Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 98 /Thursday, May 21, 1998 / Notices 28027

By the Board, David M. Konschnik,

Director, Office of Proceedings.

Vernon A. Williams

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 98–13093 Filed 5–20–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4915–00–P

UNITED STATES INFORMATION

AGENCY

College and University Partnerships

Program for Russian Regional

Investment Initiative in Samara Oblast

ACTION: Request for proposals.

SUMMARY: The Office of Academic

Programs of the United States

Information Agency’s Bureau of

Educational and Cultural Affairs

announces an open competition for an

assistance award program. Accredited,

post-secondary educational institutions

meeting the provisions described in IRS

regulation 26 CFR 1.501(c) may apply to

develop a partnership with a specified

institution of higher education from

Russia in specified fields. Non-profit

organizations meeting the provisions

described in IRS regulation 26 CFR

1.501(c) may also apply to facilitate a

partnership between a U.S. college or

university with one of the foreign

institutions.

USIA seeks proposals from US

universities, or NGOs representing US

universities, to develop partnerships

with one of the two following Russian

institutions of higher learning: with the

Samara State Aerospace University’s

International Marketing Institute in the

field of public administration; or with

the Togliatti Academy of Business and

Banking in the field of business

education.

Participating institutions exchange

faculty and administrators for a

combination of teaching, lecturing,

faculty and curriculum development,

collaborative research, and/or outreach,

for periods ranging from one week (for

planning visits) to an academic year.

The FY 98 program will also support the

establishment and maintenance of

Internet and/or e-mail communication

facilities as well as interactive distance

learning programs at foreign partner

institutions. Applicants may propose

other project activities not listed above

that are consistent with the goals and

activities of the College and University

Partnerships Program.

The program awards up to $150,000

for a two-year period to defray the cost

of travel and per diem with an

allowance for educational materials and

some aspects of project administration.

Grants awarded to organizations with

less than four years of experience in

conducting international exchange

programs will be limited to $60,000.

USIA anticipates awarding two grants in

the amount of $150,000 each.

Overall grant-making authority for

this program is contained in the Mutual

Educational and Cultural Exchange Act

of 1961, Pub. L. 87–256, as amended,

also known as the Fulbright-Hays Act.

The purpose of the Act is ‘‘to enable the

Government of the United States to

increase mutual understanding between

the people of the United States and the

people of other countries * * *; to

strengthen the ties which unite us with

other nations by demonstrating the

educational and cultural interests,

developments, and achievements of the

people of the United States and other

nations * * * and thus to assist in the

development of friendly, sympathetic

and peaceful relations between the

United States and the other countries of

the world.’’ The funding authority for

the program cited above is provided

through the Freedom for Russia and

Emerging Eurasian Democracies and

Open markets Support Act of 1992

(Freedom Support Act). Programs and

projects must conform with Agency

requirements and guidelines outlined in

the Solicitation Package. USIA projects

and programs are subject to the

availability of funds.

Announcement Title and Number: All

communications with USIA concerning

this RFP should refer to the College and

University Partnerships Program for

Russian Regional Investment Initiative

in Samara Oblast and reference number

E/ASU–98–09.

Deadline For Proposals: All copies

must be received at the U.S. Information

Agency by 5 p.m. Washington, DC time

on Friday, July 17, 1998. Faxed

documents will not be accepted at any

time. Documents postmarked by the due

date but received at a later date will not

be accepted.

Approximate program dates: Grants

should begin on or about September 1,

1998.

Duration: September 1, 1998–August

30, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT:

Office of Academic Programs; Advising,

Teaching, and Specialized Programs

Division; Specialized Programs Branch,

(E/ASU) room 349, U.S. Information

Agency, 301 4th Street, SW.,

Washington, DC 20547, telephone: (202)

619–4126, fax: (202) 401–1433, internet:

jcebra@usia.gov to request a Solicitation

Package containing more detailed award

criteria; all application forms; and

guidelines for preparing proposals,

including specific criteria for

preparation of the proposal budget.

To Download A Solicitation Package

Via Internet: The entire Solicitation

Package may be downloaded from

USIA’s website at http://www.usia.gov/

education/rfps. Please read all

information before downloading.

To Receive A Solicitation Package Via

Fax on Demand: The entire Solicitation

Package may be received via the

Bureau’s ‘‘Grants Information Fax on

Demand System’’, which is accessed by

calling 202/401–7616. Please request a

‘‘Catalog’’ of available documents and

order numbers when first entering the

system.

Please specify USIA Program Officer

Jonathan Cebra on all inquiries and

correspondence. Interested applicants

should read the complete Federal

Register announcement before sending

inquiries or submitting proposals. Once

the RFP deadline has passed, Agency

staff may not discuss this competition in

any way with applicants until the

Bureau proposal review process has

been completed.

Submissions: Applicants must follow

all instructions given in the Solicitation

Package. The original and 10 copies of

the application should be sent to: U.S.

Information Agency, Ref.: E/ASU–98–

09, Office of Grants Management, E/XE,

Room 326, 301 4th Street, SW.,

Washington, DC 20547.

Applicants must also submit the

‘‘Executive Summary’’ and ‘‘Proposal

Narrative’’ sections of the proposal on a

3.5′′ diskette, formatted for DOS. This

material must be provided in ASCII text

(DOS) format with a maximum line

length of 65 characters. USIA will

transmit these files electronically to

USIA Moscow for its review, with the

goal of reducing the time it takes to get

post’s comments for the Agency’s grants

review process.

Diversity, Freedom and Democracy

Guidelines

Pursuant to the Bureau’s authorizing

legislation, programs must maintain a

non-political character and should be

balanced and representative of the

diversity of American political, social,

and cultural life. ‘‘Diversity’’ should be

interpreted in the broadest sense and

encompass differences including, but

not limited to ethnicity, race, gender,

religion, geographic location, socioeconomic status, and physical

challenges. Applicants are strongly

encouraged to adhere to the

advancement of this principle both in

program administration and in program

content. Please refer to the review

criteria under the ‘Support for Diversity’

section for specific suggestions on

incorporating diversity into the total

proposal. Pub. L. 104–319 provides that
28028 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 98 /Thursday, May 21, 1998 / Notices

‘‘in carrying out programs of

educational and cultural exchange in

countries whose people do not fully

enjoy freedom and democracy’’, USIA

‘‘shall take appropriate steps to provide

opportunities for participation in such

programs to human rights and

democracy leaders of such countries.’’

Proposals should account for

advancement of this goal in their

program contents, to the full extent

deemed feasible.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Guidelines

The College and University

Partnership Program for Russian

Regional Investment Initiative in

Samara Oblast is limited to the

following specific academic disciplines:

(1) Public administration—the

Russian partner for this partnership

must be Samara State Aerospace

University’s International Marketing

Institute and the focus should be on

developing training programs for civil

servants;

(2) Business education—the Russian

partner for this partnership must be the

Togliatti Academy of Business and

Banking.

Proposals must focus on curriculum,

faculty, and staff development in one of

these eligible disciplines.

Administrative reform at the Russian

partner should also be a project

component.

Projects should involve the

development of new academic programs

or the building and/or restructuring of

an existing program or programs, and

should promote higher education’s role

in the transition to market economies

and open democratic systems.

Feasibility studies to plan partnerships

will not be considered.

Whenever feasible, participants

should make their training and

personnel resources, as well as results of

their collaborative research, available to

government, NGOs, and business.

Participating institutions should

exchange faculty and/or staff members

for teaching/lecturing and consulting.

U.S. institutions are responsible for

the submission of proposals and should

collaborate with their foreign partners in

planning and preparing proposals. U.S.

and foreign partner institutions are

encouraged to consult about the

proposed project with USIA E/ASU staff

in Washington, DC. Preference will be

given to proposals which demonstrate

evidence of previous relations with the

foreign partner institution(s).

Guidelines

U.S. Partner and Participant Eligibility

In the U.S., participation in the

program is open to accredited two- and

four-year colleges and universities,

including graduate schools.

Applications from consortia of U.S.

colleges and universities are eligible.

Applications from non-profit service

and professional organizations or nongovernmental organizations proposing

to facilitate a partnership between a U.S.

university and a foreign partner are also

eligible. The lead U.S. institution in the

consortium is responsible for submitting

the application and each application

from a consortium must document the

lead school’s stated authority to

represent the consortium. Participants

representing the U.S. institution who

are traveling under USIA grant funds

must be faculty, staff, or advanced

graduate students from the participating

institution(s) and must be citizens.

Foreign Partner and Participant

Eligibility

Overseas, participation is limited to

the following institutions:

Samara State Aerospace University’s

International Marketing Institute—in the

field of public administration; Togliatti

Academy of Business and Banking—in

the field of business education.

Participants represenitng the foreign

institutions must be faculty, staff or

advanced students of the partner

institution, and be citizens, nationals, or

permanent residents of the country of

the foreign partner, and be qualified to

hold a valid passport and U.S. J–1 visa.

Ineligibility

A proposal will be deemed

technically ineligible if:

(1) It does not fully adhere to the

guidelines established herein and in the

Solicitation Package;

(2) It is not received by the deadline;

(3) It is not submitted by the U.S.

partner;

(4) One of the partner institutions is

ineligible;

(5) The academic discipline(s) is/are

not listed as eligible in the RFP, herein;

(6) The amount requested of USIA

exceeds $150,000 for the two-year

project.

Please refer to program-specific

guidelines (POGI) in the Solicitation

Package for further details.

Notice

The terms and conditions published

in this RFP are binding and may not be

modified by any USIA representative.

Explanatory information provided by

the Agency that contradicts published

language will not be binding. Issuance

of the RFP does not constitute an award

commitment on the part of the

Government. The Agency reserves the

right to reduce, revise, or increase

proposal budgets in accordance with the

needs of the program and the

availability of funds. Awards made will

be subject to periodic reporting and

evaluation requirements.

Notification

Final awards cannot be made until

funds have been appropriated by

Congress, allocated and committed

through internal USIA procedures.

Dated: May 14, 1998.

Robert L. Earle,

Deputy Associate Director for Educational

and Cultural Affairs.

[FR Doc. 98–13522 Filed 5–20–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8230–01–M

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS

AFFAIRS

Advisory Committee on Women

Veterans, Notice of Meeting

The Department of Veterans Affairs

gives notice under Public Law 92–463

that a meeting of the Advisory

Committee on Women Veterans will be

held on June 16–19, 1998, at the

Department of Veterans Affairs, 810

Vermont Avenue, NW, Washington, DC.

The purpose of the Committee is to

advise the Secretary of Veterans Affairs

regarding the needs of women veterans

with respect to health care,

rehabilitation, compensation, outreach

and other programs, and activities

administered by the Department of

Veterans Affairs designed to meet such

needs. The Committee will make

recommendations to the Secretary

regarding such activities.

On June 16, 17 and 18, the sessions

will convene from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

and on June 19, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00

p.m. The Committee will meet in

conference room 230, at VA Central

Office. All sessions will be open to the

public. It will be necessary for those

wishing to attend to contact Ms.

Maryanne Carson, Department of

Veterans Affairs, Washington, DC

(phone 202–273–6193) prior to June 5,

1998. A tentative agenda follows:

Tuesday, June 16, 1998

9:00 am Introduction of new members—

Chair/Vice Chair

9:15 am Opening remarks: Secretary Togo D.

West, Jr.

10:00 am Briefing: Under Secretary for

Benefits

10:30 am Break