fy15 nrc trade c. c. scholarship announcement - amend (1).pdf

NRC-HQ-84-15-FOA-0003

Amendment Number: 1

Nuclear Regulatory Commission (http://www.nrc.gov)

Title:

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Funding Opportunity Announcement, Trade School and Community College Scholarship Grant, Fiscal Year (FY) 2015

Announcement of Opportunity Number:

NRC-HQ-84-15-FOA-0003

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number:

CFDA #: 77.008

Corrections

Page: 4 Section: Cost Sharing or Matching

The following information was deleted from the second paragraph:

“Any cost sharing proposed may result in additional points during the peer review process (see Section V.1. Full Review Criteria). The degree and type of leveraging will determine if additional points will be awarded during the peer review process.”

As a result of this change the paragraph now reads as follows:

“Recipients are to be careful with providing unrealistic or excessive cost share or match since, at the end of the grant, if the identified match has not been provided, then a portion of the Federal share may be required to be returned to the Government.”

Page: 4 Section: Award Information

The following information was added just after the Cost Sharing or Matching information:

“4. Service Agreements

As a condition for scholarships, students must demonstrate satisfactory academic progress in their fields of study, as determined by criteria contained in this announcement and as established by the NRC. Consequently, NRC requires scholarship and fellowship students to serve six (6) months in nuclear-related employment for each full or partial year of academic support. The employment may be with NRC, other Federal agencies, State agencies, Department of Energy laboratories, nuclear-related industry, or academia in the students sponsored fields of study.

Scholarship students who fail to satisfy the service agreement requirements of the program must request a waiver from the NRC or reimburse the United States Government for the entire amount of the assistance provided them under the scholarship plus interest (at a rate consistent with the U.S. Treasury Current Value of Funds Rate and 10 CFR Part 15, Debt Collection Procedures). (See http://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/grants/trade-svc-agreement.pdf Scholarship and Fellowship Program Service Agreement at http://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/grants.html) Institutions cannot impose additional requirements to scholarship recipients beyond the NRC Service Agreement. Service agreements must be signed by the student (to include contact information as reflected on the service agreement), the recipient program coordinator and NRC prior to receiving support. NRC requires the recipient to provide the NRC fully executed copies of the service agreement.

See Section VIII., Other Information, for policies related to this announcement.”

Page: 5 Section: Eligible Institutions

The following characteristics were added to the list:

• “Predominately Black Institutions

• Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions”

As a result of the change the list of characteristics now reads as follows:

• “Public/State Controlled Institutions of Higher Education

• Private Institutions of Higher Education

• Hispanic-Serving Institutions

• Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)

• Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs)

• Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions

• Predominately Black Institutions

• Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions”

Page: 6 Section: Citizenship Requirement

The following information was revised: (the 1st sentence)

“Fellowship and scholarship recipients must be United States citizens or noncitizen nationals of the United States, or have been lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence (i.e., in possession of a currently valid Alien Registration Receipt Card I-551, or other legal verification of such status).”

As a result of the change the 1st sentence now reads as follows:

“Trade school and community college recipients must be United States citizens or noncitizen nationals of the United States, or have been lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence (i.e., in possession of a currently valid Alien Registration Receipt Card I-551, or other legal verification of such status).”

Page: 7 Section: Personnel

The following information was revised: (the 5th sentence)

“Mentoring interactions and other activities with students/participants are considered a regular part of an individual's academic duties, then mentoring and other interactions with students/participants are non-reimbursable from grant funds.” has been revised.

As a result of the change the 5th sentence now reads as follows:

“If mentoring interactions and other activities with students/participants are considered a regular part of an individual's academic duties, then mentoring and other interactions with students/participants are non-reimbursable from grant funds.”

Page: 15 Section: Full Review Criteria

The following information was deleted:

“Applications are evaluated and rated individually by multiple peer reviewers using both Federal and non-Federal experts in the field. The following criteria items must be addressed and clearly labeled. These items are used to evaluate applications using the corresponding weighted value.

1. Capacity and ability of the institution to effectively conduct the program. (25 points)

2. Type and degree of proposed student support (i.e., mentoring or advisor assistance).

(25 points)

3. Feasibility and completeness of an evaluation plan to measure the effectiveness of the scholarship program. (15 points)

4. Institutional support for the program and plans for sustainability as well as number and quality of students that will be served by the program. (25 points)

5. Innovation demonstrated through establishment of consortia, and or partnerships with other institutions to increase the universe of students reached through distance learning, shared courses, facility sharing, etc. (5 points)

6. The amount and type of leveraged funding that was initiated due to this announcement. (5 points). * To receive total points for this criteria, a well written agreement or commitment letter from nuclear industry partners, national laboratories or institutions must be included as part of the application package.”

As a result of the change the information now reads as follows:

“Applications are evaluated and rated individually by multiple peer reviewers using both Federal and non-Federal experts in the field. The following criteria items must be addressed and clearly labeled. These items are used to evaluate applications using the corresponding weighted value.

1. Capacity and ability of the institution to effectively conduct the program including quality and feasibility of the recruitment and marketing strategies. (25 points)

2. Type and degree of proposed student support (i.e., mentoring or advisor assistance). Including quality of technical programs for scholars. (25 points)

3. Feasibility and completeness of an evaluation plan to measure the effectiveness of the scholarship program. (15 points)

4. Institutional support for the program and plans for sustainability as well as number and quality of students that will be served by the program. (25 points)

5. Innovation demonstrated through establishment of consortia or partnerships with other institutions, including Post-Secondary Minority Serving Institutions, to increase the universe of students reached through distance learning, shared courses, facility sharing, etc. Post-Secondary Minority Institutions are listed at: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/edlite-minorityinst.html. (5 points)”

Page: 27 Section: Performance Progress Reports

The following information was deleted:

“Performance Progress Reports - In accordance with 2 CFR § 200.328, the Recipient will submit Performance Progress Reports (SF-PPR, SF-PPR-B, and the SF-PPR-E) on an annual basis for the period ending September 30, or any portion thereof, unless otherwise authorized by the Grants Officer. Reports are due no later than 30 days following the end of the reporting period. Performance reports are sent to the Program Officer at the email address indicated in the Notice of Award, and to Grants Officer at: Grants_PPR.Resource@NRC.GOV. (NOTE: There is an underscore between Grants and PPR).”

As a result of this change this section now reads as follows:

“Performance Progress Reports - In accordance with 2 CFR § 200.328, the Recipient will submit Performance Progress Reports (SF-PPR, SF-PPR-B, and the SF-PPR-E) on an semi-annual basis for the period ending September 30, or any portion thereof, unless otherwise authorized by the Grants Officer. Reports are due no later than 30 days following the end of the reporting period. Performance reports are sent to the Program Officer at the email address indicated in the Notice of Award, and to Grants Officer at: Grants_PPR.Resource@NRC.GOV. (NOTE: There is an underscore between Grants and PPR).”