National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) Stakeholder Engagement Program

Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO)

May 24, 2017

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May 24, 2017

NOTICE OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITY (NOFO) 

National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) Stakeholder Engagement

Program

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

• Federal Agency Name: National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), 

United States Department of Commerce (DoC)

• Funding Opportunity Title: National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education 

(NICE) Stakeholder Engagement Program

• Announcement Type: Initial

• Funding Opportunity Number: 2017-NIST-NICE-01

• Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 11.620, Science, 

Technology, Business and/or Education Outreach

• Dates: Applications must be received at Grants.gov no later than 11:59 p.m. 

Eastern Time, Tuesday, August 1, 2017. Applications received after this deadline 

will not be reviewed or considered. NIST expects to complete its review, selection 

of successful applicants, and award processing by early in FY 2018. NIST expects 

the earliest anticipated start date for awards under this NOFO to be November 1, 

2017.

Applicants should be aware, and factor in their application submission planning, 

that the Grants.gov system is expected to be closed for routine maintenance at 

these times: from 12:01 Eastern Time, Saturday, June 17, 2017 until Monday, June 

19, 2017 at 6:00 a.m. Eastern Time; and again from 12:01 Eastern Time, Saturday, 

July 15, 2017 until Monday, July 17, 2017 at 6:00 a.m. Eastern Time. Applications 

cannot be submitted when Grants.gov is closed.

Applicants are strongly urged to read Section IV.2.b., Attachment of Required 

Application Documents, with great attention. Applicants should carefully 

follow the instructions and recommendations regarding attachments and 

using Grants.gov’s Download Submitted Applications feature to check that all 

required attachments were contained in their submission. Applications 

submitted without the required documents will not pass the Initial 

Administrative Review, described in Section V.3.a. of this NOFO.
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May 24, 2017

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When developing your submission timeline, please keep in mind that (1) all 

applicants are required to have a current registration in the System for Award 

Management (SAM.gov); (2) the free annual registration process in the electronic 

System for Award Management (SAM.gov) (see Section IV.3. and Section 

IV.7.a.(1).(b). of this NOFO) often takes between three and five business days and 

may take as long as two weeks; (3) electronic applicants are required to have a 

current registration in Grants.gov; and (4) applicants using Grants.gov will receive 

email notifications over a period of up to two business days as the application 

moves through intermediate systems before the applicant learns via a validation or 

rejection notification whether NIST has received the application. (See 

http://www.grants.gov for full information on application and notification through 

Grants.gov). Please note that a federal assistance award cannot be issued if the 

designated recipient’s registration in the System for Award Management (SAM.gov) 

is not current at the time of the award.

• Application Submission Address: Applications must be submitted using 

Grants.gov.

• Funding Opportunity Description: NIST is soliciting applications from eligible 

applicants to partner with the NICE program in its outreach efforts to the 

cybersecurity education, training, and workforce development community; this 

program will include planning and managing the NICE Annual Conference in the 

continental United States for up to the next five years. 

• Anticipated Amounts: NIST anticipates funding one award for approximately 

$250,000 per year for up to five years. Any award is contingent on the availability of 

funds. 

• Funding Instrument: Cooperative agreement.

• Who Is Eligible: Applicants may be any U.S.-located non-Federal entity.

Please note that, for the purposes of this NOFO, individuals and unincorporated 

sole proprietors are not considered “non-Federal entities” and are not eligible apply.

• Cost Sharing Requirements: This program does not require cost sharing.

• Public Meetings (Applicants’ Conference): NIST will hold a webinar (Applicants’

Conference) to provide general information regarding NICE, offer general guidance 

on preparing applications, and answer questions. Proprietary technical discussions 

about specific project ideas with NIST staff are not permitted at any time before 

submitting an application to NIST. Therefore, applicants should not raise
National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) Stakeholder Engagement Program

Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO)

May 24, 2017

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proprietary issues at the Applicants’ Conference or any additional seminars related 

to this competition. Also, NIST staff will not critique or provide feedback on specific 

project ideas while they are being developed by an applicant. However, questions 

about NICE, evaluation and award criteria, selection process, and the general 

characteristics of a competitive application at the Applicants’ Conference and by 

email to nice.nist@nist.gov. Attendance at the Applicants’ Conference is not 

required and will not be considered in the review and selection process. 

Information on the Applicants’ Conference is available at https://nist.gov/nice. 

Table of Contents

I. Program Description ............................................................................................ 3

II. Federal Award Information................................................................................... 5

III. Eligibility Information ............................................................................................ 6

IV. Application Submission Information ..................................................................... 6

V. Application Review Information.......................................................................... 15

VI. Federal Award Administration Information ......................................................... 19

VII. Federal Awarding Agency Contact(s)................................................................. 22

VIII. Other Information ............................................................................................... 22

FULL ANNOUNCEMENT TEXT

I. Program Description

The statutory authority for the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) 

Stakeholder Engagement Program is 15 U.S.C. §§ 272(b)(4) and 7451. 

In our connected society, almost every organization in the United States uses the 

Internet for commerce, communication, or service provision. Cybersecurity has 

therefore emerged as one of our nation’s top priorities for both national and economic 

security. Increasing our cyber defenses necessarily requires a skilled workforce to 

protect businesses, non-profit organizations, academic institutions, and governments at 

all levels.
National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) Stakeholder Engagement Program

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May 24, 2017

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NICE, led by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in the U.S. 

Department of Commerce, is a partnership between government, academia, and 

the private sector focused on cybersecurity education, training, and workforce 

development. The mission of NICE is to energize and promote a robust network and 

an ecosystem of cybersecurity education, training, and workforce development. NICE 

fulfills this mission by coordinating with government, academic, and industry partners to 

build on existing successful programs, facilitate change and innovation, and bring 

leadership and vision to increase the number of skilled cybersecurity professionals 

helping to keep our Nation secure.

NICE’s Strategic Plan (available at https://www.nist.gov/itl/appliedcybersecurity/nice/about/strategic-plan) has the following goals: 

1. Accelerate learning and skills development - Inspire a sense of urgency in both 

the public and private sectors to address the shortage of skilled cybersecurity 

workers.

2. Nurture a diverse learning community - Strengthen education and training 

across the ecosystem to emphasize learning, measure outcomes, and diversify 

the cybersecurity workforce.

3. Guide Career Development and Workforce Planning - Support employers to 

address market demands and enhance recruitment, hiring, development, and 

retention of cybersecurity talent.

The NICE Annual Conference and Expo brings together thought leaders from 

academia, industry, government, and non-profits to help address the nation’s 

cybersecurity education, training, and workforce needs. The NICE Conference includes 

face-to-face convening of public-private partners, an opportunity to signal NICE 

strategic directions and priorities, and a forum to showcase best practices. (See

https://www.nist.gov/itl/applied-cybersecurity/nice/nice-annual-conference-and-expo for 

more information about the 2017 and past conferences.) 

NICE Stakeholder Engagement Program 

Every aspect of the NICE Strategic Plan requires outreach and coordination with 

multiple stakeholders. NICE seeks to provide assistance to an organization engaged in 

building national (and exploring international) relationships to further advance 

cybersecurity education and training, building the cybersecurity workforce development 

community with a year-round communication strategy and capping that engagement by 

planning and holding the NICE Annual Conference and Expo.
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Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO)

May 24, 2017

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For the NICE Annual Conference and Expo, NICE seeks an organization to lead the 

conference planning and execution efforts. This includes the full range of preconference activities from determining tracks, content, and speakers and arranging the 

venue to managing the conference logistics to post conference wrap up activities. 

NICE expects the conference to be kept affordable to a wide range of participants. 

The stakeholder engagement strategy must reflect the need to reach out to and build 

consensus among diverse stakeholders including but not limited to: 

• Employers,

• Educators and trainers,

• Certification providers,

• Workforce development managers,

• Economic development administrators, and 

• Policymakers.

Note that this is a list of high-level examples and not meant to be comprehensive. 

NICE encourages applicants to provide details on how they will reach stakeholders 

with different interests within these broad categories. 

As a national initiative, it is critical that the outreach strategy and conference 

participation demonstrate a commitment to diversity, including regional diversity. 

Conferences must move about the country from year to year within the continental 

United States. Applicants should plan for annual conferences of at least 750 to 1000 

attendees with venues that keep costs affordable to the community and have good 

transportation options for attendees. 

NICE anticipates that this will be up to a five-year award for long-term community 

building with the possibility of converting this award to an institutional award at the 

conclusion of the award period. 

II. Federal Award Information

1. Funding Instrument. The funding instrument that will be used is a cooperative 

agreement. The nature of NIST’s “substantial involvement” will generally be NIST 

collaboration and involvement in the direction of the scope of work.

2. Funding Availability. NIST anticipates funding one award for approximately 

$250,000 per year for up to five years. Any award is contingent on the availability 

of funds. 
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III. Eligibility Information

1. Who Is Eligible: Applicants may be any U.S.-located non-Federal entity. Please 

note that, for the purposes of this NOFO, individuals and unincorporated sole 

proprietors are not considered “non-Federal entities” and are not eligible apply.

2. Cost Sharing or Matching. This program does not require cost sharing.

IV. Application Submission Information

1. Address to Request Application Package. The application package is available 

at www.grants.gov under Funding Opportunity Number 2017-NIST-NICE-01.

2. Content and Format of Application Submission

a. Required Forms and Documents

The Application must contain the following:

(1) SF-424, Application for Federal Assistance. The SF-424 must be signed by 

an authorized representative of the applicant organization.

• “SF-424, Item 8.d. Zip/Postal Code field, should reflect the Zip code + 4 

(#####-####) format.”

• SF-424, Item 12, should list the NOFO number 2017-NIST-NICE-01. 

• SF-424, Item 18, should list the total Federal budget amount requested for 

the entire project.

• For SF-424, Item 21, the list of certifications and assurances is contained in 

the SF-424B. 

(2) SF-424A, Budget Information - Non-Construction Programs. The budget 

should reflect anticipated expenses for each year of the project, considering all 

potential cost increases, including cost of living adjustments. The applicant 

should reflect all expenses for the full term of the project on the SF-424A form. 

The SF-424A form accommodates up to five (5) years of budget information. 

These sections of the SF-424A should reflect funds for the first year of the 

award: Section A; Section B; Section C; and Section D. The budget estimate for 
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the second year through fifth year of the award should be entered in Section E, 

field 16, column (b) through column (e), respectively. Please carefully follow the 

directions found at http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/form-instructions/sf-424ainstructions.html when filling out this form. 

The Grant Program Function or Activity on Line 1 under Column (a) should be 

entered as “Science, Technology, Business and/or Education Outreach”. The 

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number on Line 1 under Column (b) 

should be entered as “11.620”.

These sections of the SF-424A should reflect funds for the whole five years of

the award: Section A; Section B; Section C; and Section D.

(3) SF-424B, Assurances - Non-Construction Programs

(4) CD-511, Certification Regarding Lobbying. Enter “2017-NIST-NICE-01” in 

the Award Number field. Enter the title of the application used in field 15 of the 

SF-424, or an abbreviation of that title, in the Project Name field.

(5) SF-LLL, Disclosure of Lobbying Activities (if applicable)

(6) Proposal Narrative. The Proposal Narrative is a document of no more than 12 

pages responsive to the program description (see Section I. of this NOFO) and 

the evaluation criteria (see Section V.1. of this NOFO). The Proposal Narrative

should contain the following information:

(a) Executive Summary. An executive summary of the proposed project,

including listing the proposed project participants, the scope of the 

proposed work, and an overview of the proposed approach to engaging 

with the cybersecurity education, training, and workforce development

community.

(b) Outreach Strategy. Approach for reaching diverse stakeholders in the 

cybersecurity education, training, and workforce development community. 

Applicants should emphasize how they will reach a range of different 

stakeholders including the specifics of the stakeholder communities to 

contact. In addition, applicants should discuss how the outreach strategy 

will work across regions and to attract underrepresented populations. 

Applicants should also include information on how they will reach out to 

the international cybersecurity education and workforce development 

community. 
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This section should address the Outreach Strategy evaluation criterion 

(see Section V.1.a. of this NOFO). 

(c) Process for Building a Cybersecurity Education and Workforce 

Development Community. Process for bringing diverse stakeholders 

within regional and local communities together in a national cybersecurity 

education and workforce development community. This includes 

recruiting key leading organizations to host and sponsor conferences that 

are geographically diverse and strategically aligned with NICE. 

This section should address the Process for Building Community 

Engagement evaluation criterion (see Section V.1.b. of this NOFO). 

(d) Conference Planning. Approach for planning and managing the annual 

conference including the full range of activities involved:

• Identifying conference location,

• Controlling the budget, 

• Working with stakeholders to determine content and agenda,

• Managing conference logistics,

• Developing an outreach strategy for the conference, 

• Conducting the conference, and

• Evaluating the conference for improvements from year to year.

Applicants should emphasize how their proposed planning efforts keep 

the conference accessible, affordable, and nationally representative of 

the intended audience.

This section should address the Conference Planning evaluation criterion 

(see Section V.1.c. of this NOFO). 

(e) Resources. For organizations, a description of the existing infrastructure 

(e.g., websites, conference registration systems, channels for promotion), 

qualifications, and proposed roles, of the participating organization(s)

including proposed subawardees and contractors. For key personnel, a 

description of their qualifications, proposed roles, and level of planned 

effort. Note that all qualification information must be in this section. For 

both organizations and key personnel, include information on relevant 

past efforts with similar projects and experiences collaborating, if 

appropriate. 
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This section should address the Resources evaluation criterion (see

Section V.1.d. of this NOFO).

(7) Budget Narrative. The Budget Narrative should provide a detailed breakdown 

of each of the object class categories as reflected on the SF-424A. The budget 

justification should address all of the budget categories (personnel, fringe 

benefits, equipment, travel, supplies, other direct costs and indirect costs). The 

written justification should include the necessity and the basis for the cost. 

Proposed funding levels must be consistent with the project scope, and only 

allowable costs should be included in the budget. Information on cost 

allowability is available in the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost 

Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards at 2 C.F.R. Part 200

(http://go.usa.gov/SBYh), which apply to awards in this program. Information 

needed for each category is as follows:

(a) Personnel – At a minimum, the budget justification for all personnel should 

include the following: name, job title, commitment of effort on the proposed 

project in terms of average number of hours per week or percentage of time, 

salary rate, total direct charges on the proposed project, description of the 

role of the individual on the proposed project and the work to be performed. 

(b) Fringe Benefits – Fringe benefits should be identified separately from 

salaries and wages and based on rates determined by organizational policy. 

The items included in the fringe benefit rate (e.g., health insurance, parking, 

etc.) should not be charged under another cost category. 

(c) Equipment – Equipment is defined as an item of property that has an 

acquisition cost of $5,000 or more (unless the organization has established 

lower levels) and an expected service life of more than one year. Any items 

that do not meet the threshold for equipment can be included under the 

supplies line item. The budget justification should list each piece of 

equipment, the cost, and a description of how it will be used and why it is 

necessary to the successful completion of the proposed project. Please note 

that any general use equipment (computers, etc.) charged directly to the 

award should be allocated to the award according to expected usage on the 

project. 

(d) Travel – NIST expects that the award recipient will use teleconference, web 

conference and video conference capabilities as much as possible but travel 

is likely to be necessary for conference venue site visits and the conference 

itself. For all travel costs, the budget justification for travel should include the 

following: destination; names and number of people traveling; dates and/or 

duration; mode of transportation, lodging and subsistence rates; and 
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description of how the travel is directly related to the proposed project. For 

travel that is yet to be determined, please provide best estimates based on 

prior experience. If a destination is not known, an approximate amount may 

be used with the assumptions given for the location of the meeting.

(e) Supplies – Provide a list of each supply, and the breakdown of the total 

costs by quantity or unit of cost. Include the necessity of the cost for the 

completion of the proposed project. 

(f) Contracts/Subawards – Each contract or subaward should be treated as a 

separate item. Describe the services provided and the necessity of the 

subaward or contract to the successful performance of the proposed project. 

Contracts are for obtaining normal goods and services. Subawardees 

perform part of the project scope of work. For each subaward, applicants 

must provide budget detail justifying the cost of the work performed on the 

project. 

(g) Other Direct Costs – For costs that do not easily fit into the other cost 

categories, please list the cost, and the breakdown of the total costs by 

quantity or unit of cost. Include the necessity of the cost for the completion 

of the proposed project. Only allowable costs can be charged to the award.

This Budget Narrative should address the Reasonableness of the Proposed 

Budget evaluation criterion (see Section V.1.e. of this NOFO).

(8) Indirect Cost Rate Agreement. If indirect costs are included in the proposed 

budget, provide a copy of the approved negotiated agreement if this rate was 

negotiated with a cognizant Federal audit agency. If the rate was not 

established by a cognizant Federal audit agency, provide a statement to this 

effect. If the successful applicant includes indirect costs in the budget and has 

not established an indirect cost rate with a cognizant Federal audit agency, the 

applicant will be required to obtain such a rate in accordance with the 

Department of Commerce Financial Assistance Standard Terms and Conditions

dated March 31, 2017, accessible at https://go.usa.gov/xXRxK.

Alternatively, in accordance with 2 C.F.R. § 200.414(f), applicants that have 

never received a negotiated indirect cost rate may elect to charge indirect costs 

to an award pursuant to a de minimis rate of 10 percent of modified total direct 

costs (MTDC), in which case a negotiated indirect cost rate agreement is not 

required. Applicants proposing a 10 percent de minimis rate pursuant to 2 

C.F.R. § 200.414(f) should note this election as part of the budget and budget 

narrative portion of the application.
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(9) Letters of Commitment. Letters are not included in the page count. Letters of 

commitment should be provided from contractors or subawardees who will be

participating in the project indicating their level of participation and any 

resources or infrastructure brought to the project. 

 

b. Attachment of Required Documents

Items IV.2.a.(1) through IV.2.a.(5) above are part of the standard application 

package in Grants.gov and can be completed through the download application 

process. 

Items IV.2.a.(6) through IV.2.a.(9) must be completed and attached by clicking 

on “Add Attachments” found in item 15 of the SF-424, Application for Federal 

Assistance. This will create a zip file that allows for transmittal of the 

documents electronically via Grants.gov. 

Applicants should carefully follow specific Grants.gov instructions at 

www.grants.gov to ensure the attachments will be accepted by the Grants.gov 

system. A receipt from Grants.gov indicates only that an application was 

transferred to a system. It does not provide details concerning whether all 

attachments (or how many attachments) transferred successfully. Applicants 

using Grants.gov will receive a series of e-mail messages over a period of up to two 

business days before learning whether a Federal agency’s electronic system has 

received its application.

The Grants.gov Online Users Guide available at the Grants.gov site 

(http://go.usa.gov/cjaEh) provides vital information on checking the status of 

applications. See especially the “Check My Application Status” option, found 

by clicking first on Applicants, and then by clicking on Applicant Actions.

Applicants can track their submission in the Grants.gov system by following 

the procedures at the Grants.gov site (http://go.usa.gov/cjamz). It can take up 

to two business days for an application to fully move through the Grants.gov 

system to NIST.

NIST uses the Tracking Numbers assigned by Grants.gov, and does not issue 

Agency Tracking Numbers.

c. Application Format

(1) Paper, E-mail and Facsimile (fax) Submissions. Will not be accepted.
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(2) Figures, Graphs, Images, and Pictures. Should be of a size that is easily 

readable or viewable and may be landscape orientation.

(3) Font. Easy to read font (10-point minimum). Smaller type may be used in 

figures and tables but must be clearly legible.

(4) Page Limit. The Proposal Narrative for Applications is limited to twelve (12) 

pages.

Page limit includes: Table of contents (if included), Proposal Narrative with 

all required information, including management information and 

qualifications, figures, graphs, tables, images, pictures and qualifications of 

individuals.

Page limit excludes: SF-424, Application for Federal Assistance; SF-424A, 

Budget Information – Non-Construction Programs; SF-424B, Assurances –

Non-Construction Programs; CD-511, Certification Regarding Lobbying; SFLLL, Disclosure of Lobbying Activities; Cover Page; Gantt Chart, WBS, or 

other planning document (if included); Budget Narrative; Indirect Cost Rate 

Agreement; and Letters of Commitment.

(5) Page size. 21.6 centimeters by 27.9 centimeters (8 1⁄2 inches by 11 inches).

(6) Application language. English.

d. Application Replacement Pages. Applicants may not submit replacement pages 

and/or missing documents once an application has been submitted. Any revisions 

must be made by submission of a new application that must be received by NIST 

by the submission deadline.

e. Pre-Applications. There are no pre-applications.

f. Certifications Regarding Federal Felony and Federal Criminal Tax 

Convictions, Unpaid Federal Tax Assessments and Delinquent Federal Tax 

Returns. In accordance with Federal appropriations law, an authorized 

representative of the selected applicant(s) may be required to provide certain preaward certifications regarding federal felony and federal criminal tax convictions, 

unpaid federal tax assessments, and delinquent federal tax returns.

3. Unique Entity Identifier and System for Award Management (SAM). Pursuant 

to 2 C.F.R. part 25, applicants and recipients (as the case may be) are required to: 

(i) be registered in SAM before submitting its application; (ii) provide a valid unique 

entity identifier in its application; and (iii) continue to maintain an active SAM 
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registration with current information at all times during which it has an active 

Federal award or an application or plan under consideration by a Federal awarding 

agency, unless otherwise excepted from these requirements pursuant to 2 C.F.R. § 

25.110. NIST will not make a Federal award to an applicant until the applicant has 

complied with all applicable unique entity identifier and SAM requirements and, if an 

applicant has not fully complied with the requirements by the time that NIST is 

ready to make a Federal award pursuant to this NOFO, NIST may determine that 

the applicant is not qualified to receive a Federal award and use that determination 

as a basis for making a Federal award to another applicant.

4. Submission Dates and Times. Applications must be received at Grants.gov no 

later than 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time, Tuesday, August 1, 2017. Applications 

received after this deadline will not be reviewed or considered. NIST expects to 

complete its review, selection of successful applicants, and award processing by 

early FY 2018. NIST expects the earliest anticipated start date for awards under 

this NOFO to be November 1, 2017.

Applicants should be aware, and factor in their application submission planning, 

that the Grants.gov system is expected to be closed for routine maintenance at 

these times: from 12:01 Eastern Time, Saturday, June 17, 2017 until Monday, June 

19, 2017 at 6:00 a.m. Eastern Time; and again from 12:01 Eastern Time, Saturday, 

July 15, 2017 until Monday, July 17, 2017 at 6:00 a.m. Eastern Time. Applications 

cannot be submitted when Grants.gov is closed.

When developing your submission timeline, please keep in mind that (1) all 

applicants are required to have a current registration in the System for Award 

Management (SAM.gov); (2) the free annual registration process in the electronic 

System for Award Management (SAM.gov) (see Sections IV.3. and IV.7.a.(1).(b). of 

this NOFO) often takes between three and five business days and may take as long 

as two weeks; (3) applicants are required to have a current registration in 

Grants.gov; and (4) applicants using Grants.gov will receive email notifications over 

a period of up to two business days as the application moves through intermediate 

systems before the applicant learns via a validation or rejection notification whether 

NIST has received the application. (See http://www.grants.gov for full information 

on application and notification through Grants.gov.). Please note that a federal 

assistance award cannot be issued if the designated recipient’s registration in the 

System for Award Management (SAM.gov) is not current at the time of the award.

5. Intergovernmental Review. Applications under this Program are not subject to 

Executive Order 12372.

6. Funding Restrictions. Profit or fee is not an allowable cost.
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7. Other Submission Requirements

a. Applications must be submitted electronically.

(1) Applications must be submitted via Grants.gov at www.grants.gov. 

(a) Applicants should carefully follow specific Grants.gov instructions to ensure that 

all attachments will be accepted by the Grants.gov system. A receipt from 

Grants.gov indicating an application is received does not provide information 

about whether attachments have been received. For further information or 

questions regarding applying electronically for the 2017-NIST-NICE-01

announcement, contact Christopher Hunton by phone at 301-975-5718 or by email at grants@nist.gov. 

(b) Applicants are strongly encouraged to start early and not wait until the 

approaching due date before logging on and reviewing the instructions for 

submitting an application through Grants.gov. The Grants.gov registration 

process must be completed before a new registrant can apply electronically. If 

all goes well, the registration process takes three to five business days. If 

problems are encountered, the registration process can take up to two weeks or 

more. Applicants must have a valid unique entity identifier number and must 

maintain a current registration in the Federal government’s primary registrant 

database, the System for Award Management (https://www.sam.gov/), as 

explained on the Grants.gov Web site. See also Section IV.3. of this NOFO. 

After registering, it may take several days or longer from the initial log-on before 

a new Grants.gov system user can submit an application. Only individuals 

authorized as organization representatives will be able to submit the application, 

and the system may need time to process a submitted application. Applicants 

should save and print the proof of submission they receive from Grants.gov. If 

problems occur while using Grants.gov, the applicant is advised to (a) print any 

error message received and (b) call Grants.gov directly for immediate 

assistance. If calling from within the United States or from a U.S. territory, 

please call 800-518-4726. If calling from a place other than the United States or 

a U.S. territory, please call 606-545-5035. Assistance from the Grants.gov Help 

Desk will be available around the clock every day, with the exception of Federal 

holidays. Help Desk service will resume at 7:00 a.m. Eastern Time the day after 

Federal holidays. For assistance using Grants.gov, you may also contact 

support@grants.gov.

(c) To find instructions on submitting an application on Grants.gov, Applicants 

should refer to the “Applicants” tab in the banner just below the top of the 

www.grants.gov home page. Clicking on the “Applicants” tab produces two 
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exceptionally useful sources of information, Applicant Actions and Applicant 

Resources, which applicants are advised to review. 

Applicants will receive a series of e-mail messages over a period of up to two 

business days before learning whether a Federal agency’s electronic system has 

received its application. Closely following the detailed information in these 

subcategories will increase the likelihood of acceptance of the application by the 

Federal agency’s electronic system. 

Applicants should pay close attention to the guidance under “Applicant FAQs,” as it 

contains information important to successful submission on Grants.gov, including 

essential details on the naming conventions for attachments to Grants.gov 

applications.

All applicants should be aware that adequate time must be factored into applicants’ 

schedules for delivery of their application. Applicants are advised that volume on 

Grants.gov may be extremely heavy leading up to the deadline date.

The application must be both received and validated by Grants.gov. The 

application is “received” when Grants.gov provides the applicant a confirmation of 

receipt and an application tracking number. If an applicant does not see this 

confirmation and tracking number, the application has not been received. After the 

application has been received, it must still be validated. During this process, it may 

be “validated” or “rejected with errors.” To know whether the application was 

rejected with errors and the reasons why, the applicant must log in to Grants.gov, 

select “Applicants” from the top navigation, and select “Track my application” from 

the drop-down list. If the status is “rejected with errors,” the applicant may still seek 

to correct the errors and resubmit your application before the deadline. If the 

applicant does not correct the errors, the application will not be forwarded to NIST 

by Grants.gov.

Refer to important information in Section IV.4. Submission Dates and Times, to help 

ensure your application is received on time. 

b. Amendments. Any amendments will be announced through Grants.gov. 

Applicants may sign up on Grants.gov to receive amendments by e-mail or may 

request copies from Danielle Santos at (301) 975-5048 or by e-mail to 

nice.nist@nist.gov. 

V. Application Review Information
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1. Evaluation Criteria. The evaluation criteria that will be used in evaluating 

applications and assigned weights are as follows:

a. Outreach Strategy (0 – 20 points). Reviewers will evaluate the extent to which 

the applicant’s proposed approach clearly addresses the program goals (see 

Section I. of this NOFO) and the extent to which the approach is likely to reach 

the full range of diverse stakeholders in the cybersecurity education, training, 

and workforce development community. Diversity will be considered 

demographically and regionally and in the range of participants within the 

cybersecurity education and workforce development community.

b. Process for Building Community Engagement (0 to 20 points). Reviewers 

will evaluate the likelihood that the applicant’s proposed process for bringing 

diverse stakeholders within the community together will be effective. This 

includes evaluating the comprehensiveness and potential effectiveness of the 

plan to recruit key leading organizations to host and sponsor conferences. 

c. Conference Planning (0 to 30 points). Reviewers will evaluate the 

comprehensiveness and likelihood of success of the applicant’s proposed plan 

for managing and conducting the full range of activities needed for the annual 

conference. Reviewers will consider how the proposed plan keeps the 

conference affordable, nationally representative, and accessible. 

d. Resources (0 - 20 points). Reviewers will evaluate the extent to which the

applicant organization, any proposed partner organizations, and key personnel,

have the qualifications, resources and past experience needed to conduct the 

proposed project effectively. The extent to which the applicant organization and 

any proposed partner organizations have experience reaching geographically 

diverse groups and past experience in similar collaborations will also be 

considered. 

e. Reasonableness of the Proposed Budget (0 – 10 points). Reviewers will 

assess the budget compared to the proposed work to ascertain the 

reasonableness and cost-effectiveness of the request. 

2. Selection Factors. The Selecting Official, who is the director of NICE, shall 

generally select and recommend applications for award based upon the rank order 

of the applications. The Selecting Official may select and recommend an

application for award out of rank order based on one or more of the following 

selection factors: 

a. The results of the reviewers’ evaluations.
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b. The availability of Federal funds.

c. Whether the project duplicates other projects funded by NIST, DoC, or by other 

Federal agencies.

d. Alignment with NICE priorities (see Section I. of this NOFO). 

3. Review and Selection Process

Proposals, reports, documents and other information related to applications submitted 

to NIST and/or relating to financial assistance awards issued by NIST will be reviewed 

and considered by Federal employees, Federal agents and contractors, and/or by nonFederal personnel who have entered into nondisclosure agreements covering such 

information, when applicable.

a. Initial Administrative Review. An initial review of timely received applications will 

be conducted to determine eligibility, completeness, and responsiveness to this 

NOFO. Applications determined to be ineligible, incomplete, and/or non-responsive 

may be eliminated from further review. However, NIST, in its sole discretion, may 

continue the review process for an application that is missing non-substantive 

information which may easily be rectified or cured at a later point in the evaluation 

process.

b. Review of Eligible, Complete, and Responsive Applications. Applications 

determined to be eligible, complete, and responsive will proceed for full reviews in 

accordance with the review and selection process below:

(1) Evaluation, Review, and Ranking. At least three independent, objective 

reviewers, who are Federal employees knowledgeable in the subject matter of 

this NOFO and its objectives, will evaluate and score each application based on 

the evaluation criteria (see Section V.1. of this NOFO). While every application 

will have at least three reviewers, applications may have differing numbers of 

reviewers if specialized expertise is needed to evaluate the application. The 

reviewers’ numeric scores and narrative comments will be forwarded to an 

Evaluation Board, a committee comprised of Federal employees knowledgeable 

in the subject matter of this NOFO and its objectives. 

The Evaluation Board will produce a ranked list of the applications using the 

average of the reviewers’ numeric scores (see Section V.2. of this NOFO). 

After conducting a review of the applications, the Evaluation Board will 

determine a numeric score threshold and applications with an average numeric 

score above the threshold will be deemed finalists while applications with an 
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average numeric score below the threshold will not receive further review or 

consideration in the competition.

Finalists may receive written follow-up questions from the Evaluation Board in 

order to clarify information in the applicant’s proposal. If deemed necessary, all 

finalists may be invited to participate in web conferences with the Evaluation 

Board to provide additional clarifications about their proposal. As a result of any 

clarifying information received during this process, the Evaluation Board 

members may decide by consensus to revise the rank order of the finalists.

(2) Recommendation and Selection. The list of finalists and their rank order will 

be provided to the Selecting Official for further consideration. The Selecting 

Official will then recommend applications for funding based upon the rank order 

of the finalists’ applications and the selection factors (see Section V.2. of this 

NOFO). 

NIST reserves the right to negotiate the budget costs with the selected applicant. 

Negotiations may include requesting that the applicant remove certain costs. 

Additionally, NIST may request that the applicant modify objectives or work plans 

and provide supplemental information required by the agency prior to award. NIST 

also reserves the right to reject an application where information is uncovered that 

raises a reasonable doubt as to the responsibility of the applicant. NIST may select 

some, all, or none of the applications, or part(s) of any particular application. NIST 

may request that fundable applicants consider working together in a combined 

project if this approach might effectively advance the program mission. The final 

approval of selected applications and issuance of awards will be by the NIST 

Grants Officer. The award decisions of the Grants Officer are final.

c. Federal Awarding Agency Review of Risk Posed by Applicants. After 

applications are proposed for funding by the Selecting Official, the NIST Grants 

Management Division (GMD) performs pre-award risk assessments in accordance 

with 2 C.F.R. § 200.205, which may include a review of the financial stability of an 

applicant, the quality of the applicant’s management systems, the history of 

performance, and/or the applicant’s ability to effectively implement statutory, 

regulatory, or other requirements imposed on non-Federal entities. 

In addition, prior to making an award where the total Federal share is expected to 

exceed the simplified acquisition threshold (currently $150,000), NIST GMD will 

review and consider the publicly available information about that applicant in the 

Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS). An 

applicant may, at its option, review and comment on information about itself 

previously entered into FAPIIS by a Federal awarding agency. As part of its review 

of risk posed by applicants, NIST GMD will consider any comments made by the 
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applicant in FAPIIS in making its determination about the applicant’s integrity, 

business ethics, and record of performance under Federal awards. Upon 

completion of the pre-award risk assessment, the Grants Officer will make a 

responsibility determination concerning whether the applicant is qualified to receive 

the subject award and, if so, whether appropriate special conditions that correspond 

to the degree of risk posed by the applicant should be applied to an award.

4. Anticipated Announcement and Award Date. Review of Applications, selection 

of successful applicants, and award processing is expected to be completed by 

early FY 2018. The earliest anticipated start date for awards under this NOFO is 

expected to be November 1, 2017.

5. Additional Information

a. Notification to Unsuccessful Applicants. Unsuccessful applicants will be notified 

in writing.

b. Retention of Unsuccessful Applications. An electronic copy of each nonselected application will be retained for three years for record keeping purposes. 

After three years, it will be destroyed.

VI. Federal Award Administration Information

1. Federal Award Notices. Successful applicants will receive an award package 

from the NIST Grants Officer. 

2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

a. Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles and Audit 

Requirements. Through 2 C.F.R. § 1327.101, the Department of Commerce 

adopted Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit 

Requirements for Federal Awards at 2 C.F.R. Part 200, which apply to awards in 

this program. Refer to http://go.usa.gov/SBYh and http://go.usa.gov/SBg4. 

b. Department of Commerce Financial Assistance Standard Terms and 

Conditions. The Department of Commerce will apply the Financial Assistance 

Standard Terms and Conditions dated March 31, 2017, accessible at

http://go.usa.gov/xXRxK, to this award. Refer to Section VII. of this NOFO, Federal 

Awarding Agency Contacts, Grant Rules and Regulations, if you seek the 

information at this link and it is no longer working or you need more information. 
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c. Pre-Award Notification Requirements. The Department of Commerce will apply 

the Pre-Award Notification Requirements for Grants and Cooperative Agreements 

dated December 30, 2014 (79 FR 78390), accessible at http://go.usa.gov/hKkR. 

Refer to Section VII. of this NOFO, Federal Awarding Agency Contacts, Grant 

Rules and Regulations, if you seek the information at this link and it is no longer 

working or you need more information.

d. Funding Availability and Limitation of Liability. Funding for the program listed in 

this NOFO is contingent upon the availability of appropriations. In no event will 

NIST or the Department of Commerce be responsible for application preparation 

costs if this program fails to receive funding or is cancelled because of agency 

priorities. Publication of this NOFO does not oblige NIST or the Department of 

Commerce to award any specific project or to obligate any available funds.

e. Collaborations with NIST Employees. No NIST employees may be named as 

collaborators on projects for this NOFO. 

f. Use of NIST Intellectual Property. If the applicant anticipates using any NISTowned intellectual property to carry out the work proposed, the applicant should 

identify such intellectual property. This information will be used to ensure that no 

NIST employee involved in the development of the intellectual property will 

participate in the review process for that competition. In addition, if the applicant 

intends to use NIST-owned intellectual property, the applicant must comply with all 

statutes and regulations governing the licensing of Federal government patents and 

inventions, described in 35 U.S.C. §§ 200-212, 37 C.F.R. Part 401, 2 C.F.R. 

§200.315, and in Section D.03 of the Department of Commerce Financial 

Assistance Terms and Conditions dated March 31, 2017 found at 

http://go.usa.gov/xXRxK.

Any use of NIST-owned intellectual property by an applicant is at the sole discretion 

of NIST and will be negotiated on a case-by-case basis if a project is deemed 

meritorious. The applicant should indicate within the project narrative whether it 

already has a license to use such intellectual property or whether it intends to seek 

one.

3. Reporting

a. Reporting Requirements. The following reporting requirements described in 

Sections A.01, Reporting Requirements, of the Department of Commerce Financial 

Assistance Standard Terms and Conditions dated March 31, 2017, 

http://go.usa.gov/xXRxK, apply to awards in this program:
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(1) Financial Reports. Each award recipient will be required to submit an SF-425, 

Federal Financial Report on a quarterly basis for the periods ending March 31, 

June 30, September 30, and December 31 of each year. Reports will be due 

within 30 days after the end of the reporting period to the NIST Grants Officer 

and Grants Specialist named in the award documents. A final financial report is 

due within 90 days after the end of the project period.

(2) Performance (Technical) Reports. Each award recipient will be required to 

submit a technical progress report to the NIST Grants Officer and the Federal 

Program Officer on a quarterly basis for the periods ending March 31, June 30, 

September 30, and December 31 of each year. Reports will be due within 30 

days after the end of the reporting period. A final technical progress report shall 

be submitted within 90 days after the expiration date of the award. Technical 

progress reports shall contain information as prescribed in 2 C.F.R. § 200.328 

(http://go.usa.gov/xkVgP) and Department of Commerce Financial Standard 

Terms and Conditions, Section A.01 (http://go.usa.gov/xXRxK).

(3) Patent and Property Reports. From time to time, and in accordance with the 

Uniform Administrative Requirements (see Section VI.2. of this NOFO) and 

other terms and conditions governing the award, the recipient may need to 

submit property and patent reports.

(4) Recipient Integrity and Performance Matters. In accordance with section 872 

of Public Law 110-417 (as amended; see 41 U.S.C. 2313), if the total value of a 

recipient’s currently active grants, cooperative agreements, and procurement 

contracts from all Federal awarding agencies exceeds $10,000,000 for any 

period of time during the period of performance of an award made under this 

NOFO, then the recipient shall be subject to the requirements specified in 

Appendix XII to 2 C.F.R. Part 200, http://go.usa.gov/cTBwC, for maintaining the 

currency of information reported to SAM that is made available in FAPIIS about 

certain civil, criminal, or administrative proceedings involving the recipient.

b. Audit Requirements. 2 C.F.R. Subpart F, adopted by the Department of

Commerce through 2 C.F.R. § 1327.101 requires any non-Federal entity (i.e., 

including non-profit institutions of higher education and other non-profit 

organizations) that expends Federal awards of $750,000 or more in the recipient’s 

fiscal year to conduct a single or program-specific audit in accordance with the 

requirements set out in the Subpart. Applicants are reminded that NIST, the 

Department of Commerce Office of Inspector General, or another authorized 

Federal agency may conduct an audit of an award at any time. 

c. Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006. In accordance 

with 2 C.F.R. Part 170, all recipients of a Federal award made on or after October 
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1, 2010, are required to comply with reporting requirements under the Federal 

Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (Pub. L. No. 109-282). In 

general, all recipients are responsible for reporting sub-awards of $25,000 or more. 

In addition, recipients that meet certain criteria are responsible for reporting 

executive compensation. Applicants must ensure they have the necessary 

processes and systems in place to comply with the reporting requirements should 

they receive funding. Also see the Federal Register notice published September 

14, 2010, at 75 FR 55663 available here http://go.usa.gov/hKnQ.

VII. Federal Awarding Agency Contacts

Questions should be directed to the following contact persons:

Subject Area Point of Contact

Programmatic and Technical Questions Danielle Santos

Phone: 301-975-5048

E-mail: nice.nist@nist.gov

Technical Assistance with Grants.gov 

Submissions

Christopher Hunton

Phone: 301-975-5718

Fax: (301) 975-8884 

E-mail: grants@nist.gov

Or

Grants.gov

Phone: (800) 518-4726

E-mail: support@grants.gov 

Grant Rules and Regulations Husai Rahman

Phone: 301-975-4355

Fax: (301) 975-8884

E-mail: husai.rahman@nist.gov

VIII. Other Information

1. Public Meetings (Applicants’ Conference): NIST will hold a webinar (Applicants’ 

Conference) to provide general information regarding NICE, offer general guidance 

on preparing applications, and answer questions. Proprietary technical discussions 
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about specific project ideas with NIST staff are not permitted at any time before 

submitting an application to NIST. Therefore, applicants should not raise 

proprietary issues at the Applicants’ Conference or any additional seminars related 

to this competition. Also, NIST staff will not critique or provide feedback on specific 

project ideas while they are being developed by an applicant. However, questions 

about NICE, evaluation and award criteria, selection process, and the general 

characteristics of a competitive application at the Applicants’ Conference and by 

email to nice.nist@nist.gov. Attendance at the Applicants’ Conference is not 

required and will not be considered in the review and selection process. 

Information on the Applicants’ Conference is available at 

https://www.nist.gov/itl/applied-cybersecurity/nice. 

2. Personal and Business Information. The applicant acknowledges and 

understands that information and data contained in applications for financial 

assistance, as well as information and data contained in financial, performance and 

other reports submitted by applicants, may be used by the Department of 

Commerce in conducting reviews and evaluations of its financial assistance 

programs. For this purpose, applicant information and data may be accessed, 

reviewed and evaluated by Department of Commerce employees, other Federal 

employees, Federal agents and contractors, and/or by non-Federal personnel, all of 

whom enter into appropriate conflicts of interest and nondisclosure agreements 

covering the use of such information. As may be provided in the terms and 

conditions of a specific financial assistance award, applicants are expected to 

support program reviews and evaluations by submitting required financial and 

performance information and data in an accurate and timely manner, and by 

cooperating with Department of Commerce and external program evaluators. In 

accordance with 2 C.F.R. § 200.303(e), applicants are reminded that they must 

take reasonable measures to safeguard protected personally identifiable 

information and other confidential or sensitive personal or business information 

created or obtained in connection with a Department of Commerce financial 

assistance award.

In addition, Department of Commerce regulations implementing the Freedom of 

Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. Sec. 552, are found at 15 C.F.R. Part 4, Public 

Information. These regulations set forth rules for the Department regarding making 

requested materials, information, and records publicly available under the FOIA. 

Applications submitted in response to this Notice of Funding Opportunity may be 

subject to requests for release under the Act. In the event that an application 

contains information or data that the applicant deems to be confidential commercial 

information that should be exempt from disclosure under FOIA, that information 

should be identified, bracketed, and marked as Privileged, Confidential, 

Commercial or Financial Information. In accordance with 15 CFR § 4.9, the 

Department of Commerce will protect from disclosure confidential business 
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information contained in financial assistance applications and other documentation 

provided by applicants to the extent permitted by law.