17420 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 62 / Wednesday, April 1, 2015 / Notices 

Tiebreaker for Institutional, Special 

Project, and Cooperative Grants. If there 

are insufficient funds for all 

applications with the same total scores, 

applications will receive preference in 

the following manner. The Secretary 

gives priority to applicants which have 

not previously received funding from 

the program and to previous grantees 

with a proven record of success, as well 

as to applications that contribute to 

achieving balance among funded 

projects with respect to: (1) Geographic 

region; (2) Academic discipline; and (3) 

Project type. 

3. Special Conditions: Under 2 CFR 

3474.10, the Secretary may impose 

special conditions and, in appropriate 

circumstances, high-risk conditions on a 

grant if the applicant or grantee is not 

financially stable; has a history of 

unsatisfactory performance; has a 

financial or other management system 

that does not meet the standards in 2 

CFR part 200, subpart D; has not 

fulfilled the conditions of a prior grant; 

or is otherwise not responsible. 

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); or we may send you an email 

containing a link to access an electronic 

version of your 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: (a) If you apply for a 

grant under this competition, you must 

ensure that you have in place the 

necessary processes and systems to 

comply with the reporting requirements 

in 2 CFR part 170 should you receive 

funding under the competition. This 

does not apply if you have an exception 

under 2 CFR 170.110(b). 

(b) 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 directed by the Secretary 

under 34 CFR 75.118. The Secretary 

may also require more frequent 

performance reports under 34 CFR 

75.720(c). For specific requirements on 

reporting, please go to www.ed.gov/

fund/grant/apply/appforms/

appforms.html. 

4. Performance Measures: The 

Secretary has established the following 

key performance measures for assessing 

the effectiveness of the MSEIP: (1) The 

percentage of change in the number of 

full-time, degree-seeking minority 

undergraduate students at the grantee’s 

institution enrolled in the fields of 

engineering or physical or biological 

sciences, compared to the average 

minority enrollment in the same fields 

in the three-year period immediately 

prior to the beginning of the current 

grant; (2) the percentage of minority 

students enrolled at four-year minorityserving institutions in the fields of 

engineering or physical or biological 

sciences who graduate within six years 

of enrollment. Please see the application 

package for details of data collection 

and reporting requirements for these 

measures. 

5. Continuation Awards: In making a 

continuation award under 34 CFR 

75.253, the Secretary considers, among 

other things: whether a grantee has 

made substantial progress in achieving 

the goals and objectives of the project; 

whether the grantee has expended funds 

in a manner that is consistent with its 

approved application and budget; and, 

if the Secretary has established 

performance measurement 

requirements, the performance targets in 

the grantee’s approved application. In 

making a continuation grant, the 

Secretary also considers whether the 

grantee is operating in compliance with 

the assurances in its approved 

application, including those applicable 

to Federal civil rights laws that prohibit 

discrimination in programs or activities 

receiving Federal financial assistance 

from the Department (34 CFR 100.4, 

104.5, 106.4, 108.8, and 110.23). 

VII. Agency Contacts 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. 

Stacey Slijepcevic, U.S. Department of 

Education, 1990 K Street NW., Room 

6014, Washington, DC 20006–8517. 

Telephone: (202) 219–7124, or by email: 

stacey.slijepcevic@ed.gov or Dr. 

Bernadette Hence, U.S. Department of 

Education, 1990 K Street NW., Room 

6152. Telephone: (202) 219–7038 or by 

email: Bernadette.hence@ed.gov. 

If you use a TDD or a TTY, 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 compact disc) on 

request to the program contact persons 

listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT in section VII of this notice. 

Electronic Access to This Document: 

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 via the Federal Digital System 

at: www.gpo.gov/fdsys. At this site 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). To use PDF you must 

have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is 

available free at the site. 

You may also access documents of the 

Department published in the Federal 

Register by using the article search 

feature at www.federalregister.gov. 

Specifically, through the advanced 

search feature at this site, you can limit 

your search to documents published by 

the Department. 

Delegation of Authority: The Secretary 

of Education has delegated authority to 

Jamienne S. Studley, Deputy Under 

Secretary, to perform the functions and 

duties of the Assistant Secretary for 

Postsecondary Education. 

Dated: March 27, 2015. 

Jamienne S. Studley, 

Deputy Under Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2015–07484 Filed 3–31–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4000–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

Applications for New Awards; 

Graduate Assistance in Areas of 

National Need 

AGENCY: Office of Postsecondary 

Education, Department of Education. 

ACTION: Notice. 

Overview Information: 

Graduate Assistance in Areas of 

National Need (GAANN) Program 

Notice inviting applications for new 

awards for fiscal year (FY) 2015. 

Catalog of Federal Domestic 

Assistance (CFDA) Number: 84.200A. 

DATES: 

Applications Available: April 1, 2015. 

Deadline for Transmittal of 

Applications: May 29, 2015. 

Deadline for Intergovernmental 

Review: July 28, 2015. 

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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 62 / Wednesday, April 1, 2015 / Notices 17421 

Full Text of Announcement 

I. Funding Opportunity Description 

Purpose of Program: The GAANN 

Program provides grants to academic 

departments and programs of 

institutions of higher education (IHEs) 

to support graduate fellowships for 

students with excellent academic 

records who demonstrate financial need 

and plan to pursue the highest degree 

available in their course of study at the 

institution. 

Priority: In accordance with 34 CFR 

75.105(b)(2)(ii), the absolute priority is 

from the regulations for this program (34 

CFR 648.33(a) and Appendix to part 

648—Academic Areas). 

Absolute Priority: For FY 2015 and 

any subsequent year for which we make 

awards from the list of unfunded 

applicants from this competition, this 

priority is an absolute priority. Under 34 

CFR 75.105(c)(3), we consider only 

applications that meet this priority. 

The absolute priority is: 

Graduate Assistance in Areas of 

National Need. 

A project must provide fellowships in 

one or more of the following areas of 

national need: Area, Ethnic, and 

Cultural Studies; Biological Sciences/

Life Sciences; Chemistry; Computer and 

Information Sciences; Engineering; 

Foreign Languages; Mathematics; 

Nursing; Physics; Psychology; and 

Educational Evaluation, Research, and 

Statistics. 

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

Applicable Regulations: (a) The 

Education Department General 

Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 

34 CFR parts 75, 77, 79, 82, 84, 86, 97, 

98, and 99. (b) The OMB Guidelines to 

Agencies on Governmentwide 

Debarment and Suspension 

(Nonprocurement) in 2 CFR part 180, as 

adopted and amended as regulations of 

the Department in 2 CFR part 3485. (c) 

The Uniform Administrative 

Requirements, Cost Principles, and 

Audit Requirements for Federal Awards 

in 2 CFR part 200, as adopted and 

amended in 2 CFR part 3474. (c) The 

regulations for this program in 34 CFR 

part 648. 

Note: The regulations in 34 CFR part 79 

apply to all applicants except federally 

recognized Indian tribes. 

Note: The regulations in 34 CFR part 86 

apply only to IHEs. 

II. Award Information 

Type of Award: Discretionary grants 

redistributed as graduate fellowships to 

individual fellows. 

Estimated Available Funds: 

$23,629,000. 

Contingent on the availability of 

funds and the quality of applications, 

we may make additional awards for FY 

2016 from the list of unfunded 

applicants from this competition. 

Estimated Range of Awards: $140,877 

to $281,754. 

Estimated Average Size of Awards: 

$189,032. 

Estimated Number of Awards: 125. 

Note: The Department is not bound by any 

estimates in this notice. 

Project Period: Up to 36 months. 

Stipend Level: The Secretary will 

determine the fellowship stipend for the 

GAANN Program for the 2015–2016 

academic year based on the level of 

support provided by the graduate 

fellowships of the National Science 

Foundation Graduate Research 

Fellowship Program, as of February 1, 

2015. However, the Secretary will adjust 

the amount as necessary so as not to 

exceed the fellow’s demonstrated level 

of financial need as calculated for 

purposes of the Federal Student 

Financial Aid Programs under title IV, 

part F, of the Higher Education Act of 

1965, as amended. 

Institutional Payment: The Secretary 

will determine the institutional 

payment for the 2015–2016 academic 

year by adjusting the previous academic 

year’s institutional payment, which is 

$14,959 per fellow, by the U.S. 

Department of Labor’s Consumer Price 

Index for the 2014 calendar year. 

III. Eligibility Information 

1. Eligible Applicants: 

(a) Any academic department of an 

IHE that provides a course of study 

that— 

(i) Leads to a graduate degree in an 

area of national need; and 

(ii) Has been in existence for at least 

four years at the time of an application 

for a grant under this competition. 

(b) An academic department of an IHE 

that— 

(i) Satisfies the requirements of 

paragraph (a)(1) of this section; and 

(ii) Submits a joint application with 

one or more eligible non-degree-granting 

institutions that have formal 

arrangements for the support of doctoral 

dissertation research with one or more 

degree-granting institutions. 

Note: Students are not eligible to apply for 

grants under this program. 

2. a. Cost Sharing or Matching: An 

institution must provide, from nonFederal funds, an institutional matching 

contribution equal to at least 25 percent 

of the grant amount received. (See 34 

CFR 648.7.) 

b. Supplement-Not-Supplant: This 

program involves supplement-notsupplant funding requirements. (See 34 

CFR 648.20(b)(5).) 

3. Other: For requirements relating to 

selecting fellows, see 34 CFR 648.40. 

IV. Application and Submission 

Information 

1. Address to Request Application 

Package: Rebecca Ell, U.S. Department 

of Education, 1990 K Street NW., Room 

7105, K–OPE–7–7063, Washington, DC 

20006. Telephone: (202) 502–7779 or by 

email: OPE_GAANN_Program@ed.gov. 

If you use a telecommunications 

device for the deaf (TDD) or a text 

telephone (TTY), call the Federal Relay 

Service (FRS), toll free, 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 compact disc) 

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 project 

narrative, Part II of the application, is 

where you, the applicant, address the 

selection criteria that reviewers use to 

evaluate your application. You must 

limit the project narrative (Part II) to no 

more than 40 pages, using the standards 

listed below. A partial page will count 

as a full page toward the page limit. For 

purposes of determining compliance 

with the page limit, each page on which 

there are words will be counted as one 

full page, except as specifically 

discussed below: 

• A project narrative in a single 

discipline must be limited to no more 

than 40 pages. 

• An inter-disciplinary project 

narrative must be limited to no more 

than 40 pages. An inter-disciplinary 

application must request funding for a 

single proposed program of study that 

involves two or more academic 

disciplines. 

• A multi-disciplinary project 

narrative must be limited to no more 

than 40 pages for each academic 

department included in the proposal. A 

multi-disciplinary application must 

request funding for two or more 

academic departments in areas of 

national need designated as priorities by 

the Secretary that are independent and 

unrelated to one another. 

• 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 project narrative, including 

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titles, headings, footnotes, quotations, 

references, and captions. Charts, tables, 

figures, and graphs in the project 

narrative may be single spaced and will 

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, graphs, footnotes, and endnotes. 

• Use one of the following fonts: 

Times New Roman, Courier, Courier 

New, or Arial. An application submitted 

in any other font (including Times 

Roman or Arial Narrow) will not be 

accepted. 

• Appendices are limited to the 

following: Curriculum Vitae (no more 

than two pages per faculty member); a 

course listing; letters of commitment; a 

bibliography; and one additional 

optional appendix relevant to the 

support of the proposals, not to exceed 

five pages. 

The page limit does not apply to Part 

I, the Application for Federal Assistance 

(SF 424) and the Department of 

Education Supplemental Information for 

the SF 424 Form; the one-page Abstract; 

the GAANN Statutory Assurances Form; 

the GAANN Budget Spreadsheet(s) 

Form; the Appendices; or Part III, the 

Assurances and Certifications. The page 

limit also does not apply to a two-page 

Table of Contents, if you include one. 

However the page limit does apply to all 

of the project narrative section in Part II. 

We will reject your application if you 

exceed the page limit. 

3. Submission Dates and Times: 

Applications Available: April 1, 2015. 

Deadline for Transmittal of 

Applications: May 29, 2015. 

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. 7. 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: July 28, 2015. 

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 specify 

unallowable costs in 34 CFR 648.64. We 

reference additional regulations 

outlining funding restrictions in the 

Applicable Regulations section of this 

notice. 

6. Data Universal Numbering System 

Number, Taxpayer Identification 

Number, and System for Award 

Management: To do business with the 

Department of Education, you must— 

a. Have a Data Universal Numbering 

System (DUNS) number and a Taxpayer 

Identification Number (TIN); 

b. Register both your DUNS number 

and TIN with the System for Award 

Management (SAM) (formerly the 

Central Contractor Registry (CCR)), the 

Government’s primary registrant 

database; 

c. Provide your DUNS number and 

TIN on your application; and 

d. Maintain an active SAM 

registration with current information 

while your application is under review 

by the Department and, if you are 

awarded a grant, during the project 

period. 

You can obtain a DUNS number from 

Dun and Bradstreet. A DUNS number 

can be created within one to two 

business days. 

If you are a corporate entity, agency, 

institution, or organization, you can 

obtain a TIN from the Internal Revenue 

Service. If you are an individual, you 

can obtain a TIN from the Internal 

Revenue Service or the Social Security 

Administration. If you need a new TIN, 

please allow 2–5 weeks for your TIN to 

become active. 

The SAM registration process can take 

approximately seven business days, but 

may take upwards of several weeks, 

depending on the completeness and 

accuracy of the data entered into the 

SAM database by an entity. Thus, if you 

think you might want to apply for 

Federal financial assistance under a 

program administered by the 

Department, please allow sufficient time 

to obtain and register your DUNS 

number and TIN. We strongly 

recommend that you register early. 

Note: Once your SAM registration is active, 

you will need to allow 24 to 48 hours for the 

information to be available in Grants.gov and 

before you can submit an application through 

Grants.gov. 

If you are currently registered with 

SAM, you may not need to make any 

changes. However, please make certain 

that the TIN associated with your DUNS 

number is correct. Also note that you 

will need to update your registration 

annually. This may take three or more 

business days. 

Information about SAM is available at 

www.SAM.gov. To further assist you 

with obtaining and registering your 

DUNS number and TIN in SAM or 

updating your existing SAM account, 

we have prepared a SAM.gov Tip Sheet, 

which you can find at: http://www2.ed.

gov/fund/grant/apply/sam-faqs.html. 

In addition, if you are submitting your 

application via Grants.gov, you must (1) 

be designated by your organization as an 

Authorized Organization Representative 

(AOR); and (2) register yourself with 

Grants.gov as an AOR. Details on these 

steps are outlined at the following 

Grants.gov Web page: www.grants.gov/

web/grants/register.html. 

7. 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 

GAANN Program, CFDA number 

84.200A, must be submitted 

electronically using the 

Governmentwide Grants.gov Apply site 

at 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 email 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 GAANN Program at 

www.Grants.gov. You must search for 

the downloadable application package 

for this program by the CFDA number. 

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Do not include the CFDA number’s 

alpha suffix in your search (e.g., search 

for 84.200, not 84.200A). 

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 under News and Events on 

the Department’s G5 system home page 

at http://www.G5.gov. 

• 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: The Application for Federal 

Assistance (SF 424), the Department of 

Education Supplemental Information for 

SF 424, the GAANN Budget 

Spreadsheet(s) Form, and the GAANN 

Statutory Assurances, and all necessary 

assurances and certifications. 

• You must upload any narrative 

sections and all other attachments to 

your application as files in a PDF 

(Portable Document) read-only, nonmodifiable format. Do not upload an 

interactive or fillable PDF file. If you 

upload a file type other than a readonly, non-modifiable PDF 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 email. 

This second notification indicates that 

the Department has received your 

application and has assigned your 

application a PR/Award number (an EDspecified 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 

• 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: Rebecca Ell, U.S. 

Department of Education, 1990 K Street 

NW., Room 7105, K–OPE–7–7063, 

Washington, DC 20006. FAX: (202)502– 

7857. 

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: 

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U.S. Department of Education, 

Application Control Center, Attention: 

(CFDA Number 84.200A), 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 84.200A), 550 12th 

Street SW., Room 7039, 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. Selection Criteria: The selection 

criteria for this program are in 34 CFR 

648.31. 

2. Review and Selection Process: We 

remind potential applicants that in 

reviewing applications in any 

discretionary grant competition, the 

Secretary may consider, under 34 CFR 

75.217(d)(3), the past performance of the 

applicant in carrying out a previous 

award, such as the applicant’s use of 

funds, achievement of project 

objectives, and compliance with grant 

conditions. The Secretary may also 

consider whether the applicant failed to 

submit a timely performance report or 

submitted a report of unacceptable 

quality. 

In addition, in making a competitive 

grant award, the Secretary also requires 

various assurances including those 

applicable to Federal civil rights laws 

that prohibit discrimination in programs 

or activities receiving Federal financial 

assistance from the Department of 

Education (34 CFR 100.4, 104.5, 106.4, 

108.8, and 110.23). 

Additional factors we consider in 

selecting an application for an award are 

in 34 CFR 648.32. 

3. Special Conditions: Under current 

34 CFR 74.14 and 80.12 and, when 

grants are made under this NIA, 2 CFR 

3474.10, the Secretary may impose 

special conditions and, in appropriate 

circumstances, high-risk conditions on a 

grant if the applicant or grantee is not 

financially stable; has a history of 

unsatisfactory performance; has a 

financial or other management system 

that does not meet the standards in 34 

CFR parts 74 or 80, as applicable or, 

when grants are awarded, the standards 

in 2 CFR part 200, subpart D; has not 

fulfilled the conditions of a prior grant; 

or is otherwise not responsible. 

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) or we may send you an email 

containing a link to access an electronic 

version of your 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: (a) If you apply for a 

grant under this competition, you must 

ensure that you have in place the 

necessary processes and systems to 

comply with the reporting requirements 

in 2 CFR part 170 should you receive 

funding under the competition. This 

does not apply if you have an exception 

under 2 CFR 170.110(b). 

(b) 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 directed by the Secretary 

under 34 CFR 75.118 and 34 CFR 

648.66. If you wish to view the 

performance report currently required, 

visit the GAANN Program Web site at: 

http://www2.ed.gov/programs/gaann/

performance.html. Please be advised 

that the report is for informational 

purposes only and does not reflect the 

actual reporting instrument that you 

will use should you receive a GAANN 

grant. The Secretary may also require 

more frequent performance reports 

under 34 CFR 75.720(c). For specific 

requirements on reporting, please go to 

www.ed.gov/fund/grant/apply/

appforms/appforms.html. 

(c) Grantees will be required to submit 

a supplement to the Final Performance 

Report two years after the expiration of 

their GAANN grant. The purpose of this 

supplement is to identify and report the 

educational outcome of each GAANN 

fellow. 

4. Performance Measures: Under the 

Government Performance and Results 

Act of 1993 (GPRA), the following 

measures will be used by the 

Department in assessing the 

performance of the GAANN Program: 

(1) The percentage of GAANN fellows 

completing the terminal degree in the 

designated areas of national need. 

(2) The percentage of GAANN fellows 

from traditionally underrepresented 

groups. 

(3) The median time to completion of 

Master’s and Doctorate degrees for 

GAANN students. 

If funded, you will be required to 

collect and report data in your project’s 

annual performance report (34 CFR 

75.590) on those measures and steps 

taken toward improving performance on 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES

Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 62 / Wednesday, April 1, 2015 / Notices 17425 

1Technical Conference on Environmental 

Regulations and Electric Reliability, Wholesale 

Electricity Markets, and Energy Infrastructure, 

Docket No. AD15–4–000, (Dec. 9, 2014) (Notice of 

Technical Conferences), available at http://www.

ferc.gov/CalendarFiles/20141209165657-AD15-4- 

000TC.pdf. 

2Technical Conference on Environmental 

Regulations and Electric Reliability, Wholesale 

Electricity Markets, and Energy Infrastructure, 

Docket No. AD15–4–000, (Jan. 6, 2015) 

(Supplemental Notice of Technical Conferences), 

available at http://www.ferc.gov/CalendarFiles/

20150106170115-AD15-4-000TC1.pdf. 

3For purposes of this conference, the Central 

Region includes the following Commissionapproved Order No. 1000 planning regions: 

Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc. 

(MISO) and Southwest Power Pool, Inc. (SPP). This 

region also includes the Electric Reliability Council 

of Texas (ERCOT). 

4Carbon Pollution Emission Guidelines for 

Existing Stationary Sources: Electric Utility 

Generating Units, 79 FR 34,830 (2014) (Proposed 

Rule), available at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/

FR-2014-06-18/pdf/2014-13726.pdf. 

5The audio cast will continue to be available on 

the Calendar of Events on the Commission’s Web 

site, http://www.ferc.gov, for three months after the 

conference. 

those outcomes. Consequently, 

applicants are advised to include these 

outcomes in conceptualizing the design, 

implementation, and evaluation of their 

proposed projects. Their measurement 

should be a part of the project 

evaluation plan, along with measures of 

your progress and on the goals and 

objectives specific to your project. 

All grantees will be expected to 

submit an annual performance report 

documenting their success in addressing 

these performance measures. 

5. Continuation Awards: In making a 

continuation award under 34 CFR 

75.253, the Secretary considers, among 

other things: Whether a grantee has 

made substantial progress in achieving 

the goals and objectives of the project; 

whether the grantee has expended funds 

in a manner that is consistent with its 

approved application and budget; and, 

if the Secretary has established 

performance measurement 

requirements, the performance targets in 

the grantee’s approved application. In 

making a continuation grant, the 

Secretary also considers whether the 

grantee is operating in compliance with 

the assurances in its approved 

application, including those applicable 

to Federal civil rights laws that prohibit 

discrimination in programs or activities 

receiving Federal financial assistance 

from the Department (34 CFR 100.4, 

104.5, 106.4, 108.8, and 110.23). 

VII. Agency Contact 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Rebecca Ell, U.S. Department of 

Education, 1990 K Street NW., Room 

7105, K–OPE–7–7063, Washington, DC 

20006. Telephone: (202) 502–7779 or by 

email: OPE_GAANN_Program@ed.gov. 

If you use a TDD or a TTY, 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 compact disc) on 

request to the program contact person 

listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT in section VII of this notice. 

Electronic Access to This Document: 

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 via the Federal Digital System 

at: www.gpo.gov/fdsys. At this site 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). To use PDF you must 

have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is 

available free at the site. 

You may also access documents of the 

Department published in the Federal 

Register by using the article search 

feature at: www.federalregister.gov. 

Specifically, through the advanced 

search feature at this site, you can limit 

your search to documents published by 

the Department. 

Delegation of Authority: The Secretary 

of Education has delegated authority to 

Jamienne S. Studley, Deputy Under 

Secretary, to perform the functions and 

duties of the Assistant Secretary for 

Postsecondary Education. 

Dated: March 27, 2015. 

Jamienne S. Studley, 

Deputy Under Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2015–07483 Filed 3–31–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4000–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

[Docket No., AD15–4–000] 

Technical Conference on 

Environmental Regulations and 

Electric Reliability, Wholesale 

Electricity Markets, and Energy 

Infrastructure; Supplemental Notice of 

Technical Conference 

As announced in the Notice of 

Technical Conferences issued on 

December 9, 2014 1 and the 

Supplemental Notice of Technical 

Conferences issued on January 6, 2015,2

the Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission (Commission) staff will 

hold a Central region 3 technical 

conference to discuss implications of 

compliance approaches to the Clean 

Power Plan proposed rule, issued by the 

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 

on June 2, 2014.4 The technical 

conference will focus on issues related 

to electric reliability, wholesale electric 

markets and operations, and energy 

infrastructure in the Central region. The 

Commission will hold the Central 

region technical conference on March 

31, 2015, from approximately 8:45 a.m. 

to 5:00 p.m. at the Renaissance St. Louis 

Airport Hotel, 9801 Natural Bridge 

Road, St. Louis, MO 63134 (Phone: (314) 

429–1100). This conference is free of 

charge and open to the public. 

Commission members may participate 

in the conference. The agenda for the 

Central region technical conference is 

attached to this Supplemental Notice of 

Technical Conference. 

If you have not already done so, those 

who plan to attend the technical 

conference are strongly encouraged to 

complete the registration form located 

at: https://www.ferc.gov/whats-new/

registration/03-31-15-form.asp. There is 

no registration deadline or fee to attend 

the conference. 

The Commission will post 

information on the technical conference 

on the Calendar of Events on the 

Commission’s Web site, http://

www.ferc.gov, prior to the conference. 

The Central region technical conference 

will also be transcribed. Transcripts of 

the technical conference will be 

available for a fee from Ace-Federal 

Reporters, Inc. (202) 347–3700). There 

will also be a free audio cast of the 

conference. The audio cast will allow 

persons to listen to the Central region 

technical conference, but not 

participate. Anyone with internet access 

who desires to watch the Central region 

conference can do so by navigating to 

the Calendar of Events on the 

Commission’s Web site, http://

www.ferc.gov, and locating the Central 

region technical conference in the 

Calendar. The Central region technical 

conference will contain a link to its 

audio cast.5

Commission conferences are 

accessible under section 508 of the 

Rehabilitation Act of 1973. For 

accessibility accommodations, please 

send an email to accessibility@ferc.gov 

or call toll free (866) 208–3372 (voice) 

or (202) 502–8659 (TTY), or send a FAX 

to (202) 208–2106 with the required 

accommodations. 

For more information about the 

technical conferences, please contact: 

Logistical Information, Sarah McKinley, 

Office of External Affairs, Federal 

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