Office of Postsecondary Education; Overview Information; Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education-Special Focus Competition: U.S.-Russia Program: Improving Research and Educational Activities in Higher Education; Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2007, 44501-44504 [E7-15454]
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Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1–
800–877–8339 between 8 a.m. and 8
p.m., Eastern time, Monday through
Friday.
[FR Doc. E7–15476 Filed 8–7–07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Office of Postsecondary Education;
Overview Information; Fund for the
Improvement of Postsecondary
Education—Special Focus
Competition: U.S.-Russia Program:
Improving Research and Educational
Activities in Higher Education; Notice
Inviting Applications for New Awards
for Fiscal Year (FY) 2007
Catalog of Federal Domestic
Assistance (CFDA) Number: 84.116S.
Dates: Applications Available: August
8, 2007.
Deadline for Transmittal of
Applications: September 7, 2007.
Eligible Applicants: Institutions of
higher education (IHEs) or combinations
of IHEs and other public and private
nonprofit institutions and agencies.
Estimated Available Funds: $600,000.
Estimated Range of Awards:
$150,000–$300,000 for first year of the
award.
Estimated Average Size of Awards:
$400,000 for the two-year duration of
the grant.
Maximum Award: We will reject any
application that proposes a budget
exceeding $300,000 for a single budget
period of 12 months. The Assistant
Secretary for Postsecondary Education
may change the maximum amount
through a notice published in the
Federal Register.
Estimated Number of Awards: 3.
Note: The Department is not bound by any
estimates in this notice.
Project Period: Up to 24 months.
Full Text of Announcement
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I. Funding Opportunity Description
Purpose of Program: To provide
grants that demonstrate partnerships
between Russian and American
institutions of higher education that
contribute to the development and
promotion of educational opportunities
between the two nations, particularly in
the areas of mutual foreign language
learning and the cooperative study of
mathematics and science.
Priority: Under this competition, we
are particularly interested in
applications that address the following
priority.
Invitational Priority: For FY 2007 this
priority is an invitational priority.
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Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(1) we do not
give an application that meets this
invitational priority a competitive or
absolute preference over other
applications.
This priority is designed to support
the formation of educational consortia
of American and Russian institutions to
encourage mutual socio-culturallinguistic cooperation; the coordination
of joint development of curricula,
educational materials, and other types
of educational and methodological
activities; and the conduct of related
joint educational research.
This invitational priority is issued in
cooperation with the Russian Ministry
of Education and Science. These awards
support only the participation of U.S.
institutions, faculty and students in
these consortia. Russian institutions
eligible to participate in any consortium
proposal have been pre-selected by the
Russian Federation from the Russian
Federation’s ‘‘Development of Higher
Education’’ competition. The Russian
Federation has identified the following
Russian institutions as eligible for
participation in this competition:
• Plekhanov Russian Academy of
Economics.
• Moscow Engineering Physics
Institute (State University) (MEPhI).
• Southern Federal University (SFU).
These institutions, if part of a U.S.Russian consortium, will receive
separate but parallel funding from the
Russian Ministry of Education and
Science. The U.S. Department of
Education strongly encourages the
participation of U.S. institutions that
have not had any previous academic
partnerships with the Russian
institutions identified in the above
listing.
Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1138–
1138d.
Applicable Regulations: The
Education Department General
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in
34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 79, 80, 82, 84,
85, 86, 97, 98, and 99.
II. Award Information
Type of Award: Discretionary grants.
Estimated Available Funds: $600,000.
Estimated Range of Awards:
$150,000–$300,000 for first year of the
award.
Estimated Average Size of Awards:
$400,000 for the two-year duration of
grant.
Maximum Award: We will reject any
application that proposes a budget
exceeding $300,000 for a single budget
period of 12 months. The Assistant
Secretary for Postsecondary Education
may change the maximum amount
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44501
through a notice published in the
Federal Register.
Estimated Number of Awards: 3.
Note: The Department is not bound by any
estimates in this notice.
Project Period: Up to 24 months.
III. Eligibility Information
1. Eligible Applicants: Institutions of
higher education (IHEs) or combinations
of IHEs and other public and private
nonprofit institutions and agencies.
2. Cost Sharing or Matching: This
program does not require cost sharing or
matching.
IV. Application and Submission
Information
1. Address to Request Application
Package: Sylvia W. Crowder, Office of
Postsecondary Education, U.S.
Department of Education, 1990 K Street,
NW., 6th floor, Washington, DC 20006–
8544. Telephone: (202) 502–7514.
If you use a telecommunications
device for the deaf (TDD), call the
Federal Relay Service (FRS) at 1–800–
877–8339.
Individuals with disabilities can
obtain a copy of the application package
in an alternative format (e.g., Braille,
large print, audiotape, or computer
diskette) by contacting the program
contact person listed in this section.
2. Content and Form of Application
Submission: Requirements concerning
the content of an application, together
with the forms you must submit, are in
the application package for this
competition.
Page Limit: The application narrative
(Part III of the application) is where you,
the applicant, address the selection
criteria that reviewers use to evaluate
your application. You must limit the
application narrative to the equivalent
of no more than 20 pages (double
spaced), using the following standards:
• A ‘‘page’’ is 8.5″ × 11″, on one side
only, with 1″ margins at the top, bottom,
and both sides.
• Double space (no more than three
lines per vertical inch) all text in the
application narrative, including titles,
headings, footnotes, quotations,
references, and captions, as well as all
text in charts, tables, figures, and
graphs.
• Use a font that is either 12 point or
larger or no smaller than 10 pitch
(characters per inch).
• Use one of the following fonts:
Times New Roman, Courier, Courier
New, or Arial. An application submitted
in any other font (including Times
Roman and Arial Narrow) will not be
accepted.
The page limit does not apply to Part
I, the cover sheet; Part II, the budget
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section, including the narrative budget
justification; Part IV, the assurances and
certifications; or the one-page abstract,
the resumes, the bibliography, or the
letters of support. However, the page
limit does apply to all of the application
narrative section Part III.
We will reject your application if—
• You apply these standards and
exceed the page limit; or
• You apply other standards and
exceed the equivalent of the page limit.
3. Submission Dates and Times:
Applications Available: August 8,
2007.
Deadline for Transmittal of
Applications: September 7, 2007.
Applications for grants under this
program must be submitted
electronically using the Grants.gov
Apply site (Grants.gov). For information
(including dates and times) about how
to submit your application
electronically, or in paper format by
mail or hand delivery if you qualify for
an exception to the electronic
submission requirement, please refer to
section IV. 6. Other Submission
Requirements in this notice.
We do not consider an application
that does not comply with the deadline
requirements.
Individuals with disabilities who
need an accommodation or auxiliary aid
in connection with the application
process should contact the person listed
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT in section VII in this notice. If
the Department provides an
accommodation or auxiliary aid to an
individual with a disability in
connection with the application
process, the individual’s application
remains subject to all other
requirements and limitations in this
notice.
4. Intergovernmental Review: This
program is subject to Executive Order
12372 and the regulations in 34 CFR
part 79. Information about
Intergovernmental Review of Federal
Programs under Executive Order 12372
is in the application package for this
program.
5. Funding Restrictions: We specify
unallowable costs in 34 CFR part 74. We
reference regulations outlining funding
restrictions in the Applicable
Regulations section in this notice.
6. Other Submission Requirements:
Applications for grants under this
competition must be submitted
electronically unless you qualify for an
exception to this requirement in
accordance with the instructions in this
section.
a. Electronic Submission of
Applications. Applications for grants
under the U.S.-Russian Program:
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Improving Research and Educational
Activities in Higher Education, CFDA
Number 84.116S must be submitted
electronically using the Governmentwide Grants.gov Apply site at https://
www.Grants.gov. Through this site, you
will be able to download a copy of the
application package, complete it offline,
and then upload and submit your
application. You may not e-mail an
electronic copy of a grant application to
us.
We will reject your application if you
submit it in paper format unless, as
described elsewhere in this section, you
qualify for one of the exceptions to the
electronic submission requirement and
submit, no later than two weeks before
the application deadline date, a written
statement to the Department that you
qualify for one of these exceptions.
Further information regarding
calculation of the date that is two weeks
before the application deadline date is
provided later in this section under
Exception to Electronic Submission
Requirement.
You may access the electronic grant
application for the U.S.-Russian
Program: Improving Research and
Educational Activities in Higher
Education at https://www.Grants.gov.
You must search for the downloadable
application package for this competition
by the CFDA number. Do not include
the CFDA number’s alpha suffix in your
search (e.g., search for 84.326, not
84.326S).
Please note the following:
• When you enter the Grants.gov site,
you will find information about
submitting an application electronically
through the site, as well as the hours of
operation.
• Applications received by Grants.gov
are date and time stamped. Your
application must be fully uploaded and
submitted, and must be date and time
stamped by the Grants.gov system no
later than 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC
time, on the application deadline date.
Except as otherwise noted in this
section, we will not consider your
application if it is date and time
stamped by the Grants.gov system later
than 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, on
the application deadline date. When we
retrieve your application from
Grants.gov, we will notify you if we are
rejecting your application because it
was date and time stamped by the
Grants.gov system after 4:30 p.m.,
Washington, DC time, on the
application deadline date.
• The amount of time it can take to
upload an application will vary
depending on a variety of factors
including the size of the application and
the speed of your Internet connection.
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Therefore, we strongly recommend that
you do not wait until the application
deadline date to begin the submission
process through Grants.gov.
• You should review and follow the
Education Submission Procedures for
submitting an application through
Grants.gov that are included in the
application package for this competition
to ensure that you submit your
application in a timely manner to the
Grants.gov system. You can also find the
Education Submission Procedures
pertaining to Grants.gov at https://eGrants.ed.gov/help/
GrantsgovSubmissionProcedures.pdf.
• To submit your application via
Grants.gov, you must complete all steps
in the Grants.gov registration process
(see https://www.grants.gov/applicants/
get_registered.jsp). These steps include
(1) registering your organization, a
multi-part process that includes
registration with the Central Contractor
Registry (CCR); (2) registering yourself
as an Authorized Organization
Representative (AOR); and (3) getting
authorized as an AOR by your
organization. Details on these steps are
outlined in the Grants.gov 3-Step
Registration Guide (see https://
www.grants.gov/section910/
Grants.govRegistrationBrochure.pdf).
You also must provide on your
application the same D–U–N–S Number
used with this registration. Please note
that the registration process may take
five or more business days to complete,
and you must have completed all
registration steps to allow you to submit
successfully an application via
Grants.gov. In addition you will need to
update your CCR registration on an
annual basis. This may take three or
more business days to complete.
• You will not receive additional
point value because you submit your
application in electronic format, nor
will we penalize you if you qualify for
an exception to the electronic
submission requirement, as described
elsewhere in this section, and submit
your application in paper format.
• You must submit all documents
electronically, including all information
you typically provide on the following
forms: Application for Federal
Education Assistance (SF 424), the
Department of Education Supplemental
Information for SF 424, Budget
Information—Non-Construction
Programs (ED 524), and all necessary
assurances and certifications. Please
note that two of these forms—the SF 424
and the Department of Education
Supplemental Information for SF 424—
have replaced the ED 424 (Application
for Federal Education Assistance).
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• You must attach any narrative
sections of your application as files in
a .DOC (document), .RTF (rich text), or
.PDF (Portable Document) format. If you
upload a file type other than the three
file types specified in this paragraph or
submit a password-protected file, we
will not review that material.
• Your electronic application must
comply with any page-limit
requirements described in this notice.
• After you electronically submit
your application, you will receive from
Grants.gov an automatic notification of
receipt that contains a Grants.gov
tracking number. (This notification
indicates receipt by Grants.gov only, not
receipt by the Department.) The
Department then will retrieve your
application from Grants.gov and send a
second notification to you by e-mail.
This second notification indicates that
the Department has received your
application and has assigned your
application a PR/Award number (an EDspecified identifying number unique to
your application).
• We may request that you provide us
original signatures on forms at a later
date.
Application Deadline Date Extension
in Case of Technical Issues with the
Grants.gov System: If you are
experiencing problems submitting your
application through Grants.gov, please
contact the Grants.gov Support Desk at
1–800–518–4726. You must obtain a
Grants.gov Support Desk Case Number
and must keep a record of it.
If you are prevented from
electronically submitting your
application on the application deadline
date because of technical problems with
the Grants.gov system, we will grant you
an extension until 4:30 p.m.,
Washington, DC time, the following
business day to enable you to transmit
your application electronically or by
hand delivery. You also may mail your
application by following the mailing
instructions described elsewhere in this
notice.
If you submit an application after 4:30
p.m., Washington, DC time, on the
application deadline date, please
contact the person listed elsewhere in
this notice under FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT in section VII in
this notice and provide an explanation
of the technical problem you
experienced with Grants.gov, along with
the Grants.gov Support Desk Case
Number. We will accept your
application if we can confirm that a
technical problem occurred with the
Grants.gov system and that that problem
affected your ability to submit your
application by 4:30 p.m., Washington,
DC time, on the application deadline
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date. The Department will contact you
after a determination is made on
whether your application will be
accepted.
Note: The extensions to which we refer in
this section apply only to the unavailability
of, or technical problems with, the Grants.gov
system. We will not grant you an extension
if you failed to fully register to submit your
application to Grants.gov before the
application deadline date and time or if the
technical problem you experienced is
unrelated to the Grants.gov system.
Exception to Electronic Submission
Requirement: You qualify for an
exception to the electronic submission
requirement, and may submit your
application in paper format, if you are
unable to submit an application through
the Grants.gov system because—
• You do not have access to the
Internet; or
• You do not have the capacity to
upload large documents to the
Grants.gov system; and
• No later than two weeks before the
application deadline date (14 calendar
days or, if the fourteenth calendar day
before the application deadline date
falls on a Federal holiday, the next
business day following the Federal
holiday), you mail or fax a written
statement to the Department, explaining
which of the two grounds for an
exception prevent you from using the
Internet to submit your application.
If you mail your written statement to
the Department, it must be postmarked
no later than two weeks before the
application deadline date. If you fax
your written statement to the
Department, we must receive the faxed
statement no later than two weeks
before the application deadline date.
Address and mail or fax your
statement to: Sylvia W. Crowder, U.S.
Department of Education, 1990 K Street,
NW., room 6012, Washington, DC
20006–8544. Fax: (202) 502–7859.
Your paper application must be
submitted in accordance with the mail
or hand delivery instructions described
in this notice.
b. Submission of Paper Applications
by Mail. If you qualify for an exception
to the electronic submission
requirement, you may mail (through the
U.S. Postal Service or a commercial
carrier) your application to the
Department. You must mail the original
and two copies of your application, on
or before the application deadline date,
to the Department at the applicable
following address:
By mail through the U.S. Postal
Service: U.S. Department of Education,
Application Control Center, Attention:
(CFDA Number 84.116S), 400 Maryland
PO 00000
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44503
Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20202–
4260; or
By mail through a commercial carrier:
U.S. Department of Education,
Application Control Center, Stop 4260,
Attention: (CFDA Number 84.116S),
7100 Old Landover Road, Landover, MD
20785–1506.
Regardless of which address you use,
you must show proof of mailing
consisting of one of the following:
(1) A legibly dated U.S. Postal Service
postmark.
(2) A legible mail receipt with the
date of mailing stamped by the U.S.
Postal Service.
(3) A dated shipping label, invoice, or
receipt from a commercial carrier.
(4) Any other proof of mailing
acceptable to the Secretary of the U.S.
Department of Education.
If you mail your application through
the U.S. Postal Service, we do not
accept either of the following as proof
of mailing:
(1) A private metered postmark.
(2) A mail receipt that is not dated by
the U.S. Postal Service.
If your application is postmarked after
the application deadline date, we will
not consider your application.
Note: The U.S. Postal Service does not
uniformly provide a dated postmark. Before
relying on this method, you should check
with your local post office.
c. Submission of Paper Applications
by Hand Delivery. If you qualify for an
exception to the electronic submission
requirement, you (or a courier service)
may deliver your paper application to
the Department by hand. You must
deliver the original and two copies of
your application by hand, on or before
the application deadline date, to the
Department at the following address:
U.S. Department of Education,
Application Control Center, Attention:
(CFDA Number 84.116S), 550 12th
Street, SW., Room 7041, Potomac Center
Plaza, Washington, DC 20202–4260.
The Application Control Center
accepts hand deliveries daily between 8
a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC
time, except Saturdays, Sundays, and
Federal holidays.
Note for Mail or Hand Delivery of
Paper Applications:
If you mail or hand deliver your
application to the Department—
(1) You must indicate on the envelope
and—if not provided by the
Department—in Item 11 of the SF 424
the CFDA number, including suffix
letter, if any, of the competition under
which you are submitting your
application; and
(2) The Application Control Center
will mail to you a notification of receipt
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of your grant application. If you do not
receive this notification within 15
business days from the application
deadline date, you should call the U.S.
Department of Education Application
Control Center at (202) 245–6288.
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V. Application Review Information
Selection Criteria: The selection
criteria for evaluating applications for
this program are from 34 CFR 75.210 of
EDGAR and are listed in the application
package.
VI. Award Administration Information
1. Award Notices: If your application
is successful, we notify your U.S.
Representative and U.S. Senators and
send you a Grant Award Notice (GAN).
We may notify you informally, also.
If your application is not evaluated or
not selected for funding, we notify you.
2. Administrative and National Policy
Requirements: We identify
administrative and national policy
requirements in the application package
and reference these and other
requirements in the Applicable
Regulations section of this notice.
We reference the regulations outlining
the terms and conditions of an award in
the Applicable Regulations section of
this notice and include these and other
specific conditions in the GAN. The
GAN also incorporates your approved
application as part of your binding
commitments under the grant.
3. Reporting: At the end of your
project period, you must submit a final
performance report, including financial
information, as directed by the
Secretary. If you receive a multi-year
award, you must submit an annual
performance report that provides the
most current performance and financial
expenditure information as specified by
the Secretary in 34 CFR 75.118. The
Secretary may also require more
frequent performance reports under 34
CFR 75.720(c). For specific
requirements on reporting, please go to
https://www.ed.gov/fund/grant/apply/
appforms/appforms.html.
4. Performance Measures: The success
of this program depends upon—(1) The
extent to which funded projects are
being replicated (i.e., adopted or
adapted by others); and (2) The manner
in which projects are being
institutionalized and continued after
funding. These two performance
measures constitute the Fund for the
Improvement of Postsecondary
Education’s (FIPSE’s) indicators of the
success of the program. If funded, you
will be asked to collect and report data
from your project on steps taken toward
achieving these goals. Consequently,
applicants are advised to include these
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19:14 Aug 07, 2007
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two outcomes in conceptualizing the
design, implementation, and evaluation
of their proposed projects.
Institutionalization and replication are
important outcomes that ensure the
ultimate success of international
consortia funded through this program.
Directly related to these two
performance measures is the capacity
for projects to develop long-term
research and educational collaboration
and exchanges of students, faculty, and
administrative personnel of U.S. and
Russian institutions.
VII. Agency Contact
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Sylvia W. Crowder, Office of
Postsecondary Education, U.S.-Russia
Program: Improving Research and
Educational Activities in Higher
Education, 1990 K Street, NW., 6th
Floor, Washington, DC 20006–8544.
Telephone: (202) 502–7514.
If you use a TDD, call the FRS, toll
free, at 1–800–877–8339.
VIII. Other Information
Alternative Format: Individuals with
disabilities can obtain this document
and a copy of the application package in
an alternative format (e.g., Braille, large
print, audiotape, or computer diskette)
on request to the program contact
person listed under FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT in section VII in
this notice.
Electronic Access to This Document:
You may view this document, as well as
all other documents of this Department
published in the Federal Register, in
text or Adobe Portable Document
Format (PDF) on the Internet at the
following site: https://www.ed.gov/news/
fedregister.
To use PDF you must have Adobe
Acrobat Reader, which is available free
at this site. If you have questions about
using PDF, call the U.S. Government
Printing Office (GPO), toll free, at 1–
888–293–6498; or in the Washington,
DC, area at (202) 512–1530.
Note: The official version of this document
is the document published in the Federal
Register. Free Internet access to the official
edition of the Federal Register and the Code
of Federal Regulations is available on GPO
Access at: https://www.gpoaccess.gov/nara/
index.html.
Dated: August 3, 2007.
James F. Manning,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary
Education.
[FR Doc. E7–15454 Filed 8–7–07; 8:45 am]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission
[Docket No. RR07–14–000]
North American Electric Reliability
Corporation; Notice of Compliance
Filing
August 1, 2007.
Take notice that on July 20, 2007, the
North American Electric Reliability
Corporation (NERC) submitted a
compliance filing to paragraph 468 of
Order No. 672 issued February 3, 2006.
Any person desiring to intervene or to
protest this filing must file in
accordance with Rules 211 and 214 of
the Commission’s Rules of Practice and
Procedure (18 CFR 385.211, 385.214).
Protests will be considered by the
Commission in determining the
appropriate action to be taken, but will
not serve to make protestants parties to
the proceeding. Any person wishing to
become a party must file a notice of
intervention or motion to intervene, as
appropriate. Such notices, motions, or
protests must be filed on or before the
comment date. On or before the
comment date, it is not necessary to
serve motions to intervene or protests
on persons other than the Applicant.
The Commission encourages
electronic submission of protests and
interventions in lieu of paper using the
‘‘eFiling’’ link at https://www.ferc.gov.
Persons unable to file electronically
should submit an original and 14 copies
of the protest or intervention to the
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission,
888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC
20426.
This filing is accessible on-line at
https://www.ferc.gov, using the
‘‘eLibrary’’ link and is available for
review in the Commission’s Public
Reference Room in Washington, DC.
There is an ‘‘eSubscription’’ link on the
Web site that enables subscribers to
receive e-mail notification when a
document is added to a subscribed
docket(s). For assistance with any FERC
Online service, please e-mail
FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov, or call
(866) 208–3676 (toll free). For TTY, call
(202) 502–8659.
Comment Date: 5 p.m. Eastern Time
on August 20, 2007.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. E7–15403 Filed 8–7–07; 8:45 am]
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 152 (Wednesday, August 8, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44501-44504]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-15454]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Office of Postsecondary Education; Overview Information; Fund for
the Improvement of Postsecondary Education--Special Focus Competition:
U.S.-Russia Program: Improving Research and Educational Activities in
Higher Education; Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards for
Fiscal Year (FY) 2007
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 84.116S.
Dates: Applications Available: August 8, 2007.
Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: September 7, 2007.
Eligible Applicants: Institutions of higher education (IHEs) or
combinations of IHEs and other public and private nonprofit
institutions and agencies.
Estimated Available Funds: $600,000.
Estimated Range of Awards: $150,000-$300,000 for first year of the
award.
Estimated Average Size of Awards: $400,000 for the two-year
duration of the grant.
Maximum Award: We will reject any application that proposes a
budget exceeding $300,000 for a single budget period of 12 months. The
Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education may change the maximum
amount through a notice published in the Federal Register.
Estimated Number of Awards: 3.
Note: The Department is not bound by any estimates in this
notice.
Project Period: Up to 24 months.
Full Text of Announcement
I. Funding Opportunity Description
Purpose of Program: To provide grants that demonstrate partnerships
between Russian and American institutions of higher education that
contribute to the development and promotion of educational
opportunities between the two nations, particularly in the areas of
mutual foreign language learning and the cooperative study of
mathematics and science.
Priority: Under this competition, we are particularly interested in
applications that address the following priority.
Invitational Priority: For FY 2007 this priority is an invitational
priority. Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(1) we do not give an application that
meets this invitational priority a competitive or absolute preference
over other applications.
This priority is designed to support the formation of educational
consortia of American and Russian institutions to encourage mutual
socio-cultural-linguistic cooperation; the coordination of joint
development of curricula, educational materials, and other types of
educational and methodological activities; and the conduct of related
joint educational research.
This invitational priority is issued in cooperation with the
Russian Ministry of Education and Science. These awards support only
the participation of U.S. institutions, faculty and students in these
consortia. Russian institutions eligible to participate in any
consortium proposal have been pre-selected by the Russian Federation
from the Russian Federation's ``Development of Higher Education''
competition. The Russian Federation has identified the following
Russian institutions as eligible for participation in this competition:
Plekhanov Russian Academy of Economics.
Moscow Engineering Physics Institute (State University)
(MEPhI).
Southern Federal University (SFU).
These institutions, if part of a U.S.-Russian consortium, will receive
separate but parallel funding from the Russian Ministry of Education
and Science. The U.S. Department of Education strongly encourages the
participation of U.S. institutions that have not had any previous
academic partnerships with the Russian institutions identified in the
above listing.
Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1138-1138d.
Applicable Regulations: The Education Department General
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 79, 80,
82, 84, 85, 86, 97, 98, and 99.
II. Award Information
Type of Award: Discretionary grants.
Estimated Available Funds: $600,000.
Estimated Range of Awards: $150,000-$300,000 for first year of the
award.
Estimated Average Size of Awards: $400,000 for the two-year
duration of grant.
Maximum Award: We will reject any application that proposes a
budget exceeding $300,000 for a single budget period of 12 months. The
Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education may change the maximum
amount through a notice published in the Federal Register.
Estimated Number of Awards: 3.
Note: The Department is not bound by any estimates in this
notice.
Project Period: Up to 24 months.
III. Eligibility Information
1. Eligible Applicants: Institutions of higher education (IHEs) or
combinations of IHEs and other public and private nonprofit
institutions and agencies.
2. Cost Sharing or Matching: This program does not require cost
sharing or matching.
IV. Application and Submission Information
1. Address to Request Application Package: Sylvia W. Crowder,
Office of Postsecondary Education, U.S. Department of Education, 1990 K
Street, NW., 6th floor, Washington, DC 20006-8544. Telephone: (202)
502-7514.
If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), call the
Federal Relay Service (FRS) at 1-800-877-8339.
Individuals with disabilities can obtain a copy of the application
package in an alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print,
audiotape, or computer diskette) by contacting the program contact
person listed in this section.
2. Content and Form of Application Submission: Requirements
concerning the content of an application, together with the forms you
must submit, are in the application package for this competition.
Page Limit: The application narrative (Part III of the application)
is where you, the applicant, address the selection criteria that
reviewers use to evaluate your application. You must limit the
application narrative to the equivalent of no more than 20 pages
(double spaced), using the following standards:
A ``page'' is 8.5 x 11, on one side
only, with 1 margins at the top, bottom, and both sides.
Double space (no more than three lines per vertical inch)
all text in the application narrative, including titles, headings,
footnotes, quotations, references, and captions, as well as all text in
charts, tables, figures, and graphs.
Use a font that is either 12 point or larger or no smaller
than 10 pitch (characters per inch).
Use one of the following fonts: Times New Roman, Courier,
Courier New, or Arial. An application submitted in any other font
(including Times Roman and Arial Narrow) will not be accepted.
The page limit does not apply to Part I, the cover sheet; Part II,
the budget
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section, including the narrative budget justification; Part IV, the
assurances and certifications; or the one-page abstract, the resumes,
the bibliography, or the letters of support. However, the page limit
does apply to all of the application narrative section Part III.
We will reject your application if--
You apply these standards and exceed the page limit; or
You apply other standards and exceed the equivalent of the
page limit.
3. Submission Dates and Times:
Applications Available: August 8, 2007.
Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: September 7, 2007.
Applications for grants under this program must be submitted
electronically using the Grants.gov Apply site (Grants.gov). For
information (including dates and times) about how to submit your
application electronically, or in paper format by mail or hand delivery
if you qualify for an exception to the electronic submission
requirement, please refer to section IV. 6. Other Submission
Requirements in this notice.
We do not consider an application that does not comply with the
deadline requirements.
Individuals with disabilities who need an accommodation or
auxiliary aid in connection with the application process should contact
the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT in section VII
in this notice. If the Department provides an accommodation or
auxiliary aid to an individual with a disability in connection with the
application process, the individual's application remains subject to
all other requirements and limitations in this notice.
4. Intergovernmental Review: This program is subject to Executive
Order 12372 and the regulations in 34 CFR part 79. Information about
Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs under Executive Order
12372 is in the application package for this program.
5. Funding Restrictions: We specify unallowable costs in 34 CFR
part 74. We reference regulations outlining funding restrictions in the
Applicable Regulations section in this notice.
6. Other Submission Requirements: Applications for grants under
this competition must be submitted electronically unless you qualify
for an exception to this requirement in accordance with the
instructions in this section.
a. Electronic Submission of Applications. Applications for grants
under the U.S.-Russian Program: Improving Research and Educational
Activities in Higher Education, CFDA Number 84.116S must be submitted
electronically using the Government-wide Grants.gov Apply site at
https://www.Grants.gov. Through this site, you will be able to download
a copy of the application package, complete it offline, and then upload
and submit your application. You may not e-mail an electronic copy of a
grant application to us.
We will reject your application if you submit it in paper format
unless, as described elsewhere in this section, you qualify for one of
the exceptions to the electronic submission requirement and submit, no
later than two weeks before the application deadline date, a written
statement to the Department that you qualify for one of these
exceptions. Further information regarding calculation of the date that
is two weeks before the application deadline date is provided later in
this section under Exception to Electronic Submission Requirement.
You may access the electronic grant application for the U.S.-
Russian Program: Improving Research and Educational Activities in
Higher Education at https://www.Grants.gov. You must search for the
downloadable application package for this competition by the CFDA
number. Do not include the CFDA number's alpha suffix in your search
(e.g., search for 84.326, not 84.326S).
Please note the following:
When you enter the Grants.gov site, you will find
information about submitting an application electronically through the
site, as well as the hours of operation.
Applications received by Grants.gov are date and time
stamped. Your application must be fully uploaded and submitted, and
must be date and time stamped by the Grants.gov system no later than
4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, on the application deadline date.
Except as otherwise noted in this section, we will not consider your
application if it is date and time stamped by the Grants.gov system
later than 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, on the application deadline
date. When we retrieve your application from Grants.gov, we will notify
you if we are rejecting your application because it was date and time
stamped by the Grants.gov system after 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time,
on the application deadline date.
The amount of time it can take to upload an application
will vary depending on a variety of factors including the size of the
application and the speed of your Internet connection. Therefore, we
strongly recommend that you do not wait until the application deadline
date to begin the submission process through Grants.gov.
You should review and follow the Education Submission
Procedures for submitting an application through Grants.gov that are
included in the application package for this competition to ensure that
you submit your application in a timely manner to the Grants.gov
system. You can also find the Education Submission Procedures
pertaining to Grants.gov at https://e-Grants.ed.gov/help/
GrantsgovSubmissionProcedures.pdf.
To submit your application via Grants.gov, you must
complete all steps in the Grants.gov registration process (see https://
www.grants.gov/applicants/get_registered.jsp). These steps include (1)
registering your organization, a multi-part process that includes
registration with the Central Contractor Registry (CCR); (2)
registering yourself as an Authorized Organization Representative
(AOR); and (3) getting authorized as an AOR by your organization.
Details on these steps are outlined in the Grants.gov 3-Step
Registration Guide (see https://www.grants.gov/section910/
Grants.govRegistrationBrochure.pdf). You also must provide on your
application the same D-U-N-S Number used with this registration. Please
note that the registration process may take five or more business days
to complete, and you must have completed all registration steps to
allow you to submit successfully an application via Grants.gov. In
addition you will need to update your CCR registration on an annual
basis. This may take three or more business days to complete.
You will not receive additional point value because you
submit your application in electronic format, nor will we penalize you
if you qualify for an exception to the electronic submission
requirement, as described elsewhere in this section, and submit your
application in paper format.
You must submit all documents electronically, including
all information you typically provide on the following forms:
Application for Federal Education Assistance (SF 424), the Department
of Education Supplemental Information for SF 424, Budget Information--
Non-Construction Programs (ED 524), and all necessary assurances and
certifications. Please note that two of these forms--the SF 424 and the
Department of Education Supplemental Information for SF 424--have
replaced the ED 424 (Application for Federal Education Assistance).
[[Page 44503]]
You must attach any narrative sections of your application
as files in a .DOC (document), .RTF (rich text), or .PDF (Portable
Document) format. If you upload a file type other than the three file
types specified in this paragraph or submit a password-protected file,
we will not review that material.
Your electronic application must comply with any page-
limit requirements described in this notice.
After you electronically submit your application, you will
receive from Grants.gov an automatic notification of receipt that
contains a Grants.gov tracking number. (This notification indicates
receipt by Grants.gov only, not receipt by the Department.) The
Department then will retrieve your application from Grants.gov and send
a second notification to you by e-mail. This second notification
indicates that the Department has received your application and has
assigned your application a PR/Award number (an ED-specified
identifying number unique to your application).
We may request that you provide us original signatures on
forms at a later date.
Application Deadline Date Extension in Case of Technical Issues
with the Grants.gov System: If you are experiencing problems submitting
your application through Grants.gov, please contact the Grants.gov
Support Desk at 1-800-518-4726. You must obtain a Grants.gov Support
Desk Case Number and must keep a record of it.
If you are prevented from electronically submitting your
application on the application deadline date because of technical
problems with the Grants.gov system, we will grant you an extension
until 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, the following business day to
enable you to transmit your application electronically or by hand
delivery. You also may mail your application by following the mailing
instructions described elsewhere in this notice.
If you submit an application after 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time,
on the application deadline date, please contact the person listed
elsewhere in this notice under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT in
section VII in this notice and provide an explanation of the technical
problem you experienced with Grants.gov, along with the Grants.gov
Support Desk Case Number. We will accept your application if we can
confirm that a technical problem occurred with the Grants.gov system
and that that problem affected your ability to submit your application
by 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, on the application deadline date.
The Department will contact you after a determination is made on
whether your application will be accepted.
Note: The extensions to which we refer in this section apply
only to the unavailability of, or technical problems with, the
Grants.gov system. We will not grant you an extension if you failed
to fully register to submit your application to Grants.gov before
the application deadline date and time or if the technical problem
you experienced is unrelated to the Grants.gov system.
Exception to Electronic Submission Requirement: You qualify for an
exception to the electronic submission requirement, and may submit your
application in paper format, if you are unable to submit an application
through the Grants.gov system because--
You do not have access to the Internet; or
You do not have the capacity to upload large documents to
the Grants.gov system; and
No later than two weeks before the application deadline
date (14 calendar days or, if the fourteenth calendar day before the
application deadline date falls on a Federal holiday, the next business
day following the Federal holiday), you mail or fax a written statement
to the Department, explaining which of the two grounds for an exception
prevent you from using the Internet to submit your application.
If you mail your written statement to the Department, it must be
postmarked no later than two weeks before the application deadline
date. If you fax your written statement to the Department, we must
receive the faxed statement no later than two weeks before the
application deadline date.
Address and mail or fax your statement to: Sylvia W. Crowder, U.S.
Department of Education, 1990 K Street, NW., room 6012, Washington, DC
20006-8544. Fax: (202) 502-7859.
Your paper application must be submitted in accordance with the
mail or hand delivery instructions described in this notice.
b. Submission of Paper Applications by Mail. If you qualify for an
exception to the electronic submission requirement, you may mail
(through the U.S. Postal Service or a commercial carrier) your
application to the Department. You must mail the original and two
copies of your application, on or before the application deadline date,
to the Department at the applicable following address:
By mail through the U.S. Postal Service: U.S. Department of
Education, Application Control Center, Attention: (CFDA Number
84.116S), 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20202-4260; or
By mail through a commercial carrier: U.S. Department of Education,
Application Control Center, Stop 4260, Attention: (CFDA Number
84.116S), 7100 Old Landover Road, Landover, MD 20785-1506.
Regardless of which address you use, you must show proof of mailing
consisting of one of the following:
(1) A legibly dated U.S. Postal Service postmark.
(2) A legible mail receipt with the date of mailing stamped by the
U.S. Postal Service.
(3) A dated shipping label, invoice, or receipt from a commercial
carrier.
(4) Any other proof of mailing acceptable to the Secretary of the
U.S. Department of Education.
If you mail your application through the U.S. Postal Service, we do
not accept either of the following as proof of mailing:
(1) A private metered postmark.
(2) A mail receipt that is not dated by the U.S. Postal Service.
If your application is postmarked after the application deadline
date, we will not consider your application.
Note: The U.S. Postal Service does not uniformly provide a dated
postmark. Before relying on this method, you should check with your
local post office.
c. Submission of Paper Applications by Hand Delivery. If you
qualify for an exception to the electronic submission requirement, you
(or a courier service) may deliver your paper application to the
Department by hand. You must deliver the original and two copies of
your application by hand, on or before the application deadline date,
to the Department at the following address:
U.S. Department of Education, Application Control Center,
Attention: (CFDA Number 84.116S), 550 12th Street, SW., Room 7041,
Potomac Center Plaza, Washington, DC 20202-4260.
The Application Control Center accepts hand deliveries daily
between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, except Saturdays,
Sundays, and Federal holidays.
Note for Mail or Hand Delivery of Paper Applications:
If you mail or hand deliver your application to the Department--
(1) You must indicate on the envelope and--if not provided by the
Department--in Item 11 of the SF 424 the CFDA number, including suffix
letter, if any, of the competition under which you are submitting your
application; and
(2) The Application Control Center will mail to you a notification
of receipt
[[Page 44504]]
of your grant application. If you do not receive this notification
within 15 business days from the application deadline date, you should
call the U.S. Department of Education Application Control Center at
(202) 245-6288.
V. Application Review Information
Selection Criteria: The selection criteria for evaluating
applications for this program are from 34 CFR 75.210 of EDGAR and are
listed in the application package.
VI. Award Administration Information
1. Award Notices: If your application is successful, we notify your
U.S. Representative and U.S. Senators and send you a Grant Award Notice
(GAN). We may notify you informally, also.
If your application is not evaluated or not selected for funding,
we notify you.
2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements: We identify
administrative and national policy requirements in the application
package and reference these and other requirements in the Applicable
Regulations section of this notice.
We reference the regulations outlining the terms and conditions of
an award in the Applicable Regulations section of this notice and
include these and other specific conditions in the GAN. The GAN also
incorporates your approved application as part of your binding
commitments under the grant.
3. Reporting: At the end of your project period, you must submit a
final performance report, including financial information, as directed
by the Secretary. If you receive a multi-year award, you must submit an
annual performance report that provides the most current performance
and financial expenditure information as specified by the Secretary in
34 CFR 75.118. The Secretary may also require more frequent performance
reports under 34 CFR 75.720(c). For specific requirements on reporting,
please go to https://www.ed.gov/fund/grant/apply/appforms/appforms.html.
4. Performance Measures: The success of this program depends upon--
(1) The extent to which funded projects are being replicated (i.e.,
adopted or adapted by others); and (2) The manner in which projects are
being institutionalized and continued after funding. These two
performance measures constitute the Fund for the Improvement of
Postsecondary Education's (FIPSE's) indicators of the success of the
program. If funded, you will be asked to collect and report data from
your project on steps taken toward achieving these goals. Consequently,
applicants are advised to include these two outcomes in conceptualizing
the design, implementation, and evaluation of their proposed projects.
Institutionalization and replication are important outcomes that ensure
the ultimate success of international consortia funded through this
program. Directly related to these two performance measures is the
capacity for projects to develop long-term research and educational
collaboration and exchanges of students, faculty, and administrative
personnel of U.S. and Russian institutions.
VII. Agency Contact
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sylvia W. Crowder, Office of
Postsecondary Education, U.S.-Russia Program: Improving Research and
Educational Activities in Higher Education, 1990 K Street, NW., 6th
Floor, Washington, DC 20006-8544. Telephone: (202) 502-7514.
If you use a TDD, call the FRS, toll free, at 1-800-877-8339.
VIII. Other Information
Alternative Format: Individuals with disabilities can obtain this
document and a copy of the application package in an alternative format
(e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer diskette) on
request to the program contact person listed under FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT in section VII in this notice.
Electronic Access to This Document: You may view this document, as
well as all other documents of this Department published in the Federal
Register, in text or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) on the
Internet at the following site: https://www.ed.gov/news/fedregister.
To use PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available
free at this site. If you have questions about using PDF, call the U.S.
Government Printing Office (GPO), toll free, at 1-888-293-6498; or in
the Washington, DC, area at (202) 512-1530.
Note: The official version of this document is the document
published in the Federal Register. Free Internet access to the
official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of Federal
Regulations is available on GPO Access at: https://www.gpoaccess.gov/
nara/.
Dated: August 3, 2007.
James F. Manning,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education.
[FR Doc. E7-15454 Filed 8-7-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P
