Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 76 / Wednesday, April 19, 2000 / Notices 21057

DEPARTMENT OF STATE

[Public Notice 3294]

Bureau of Educational and Cultural

Affairs, Armenia Connectivity 2000

Program; Request for Proposals

SUMMARY: The Office of Citizen

Exchanges, Youth Programs Division, of

the Bureau of Educational and Cultural

Affairs announces an open competition

for the Armenia Connectivity 2000

Program. Public and private non-profit

organizations meeting the provisions

described in IRS regulation 26 CFR

1.501(c) may submit proposals to

expand the educational opportunities

available to secondary school students

in Armenia by providing access to the

Internet and a related curriculum to

help promote civic education and

economic reform. The maximum

amount of the award will be $954,000.

Program Information

Overview

The Armenia Connectivity 2000

program has been designed to respond

to the important need to introduce the

youth of Armenia to a broad range of

ideas about civil society.

Students and teachers at schools

throughout the country need access to

models of societal development through

civic education. The Internet can

provide a wealth of information about

democratic societies and a vital forum

for the exchange of views with U.S.

students and teachers. Through this

program Armenian schools will be able

to incorporate civics into their curricula

and improve general education with

Internet resources and access to

information under the guidance of

specially trained teachers.

The goals of this program are (1) To

provide Armenian students with the

opportunity to learn democratic values

while developing technical computerbased skills, (2) to improve and broaden

the civic education curriculum in

Armenian schools, (3) to provide access

for schools in isolated areas to

information about the United States and

other democratic societies and about

related Internet resources, and (4) to

develop and promote linkages to

schools in the United States and other

countries.

The main components of this program

are as follows:

• Selecting schools (Armenian and

U.S.),

• Providing access to the Internet to

the Armenian schools, including

making sites suitable for a computer

center, installing hardware and cabling,

and ensuring connectivity,

• Connecting students and teachers at

Armenian schools with their

counterparts at U.S. schools in joint

telecurriculum projects,

• Providing training for teachertrainers who will in turn provide

training to teachers and students in the

selected schools and, later, to other

community members,

• Developing an educational

curriculum that utilizes the Internet and

coordinating the use of curricula from

other related programs.

Guidelines

This grant should begin on or about

July 15, 2000, subject to availability of

funds. The grant period should be two

years.

The grant recipient will select schools

in Armenia for the installation of a

computer center, the provision of

training, and the implementation of a

civic education curriculum that

emphasizes use of the Internet. The

recommended minimum number of

schools is 40. Proposals that can include

up to or more than 70 schools through

greater efficiencies and cost-sharing will

be considered more competitive. These

selected schools will be partnered,

either one-to-one or in small groups,

with U.S. schools so that Armenian

students and faculty may work on joint

projects with their American peers over

the Internet in order to practice their

newly-developed knowledge of using

this tool for educational purposes.

The schools will be provided with

computers, printers, and other items

necessary to afford them Internet

connectivity. This will be accompanied

by improvements to the classrooms to

ensure that the facilities are suitable and

secure. Once established, a center will

be staffed by a site monitor who will

oversee its use.

At an early stage of the project, the

grant recipient will train Armenians in

order to develop a core group of teachertrainers in Internet education, American

Studies, English, civic education,

curriculum development, and teaching

methodologies. In addition to training at

sites in Yerevan and other regions of

Armenia, a limited number of

exchanges—Armenian trainers to the

United States and U.S. trainers to

Armenia—will facilitate these training

efforts and bring the new trainers in

contact with teachers who are skilled in

using the Internet in the classroom.

The regional teacher-trainers will be

responsible for conducting local training

at a certain number of schools in their

region. Their training of teachers and

students will focus on basic computer

skills, use of electronic mail and

bulletin boards, and use of the World

Wide Web for research and for

supplementing lesson plans. The

regional trainers will also supervise the

site monitors.

Once schools have access to the

Internet and the students and teachers

have acquired basic computer and

Internet skills, the program focus will

turn to the development of the content

of Internet activities, an essential

component. The primary goal of this

program is for students and teachers to

use the Internet to learn about civil

society, including the basics of

democracy, volunteerism, conflict

resolution, good citizenship, and civic

responsibility, such as voting. A

secondary goal is for students and

teachers to use the Internet for English

and American Studies topics, such as

literature, history, government, and

geography, and for the improvement of

teaching of such subjects as economics

and social studies researching the riches

of the Internet and learning to use them

in the normal curriculum. The

development of a curriculum with these

purposes will be a key responsibility of

the grant recipient.

Programs must comply with J–1 visa

regulations. Please refer to Solicitation

Package for further information.

Budget Guidelines

The grant award may not exceed

$954,000. Organizations with less than

four years of experience in conducting

international exchange programs are not

eligible for this grant.

Applicants must submit a

comprehensive budget for the entire

program. There must be a summary

budget as well as breakdowns reflecting

both administrative and program

budgets. Applicants should provide

separate sub-budgets for each program

component, phase, location, or activity

to provide clarification. Administrative

costs, including indirect rates, should be

kept to a minimum and cost-shared as

possible.

Please refer to the Solicitation

Package for complete budget guidelines

and formatting instructions.

Announcement Title and Number: All

correspondence with the Bureau

concerning this RFP should reference

the above title and number ECA/PE/C–

00–49.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The

Youth Programs Division, Office of

Citizen Exchanges, ECA/PE/C/PY, Room

568, U.S. Department of State, 301 4th

Street, SW, Washington, DC 20547,

(202) 619–6299; Fax: (202) 619–5311; Email: clantz@pd.state.gov to request a

Solicitation Package. The Solicitation

Package contains detailed award

criteria, required application forms,

21058 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 76 / Wednesday, April 19, 2000 / Notices

specific budget instructions, and

standard guidelines for proposal

preparation. Please specify Bureau

Program Officer Carolyn Lantz on all

other inquiries and correspondence.

Please read the complete Federal

Register announcement before sending

inquiries or submitting proposals. Once

the RFP deadline has passed, Bureau

staff may not discuss this competition

with applicants until the proposal

review process has been completed.

To Download a Solicitation Package

Via Internet

The entire Solicitation Package may

be downloaded from the Bureau’s

website at http://exchanges.state.gov/

education/rfps. Please read all

information before downloading.

Deadline for Proposals

All proposal copies must be received

at the Bureau of Educational and

Cultural Affairs by 5 p.m. Washington,

DC, time on Friday, June 2, 2000. Faxed

documents will not be accepted at any

time. Documents postmarked the due

date but received on a later date will not

be accepted. Each applicant must ensure

that the proposals are received by the

above deadline.

Applicants must follow all

instructions in the Solicitation Package.

The original and eight copies of the

application should be sent to: U.S.

Department of State, SA–44, Bureau of

Educational and Cultural Affairs, Ref.:

ECA/PE/C–00–49, Program

Management, ECA/EX/PM, Room 336,

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. These

documents must be provided in ASCII

text (DOS) format with a maximum line

length of 65 characters. The Bureau will

transmit these files electronically to the

Public Affairs section at the U.S.

Embassy for its review, with the goal of

reducing the time it takes to get embassy

comments for the Bureau’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. Public Law 104–319 provides

that ‘‘in carrying out programs of

educational and cultural exchange in

countries whose people do not fully

enjoy freedom and democracy,’’ the

Bureau ‘‘shall take appropriate steps to

provide opportunities for participation

in such programs to human rights and

democracy leaders of such countries.’’

Proposals should reflect advancement of

this goal in their program contents, to

the full extent deemed feasible.

Year 2000 Compliance Requirement

(Y2K Requirement)

The Year 2000 (Y2K) issue is a broad

operational and accounting problem

that could potentially prohibit

organizations from processing

information in accordance with Federal

management and program specific

requirements including data exchange

with the Bureau. The inability to

process information in accordance with

Federal requirements could result in

grantees’ being required to return funds

that have not been accounted for

properly.

The Bureau therefore requires all

organizations use Y2K compliant

systems including hardware, software,

and firmware. Systems must accurately

process data and dates (calculating,

comparing and sequencing) both before

and after the beginning of the year 2000

and correctly adjust for leap years.

Additional information addressing the

Y2K issue may be found at the General

Services Administration’s Office of

Information Technology website at

http://www.itpolicy.gsa.gov.

Authority

Overall grant making authority for

this program is contained in the Mutual

Educational and Cultural Exchange Act

of 1961, Public Law 87–256, as

amended, also known as the FulbrightHays 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 above is provided through

the FREEDOM Support Act of 1992.

Notice

The terms and conditions published

in this RFP are binding and may not be

modified by any Bureau representative.

Explanatory information provided by

the Bureau 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 Bureau 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 Bureau procedures.

Dated: April 10, 2000.

Evelyn S. Lieberman,

Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and

Public Affairs, U.S. Department of State.

[FR Doc. 00–9801 Filed 4–18–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4710–11–P

DEPARTMENT OF STATE

[Public Notice 3295]

Bureau of Educational and Cultural

Affairs Offices of the Fulbright

Representative: Moscow, Russia and

Kyiv, Ukraine; Notice: Request for

Proposals

SUMMARY: The Office of Academic

Exchange Programs of the Bureau of

Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA)

announces an open competition for

organizations to serve as the fiscal

disbursing agent for the Offices of the

Fulbright Representative in Moscow,

Russia and in Kyiv, Ukraine. Public and

private non-profit organizations meeting

the provisions described in IRS

regulation 26 CFR 1.501(c) may submit

proposals to provide fiscal disbursing

services to one or both Offices (Moscow

and/or Kyiv). A separate proposal must

be submitted for each country’s office,

i.e., organizations that apply as the

disbursing agent for both the Moscow

and Kyiv Offices must submit two

distinct proposals addressing the

particular budgetary guidelines and any

other country-specific requirements for

each Office as outlined in the RFP.