61246 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 200 / Monday, October 16, 2000 / Notices

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Office of Elementary and Secondary

Education—Safe and Drug-Free

Schools and Communities National

Programs—Federal Activities—Grant

Competition To Prevent High-Risk

Drinking and Violent Behavior Among

College Students

AGENCY: Office of Elementary and

Secondary Education, Department of

Education

ACTION: Notice of Proposed Priorities

and Proposed Selection Criteria for

Fiscal Year (FY) 2001 and Subsequent

Years.

SUMMARY: The Assistant Secretary for

the Office of Elementary and Secondary

Education proposes priorities and

selection criteria under the Safe and

Drug-Free Schools and Communities

National Programs—Federal Activities—

Grant Competition to Prevent High-Risk

Drinking and Violent Behavior Among

College Students. The Assistant

Secretary may use these priorities and

selection criteria for competitions in

fiscal year (FY) 2001 and later years.

DATES: We must receive your comments

on or before November 15, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Address all comments about

these proposed priorities and proposed

selection criteria to Richard Lucey, Jr.,

U.S. Department of Education, 400

Maryland Avenue, S.W., Room 3E252,

Washington, DC 20202–6123. If you

prefer to send your comments through

the Internet, use the following address:

richard_lucey@ed.gov

You must include the phrase ‘‘Grant

Competition to Prevent High-yRisk

Drinking and Violent Behavior Among

College Students’’ in the subject line of

your electronic message.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Richard Lucey, Jr., (202) 205–5471. If

you use a telecommunications device

for the deaf (TDD), you may call the

Federal Information Relay Service

(FIRS) at (800) 877–8339. Individuals

with disabilities may obtain this

document in an alternate format (e.g.,

Braille, large print, audiotape, or

computer diskette) on request to the

contact person listed in the preceding

paragraph.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Invitation To Comment

We invite you to submit comments

regarding these proposed priorities and

proposed selection criteria.

We invite you to assist us in

complying with the specific

requirements of Executive Order 12866

and its overall requirement of reducing

regulatory burden that might result from

these proposed priorities and proposed

selection criteria. Please let us know of

any further opportunities we should

take to reduce potential costs or increase

potential benefits while preserving the

effective and efficient administration of

the program.

During and after the comment period,

you may inspect all public comments

about these proposed priorities and

proposed selection criteria in Room

3E252, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW,

Washington, DC, between the hours of

8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m., Eastern time,

Monday through Friday of each week

except Federal holidays.

Assistance to Individuals With

Disabilities in Reviewing the

Rulemaking Record

On request, we will supply an

appropriate aid, such as a reader or

print magnifier, to an individual with a

disability who needs assistance to

review the comments or other

documents in the public rulemaking

record for these proposed priorities and

proposed selection criteria. If you want

to schedule an appointment for this type

of aid, you may call (202) 205–8113 or

(202) 260–9895. If you use a TDD, you

may call the Federal Information Relay

Service (FIRS) at (800) 877–8339.

General

In making awards under this grant

program, the Assistant Secretary may

take into consideration the geographic

distribution of the projects in addition

to the rank order of applicants.

Contingent upon the availability of

funds, the Assistant Secretary may make

additional awards in FY 2002 from the

rank-ordered list of nonfunded

applications from this competition.

Discussion of Priorities

We will announce the final priorities

and selection criteria in a notice in the

Federal Register. We will determine the

final priorities and selection criteria

after considering responses to this

notice and other information available

to the Department. This notice does not

preclude us from proposing or funding

additional priorities, subject to meeting

applicable rulemaking requirements.

Note: This notice does not solicit

applications. In any year in which the

Assistant Secretary chooses to use these

proposed priorities and proposed selection

criteria, we invite applications through a

notice in the Federal Register.

Definitions

‘‘High-risk drinking’’ is defined as

those situations that may involve but

not be limited to: binge drinking

(commonly defined as five or more

drinks on any one occasion); underage

drinking; drinking and driving; drinking

in conjunction with situations when

one’s condition is already impaired by

another cause, such as depression or

emotional stress; or combining alcohol

and medications, such as tranquilizers,

sedatives, and antihistamines.

‘‘Specific student populations’’ can

include but not be limited to student

athletes, members of fraternities and

sororities, students attending two-year

institutions of higher education, and

first-year students.

Priorities: Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(3)

and the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and

Communities Act of 1994, the Assistant

Secretary proposes to give an absolute

preference to applications that meet

either of the following priorities, and

would fund under this competition only

those applications that meet either of

the following absolute priorities:

Absolute Priority #1—Develop or

Enhance, Implement, and Evaluate

Campus-and/or Community-Based

Strategies to Prevent High-Risk Drinking

Among College Students. Under this

proposed priority, applicants would be

required to propose projects that:

(1) Identify a specific student

population to be served by the grant and

provide a justification for its selection;

(2) Provide evidence that a needs

assessment has been conducted on

campus to document prevalence rates

related to high-risk drinking by the

population selected;

(3) Set measurable goals and

objectives for the proposed project and

provide a description of how progress

toward achieving goals will be

measured annually;

(4) Design and implement prevention

strategies, using student input and

participation, that research has shown

to be effective in preventing high-risk

drinking by the target population;

(5) Use a qualified evaluator to design

and implement an evaluation of the

project using outcomes-based

(summative) performance indicators

related to behavioral change and process

(formative) measures that assess and

document the strategies used; and

(6) Demonstrate the ability to start the

project within 60 days after receiving

Federal funding in order to maximize

the time available to show impact

within the grant period.

Absolute Priority #2—Develop or

Enhance, Implement, and Evaluate

Campus-and/or Community-Based

Strategies to Prevent Violent Behavior

Among College Students. Under this

proposed priority, applicants would be

required to propose projects that:

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 200 / Monday, October 16, 2000 / Notices 61247

(1) Identify a specific student

population to be served by the grant and

provide a justification for its selection;

(2) Provide evidence that a needs

assessment has been conducted on

campus to document prevalence rates

related to violent behavior;

(3) Set measurable goals and

objectives for the proposed project and

provide a description of how progress

toward achieving goals will be

measured annually;

(4) Design and implement prevention

strategies, using student input and

participation, that research has shown

to be effective in preventing violent

behavior among college students;

(5) Use a qualified evaluator to design

and implement an evaluation of the

project using outcomes-based

(summative) performance indicators

related to behavioral change and process

(formative) measures that assess and

document the strategies used; and

(6) Demonstrate the ability to start the

project within 60 days after receiving

Federal funding in order to maximize

the time available to show impact

within the grant period.

Selection Criteria: The Assistant

Secretary proposes to use the following

selection criteria to evaluate

applications for new grants under this

competition. The maximum score for all

of these criteria is 100 points. The

maximum score for each criterion or

factor under that criterion is indicated

in parentheses.

(1) Need for project (15 points)

In determining the need for the

proposed project, the following factors

are considered:

(a) The magnitude or severity of the

problem to be addressed by the

proposed project. (10 points)

(b) The extent to which specific gaps

or weaknesses in services,

infrastructure, or opportunities have

been identified and will be addressed by

the proposed project, including the

nature and magnitude of those gaps or

weaknesses. (5 points)

(2) Significance (20 points)

In determining the significance of the

proposed project, the following factors

are considered:

(a) The likelihood that the proposed

project will result in system change or

improvement. (5 points)

(b) The potential contribution of the

proposed project to the development

and advancement of theory, knowledge,

and practices in the field of study. (10

points)

(c) 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. (5

points)

(3) Quality of the project design (30

Points)

In determining the quality of the

design of the proposed project, the

following factors are considered:

(a) The extent to which the goals,

objectives, and outcomes to be achieved

by the proposed project are clearly

specified and measurable. (10 points)

(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. (5 points)

(c) The extent to which the design of

the proposed project reflects up-to-date

knowledge from research and effective

practice. (10 points)

(d) The extent to which the proposed

project will establish linkages with

other appropriate agencies and

organizations providing services to the

target population. (5 points)

(4) Quality of project personnel (10

points)

In determining the quality of project

personnel, the following factors are

considered:

(a) 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. (3 points)

(b) The qualifications, including

relevant training and experience, of key

project personnel. (7 points)

(5) Quality of the project evaluation (25

points)

In determining the quality of the

evaluation, the following factors are

considered:

(a) The extent to which the methods

of evaluation are thorough, feasible, and

appropriate to the goals, objectives, and

outcomes of the proposed project. (10

points)

(b) The extent to which the methods

of evaluation include the use of

objective performance measures that are

clearly related to the intended outcomes

of the project and will produce

quantitative and qualitative data to the

extent possible. (10 points)

(c) The extent to which the methods

of evaluation will provide performance

feedback and permit periodic

assessment of progress toward achieving

intended outcomes. (5 points)

Intergovernmental Review

This program is subject to Executive

order 12372 and the regulations in 34

CFR part 79. One of the objectives of the

Executive order is to foster an

intergovernmental partnership and a

strengthened federalism. The Executive

order relies on processes developed by

State and local governments for

coordination and review of proposed

Federal financial assistance.

This document provides early

notification of our specific plans and

actions for this program.

Applicable Program Regulations: The

Education Department General

Administrative Regulations in 34 CFR

parts 74, 75, 77, 79, 80, 81, 82, 85, 86,

97, 98, and 99.

Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 7131.

Electronic Access To This Document

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Register, in text or Adobe Portable

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http://ocfo.ed.gov/fedreg.htm

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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

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance

Number 84.184H Office of Elementary and

Secondary Education—Safe and Drug-Free

Schools and Communities National

Programs—Federal Activities—Grant

Competition to Prevent High-Risk Drinking

and Violent Behavior Among College

Students)

Dated: October 12, 2000.

Michael Cohen,

Assistant Secretary for Elementary and

Secondary Education.

[FR Doc. 00–26593 Filed 10–13–00; 8:45 am]

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