2013-22580. President's Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities

AGENCY:

U.S. Department of Education, President's Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

ACTION:

Notice of an Open Meeting.

SUMMARY:

This notice sets forth the schedule and agenda of the meeting of the President's Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. The notice also describes the functions of the Board. Notice of the meeting is required by section 10(a)(2) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act and intended to notify the public of its opportunity to attend. This notice is being published less than 15 days prior to the meeting date due to the need to obtain sponsors/supplemental funding for the meeting during the annual HBCU Conference scheduled for the same week. Due to stringent budget constraints, it is more feasible to have a board meeting while the members are already in Washington, DC for the conference as opposed to having them return at a later date and having the board incur additional expenses.

DATES:

Wednesday, September 25, 2013.

Time: 9:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. (EST).

ADDRESSES:

Washington Hilton, Cabinet Room, 1919 Connecticut Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20009, [phone].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Joel V. Harrell, Acting Executive Director, White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities, 400 Maryland Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20204; telephone: [phone], fax: [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The President's Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (the Board) is established by Executive Order 13532 (February 26, 2010). The Board is governed by the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), (Pub. L 92-463; as amended, 5 U.S.C.A., Appendix 2) which sets forth standards for the formation and use of advisory committees. The purpose of the Board is to advise the President and the Secretary of Education (Secretary) on all matters pertaining to strengthening the educational capacity of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).

The Board shall advise the President and the Secretary in the following areas: (i) Improving the identity, visibility, and distinctive capabilities and overall competitiveness of HBCUs; (ii) engaging the philanthropic, business, government, military, homeland-security, and education communities in a national dialogue regarding new HBCU programs and initiatives; (iii) improving the ability of HBCUs to remain fiscally secure institutions that can assist the nation in reaching its goal of having the highest proportion of college graduates by 2020; (iv) elevating the public awareness of HBCUs; and (v) encouraging public-private investments in HBCUs.

Agenda

The Board will receive updates from the Chairman of the President's Board of Advisors on HBCUs, the Board's subcommittees and the Acting Executive Director of the White House Initiative on HBCUs on their respective activities, thus far, during Fiscal Year 2013 including activities that have occurred since the Board's last meeting, which was held on June 11, 2013. In addition, the Board will discuss possible strategies to meet its duties under its charter. Special guests have been invited to provide updates on federal student aid and cohort default rates.

Individuals who will need accommodations for a disability in order to attend the meeting (e.g., interpreting services, assistive listening devices, or material in alternative format) should notify Sedika Franklin, Program Specialist, White House Initiative on HBCUs, at [phone], no later than Friday, September 20, 2013. We will attempt to meet requests for such accommodations after this date, but cannot guarantee their availability. The meeting site is accessible to individuals with disabilities.

An opportunity for public comment is available on Wednesday, September 25, 2013, from 1:30 p.m.-2:00 p.m. Individuals who wish to provide comments will be allowed three to five minutes to speak. Those members of the public interested in submitting written comments may do so by submitting them to the attention of Sedika Franklin, White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20202, by Monday, September 23, 2013.

Records are kept of all Board proceedings and are available for public inspection at the office of the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW., Washington, DC, 20202, Monday through Friday (excluding federal holidays) during the hours of 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Electronic Access to the Document: You may view this document, as well as all other documents of this Department published in the Federal Register, in text or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) on the Internet at the following site: www.ed.gov/​fedregister/​index.html. To use PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available free at this site. If you have questions about using PDF, call the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO), toll free at 1-866-512-1830; or in the Washington, DC area at 202-512-0000.

Dated: September 11, 2013.

Jeff Appel,

Deputy Under Secretary, U.S. Department of Education.