[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 169 (Thursday, August 31, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45511-45513]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-21217]
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UNITED STATES INFORMATION AGENCY
Educational Advising Program for International Students and
Scholars From the Middle East and North Africa
ACTION: Notice--Request for Proposals.
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SUMMARY: The Advising and Student Services Branch of the United States
Information Agency's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs
announces an open competition for an assistance award. Public and
private non-profit organizations meeting the provisions described in
IRS regulation 26 CFR 1.501(c)(3)-1 may apply to develop educational
advising centers in the following locations in the Middle East and
North Africa: Cairo and Alexandria, Egypt; Amman, Jordan; Antelias and
Ras Beirut, Lebanon; Rabat, Morocco; Damascus, Syria; Tunis, Tunisia;
Sana'a, Yemen; East Jerusalem, and Jabriya, Kuwait. These centers will
facilitate international educational exchange through overseas
educational advising, orientation, and information services for foreign
students and scholars seeking information on opportunities in U.S.
higher education. The assistance award will also include the provision
of regional educational advising consultancy services, to be based in
an appropriate location within the region.
Overview
The purpose of this grant is to provide overseas educational
advising, orientation and information services for foreign students and
scholars in the Middle East and North Africa concerning opportunities
in U.S. higher education, and to coordinate services to advising
centers through a regional consultancy. This program supports
international educational exchange between countries of these regions
and the U.S. through direct, field-based services. Consistent with the
Agency's interest in reducing administrative layers and hierarchical
structure, this program should primarily focus on providing advising
services abroad.
Guidelines
Proposals should be presented in four parts. The first should
contain a brief overview of the organization, its history and purpose.
Evidence of previous experience with advising or educational exchange
of international students and scholars should also be included. The
overview should indicate the total amount of funding requested and a
justification for the request as well as a budget presentation
outlining the total project costs.
A listing of names, titles, addresses, and telephone number of the
executive officer(s) of the organization and of the person(s)
ultimately responsible for the project must be included in the
proposal. Resumes or vitae of key personnel must be provided. USIA also
recommends the inclusion of brochures and general information
concerning the organization, e.g., organization charts, job
descriptions, the names of board members (or similar group), the number
of employees, etc.
The second part of the proposal should contain individual
subsections that describe in detail each advising center, its proposed
location and hours of operation, a proposed staffing pattern (including
the percentage of time each employee will devote to advising activities
and a description of their functions and responsibilities), an
estimated budget for each office, and information delineating the
services that will be provided by each center. A resume or brief
narrative explaining the qualifications of the person or persons who
would have primary responsibility for conducting advising and/or
providing oversight of the advising center should also be included.
Each appropriate subsection should describe any special language
capability or area expertise possessed by potential advising center
staff. Proposals should demonstrate each center's ability to provide
the following educational advising services to international students
and scholars:
1. Information and guidance on U.S. educational institutions,
systems, tuition and related costs, fields of study, specialized
training, etc.;
2. Information and advising on U.S. standardized tests, e.g.,
TOEFL, GRE, GMAT, USMLE, etc., to include the provision of registration
application forms, bulletins and testing schedules;
3. Information and research on short-term institutional training in
technical and professional fields;
4. Information on English language training programs in the U.S.;
5. Group and individual advising sessions, pre-departure
orientation and re-entry programs, as appropriate for the location.
6. Student access to comprehensive university catalogs in print,
microfiche and/or electronic format and current references on U.S.
educational institutions and programs.
7. To the extent possible, each advising center should be equipped
with equipment for students' use, such as videocassette players with
appropriate videotapes and computers with appropriate software.
USIA expects the recipient organization to provide appropriate
supervision of and administrative support to its advisers and staff in
the field. The third part of the proposal should address the extent to
which the headquarters office will support its advising centers abroad.
This support may include financial and administrative oversight and
direction, and where appropriate, resources development to support the
work of the
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regional educational advising consultancy.
The fourth part of the proposal should demonstrate how the
applicant organization plans to implement the Regional Educational
Advising Consultancy (REAC). This consultancy will provide support,
training, and regional coordination among advising centers located
throughout the Middle East and North African region. Responsibilities
of the REAC include: Responding to individual queries from advisers;
developing a regional newsletter; coordinating regional professional
development activities such as workshops; facilitating communication
between advising centers, posts, and USIA offices; sharing of
information including materials developed by centers within the region,
outside of the region, and other REACs; following trends in U.S.-Middle
East/North African exchange; disseminating information on the latest
developments in technology; and providing direct guidance to advisers
through site visits, internships, training and in-country workshops.
The REAC should serve as an expert resource for other advisers to
locate information that is not easily accessible, and should have the
capability to secure such information from sources available within the
REAC office as well as from other appropriate sources, e.g., academic
institutions and professional organizations. The REAC should place
special emphasis on training advisers to seek a variety of sources of
funding to support their centers. The REAC position must be held by one
person only, and should serve advising centers in the following
countries and areas: Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon,
Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia,
United Arab Emirates, West Bank, and Yemen. A more complete description
of the duties and responsibilities of the REAC is available upon
request from the USIA program office.
Proposed Budget
Applicants must submit a comprehensive budget for the entire
program. There must be a summary budget as well as a break-down
reflecting both the administrative budget and the program budget. For
better understanding or further clarification, applicants should
provide separate sub-budgets for each program component, phase,
location, or activity in order to facilitate USIA decisions on funding.
Applicants must submit a comprehensive line item budget at two funding
levels, based on the specific guidance in the Solicitation Package. At
the first level, USIA grant assistance will not exceed $570,000. Of
this amount, not more than $180,000 may be attributed to overhead
expenses. The overall and overhead amounts for the second level are
$510,000 and $160,000 respectively. At the second level, the recipient
organization will not be required to provide advising services in
Rabat, Morocco and Tunis, Tunisia. At either level, funding for the
Regional Educational Advising Consultancy should not exceed $50,000 and
funding for headquarters support should not exceed $60,000. The total
award amount is expected to constitute only a portion of total project
funding. Because cost sharing is required, proposals should list other
anticipated sources of support. USIA encourages charging reasonable
fees for services; consult the Program Specific Guidelines for further
information. All grant applications should demonstrate financial and
in-kind support. Grants awarded to eligible organizations with less
than four years of experience in conducting international exchange
programs will be limited to $60,000.
Proposals must include:
1. A budget outlining the total project costs;
2. A budget for each of the eleven centers;
3. A budget reflecting the costs for headquarters research and
resource support;
4. A budget for the Regional Educational Advising Consultancy; and
5. A listing of advising center locations, if any, that would not
be operated at the second level of funding.
Each budget should be presented in a multi-column format that
clearly identified the following categories: Line item, amount of USIA
support, amount of in-kind support/amount provided by other funding
sources. Any relevant budgetary notes or explanations should be
included.
Allowable costs for the program include the following:
(1) Salaries and fringe benefits; travel and per diem;
(2) Other direct costs, inclusive of rent, utilities, etc.;
(3) Overhead expenses, auditing costs, subject to limits outlined
above.
Please refer to the Solicitation Package for complete budget
guidelines and formatting instructions.
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. Eligible proposals will be forwarded to panels of
USIA officers for advisory review. All eligible proposals will be
reviewed by the Agency contracts office, as well as the USIA Office of
North African, Near Eastern, and South Asian Affairs and the USIA posts
overseas, where appropriate. Proposals may also be reviewed by the
Office of the General Counsel or by other Agency elements. Funding
decisions are at the discretion of the USIA 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. Program planning: Detailed agenda and relevant work plan should
demonstrate substantive undertakings and logistical capacity. Agenda
and plan should adhere to the program overview and guidelines described
above.
2. Institutional Capacity and Record: Proposed personnel and
institutional resources should be adequate and appropriate to achieve
the program or project's goals, including responsible fiscal management
and full compliance with all reporting requirements. The Agency will
consider the past performance of prior recipients and the demonstrated
potential of new applicants.
3. Project Monitoring and Evaluation: Proposals should include a
plan to monitor the program and to evaluate its achievements. USIA
recommends that the proposal include a draft survey questionnaire or
other technique plus description of a methodology to use to link
outcomes to original project objectives. The recipient organization
will be expected to submit intermediate reports after each project
component is concluded or quarterly, whichever is less frequent.
4. Cost-effectiveness: The overhead and administrative components
of the proposal, including salaries and honoraria, should be kept as
low as possible. The program should emphasize field-based services.
5. Cost-sharing: Proposals should maximize cost-sharing through
other private sector support, as well as through institutional direct
funding contributions, including charging fees for services.
6. Demonstrated ability to work with foreign educational
institutions and governmental entities as well as with
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other sponsors of education and training programs. Ability to operate
advising centers and a Regional Educational Advising Consultancy in
each of the aforementioned locations as of the starting date of the
grant. This includes demonstration of ability to acquire any and all
legal documentation permitting the organization to function in
countries mentioned above by the starting date of the grant.
7. Support of Diversity: Proposals should demonstrate substantive
support of the Bureau's policy on diversity. Achievable and relevant
features should be cited in both program administration (selection of
participants, program venue and program evaluation) and program content
(orientation and wrap-up sessions, program meetings, resource materials
and follow-up activities).
Authorization
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.'' 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 announcement should
refer to the above title and reference number E/ASA-96-06.
Deadline for Proposals
All copies must be received at the U.S. Information Agency by 5
p.m. Washington, DC time on Monday, October 16, 1995. Faxed documents
will not be accepted, nor will documents postmarked October 16, 1995
but received at a later date. It is the responsibility of each
applicant to ensure that proposals are received by the above deadline.
Grants should begin no earlier than January 1, 1996 and end no later
than December 31, 1996.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Advising and Student Services Branch,
E/ASA, Room 349, Office of Academic Programs, U.S. Information Agency,
301 4th Street, SW., Washington, DC 20547, telephone 202-619-5434, fax
202-401-1433, e-mail advise@usia.gov. Potential applicants are
encouraged to contact the program office and confirm understanding of
the terms of this Request for Proposals before requesting a
Solicitation Package, which includes more detailed award criteria; all
application forms; and guidelines for preparing proposals, including
specific criteria for preparation of the proposal budget. Please
specify USIA Program Officer Amy Forest on all inquiries and
correspondences. Interested applicants should read the complete Federal
Register announcement before addressing inquiries to the Advising and
Student Services Branch or submitting their proposals. Once the RFP
deadline has passed, the Advising and Student Services Branch 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 ten copies of the complete application, plus
one extra copy of the cover sheet, should be sent to: U.S. Information
Agency, Ref.: E/ASA-96-06, 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 overseas posts'
comments for the Agency's grants review process.
Diversity 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 overall proposal.
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. Final awards cannot be made until funds have been
appropriated by Congress, allocated and committed through internal USIA
procedures.
Notification
All applicants will be notified of the results of the review
process on or about December 11, 1995. Awards made will be subject to
periodic reporting and evaluation requirements.
Dated: August 18, 1995.
Dell Pendergrast,
Deputy Associate Director, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
[FR Doc. 95-21217 Filed 8-30-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8230-01-M
