13584 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 48 / Monday, March 13, 1995 / Notices

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND

HUMAN SERVICES

Public Health Service

Grants for Centers of Excellence (COE)

Bilingual and Bicultural Minority PreFaculty Fellowship Program

AGENCY: Office of Minority Health, HHS.

ACTION: Notice of availability of funds

and requests for applications.

This demonstration program is to

assess whether formal pre-faculty

development programs will increase

underrepresented minorities in faculty

positions in health professions schools

for the purpose of incorporating

linguistic and culturally appropriate

curriculum models.

AUTHORITY: This program will be

conducted under the authority of

section 1707 of the Public Health

Service Act, as amended in Public Law

101–527.

AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS: A total of

$650,000 is available for awards in FY

1995. It is projected that institutional

awards of up to $50,000 per fellow will

be available to support up to 13 fellows

per 12-month budget period. Each

institution may request up to two

fellows for the 2-year project period; the

fellows are to be appointed for 2 years.

Grant funds may be used for stipend,

tuition, fees, and travel, inclusive of

indirect costs.

OBJECTIVE: To increase the number of

minority faculty in health professions

schools and the number of linguistically

and culturally competent health

professionals to provide care to targeted

minority populations.

BACKGROUND: The ability of health care

providers to deliver services in a

manner which is both linguistically and

culturally appropriate to diverse

minority populations is critical to

achieving equity of access to health

care. Institutions of higher education,

especially in the health professions, are

pivotal in preparing and training future

health care providers in the acquisition

of appropriate cultural and linguistic

skills to serve diverse minority

populations.

Data indicate a shortage of full-time

faculty from underrepresented minority

groups in health professions schools.

About 4 percent of U.S. medical school

faculty in 1992 (excluding those at six

predominantly minority schools) were

from underrepresented minority

backgrounds. Of those, 2.0 percent were

African-American, 2.2 percent were

Hispanic, and 0.1 percent were Native

American. The underrepresentation of

Asian and Pacific Islander subgroups on

faculties is similarly acute. The data for

schools of medicare are quite similar to

schools of dentistry, pharmacy and

other health professions schools.

Coupled with the paucity of

underrepresented minorities on the

faculty of health professions schools are

the barriers faced by underrepresented

minorities to receiving tenured

appointments or decisionmaking

positions in either the clinical or basic

science arenas. Lack of opportunity to

engage in meaningful research, develop

teaching competence, engage in

effective community service and secure

the required publications for

advancement are among those barriers.

Others include misunderstandings

regarding what is required of them,

limited mentor guidance needed to

surmount the politics of academia, and

lack of protected time resulting in overinvolvement with minority student

problems and excessive committee

assignments as a ‘‘minority

representative.’’ Most significant is the

dearth of formal faculty development

programs within the health professions

schools designed to optimize

achievement of junior minority faculty.

Major universities and colleges

indicate that institutional barriers exist

to the recruitment, training and

retention of junior minority faculty.

Moreover, one of the critical

opportunities for intervention in this

process is after individuals have

completed their professional

preparation (e.g., Dental School,

Medical Specialty Residency, etc.) and

before they qualify as candidates for an

entry level junior faculty position.

This obstacle can be overcome by

maximizing retention potential for

academic careers during this interim

period through the offering of Faculty

Development Fellowships. Such

fellowships would be designed to help

junior minority faculty improve their

competence in the following areas:

Research methodology, development of

research grant proposals, ability to work

with diverse minority populations,

teaching capabilities, and writing and

publication skills. These Faculty

Development Fellowships would

provide the preparation necessary for

minorities to qualify for faculty

appointments and possibly prevent

them from leaving their academic

careers.

Appreciation and understanding of

the language and culture of minority

communities are critical to effectively

providing health care. Increased

numbers of linguistic and culturally

competent minority faculty in health

professions schools could significantly

assist in addressing these issues with

respect to minority as well as majority

health care providers. One promising

means of attracting greater numbers of

minorities into academic careers is

through Faculty Development

Fellowships. Through such fellowships,

retention in the academic arena would

be enhanced and research into minority

health problems and the implications of

linguistic and cultural barriers on the

health of minority populations would be

expanded.

This is an innovative program which

will maximize the academic career

potential of minority individuals who

have completed their health professions

preparation but are not yet competitive

as candidates for ‘‘new’’ junior faculty

positions. This will be accomplished by

preparing such individuals for faculty

appointments (tenure track or

equivalent) in a manner that assures

sound academic careers; and by

developing them in linguistically and

culturally appropriate competencies

relevant to targeted minority

populations. Ultimately, this program

will provide for an increase in the

number of minority faculty in health

professions schools and the number of

linguistically and culturally competent

health professionals to provide care to

targeted minority populations.

ELIGIBILITY: Only centers of Excellence

(COEs) grantees currently funded under

section 739 of the Public Health Service

Act, as amended by the Health

Professions Education Extension

Amendments of 1992, Public Law 102–

408, are eligible to apply. The COEs are

entities in the health professions

schools known to have the capacity to

comprehensively address health related

language and cultural issues among

targeted minority populations both

within the academic setting and in the

community. Further, the administrative

unit, including program staff, and

institutional infrastructure is already in

place and funded through the COE grant

to execute the initiative. Applications

will not be accepted from any other

organizations.

PROJECT REQUIREMENTS: Each project

funded under this grant program is

expected to meet the project

requirements listed below:

1. Select Fellows: Identify and recruit

individuals who meet the following

criteria for fellows:

(A) Be a citizen of the United States,

a noncitizen national, or a foreign

national having in his or her possession

a visa (or green card) permitting

permanent residence in the United

States;

(B) Meet the definition for

underrepresented minority;
Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 48 / Monday, March 13, 1995 / Notices 13585

(C) Have completed a doctoral level

degree in a relevant science in a school

accredited by a body or bodies approved

by the Secretary of Education; and

(D) Plan to complete the grantsupported program and follow an

academic career in a health professions

school.

2. Prepare Fellows for Faculty

Appointments: The health professions

school pre-faculty development

preparation program must be a yearround formal fellowship program not to

exceed a period of 2 years. To prepare

fellows for faculty appointments, the

fellowship program should include at

least the following: Enhancement of

discipline specific competencies;

preparation in the areas of education

and pedagogical skills, academic

leadership, research and research

methodology, research grant

preparation/acquisition, administration,

and writing for publication, and

community service.

3. Develop Linguistic and Culturally

Appropriate Competencies: The

fellowship program should seek to

enhance the fellow’s own cultural

competence through delivery of services

to minorities that necessitates focus on

linguistic and cultural health delivery

issues and approaches. Additional

activities would involve but would not

be limited to the following: Conduct of

research in selected priority areas of

minority health and into the

implications of language and cultural

issues on the health of minority

populations; initiation of programs

designed to increase the numbers and

types of health care providers trained to

serve limited English-speaking

populations; and involvement in the

training of health care providers in

cultural competency.

4. Provide a Mentor: Identify a senior

tenured faculty member who will

provide direct supervision of the fellow

and formal ongoing mentoring (transfer

of knowledge, skills and abilities)

relevant to advancement in an academic

health profession setting.

5. Engage the Fellows in Research: As

part of their preparation, fellows must

be engaged in research regarding the

recognition of language and cultural

barriers to the provision of health care,

including services to limited-Englishspeaking populations and development

of language and culture curriculum

models for health professions schools.

6. Appoint Fellows to Junior Faculty

Positions: The institution must make a

commitment to appoint fellows as

junior faculty members upon successful

completion of the fellowship program

and assure salary for at least 2 years

beyond the fellowship.

DEFINITIONS: For purposes of this grant

program the following definitions apply:

• Bilingual and Bicultural—a person

who has a broad knowledge of two

languages and the cultures in which

they are spoken and is able to

communicate and deliver the message

in the language and cultural context in

which they are spoken.

• Cultural Competency—a set of

academic and interpersonal skills that

allow individuals to increase their

understanding and appreciation of

cultural differences and similarities

within, among, and between groups.

This requires a willingness and ability

to draw on community-based values,

traditions, and customs and to work

with knowledgeable persons of and

from the community in developing

focused interventions, communications,

and other supports.

• Health Professions Schools—

schools of allopathic or osteopathic

medicine, dentistry and pharmacy.

• Limited English-speaking—

individual whose primary language is

other than English and who must

communicate in that language if the

individual is to have an equal

opportunity to participate effectively in

and benefit from aid, service or benefit

provided.

• Pre-Faculty Development

Program—a formal, systematic training

program to develop the knowledge,

skills and abilities necessary to be

competitive for junior faculty tenured or

equivalent positions.

• Stipend—a payment made to an

individual under a fellowship or

training grant in accordance with

preestablished levels to provide for the

individual’s living expenses during the

period of training.

• Underrepresented minority—with

respect to a health profession, racial and

ethnic populations that are

underrepresented in the health

professions relative to the number of

individuals who are members of the

population involved. This definition

encompasses Blacks, Hispanics, and

Native Americans including Native

Hawaiians and potentially various

subpopulations of Asian and Pacific

Islander individuals. Applicants must

provide evidence that any particular

subgroup of Asian and Pacific Islander

individuals is underrepresented in a

specific discipline.

NATIONAL HEALTH OBJECTIVES FOR THE

YEAR 2000: The Public Health Service is

committed to achieving the health

promotion and disease prevention

objectives of Healthy People 2000, a

PHS led national activity for setting

priority areas. This program is related to

the objectives of improving access to

and availability of primary care services

for all Americans, especially the

underserved populations. Potential

applicants may obtain a copy of Healthy

People 2000 (Full Report; Stock No.

017–001–00474–0) or Healthy People

2000 (Summary Report; Stock No. 017–

001–00473–1) through the

Superintendent of Documents,

Government Printing Office,

Washington, D.C. 20402–9325

(Telephone 202–783–3238).

SMOKE-FREE WORKPLACE: The Public

Health Service strongly encourages all

grant recipients to provide a smoke-free

workplace and to promote the nonuse of

all tobacco products. In addition, Public

Law 103–227, the Pro-Children Act of

1994, prohibits smoking in certain

facilities (or in some cases, any portion

of a facility) in which regular or routine

education, library, day care, health care

or early childhood development

services are provided to children.

AWARD CRITERIA: Funding decisions will

be determined by the Office of Minority

Health and will be based on the

recommendations/ratings of review

panels, program balance, including

geographic and race/ethnicity

distribution, and health problem area.

REVIEW CRITERIA: The following are

criteria for review of applications for

this program:

1. The degree to which the proposed

project plan meets the project

requirements.

2. The degree to which the senior

faculty are committed to and involved

in the training of the fellows:

3. The extent to which the project

systematically evaluates the

administration of the program and the

degree to which program and

educational objectives are met.

4. The administrative, management,

and resource capability of the applicant

to carry-out the proposed project in a

cost-effective manner.

5. The potential for the applicant to

continue the program without Federal

support after completion of the

approved project period.

APPLICATION REQUESTS: Application form

PHS 6025–1 will be mailed to currently

funded COE grantees. Questions

regarding grants policy and business

management issues should be directed

to: Ms. Carolyn A. Williams, Grants

Management Officer, Office of Minority

Health, Rockwall II Building, Suite 1000

(10th Floor), 5515 Security Lane,

Rockville, MD 20852, Telephone: (301)

594–0758 FAX: (301) 443–8280.

Completed applications should be

submitted to the Grants Management

Office at the above address.
13586 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 48 / Monday, March 13, 1995 / Notices

If additional programmatic

information is needed, please contact:

Ms. Hazel R. Farrar, Program Analyst,

Division of Program Coordination,

Office of Minority Health, Rockwall II

Building, Suite 1000 (10th Floor), 5515

Security Lane, Rockville, MD 20852,

Telephone: (301) 594–0769, Fax: (301)

443–8280.

REVIEW OF APPLICATIONS: Applications

will be screened upon receipt. Those

that are judged to be incomplete,

nonresponsive or nonconforming will

be returned without comment.

Applications judged to be complete,

conforming, and responsive will be

reviewed for technical merit in

accordance with PHS policies.

Applications will be evaluated by

Federal reviewers. Applicants are

advised to pay close attention to

program guidelines, and the general and

supplemental instructions provided in

the application kit.

The deadline date for receipt of

applications is (enter 30 days from date

of publication). Applications will be

considered to be ‘‘on time’’ if they are

either:

(1) Received at the above address on

or before the established deadline date,

or

(2) Sent on or before the established

deadline date and received in time for

orderly processing. (Applicants should

request a legibly dated U.S. Postal

Service postmark or obtain a legibly

dated receipt from a commercial carrier

or U.S. Postal Service. Private metered

postmarks shall not be accepted as proof

of timely mailing.)

Late applications will not be accepted

for processing and will be returned to

the applicant.

This program is not subject to the

provisions of Executive Order 12372,

Intergovernmental Review of Federal

Programs (as implemented through 45

CFR part 100) and is not subject to the

Public Health System Reporting

Requirements.

There is no CFDA number for this

program since it is viewed as a one-time

project.

Dated: February 22, 1995.

Clay E. Simpson, Jr.,

Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for

Minority Health.

[FR Doc. 95–6082 Filed 3–10–95; 8:45 am]

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