[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 117 (Thursday, June 18, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33445-33446]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-16179]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
UNITED STATES INFORMATION AGENCY
College and University Partnerships Program for Armenia,
Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Moldova
ACTION: Request for proposals.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Office of Academic Programs of the United States
Information Agency's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs
announces an open competition for an assistance award program.
Accredited, post-secondary educational institutions meeting the
provisions described in IRS regulation 26 CFR 1.501(c) may apply to
develop a partnership with (a) foreign institution(s) of higher
education from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, or Moldova in specified
fields.
Proposed projects must be eligible in terms of countries/localities
and disciplines as described in the section entitled ``Eligibility''
below.
Participating institutions exchange faculty and administrators for
a combination of teaching, lecturing, faculty and curriculum
development, collaborative research, and outreach, for periods ranging
from one week (for planning visits) to an academic year. The FY 98
program will also support the establishment and maintenance of Internet
and/or e-mail communication facilities as well as interactive distance
learning programs at foreign partner institutions. Applicants may
propose other project activities not listed above that are consistent
with the goals and activities of the College and University
Partnerships Program (CUPP).
The program awards up to $200,000 for a three-year period to defray
the cost of travel and per diem with an allowance for educational
materials and some aspects of project administration. Grants awarded to
organizations with less than four years of experience in conducting
international exchange programs will be limited to $60,000.
Overall grant-making authority for this program is contained in the
Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961, Pub. L. 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, sympathetic and peaceful relations between the United States
and the other countries of the world.'' The funding authority for the
program cited above is provided through the Freedom for Russia and
Emerging Eurasian Democracies and Open Markets Support Act of 1992
(Freedom Support Act). Programs and projects must conform with Agency
requirements and guidelines outlined in the Solicitation Package. USIA
projects and programs are subject to the availability of funds.
ANNOUNCEMENT TITLE AND NUMBER: All communications with USIA concerning
this RFP should refer to the College and University Partnerships
Program for Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Moldova and reference
number E/ASU-98-11.
DEADLINE FOR PROPOSALS: All copies must be received at the U.S.
Information Agency by 5 p.m. Washington, DC time on Monday, August 10,
1998. Faxed documents will not be accepted at any time. Documents
postmarked by the due date but received at a later date will not be
accepted.
Approximate program dates: Grants should begin on or about
September 30, 1998.
Duration: September 30, 1998--August 31, 2001.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT: Office of Academic Programs;
Advising, Teaching, and Specialized Programs Division; Specialized
Programs Unit, (E/ASU) room 349, U.S. Information Agency, 301 4th
Street, SW., Washington, DC 20547, telephone: (202) 619-4126, fax:
(202) 401-1433, internet: jcebra@usia.gov to request a Solicitation
Package containing more detailed award criteria; all application forms;
and guidelines for preparing proposals, including specific criteria for
preparation of the proposal budget.
TO DOWNLOAD A SOLICITATION PACKAGE VIA INTERNET: The entire
Solicitation Package may be downloaded from USIA's website at http://
www.usia.gov/education/rfps. Please read all information before
downloading.
TO RECEIVE A SOLICITATION PACKAGE VIA TAX ON DEMAND: The entire
Solicitation Package may be received via the Bureau's ``Grants
Information Fax on Demand System'', which is accessed by calling 202/
401-7616. Please request a ``Catalog'' of available documents and order
numbers when first entering the system.
Please specify USIA Program Officer Jonathan Cebra on all inquiries
and correspondences. Interested applicants should 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 in any way with applicants until the Bureau
proposal review process has been completed.
SUBMISSIONS: Applicants must follow all instructions given in the
Solicitation Package. The original and 10 copies of the application
should be sent to: U.S. Information Agency, Ref.: E/ASU-98-11, Office
of Grants Management, E/XE, Room 326, 301 4th Street, SW., Washington,
DC, 20547.
Applicants must also submit the ``Executive Summary'' and
``Proposal Narrative'' sections of the proposal on a 3.5'' diskette,
formatted for DOS. This material must be provided in ASCII text (DOS)
format with a maximum line length of 65 characters. USIA will transmit
these files electronically to USIS posts overseas for their review,
with the goal of reducing the time it takes to get posts' comments for
the Agency's grants review process.
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. Pub. L. 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 account for advancement of this goal in their program contents,
to the full extent deemed feasible.
[[Page 33446]]
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Guidelines
The College and University Partnership Program for Armenia,
Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Moldova is limited to specific academic
disciplines.
For Georgia and Azerbaijan, eligible disciplines include:
(1) Law;
(2) Business/economics/trade;
(3) Government/public policy/public administration; and
(4) Journalism/communications.
The eligible discipline for Armenia is journalism; please note that
the Journalism Faculty of Yerevan State University is the only eligible
NIS partner institution.
The eligible discipline for Moldova is political science; please
note that Moldovan State University is the only eligible partner
institution.
Proposals must focus on curriculum, faculty, and staff development
in one or more of these eligible disciplines. Administrative reform at
the foreign partner may also be a project component.
Projects should involve the development of new academic programs or
the building and/or restructuring of an existing program or programs,
and should promote higher education's role in the transition to market
economies and open democratic systems. Feasibility studies to plan
partnerships will not be considered.
Whenever feasible, participants should make their training and
personnel resources, as well as results of their collaborative
research, available to government, NGOs, and business.
Participating institutions should exchange faculty and/or staff
members for teaching/lecturing and consulting. At least once, one U.S.
participant should be in residence at the foreign partner institution
for one semester to serve in a coordinating role.
U.S. institutions are responsible for the submission of proposals
and should collaborate with their foreign partners in planning and
preparing proposals. U.S. and foreign partner institutions are
encouraged to consult about the proposed project with USIA E/ASU staff
in Washington, DC. Preference will be given to proposals which
demonstrate evidence of previous relations with the foreign partner
institution(s).
U.S. Partner and Participant Eligibility
In the U.S., participation in the program is open to accredited
two- and four-year colleges and universities, including graduate
schools. Applications from consortia of U.S. colleges and universities
are eligible. Secondary U.S. partners may include relevant non-
governmental organizations, non-profit service or professional
organizations. The lead U.S. institution in the consortium is
responsible for submitting the application and each application from a
consortium must document the lead school's started authority to
represent the consortium. Participants representing the U.S.
institution who are traveling under USIA grant funds must be faculty,
staff, or advanced graduate students from the participating
institution(s) and must be U.S. citizens.
Foreign Partner and Participant Eligibility
Overseas, participation is open to recognized, degree-granting
institutions of post-secondary education, which may include
internationally recognized and established independent research
institutes. Secondary foreign partners may include relevant
governmental and non-governmental organizations, non-profit service or
professional organizations. Participants representing the foreign
institutions must be faculty, staff or advanced students of the partner
institution, and the citizens, nationals, or permanent residents of the
country of the foreign partner, and be qualified to hold a valid
passport and U.S. J-1 visa.
Foreign partners from the following countries are eligible:
Armenia--only the journalism faculty of Yerevan State University is
eligible.
Azerbaijan--any recognized, degree-granting post-secondary
educational institution is eligible.
Georgia--any recognized, degree-granting post-secondary educational
institution is eligible.
Moldova--only Moldovan State University is eligible.
Partnerships including a secondary foreign partner from a non-NIS
country are eligible; however, with the exception noted below, USIA
will not cover overseas non-NIS partner institution costs.
In order to promote regional cooperation, limited funds may be
budgeted for the exchange, as part of this partnership agreement, of
faculty between NIS institutions and institutions of higher learning in
Central and Eastern Europe (Albania, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech
Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, the Former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro,
Slovakia, Slovenia).
Ineligibility
A proposal will be deemed technically ineligible if:
(1) It does not fully adhere to the guidelines established herein
and in the Solicitation Package;
(2) It is not received by the deadline;
(3) It is not submitted by the U.S. partner;
(4) One of the partner institutions is ineligible;
(5) The academic discipline(s) is/are not listed as eligible in the
RFP, herein;
(6) The amount requested of USIA exceeds $200,000 for the three-
year project.
Please refer to program-specific guidelines (POGI) in the
Solicitation Package for further details.
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: June 12, 1998.
John P. Loiello,
Associate Director for Educational and Cultural Affairs.
[FR Doc. 98-16179 Filed 6-17-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8230-01-M
