Office of Postsecondary Education; Overview Information; Underground Railroad Educational and Cultural Program (URR) Notice Inviting Applications For New Awards For Fiscal Year (FY) 2004

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 84.345A.

DATES:

Applications Available: April 30, 2004.

Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: June 1, 2004.

Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: July 29, 2004.

Eligible Applicants: Nonprofit educational organizations that research, display, interpret, and collect artifacts relating to the history of the Underground Railroad.

Estimated Available Funds: $2,221,813.

Estimated Range of Awards: $250,000-$1,000,000 total for up to three years.

Estimated Amount of Awards: 3.

Note:

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

Project Period: Up to 36 months.

Full Text of Announcement

I. Funding Opportunity Description

Purpose of Program: To provide grants to establish a facility to house, display, and interpret artifacts related to the history of the Underground Railroad, and to make the interpretive efforts available to institutions of higher education that award a baccalaureate or graduate degree.

Special Requirements: Each nonprofit educational organization awarded a grant under this program must enter into an agreement with the Department. Each agreement must require the organization—

(1) To demonstrate substantial private support for the facility through the implementation of a public-private partnership between a State or local public entity and a private entity for the support of the facility. The private entity must provide matching funds in an amount equal to four times the amount of the contribution of the State or local public entity, except that not more than 20 percent of the matching funds may be provided by the Federal Government;

(2) To create an endowment to fund any and all shortfalls in the costs of the on-going operations of the facility;

(3) To establish a network of satellite centers throughout the United States to help disseminate information regarding the Underground Railroad throughout the United States. These satellite centers must raise 80 percent of the funds required to establish the satellite centers from non-Federal public and private sources;

(4) To establish the capability to link the facility electronically with other local and regional facilities that have collections and programs that interpret the history of the Underground Railroad; and

(5) To submit, for each fiscal year for which an organization receives funding under this program, a report to the Department that contains;

(a) A description of the programs and activities supported by the funding;

(b) The audited financial statement of the organization for the preceding fiscal year;

(c) A plan for the programs and activities to be supported by the funding, as the Secretary may require; and

(d) An evaluation of the programs and activities supported by the funding, as the Secretary may require.

Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1153.

Applicable Regulations: The Education Department of General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 79, 80, 82, 84, 85, 86, 97, 98 and 99.

II. Award Information

Type of Award: Discretionary Grants.

Estimated Available Funds: $2,221,813.

Estimated Range of Awards: $250,000—$1,000,000 total for up to three years.

Estimated Number of Awards: 3.

Note:

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

Project Period: Up to 36 months.

III. Eligibility Information

1. Eligible Applicants: Nonprofit educational organizations that research, interpret, and collect artifacts relating to the history of the Underground Railroad.

2. Cost Sharing or Matching: Not more than 20% of the total funds for this project may be provided by the Federal Government.

IV. Application and Submission Information

1. Address to Request Application Package: Jay Donahue, U.S. Department of Education, room 6162, 1990 K Street, NW., Washington, DC 20006-8544. Telephone: (202) 502-7507 or by e-mail: jay.donahue@ed.gov.

If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339.

Individuals with disabilities may obtain a copy of the application package in an alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer diskette) by contacting the program contact person listed in this section.

2. Content and Form of Application Submission: Requirements concerning the content of an application, together with the forms you must submit, are in the application package for this program.

You may also request application forms by calling 732-544-2504 (fax on demand), or application guidelines by calling 202-358-3041 (voice mail), or submitting the name of the competition and your name and postal address to: FIPSE@ed.gov. Applications also are available on the FIPSE Web Site: http://www.ed.gov/FIPSE .

3. Submission Dates and Times: Applications Available: April 30, 2004. Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: June 1, 2004. The dates and time for transmittal of applications by mail or by hand (including a courier service or commercial carrier) are in the application package for this program.

We do not consider an application that does not comply with the deadline requirements.

Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: July 29, 2004.

4. Intergovernmental Review: This program is subject to Executive Order 12372 and the regulations in 34 CFR part 79. Information about Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs under Executive Order 12372 is in the application package for this program.

5. Funding Restrictions: We reference regulations outlining funding restrictions in the Applicable Regulations section of this notice.

6. Other Submission Requirements: Instructions and requirements for the transmittal of applications by mail or by hand (including a courier service or commercial carrier) are in the application package for this program.

V. Application Review Information

Selection Criteria: The section criteria for this program are in 20 U.S.C. 1153.

VI. Award Administration Information

1. Award Notices: If your application is successful, we notify your U.S. Representative and U.S. Senators and send you a Grant Award Notice (GAN). We may also notify you informally.

If your application is not evaluated or not selected for funding, we notify you.

2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements: We identify administrative and national policy requirements in the application package and reference these and other requirements in the Applicable Regulations section of this notice.

We reference the regulations outlining the terms and conditions of an award in the Application Regulations section of this notice and include these and other specific conditions in the GAN. The GAN also incorporates your approved application as part of your binding commitments under the grant.

3. Reporting: At the end of your project period, you must submit a final performance report, including financial information as directed by the Secretary. If you receive a multi-year award, you must submit an annual performance report that provides the most current performance and financial expenditure information as specified by the Secretary in 34 CFR 75.118.

4. Performance Measures: Under the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA), the Department is assessing the performance of this program by examining the extent to which projects are being institutionalized and continued after grant funding. These results constitute OPE's indicators of the success of this program.

Consequently, applicants for URR grants are advised to give careful consideration to these outcomes in conceptualizing the design, implementation, and evaluation of the proposed project. If funded, you will be asked to collect and report data in your project's annual performance report on steps taken toward this goal.

VII. Agency Contact

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Beverly Baker, Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education, U.S. Department of Education, 1990 K Street, NW., suite 6140, Washington, DC 20006-8544. Telephone: (202) 502-7503 or by e-mail: beverly.baker@ed.gov.

If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you 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 program contact person listed in this section.

VIII. Other Information

Electronic Access to This 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: http://www.ed.gov/news/fedregister.

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 1-888-293-6498; or in the Washington, DC, area at (202) 512-1530.

For additional program information call the FIPSE office (202) 502-7500 between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., eastern time, Monday through Friday.

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.gpoaccess.gov/nara/index.htm1.