[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 170 (Wednesday, September 2, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46830-46831]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-23605]
[[Page 46829]]
_______________________________________________________________________
Part II
Department of Education
_______________________________________________________________________
Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education--Comprehensive
Program (Preapplications and Applications); Notice
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 170 / Wednesday, September 2, 1998 /
Notices
[[Page 46830]]
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
[CFDA Nos. 84.116A; 84.116B]
Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education--
Comprehensive Program (Preapplications and Applications); Notice
Inviting Applications for New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 1999
Purpose of Program: To provide grants or enter into cooperative
agreements to improve postsecondary education opportunities.
Eligible Applicants: Institutions of higher education or
combinations of such institutions and other public and private
nonprofit educational institutions and agencies.
Deadline for Transmittal of Preapplications: October 22, 1998.
Deadline for Transmittal of Final Applications: March 19, 1999.
Note: All applicants must submit a preapplication to be eligible
to submit a final application.
Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: May 18, 1999.
Applications Available: September 2, 1998.
Available Funds: The Administration's request for the Fund for the
Improvement of Postsecondary Education for FY 1999 is $22,500,000. Of
this amount, it is anticipated that approximately $6,500,000 will be
available for an estimated 80 new awards under the Comprehensive
Program. The Congress has not yet completed action on the FY 1999
appropriation. The estimates in this notice assume passage of the
Administration's request.
Estimated Range of Awards: $15,000 to $150,000 per year.
Estimated Average Size of Awards: $80,000.
Estimated Number of Awards: 80.
Note: The Department is not bound by any estimates in this
notice.
Project Period: Up to 36 months.
Applicable Regulations: (a) The Education Department General
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 79, 80,
82, 85, and 86.
Priorities
Invitational Priorities
While applicants may propose any project within the scope of 20
U.S.C. 1135(a), pursuant to 34 CFR 75.105(c)(1) the Secretary is
particularly interested in applications that meet one or more of the
following invitational priorities. However, an application that meets
one or more of these invitational priorities does not receive
competitive or absolute preference over other applications:
Invitational Priority 1--Projects to support new ways of ensuring
equal access to postsecondary education, and to improve rates of
retention and program completion, especially for low-income and
underrepresented minority students, whose retention and completion
rates continue to lag disturbingly behind those of other groups.
Invitational Priority 2--Projects to improve campus climates for
learning by creating an environment that is safe, welcoming, and
conducive to academic growth for all students.
Invitational Priority 3--Projects to support innovative reforms of
undergraduate, graduate, and professional curricula that improve not
only what students learn, but how they learn.
Invitational Priority 4--Projects to make more productive use of
resources to improve teaching and learning; and to increase learning
productivity--that is, to transform programs and teaching to promote
more student learning relative to institutional resources expended.
Invitational Priority 5--Projects to support the professional
development of full-and part-time faculty by assessing and rewarding
effective teaching; promoting new and more effective teaching methods;
and improving the preparation of graduate students who will be future
faculty members.
Invitational Priority 6--Projects to promote innovative school-
college partnerships and to improve the preparation of K-12 teachers,
in order to enhance students' preparation for, access to, and success
in college.
Invitational Priority 7--Projects to disseminate innovative
postsecondary educational programs which have already been locally
developed, implemented, and evaluated.
Selection Criteria
In evaluating preapplications and final applications for grants
under this program competition, the Secretary uses the following
selection criteria chosen from those listed in 34 CFR 75.210.
Preapplications. In evaluating preapplications, the Secretary uses
the following selection criteria:
(a) Need for project. The Secretary reviews each proposed project
for its need, as determined by the following factors:
(1) The magnitude or severity of the problem to be addressed by the
proposed project.
(2) The magnitude of the need for the services to be provided or
the activities to be carried out by the proposed project.
(b) Significance. The Secretary reviews each proposed project for
its significance, as determined by the following factors:
(1) The potential contribution of the proposed project to increased
knowledge or understanding of educational problems, issues, or
effective strategies.
(2) The extent to which the proposed project involves the
development or demonstration of promising new strategies that build on,
or are alternatives to, existing strategies.
(3) The importance or magnitude of the results or outcomes likely
to be attained by the proposed project, especially improvements in
teaching and student achievement.
(4) The potential replicability of the proposed project or
strategies, including, as appropriate, the potential for implementation
in a variety of settings.
(c) Quality of the project design. The Secretary reviews each
proposed project for the quality of its design, as determined by the
extent to which the design of the proposed project is appropriate to,
and will successfully address, the needs of the target population or
other identified needs.
(d) Quality of the project evaluation. The Secretary reviews each
proposed project for the quality of its evaluation, as determined by
the extent to which the evaluation will provide guidance about
effective strategies suitable for replication or testing in other
settings.
Final Applications. In evaluating final applications, the Secretary
uses the following selection criteria:
(a) Need for the project. The Secretary reviews each proposed
project for its need, as determined by the following factors:
(1) The magnitude or severity of the problem to be addressed by the
proposed project.
(2) The magnitude of the need for the services to be provided or
the activities to be carried out by the proposed project.
(b) Significance. The Secretary reviews each proposed project for
its significance, as determined by the following factors:
(1) The potential contribution of the proposed project to increased
knowledge or understanding of educational problems, issues, or
effective strategies.
(2) The extent to which the proposed project involves the
development or demonstration of promising new strategies that build on,
or are alternatives to, existing strategies.
[[Page 46831]]
(3) The importance or magnitude of the results or outcomes likely
to be attained by the proposed project, especially improvements in
teaching and student achievement.
(4) The potential replicability of the proposed project or
strategies, including, as appropriate, the potential for implementation
in a variety of settings.
(c) Quality of the project design. The Secretary reviews each
proposed project for the quality of its design, as determined by the
following factors:
(1) The extent to which the design of the proposed project is
appropriate to, and will successfully address, the needs of the target
population or other identified needs.
(2) The extent to which the goals, objectives, and outcomes to be
achieved by the proposed project are clearly specified and measurable.
(3) The extent to which the design for implementing and evaluating
the proposed project will result in information to guide possible
replication of project activities or strategies, including information
about the effectiveness of the approach or strategies employed by the
project.
(d) Quality of the project evaluation. The Secretary reviews each
proposed project for the quality of its evaluation, as determined by
the following factors:
(1) The extent to which the evaluation will provide guidance about
effective strategies suitable for replication or testing in other
settings.
(2) The extent to which the methods of evaluation are thorough,
feasible, and appropriate to the goals, objectives, and outcomes of the
proposed project.
(3) The extent to which the methods of evaluation include the use
of objective performance measures that are clearly related to the
intended outcomes of the project and will produce quantitative and
qualitative data to the extent possible.
(d) The quality of the management plan. The Secretary reviews each
proposed project for the quality of its management plan, as determined
by the plan's adequacy to achieve the objectives of the proposed
project on time and within budget, including clearly defined
responsibilities, timelines, and milestones for accomplishing project
tasks.
(e) Quality of project personnel. The Secretary reviews each
proposed project for the quality of project personnel who will carry
out the proposed project, as determined by the following factors:
(1) The extent to which the applicant encourages applications for
employment from persons who are members of groups that have
traditionally been underrepresented based on race, color, national
origin, gender, age, or disability.
(2) The qualifications, including relevant training and experience,
of key project personnel.
(f) Adequacy of resources. The Secretary reviews each proposed
project for the adequacy of its resources, as determined by the
following factors:
(1) The extent to which the budget is adequate to support the
proposed project.
(2) The extent to which the costs are reasonable in relation to the
objectives, design, and potential significance of the proposed project.
(3) The relevance and demonstrated commitment of each partner in
the proposed project to the implementation and success of the project.
(4) The adequacy of support, including facilities, equipment,
supplies, and other resources, from the applicant organization or the
lead applicant organization.
(5) The potential for continued support of the project after
Federal funding ends, including, as appropriate, the demonstrated
commitment of appropriate entities to such support.
For preapplications (preliminary applications) and final
applications (applications), the Secretary gives equal weight to each
of the selection criteria. Within each of these criteria, the Secretary
gives equal weight to each of the factors.
For Applications or Information Contact: Fund for the Improvement
of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), U.S. Department of Education, 600
Independence Avenue SW, Room 3100, ROB-3, Washington, DC 20202-5175.
Telephone: (202) 358-3041 to order applications; or (202) 708-5750,
between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., Eastern time, Monday through
Friday, for information. Individuals may also request applications by
submitting the name of the competition, their name, and postal mailing
address to the e-mail address [email protected]. Individuals may obtain the
application text from Internet address http://www.ed.gov/offices/OPE/
FIPSE/. Individuals who use a telecommunications device for the deaf
(TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-
877-8339, between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Eastern time, Monday through
Friday.
Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in an
alternate format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer
diskette) on request to the contact person listed in the preceding
paragraph.
Electronic Access to This Document
Anyone may view this document, as well as all other Department of
Education documents published in the Federal Register, in text or
portable document format (pdf) on the World Wide Web at either of the
following sites:
http://ocfo.ed.gov/fedreg.htm
http://www.ed.gov/news.html
To use the pdf you must have the Adobe Acrobat Reader Program with
Search, which is available free at either of the previous sites. If you
have questions about using the pdf, call the U.S. Government Printing
Office toll free at 1-888-293-6498.
Anyone may view these documents in text copy only on an electronic
bulletin board of the Department. Telephone: (202) 219-1511 or, toll
free, at 1-800-222-4922. The documents are located under Option G--
Files/Announcements, Bulletins, and Press Releases.
Note: The official version of a document is the document
published in the Federal Register.
Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1135-1135a-3.
Dated: August 27, 1998.
David A. Longanecker,
Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education.
[FR Doc. 98-23605 Filed 9-1-98; 8:45 am]
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