Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education-Comprehensive Program (Preapplications and Applications) Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2001

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 those institutions and other public and private nonprofit institutions and agencies.

Deadline for Transmittal of Preapplications: January 26, 2001.

Deadline for Transmittal of Final Applications: April 27, 2001.

Note:

All applicants must submit a preapplication to be eligible to submit a final application.

Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: June 26, 2001.

Applications Available: December 12, 2000.

Available Funds: It is anticipated that approximately $17,000,000 will be available for an estimated 130 new awards under the Comprehensive Program. The actual level of funding, if any, is contingent on final congressional action and the number and quality of applications.

Estimated Range of Awards: $50,000 to $200,000 per year.

Estimated Average Size of Awards: $131,000.

Estimated Number of Awards: 130.

Note:

The Department is not bound by any estimates in this notice.

Project Period: Up to 36 months.

Applicable Regulations: The Education Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 79, 80, 82, 85, 86, 97, 98, and 99.

Priorities

Invitational Priorities

While applicants may propose any project within the scope of 20 U.S.C. 1138(a), under 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 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 2—Projects to disseminate innovative postsecondary educational programs which have already been locally developed, implemented, and evaluated.

Invitational Priority 3—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 4—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 5—Projects to support innovative reforms of undergraduate, graduate, and professional curricula that improve not only what students learn, but how they learn.

Invitational Priority 6—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 7—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.

Methods for Applying Selection Criteria

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.

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 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.

(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.

(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.

(e) 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.

(f) 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.

(g) 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 Applications Contact: Education Publications Center (ED Pubs), P.O. Box 1398, Jessup, MD 20794-1398. Telephone (toll free): 1-877-433-7827. FAX: (301) 470-1244. Individuals who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call (toll free): 1-877-576-7734.

You may also contact ED Pubs via its Web site: http://www.ed.gov/pubs/edpubs.html or its e-mail address: edpubs@inet.ed.gov.

If you request an application from ED Pubs, be sure to identify this competition as follows: CFDA number 84.116A.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), U.S. Department of Education, 1990 K Street, NW., Washington, DC 20006-8544. Telephone: (202) 502-7500. The application text may be obtained from the Internet address http://www.ed.gov/FIPSE/ .

Individuals who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) 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 contact listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

Individuals with disabilities also may obtain a copy of the application package in an alternative format. However, the Department is not able to reproduce in 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 either of the following sites: http://ocfo.ed.gov/fedreg.htm http://www.ed.gov/news.html .

To use PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available free at either of the previous sites. 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 http://www/access.gpo.gov/nara/index.html .

Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1138-1138d.