[Federal Register: September 26, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 187)]
[Notices]
[Page 60643-60645]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr26se02-42]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
[CFDA No. 84.274A]
Office of Postsecondary Education; American Overseas Research
Centers Program; Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards for Fiscal
Year (FY) 2003
Purpose of Program: The American Overseas Research Centers (AORC)
Program makes awards to any American overseas research center that is a
consortium of United States institutions of higher education to enable
the center to promote postgraduate research, exchanges, and area
studies. AORC awards may be used to pay all or a portion of the cost of
establishing or operating a center or program, including the cost of
operation and maintenance of overseas facilities; the cost of
organizing and managing conferences; the cost of teaching and research
materials; the cost of acquisition, maintenance, and preservation of
library collections; the cost of bringing visiting scholars and faculty
to the center to teach or to conduct research; the cost of faculty and
staff stipends and salaries; the cost of faculty, staff, and student
travel; and, the cost of publication and dissemination of material for
the scholarly and general public.
For FY 2003 the competition for new awards focuses on projects
designed to meet the priorities described in the Priorities section of
this application notice.
Eligible Applicants: Centers that (1) receive more than 50 percent
of their funding from public or private United States sources; (2) have
a permanent presence in the country in which the center is located; and
(3) are organizations described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986, which are exempt from taxation under section
501(a) of the Code.
Applications Available: October 11, 2002.
Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: November 15, 2002.
Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: January 14, 2003.
Estimated Available Funds: The Administration has requested
$1,000,000 for this program for FY 2003. The actual level of funding,
if any, depends on final congressional action. However, we are inviting
applications to allow enough time to complete the grant process, if
Congress appropriates funds for this program.
Estimated Range of Awards: $38,378--$126,509.
Estimated Average Size of Awards: $76,923 per year.
Estimated Number of Awards: 13.
[[Page 60644]]
Note: The Department is not bound by any estimates in this
notice.
Project Period: 48 months.
Page Limit: The application narrative is where you, the applicant,
address the selection criteria that reviewers use to evaluate your
application. You must limit the narrative to the equivalent of no more
than 25 pages, using the following standards:
[sbull] A ``page'' is 8.5'' x 11'', on one side only, with 1''
margins at the top, bottom, and both sides.
[sbull] Double space (no more than three lines per vertical inch)
all text in the application narrative, including titles, headings,
footnotes, quotations, references, and captions. However, you may
single space all text in charts, tables, figures and graphs.
[sbull] Use a font that is either 12-point or larger or no smaller
than 10 pitch (characters per inch). However you may use a 10-point
font in charts, tables, figures, and graphs.
The page limit does not apply to the cover sheet; the budget
section, including the narrative budget justification; the assurances
and certifications; or the one-page abstract or the appendices.
However, you must include all of the application narrative in
responding to the selection criteria.
We will reject your application if--
[sbull] You apply these standards and exceed the page limit; or
[sbull] You apply other standards and exceed the equivalent of the
page limit.
Applicable Regulations: (a) The Education Department General
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 79, 80,
81, 82, 85, 86, 97, 98, and 99.
Note: The AORC Program does not have program specific
regulations; therefore, applicants are directed to the authorizing
statute, section 609 of part A, title VI of the Higher Education Act
of 1965, as amended.
Priorities
Invitational Priority
We are particularly interested in applications that meet the
following priority.
Activities and programs designed to promote information sharing
among U.S. researchers using the overseas centers.
Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(1) we do not give an application that meets
the priority a competitive or absolute preference over other
applications.
Application Procedures
The Government Paperwork Elimination Act (GPEA) of 1998, (Pub. L.
105-277) and the Federal Financial Assistance Management Improvement
Act of 1999, (Pub. L. 106-107) encourage us to undertake initiatives to
improve our grant processes. Enhancing the ability of individuals and
entities to conduct business with us electronically is a major part of
our response to these Acts. Therefore, we are taking steps to adopt the
Internet as our chief means of conducting transactions in order to
improve services to our customers and to simplify and expedite our
business processes.
We are requiring that applications for the FY 2003 AORC Program
competition for new awards be submitted electronically using e-
APPLICATION available through the Education Department's e-GRANTS
system. The e-GRANTS system is accessible through its portal page at:
http://e-grants.ed.gov.
Applicants who are unable to submit an application through the e-
GRANTS system may apply for a waiver to the electronic submission
requirement. To apply for a waiver, applicants must explain the
reason(s) that prevent them from using the Internet to submit their
applications. The reason(s) must be outlined in a letter addressed to
Cheryl E. Gibbs, U.S. Department of Education, 1990 K Street, NW.,
Suite 6000, Washington, DC 20006-8521. Please submit your letter no
later than two weeks before the deadline for transmittal of
applications.
Any application that receives a waiver to the electronic submission
requirement will be given the same consideration in the review process
as an electronic application.
Waiver of Proposed Rulemaking
Some of the procedures in these instructions for transmitting
applications differ from those in the Education Department General
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) (34 CFR 75.102). Under the
Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 553) the Department generally
offers interested parties the opportunity to comment on proposed
regulations. However, these amendments make procedural changes only and
do not establish new substantive policy. Therefore, under 5 U.S.C.
553(b)(A), the Secretary has determined that proposed rulemaking is not
required.
Pilot Project for Electronic Submission of Applications
In FY 2003, the U.S. Department of Education is continuing to
expand its pilot project of electronic submission of applications to
include additional formula grant programs and additional discretionary
grant competitions. The AORC Program (CFDA 84.274A) is one of the
programs included in the pilot project. If you are an applicant under
the AORC Program, you must submit your application to us in electronic
format or receive a waiver.
The pilot project involves the use of the Electronic Grant
Application System (e-APPLICATION, formerly e-GAPS) portion of the
Grant Administrative and Payment System (GAPS). We shall continue to
evaluate its success and solicit suggestions for improvement.
Please note the following:
[sbull] Do not wait until the deadline date for the transmittal of
applications to submit your application electronically. If you wait
until the deadline date to submit your application electronically and
you are unable to access the e-APPLICATION system, you must contact the
Help Desk by 4:30 p.m. Washington, DC time on the deadline date.
[sbull] Keep in mind that e-APPLICATION is not operational 24 hours
a day 7 days a week. Click on Hours of Web Site Operation for specific
hours of access during the week.
[sbull] You will have access to the e-APPLICATION Help Desk for
technical support: 1-888-336-8930 (TTY: 1-866-697-2696, local 202-401-
8363). The Help Desk hours of operation are limited to: 8 a.m.-6 p.m.
Washington DC time Monday-Friday.
[sbull] You can submit all documents electronically, including the
Application for Federal Assistance (ED 424 Standard Face Sheet), Budget
Information-Non-Construction Programs (ED 524), and all necessary
assurances and certifications.
[sbull] Within three working days of submitting your electronic
application, fax a signed copy of the Application for Federal
Assistance (ED 424 Standard Face Sheet) to the Application Control
Center after following these steps:
1. Print ED 424 from the e-APPLICATION system.
2. Make sure that the applicant's Authorized Representative signs
this form.
3. Before faxing this form, submit your electronic application via
the e-APPLICATION system. You will receive an automatic
acknowledgement, which will include a PR/Award number (an identifying
number unique to your application).
4. Place the PR/Award number in the upper right hand corner of ED
424.
5. Fax ED 424 to the Application Control Center at (202) 260-1349.
[sbull] We may request that you give us original signatures on all
other forms at a later date.
You may access the electronic grant application for the AORC
Program at: http://e-grants.ed.gov.
[[Page 60645]]
We have included additional information about the e-APPLICATION
pilot project (see Parity Guidelines between Paper and Electronic
Applications) in the application package.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cheryl E. Gibbs, International
Education and Graduate Programs Service, U.S. Department of Education,
1990 K Street, NW., Suite 6000, Washington, DC 20006-8521. Telephone:
(202) 502-7634 or via Internet: cheryl.gibbs@ed.gov.
If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you may
call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339.
Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document 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.
Individuals with disabilities may obtain a copy of the application
package in an alternative format by contacting that person. However,
the Department is not able to reproduce in an alternative format the
standard forms included in the application package.
Electronic Access to This Document
You may view this document, as well as all other Department of
Education documents published in the Federal Register, in text or Adobe
Portable Document Format (PDF) on the Internet at the following site:
www.ed.gov/legislation/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.
You may also view this document in PDF at the following site:
http://www.ed.gov/offices/OPE/HEP/iegps/.
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: http://
www.access.gpo.gov/nara/index.html.
Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1128a.
Dated: September 23, 2002.
Sally L. Stroup,
Assistant Secretary, Office of Postsecondary Education.
[FR Doc. 02-24434 Filed 9-25-02; 8:45 am]
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