[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 4 (Thursday, January 7, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1070-1072]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-315]
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UNITED STATES INFORMATION AGENCY
Future Leaders Exchange Program Civic Education Workshop; Request
for Proposals
Program Title: Civic Education Workshop
Summary: The Office of Citizen Exchanges, Division of the NIS
Secondary School Initiative of the United States Information Agency's
Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, announces an open
competition for the Civic Education workshop for the Future Leaders
Exchange (FLEX) Program. Goal of the workshop is to broaden the
participants' knowledge and understanding of the democratic concepts
that are integral to a civil society and provide them with tools they
can take home to aid in the transformation of their countries. Public
and private nonprofit organizations meeting the provisions described in
IRS regulation 26 CFR 1.501(c) may submit proposals to develop and
conduct a one-week workshop in Washington, D.C., in Spring, 1999, on
elements of a civil society for 80-100 high school students from the
New Independent States (NIS) of the former Soviet Union who are
attending school in the United States during academic year 1998/99.
Participants will be selected through an essay contest from among a
group of 925 students who are participating in the Division's Future
Leaders Exchange (FLEX) program. The maximum grant award will be
$100,000. Provision of cost sharing to maximize the number of
participants will be looked at very favorably.
Program Information: The recipient of the grant is responsible for
developing and conducting the Civic Education workshop based on
guidelines set forth by the Division. The grantee organization will
also be responsible for coordinating travel arrangements for each
participant from his/her host community to Washington, D.C., and
return, and for providing room and board for students during their time
in Washington. The grantee must be amendable to working with USIA and
the Department of State in arranging certain briefings and visits, as
the opportunity arises.
Overview: The workshop should provide an opportunity for
participants to gain a better understanding of the democratic concepts
and values that are such an integral part of American society and
culture. Concepts such as citizen empowerment, volunteerism, community
action, and debate should be included in program components. The
program should also enable participants to learn firsthand about the
federal system of government, observe government institutions, hear
about and discuss issues on the federal agenda, and interact with
government officials. Special attention should be paid to those issues
that will be especially significant to people from the former Soviet
Union. The program should be arranged for seven days, including arrival
and departure.
The grantee organization will be provided with the names of the
students who will have been chosen through competing in an essay
contest. The essays will have been reviewed by independent, objective
selectors.
Guidelines: The workshop should be held in Spring, 1999, preferably
in March or April. Proposals must effectively describe the
organization's ability to accomplish the following essential components
of the program:
1. Provide a Civic Education workshop in Washington, D.C., as
described above and, preferably, at the time period indicated. Program
components should include sessions on U.S. domestic and foreign policy,
the role of the media in the United States, citizen empowerment,
volunteerism and community activism, and federalism.
2. Provide training for organization staff on NIS society and
culture.
3. Provide housing and meals for the students throughout the
program.
4. Arrange travel for students from their U.S. host communities to
Washington, D.C., and return in coordination with FLEX placement
organizations. (Note: Students will likely be coming from most of the
50 states.) Provide ground transportation for students in the D.C.
area, including to and from airports.
5. Provide opportunities to attend cultural events and visit
museums and monuments.
6. Coordinate with USIA's Division for the NIS Secondary School
Initiative (E/PY) and the Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental
Affairs (CL) in making appropriate arrangements for individual meetings
for all workshop participants with their respective members of Congress
(either Senator or Representative).
7. Provide staff to assist in case of medical emergencies.
8. Incorporate a program component designed to facilitate students'
transition from the D.C. program to their host communities. Include a
description of the ways in which students will be encouraged to share
what they have learned, both in their U.S. host communities and when
they return to their home countries.
9. Provide a mechanism for evaluation of the program in terms of
its impact on the students and its success in fulfilling the
objectives.
A competitive proposal will incorporate important elements of
American culture in sessions that are largely interactive and designed
to appeal to high school-age students. The program must be substantive
and academic while, at the same time, be paced realistically to meet
the needs of young people.
Significant cost sharing is important since it will enable a
greater number of students to participate. Therefore, those proposals
that show more generous and creative cost sharing will be more
favorably viewed.
Please refer to the Program Objectives, Goals, and Implementation
(POGI) section of the Solicitation Package for greater detail regarding
the design of component parts as well as other program information.
Budget guidelines: Organizations must bid on arranging a program
for a minimum of 80 students but may increase the number of
participants through cost sharing the additional expenses incurred.
Proposals that maximize the number of students will be favorably
viewed. One grant will be awarded for this activity. It is estimated
that the total costs of the Civil Education workshop will average
$1,000 per NIS participant for a one-week program, including domestic
travel.
Applicants must submit a comprehensive budget for the entire
program. Awards may not exceed $100,000. There must be a summary budget
as well as breakdowns reflecting both administrative and program
budgets. Applicants may provide separate sub-budgets for each program
component, phase, location, or activity to provide clarification.
Please refer to the Solicitation Package for further details and for
complete budget guidelines and formatting instructions.
Announcement title and number: All correspondence with USIA
concerning this RFP should reference the above title and number E/P-98-
28.
For further information contact: The NIS Secondary School
Initiative Division, E/PY, Room 568, U.S. Information Agency, 301 4th
Street, SW., Washington, DC 20547, telephone (202) 619-6299; fax (202)
619-5311; e-mail: daronson@usia.gov> to request a Solicitation
Package. The Solicitation Package contains detailed award criteria,
required application forms, specific budget instructions, and standard
guidelines for proposal preparation. Please specify USIA
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Program Officer Dee Aronson on all other inquiries and correspondence.
Please read the complete Federal Register announcement before
sending inquiries or submitting proposals. Once the RFP deadline has
passed, Agency staff may not discuss this competition with applicants
until the proposal review process has been completed.
To download a solicitation package via internet: The entire
Solicitation Package may be downloaded from USIA's website at http://
e.usia.gov/education/rfps. Please read all information before
downloading.
To receive a solicitation package via fax on demand: The entire
Solicitation Package may be requested from the Bureau's Grants
Information Fax on Demand System, which is accessed by calling 202/401-
7616. The Table of Contents listing available documents and order
numbers should be the first order when entering the system.
Deadline for proposals: All proposal copies must be received at the
U.S. Information Agency by 5 p.m. Washington, D.C. time on Monday,
February 5, 1999. Faxed documents will not be accepted at any time.
Documents postmarked the due date but received on a later date will not
be accepted. Each applicant must ensure that the proposals are received
by the above deadline.
Applicants must follow all instructions in the Solicitation
Package. The original and 10 copies of the application should be sent
to: U.S. Information Agency, Ref.: E/PY-98-28, Office of Grants
Management, Room 568, 301 4th Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20547.
Diversity, freedom and democracy guidelines: Pursuant to the
Bureau's authorizing legislation, programs must maintain a non-
political character and should be balanced and representative of the
diversity of American political, social, and cultural life.
``Diversity'' should be interpreted in the broadest sense and encompass
differences including, but not limited to ethnicity, race, gender,
religion, geographic location, socio-economic status, and physical
challenges. Applicants are strongly encouraged to adhere to the
advancement of this principle both in program administration and in
program content. Please refer to the review criteria under the
``Support for Diversity'' section for specific suggestions on
incorporating diversity into the total proposal. Public Law 104-319
provides that in carrying out programs of educational and cultural
exchange in countries whose people do not fully enjoy freedom and
democracy, USIA shall take appropriate steps to provide opportunities
for participation in such programs to human rights and democracy
leaders of such countries. Proposals should reflect advancement of this
goal in their program contents, to the full extent deemed feasible.
Year 2000 compliance requirement (Y2K requirement): The Year 2000
(Y2K) issue is a broad operational and accounting problem that could
potentially prohibit organizations from processing information in
accordance with Federal management and program specific requirements
including data exchange with USIA. The inability to process information
in accordance with Federal requirements could result in grantees' being
required to return funds that have not been accounted for properly.
USIA therefore requires all organizations use Y2K compliant systems
including hardware, software, and firmware. Systems must accurately
process data and dates (calculating, comparing and sequencing) both
before and after the beginning of the year 2000 and correctly adjust
for leap years.
Additional information addressing the Y2K issue may be found at the
General Services Administration's Office of Information Technology
website at http://www.itpolicy.gsa.gov.
Review process: USIA will acknowledge receipt of all proposals and
will review them for technical eligibility. Proposals will be deemed
ineligible if they do not fully adhere to the guidelines stated herein
and in the Solicitation Package. All eligible proposals will be
reviewed by the program office, as well as the USIA Office of East
European and NIS Affairs and the USIA post(s) overseas, where
appropriate. Eligible proposals will be forwarded to panels of USIA
officers for advisory review. Proposals may also be reviewed by the
Office of the General Counsel or by other Agency elements. Final
funding decisions are at the discretion of USIA's Associate Director
for Educational and Cultural Affairs. Final technical authority for
assistance awards (grants or cooperative agreements) resides with the
USIA Grants Officer.
Review criteria: Technically eligible applications will be
competitively reviewed according to the criteria stated below. These
criteria are not rank ordered and all carry equal weight in the
proposal evaluation:
1. Quality of the program idea: Proposals should exhibit
originality, substance, precision, and relevance to the Agency's
mission, as well as the objectives of the FLEX program. Program design
must reflect an understanding of young people and of cultural traits
that would be specific to this population.
2. Program planning: Detailed agenda and relevant work plan should
demonstrate substantive undertakings and logistical capacity. Agenda
and plan should adhere to the program overview, guidelines, and timing
described above.
3. Ability to achieve program objectives: Objectives should be
reasonable, feasible, and flexible. Proposals should clearly
demonstrate how the organization will meet the program's objective and
plan.
4. Support of diversity: Proposals should demonstrate substantive
support of the Bureau's policy on diversity. Achievable and relevant
features should be cited in selection of speakers, themes, field
visits, and resource materials.
5. Institutional capacity: Proposed personnel and institutional
resources should be adequate and appropriate to achieve the program or
project's goals.
6. Organization's track record ability: Proposals should
demonstrate a record of successful programs, including responsible
fiscal management and full compliance with all requirements for past
Agency grants as determined by USIA's Office of Contracts. The Agency
will consider the past performance of prior recipients and the
demonstrated potential of new applicants.
7. Follow-on activities: Proposals should describe how students
will be prepared to transition back to their host communities. There
should also be a plan for providing students with tools they can take
back to their home countries to implement concepts and ideas they have
gained from the workshop.
8. Project evaluation: Proposals should include a plan to evaluate
the program's success in achieving the stated objectives. USIA
recommends that the proposal include a draft survey questionnaire or
other technique plus description of a methodology to use in linking
outcomes to original project objectives.
9. Cost-effectiveness: The overhead and administrative components
of the proposals, including salaries and honoraria, should be kept as
low as possible. All other items should be necessary and appropriate.
Overall per-participant costs will be a factor in the review of the
proposal.
10. Cost-sharing: Proposals should maximize cost-sharing through
other private sector support as well as institutional direct funding
contributions. Organizations that choose to enhance the program by
using private funds to increase the number of participants will be
viewed more
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favorably than those with minimal or no cost sharing.
Authority: Overall grant making authority for this program is
contained in the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961,
Public Law 87-256, as amended, also known as the Fulbright-Hays Act.
The purpose of the Act is ``to enable the Government of the United
States to increase mutual understanding between the people of the
United States and the people of other countries * * * *; to strengthen
the ties which unite us with other nations by demonstrating the
educational and cultural interests, developments, and achievements of
the people of the United States and other nations * * * and thus to
assist in the development of friendly, sympathic and peaceful relations
between the United States and the other countries of the world.'' The
funding authority for the program above is provided through the FREEDOM
Support Act of 1992.
Notice: The terms and conditions published in this RFP are binding
and may not be modified by any USIA representative. Explanatory
information provided by the Agency that contradicts published language
will not be binding. Issuance of the RFP does not constitute an award
commitment on the part of the Government. The Agency reserves the right
to reduce, revise, or increase proposal budgets in accordance with the
needs of the program and the availability of funds. Awards made will be
subject to periodic reporting and evaluation requirements.
Notification: Final awards cannot be made until funds have been
appropriated by Congress, allocated and committed through internal USIA
procedures.
Dated: December 31, 1998.
William B. Bader,
Associate Director for Educational and Cultural Affairs.
[FR Doc. 99-315 Filed 1-6-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8230-01-M
