referenced in 34 CFR 630.11(b)(1);

(2) Address the program priorities for

the particular program competition;

(A) Encourage cooperation by

consortia of American and European

universities in the coordination of

curricula, the exchange of students, and

the opening of educational

opportunities on the two continents;

and

(B) Encourage cooperation by

consortia of American and European

universities in instilling in their

respective student bodies greater

familiarity with the languages and

cultures of the other continent;

(3) Address an important problem or

need;

(4) Represent an improvement upon,

or important departure from, existing

practice;

(5) Involve learner-centered

improvements;

(6) Achieve far-reaching impact

through improvements that will be

useful in a variety of ways and in a

variety of settings; and

(7) Increase the cost-effectiveness of

services.

(b) Feasibility. The Secretary reviews

each proposed project for its feasibility

by determining the extent to which—

(1) The proposed project represents an

appropriate response to the problem or

need addressed;

(2) The applicant is capable of

carrying out the proposed project, as

evidenced by, for example—

(i) The applicant’s understanding of

the problem or need;

(ii) The quality of the project design,

including objectives, approaches, and

evaluation plan;

(iii) The adequacy of resources,

including money personnel, facilities,

equipment, and supplies;

(iv) The qualifications of key

personnel who would conduct the

project; and

(v) The applicant’s relevant prior

experience;

(3) The applicant and any other

participating organizations are

committed to the success of the

proposed project, as evidenced by, for

example—

(i) Contribution of resources by the

applicant and by participating

organizations;

(ii) Their prior work in the area; and

(iii) The potential for continuation of

the proposed project beyond the period

of funding (unless the project would be

self-terminating); and

(4) The proposed project demonstrates

potential for dissemination to or

adaptation by other organizations, and

shows evidence of interest by potential

users.

(c) Appropriateness of funding

projects. The Secretary reviews each

application to determine whether

support of the proposed project by the

Secretary is appropriate in terms of

availability of other funding sources for

the proposed activities.

Methods for Applying Selection Criteria

In accordance with 34 CFR 630.32 the

Secretary announces the methods that

will be used in applying the selection

criteria.

The Secretary gives equal weight to

the selection criteria on significance,

feasibility, and appropriateness. Within

each of these criteria, the Secretary gives

equal weight to each of the subcriteria

listed under the selection criteria

section of this notice. In applying the

criteria, the Secretary first analyzes an

application in terms of each individual

criterion and subcriterion. The Secretary

then bases the final judgement of an

application on an overall assessment of

the degree to which the applicant

addresses all selection criteria.

FOR APPLICATIONS OR INFORMATION

CONTACT: Fund for the Improvement of

Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), U.S.

Department of Education, 600

Independence Avenue, S.W., Room

3100, ROB–3, Washington, D.C. 20202–

5175; telephone: (202) 708–5750

between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.,

Eastern Standard Time, Monday

through Friday. Individuals may request

applications by submitting the name of

the competition, their name, and postal

mailing address to the e-mail address

(FIPSE@ED.GOV). Individuals may

obtain the application text from Internet

address (http://www.ed.gov/prog-info/

FIPSE/). Individuals who use a

telecommunications device for the deaf

(TDD) may call the Federal Information

Relay Service (FIRS) at 1–800–877–8339

between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Eastern time,

Monday through Friday.

Information about the Department’s

funding opportunities, including copies

of application notices for discretionary

grant competitions, can be viewed on

the Department’s electronic bulletin

board (ED Board), telephone (202) 260–

9950; on the Internet Gopher Server (at

gopher://gcs.ed.gov); or on the World

Wide Web (at http://gcs.ed.gov).

However, the official application notice
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 19 / Wednesday, January 29, 1997 / Notices 4397

for a discretionary grant competition is

the notice published in the Federal

Register.

Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1135–1135a–

3.

Dated: January 23, 1997.

David A. Longanecker,

Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary

Education.

[FR Doc. 97–2195 Filed 1–28–97; 8:45 am]

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