Humanities Connections 2024.pdf

Notice of Funding Opportunity

Humanities Connections

Funding Opportunity Number: 20240905-AKA-AKB

Funding Opportunity Type: New

Federal Assistance Listing Number: 45.162

Application Deadline: September 5, 2024

Ensure your SAM.gov and Grants.gov registrations and passwords are current.

It may take several weeks to register with SAM.gov and Grants.gov.

NEH will not grant deadline extensions for lack of registration.

Division of Education Programs Telephone: 202-606-8236 Email: hc@neh.gov Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1

OMB control number 3136-0134, expiration date October 31, 2024 mailto:hc@neh.gov

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Executive Summary The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Division of Education Programs is accepting applications for the Humanities Connections program. This program seeks to expand the role of the humanities in undergraduate education at two- and four-year institutions by encouraging partnerships between humanities faculty and their counterparts in other areas of study. Humanities Connections projects should plan or implement a curriculum connecting the humanities to one or more non-humanities fields, including but not limited to the physical and natural sciences; pre-service or professional programs, including law and business; or computer science, data science, and other technology-driven fields. Projects must incorporate the approaches and learning activities of both the humanities and the non-humanities disciplines involved.

Funding Opportunity Title Humanities Connections Funding Opportunity Number 20240905-AKA-AKB Federal Assistance Listing Number 45.162 Deadline for Optional Draft July 25, 2024, 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time Application Deadline Thursday, September 5, 2024, 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time Anticipated Award Announcement April 2025 Anticipated FY 2025 Funding Approximately $1,500,000 Estimated Number and Type of Awards Approximately 12 Planning and 6 Implementation grants Award Amounts Planning: up to $50,000

Implementation: up to $150,000 Cost Sharing/Match Required No Period of Performance Planning: 6 to 12 months

Implementation: 18 to 36 months

All projects must start between June 1, 2025, and September 1, 2025.

Eligible Applicants U.S. two- or four-year public or private 501(c)(3) accredited institutions of higher education.

See C. Eligibility Information for additional information.

Program Resource Page https://www.neh.gov/grants/education/humanities-connections

Pre-Application Webinar A pre-recorded webinar will be posted to the program resource page by June 21, 2024.

Live Q&A Session: Click here to participate in a live Q&A session at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time on June 27, 2024. Or call in (audio only): +1 202-600-8430 Meeting code: 403 573 484#

Published June 21, 2024 https://www.neh.gov/grants/education/humanities-connections https://www.neh.gov/grants/education/humanities-connections https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_ZDZlMjljMDctMzJhMy00ZGRjLWI2YmEtN2Q1ZjZjOGMxMzJm%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%2293b06459-c77d-44b6-af7f-e813cddcdcc3%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22f28c01cd-bca1-4980-b35a-b9102b345024%22%7d

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Table of Contents

A. Program Description

1. Purpose

2. Background

B. Federal Award Information

1. Type of Application and Award

2. Summary of Funding

C. Eligibility Information

1. Eligible Applicants

2. Cost Sharing

3. Other Eligibility Information

D. Application and Submission Information

1. Application Package

2. Content and Form of Application Submission

3. Unique Entity Identifier and System for Award Management

4. Submission Dates and Times

5. Intergovernmental Review

6. Funding Restrictions

E. Application Review Information

1. Review Criteria

2. Review and Selection Process

3. Assessment of Risk and Other Pre-Award Activities

4. Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates

F. Federal Award Administration Information

1. Federal Award Notices

2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

3. Reporting

G. Agency Contacts

H. Other Information

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A. Program Description

1. Purpose The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Division of Education Programs is accepting applications for the Humanities Connections program. This program seeks to expand the role of the humanities in undergraduate education at two- and four-year institutions by encouraging partnerships between humanities faculty and their counterparts in other areas of study. Humanities Connections projects should plan or implement a curriculum connecting the humanities to one or more non-humanities fields, including but not limited to the physical and natural sciences; pre-service or professional programs, including law and business; or computer science, data science, and other technology-driven fields. Projects must incorporate the approaches and learning activities of both the humanities and the non-humanities disciplines involved.

Competitive Humanities Connections proposals will demonstrate:

• how your project expands the role of the humanities in your institution’s undergraduate curriculum;

• how your proposed curriculum would substantively and purposefully integrate the subject matter, approaches, and learning activities of two or more disciplines (with a minimum of one in and one outside of the humanities);

• how faculty from each relevant discipline would collaborate to plan, implement, and/or deliver the curriculum;

• how your institution would sustain the curriculum over the long term, whether through interdisciplinary minors or certificates; curricular pathways such as concentrations within majors or general education programs; or other models appropriate to your institution

NEH encourages you to review the sample project narratives on the program resource page.

Funding levels The Humanities Connections program includes two funding levels: Planning and Implementation.

NEH evaluates applications for each stage of a project independently. An award at the Planning level does not commit the agency to funding the project at the Implementation level. An Implementation proposal may be for a project that has not received prior NEH support, or it may continue work begun with a previous award. In either case, your Implementation proposal must show evidence of prior planning and cannot include costs for the same activities supported by another NEH proposal. You may not apply for both funding levels simultaneously. See C3.

Other Eligibility Information.

Planning Planning awards (up to $50,000 and between six to 12 months) provide the opportunity to create a firm foundation for an interdisciplinary undergraduate curricular program or initiative.

You may develop an entirely new program or initiative, or build on an existing one, including those currently managed by a single department.

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You may use a Planning award to:

• establish and convene a collaborative team representing the disciplines involved

• set project goals and outcomes

• consult outside experts on curriculum design or interdisciplinary collaboration

• develop interdisciplinary learning opportunities (including but not limited to undergraduate research projects, field or laboratory research, and community-based, project-based, or site-based learning)

• organize workshops or other professional development for faculty and administrators on substantive issues related to the success of the project

• coordinate focus or discussion groups, which may include students, around issues central to the project’s rationale

• design or revise courses, instructional models, and/or learning activities

• work with institutional leadership to establish long-term support

• complete other tasks that introduce your interdisciplinary initiative or curriculum to your campus

Implementation Implementation awards (up to $150,000 and from 18 to 36 months) support the introduction or revision of sustainable and interdisciplinary undergraduate curricula or initiatives. An Implementation award provides the opportunity to build on faculty, administrative, or institutional partnerships and to develop and refine the project’s intellectual content, design, and scope.

You may use an Implementation award to:

• develop, implement, assess, and refine curricula (such as pathways, majors, minors, and certificates), courses, course modules, and assignments

• convene a core faculty team and develop working groups on issues central to project rationale

• engage outside experts on issues pertinent to project content, design, and sustainability

• create and implement outreach strategies to attract students

• conduct mid- and long-range feasibility studies

• complete other tasks that prepare your interdisciplinary curriculum or initiative to enroll students

Which funding level should I choose?

Whether you apply at the Planning or Implementation level depends on how far along you are with your curriculum or initiative. Use the graphic below to determine whether you are ready to apply at the Implementation level. If you have not yet completed the prior planning work to address those elements, you should apply at the Planning level.

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Program Outputs The output of a successful Planning award should be a preliminary proposal that clearly defines the steps necessary to develop your interdisciplinary curriculum or initiative. Those steps may include approval by a faculty senate or other institutional body.

The output of a successful Implementation award should be a sustainable curriculum or initiative ready to enroll students.

You will describe your project outputs, and how they would support the overall purpose of the Humanities Connections program, in the “Impact and Evaluation” section of Attachment 1:

Narrative. If you receive an award, NEH will assess your performance based on the outputs you identify in the proposal. See F.3 Reporting.

See D6. Funding Restrictions for unallowable activities. Applications unrelated to the purpose of this program or that include unallowable costs or activities may be judged nonresponsive and returned without review.

See E1. Review Criteria for the standards NEH will use to evaluate applications under this notice.

2. Background NEH offers this funding opportunity under the authority of 20 U.S.C. § 956. Awards are subject to 2 CFR Part 200 Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards, and the General Terms and Conditions for Awards to Organizations (for grants and cooperative agreements issued January 1, 2022 or later).

Under Section 3(a) of the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965, as amended, “The term ‘humanities’ includes, but is not limited to, the study of the following:

language, both modern and classical; linguistics; literature; history; jurisprudence; philosophy;

archaeology; comparative religion; ethics; the history, criticism and theory of the arts; those aspects of the social sciences which have humanistic content and employ humanistic methods;

and the study and application of the humanities to the human environment with particular

You may be ready to apply at the

Implementation level if you can:

show unambiguous evidence of prior planning present a defined rationale with clear intellectual and logistical objectives supported by institutional leadership clearly demonstrate any partners’ or collaborators’ commitments outline preferred approaches to curriculum building/consolidation and explain how you will attract students to the new educational opportunity https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?hl=false&edition=prelim&req=granuleid%3AUSC-prelim-title20-section956 https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=236bb02f01d2e050f7a5b60c88a67066&mc=true&node=pt2.1.200&rgn=div5 https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=236bb02f01d2e050f7a5b60c88a67066&mc=true&node=pt2.1.200&rgn=div5 https://www.neh.gov/general-terms-and-conditions-awards-organizations-grants-and-cooperative-agreements-issued-january-2022 https://www.neh.gov/general-terms-and-conditions-awards-organizations-grants-and-cooperative-agreements-issued-january-2022 https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-1998-title20/pdf/USCODE-1998-title20-chap26-subchapI-sec952.pdf

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attention to reflecting our diverse heritage, traditions, and history and to the relevance of the humanities to the current conditions of national life.”

Use the Funded Projects Query Form to find examples of NEH-supported projects.

Learn more about NEH.

NEH Areas of Interest NEH is especially interested in supporting projects that advance humanities-related work in the following areas. NEH will give all applications equal consideration in accordance with the program’s review criteria.

NEH encourages projects that include Native American organizations and communities as applicants and project partners.

American Tapestry: Weaving Together Past, Present, and Future American Tapestry: Weaving Together Past, Present, and Future is a wide-ranging special initiative at NEH that leverages the humanities to tackle some of the most pressing challenges of our time: strengthening our democracy, advancing equity for all, and addressing our changing climate. The initiative encourages humanities projects that elevate the role of civics in schools and public programs, advance knowledge of the country’s history and political institutions, and examine threats to its democratic principles. The initiative also encourages projects that explore the untold stories of historically underrepresented groups and build capacity at cultural and educational institutions to benefit underserved communities. Finally, the initiative welcomes projects that promote research into the historical roots and cultural effects of climate change and support the cultural and educational sectors in building climate resilience. By supporting humanities projects that align with these three themes – strengthening our democracy, advancing equity for all, and addressing our changing climate – the American Tapestry initiative seeks to tell our country’s history in all its complexity and diversity.

United We Stand: Connecting Through Culture Hate must have no safe harbor in America – especially when that hate fuels the kind of violence we’ve seen from Oak Creek to Pittsburgh, from El Paso to Poway, and from Atlanta to Buffalo.

When ordinary Americans cannot participate in the basic activities of everyday life – such as shopping at the grocery store or praying at their house of worship – without the fear of being targeted and killed for who they are, our security as well as democracy are at risk. In coordination with the White House “United We Stand” Summit in September 2022, NEH launched a new initiative titled United We Stand: Connecting Through Culture that uses the humanities to combat hate-motivated violence and promote civic engagement, social cohesion, and cross-cultural understanding. As a part of this initiative, NEH encourages humanities projects that further our understanding of the nation’s racial, ethnic, gender, and religious diversity; examine the sources of hate and intolerance in the United States; and explore progress towards greater inclusiveness. NEH especially welcomes projects that explore the Muslim American and/or the Jewish American experience, including the history of Islamophobia and/or antisemitism.

NEH’s Support for the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative As a part of NEH’s partnership with the Department of the Interior on the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative, NEH encourages projects that further public understanding and https://securegrants.neh.gov/publicquery/main.aspx https://www.neh.gov/about https://www.neh.gov/news/american-tapestry-weaving-together-past-present-and-future https://www.neh.gov/unitedwestand https://www.neh.gov/bsi https://www.neh.gov/bsi

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knowledge of the Federal Indian boarding school system. From 1819 through the 1970s the government of the United States operated a system of schools for Native American, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian children premised on a policy of coerced cultural assimilation. Native children were forcibly separated from their families and sent to attend federal Indian boarding schools, where they were frequently subject to harsh treatment and abuse. A number of these students died, and others never returned to their families and communities. Many were also deprived of their cultural inheritance. NEH encourages projects that document and explore the history of the federal Indian boarding schools as well as projects that contribute to Native and Indigenous cultural and language revitalization.

B. Federal Award Information

1. Type of Application and Award NEH seeks new applications in response to this notice.

NEH will provide funding in the form of grants.

2. Summary of Funding

Award amounts You may request up to $50,000 for Planning or up to $150,000 for Implementation. This includes the sum of direct and indirect costs.

NEH anticipates approximately $1,500,000 to fund an estimated twelve Planning and six Implementation recipients.

NEH will award successful applicants outright funds, which are not contingent on additional funding from other sources.

NEH will not determine the exact amount available for funding until Congress makes official appropriations for FY 2025. NEH will issue awards subject to the availability of appropriated funds. NEH is publishing this notice as a contingency to ensure that NEH can process applications and issue awards in a timely manner, should sufficient funds become available.

Period of performance You may request a period of performance of 12 months for Planning or 18 to 36 months for Implementation with a start date between June 1, 2025, and September 1, 2025.

The period of performance is the time during which you may incur expenses to carry out the work under the award. It must start on the first day of the month and end on the last day of the month.

C. Eligibility Information

1. Eligible Applicants Eligible applicants include U.S. two- or four-year public or private 501(c)(3) accredited institutions of higher education.

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Individuals and other organizations, including foreign and for-profit entities, are ineligible.

If your organization is eligible, you may apply on behalf of a consortium of collaborating organizations. If NEH selects your proposal for funding, you will be programmatically, legally, and fiscally responsible for the award.

The recipient may not function solely as a fiscal agent but should make substantive contributions to the success of the project.

2. Cost Sharing NEH does not require cost sharing in this program.

Cost sharing refers to project costs that are covered with non-NEH funds. You may contribute voluntary cost share if the total project costs exceed the amount awarded by NEH. Voluntary cost share includes:

• cash contributions made to the project by you or a third party

• your unrecovered indirect costs

• in-kind contributions (non-cash contributions, such as property or services, that benefit the project and are contributed without charge) by you or a third party

While you may describe voluntary cost share in your budget justification, you should not include it on your Research and Related Budget. The Research and Related Budget should only include funds you are requesting from NEH.

Peer reviewers will not consider any voluntary cost share in their evaluation of applications.

You must maintain auditable records of the source and use of cost share. See 2 CFR § 200.306.

Learn about types of funds NEH offers.

3. Other Eligibility Information You may submit multiple applications for separate and distinct projects under this notice.

Recipients of open Humanities Connections awards may apply.

Collaboration with other postsecondary institutions is welcome, but the project director must be employed by or affiliated with the applicant institution. The project director may not hold a full-time NEH individual award during the period of performance.

You may revise and resubmit previously rejected applications. Submissions are subject to the application requirements and review criteria of the current competition. If NEH has previously made an award in support of your project, you may apply for a new or subsequent stage of the project, which NEH will assess using the review criteria of the current competition.

Per 2 CFR § 200.403(f), you must not include the same project costs in more than one application for federal funding or approved federal award budget. If one application to NEH is pending, a second application for the same project costs, even if to a different program, may be ruled ineligible. However, you may submit multiple proposals for complementary aspects of the same overall project. If you are submitting complementary proposals to other NEH programs or government agencies, specify when and to whom in the Supplementary Cover Sheet https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=3aeab4e3a836f5b6807999701e518c94&mc=true&node=pt2.1.200&rgn=div5#se2.1.200_1306 https://www.neh.gov/grants/manage/types-funding https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-A/chapter-II/part-200/subpart-E/subject-group-ECFRea20080eff2ea53/section-200.403

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for NEH Grant Programs. NEH may disallow costs or reject applications that include overlapping project costs. An individual’s level of effort cannot exceed 100% across multiple active federally funded awards.

NEH does not issue awards to other federal entities. If your project is so closely intertwined with a federal entity that the project takes on characteristics of the federal entity’s own authorized activities, it is ineligible. You may use funds from, or sites and materials controlled by, other federal entities in your project.

NEH does not provide financial assistance to foreign institutions or organizations. If you are an eligible domestic entity, you may apply for collaborative projects involving foreign organizations provided you do not use NEH funds for the purpose of issuing subawards to any foreign organization, as defined in 2 CFR §§ 200.1 and .331(a). You may obtain the services of foreign individuals and consultants to carry out programmatic activities on a fee-for-service basis, as specified in 2 CFR § 200.459. You may obtain goods and services from foreign vendors, such as in-country transportation services, in accordance with 2 CFR § 200.331(b). If you plan to submit an application involving international collaboration, contact program staff at hc@neh.gov.

Except for the rare cases covered by its late submission policy, NEH will not consider applications submitted after the deadline.

NEH will not consider incomplete, nonresponsive, or ineligible applications for funding.

NEH will not consider applications that exceed mandatory page limits or deviate from formatting instructions. See the Application Components Table.

D. Application and Submission Information

1. Application Package You must apply using Grants.gov Workspace or a Grants.gov system-to-system solution. You can find this funding opportunity in Grants.gov under number 20240905-AKA-AKB. There is also a link on the program resource page.

This funding opportunity includes two application packages, which you can find under the “Package” tab. Select the appropriate one based upon your project type.

• Planning: AKA2024

• Implementation: AKB2024

Each package includes a series of required and conditionally required forms. You will upload additional application components using the Attachments Form.

You must complete a multistep registration process prior to submitting your application. See D3. Unique Entity Identifier and System for Award Management.

Contact hc@neh.gov to request a paper copy of this notice.

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2. Content and Form of Application Submission Your application will include a narrative, budget, and other forms and attachments. You will complete the forms within Grants.gov Workspace and upload other components into the Attachments Form. See the Application Component Table.

Application formatting Your application components must conform to the following formatting requirements, unless otherwise indicated:

• pages no larger than standard letter (8 ½" x 11”)

• at least one-inch margins on all sides for all pages

• a font no smaller than 11 points

In addition, NEH encourages you to format your components consistent with the following:

• single-spacing

• a readable font such as Arial, Georgia, Helvetica, or Times New Roman

• any standard citation style (include citations in page counts)

Application Component Table NEH has assigned each application component one of the following designations:

• Required: You must submit this component.

• Conditionally Required: You must submit this component if your proposal meets the specified conditions.

• Optional: You may submit this component, but NEH does not require it.

• Conditionally required for recipients: You are encouraged but not required to submit this component when you apply. You must submit it if you receive an award if your proposal meets the specified conditions.

NEH will not review applications missing any required documents or relevant conditionally required documents.

Do not include attachments other than those listed in the table in this notice. If you do, NEH will reject your application.

In addition, NEH has established page limits for some application components:

• Mandatory: You must not exceed the page limit.

• Suggested: NEH encourages, but does not require, you to abide by the page limit.

Note page limits and formatting instructions in this notice. NEH will not review applications that exceed mandatory page limits or deviate from formatting instructions.

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Application Component File Name Designation Page limit Attachments 1: Narrative narrative.pdf Required 8 pages for

Planning; 10 pages for Implementation (mandatory)

2: Work plan workplan.pdf Required 2-3 pages (suggested)

3: Readings and resources readings.pdf Required 1-2 pages (suggested)

4: Résumés for key personnel resumes.pdf Required 2 pages per résumé (suggested)

5: Letters of commitment and support letters.pdf Required

6: Subrecipient budget(s) subrecipient.pdf Conditionally required

7: Federally negotiated indirect cost rate agreement agreement.pdf Conditionally

8: Explanation of delinquent federal debt delinquentdebt.pdf Conditionally

Grants.gov forms SF-424 Application for Federal Assistance - Short Organizational

Required

Supplementary Cover Sheet for NEH Grant Programs

Required

Project/Performance Site(s) Location Form

Required

Research and Related Budget and Budget Justification

Required

Attachments Form Required Certification Regarding Lobbying

Conditionally required for recipients

Standard Form-LLL “Disclosure of Lobbying Activities”

Conditionally required for recipients

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Application Components: Attachments Each attachment must be a single PDF file. See the Attachments Form instructions for further guidance about file requirements. Read those instructions carefully, as Grants.gov will not accept files that do not meet the requirements.

Attachment 1: Narrative (required) Compose a comprehensive description of your proposed project. Your narrative should be succinct, well organized, and free of technical terms and jargon so that peer reviewers can understand the proposed project.

You must limit the narrative to eight single-spaced pages for Planning and ten single-spaced pages for Implementation. Do not include a cover page or a table of contents. You may include images, charts, diagrams, footnotes, or endnotes if they fit within the page limit.

Organize your narrative using the following headings. Each section aligns with one or more review criteria NEH will use to evaluate your proposal.

Name the file narrative.pdf.

Project description Briefly identify the curriculum or initiative your project would develop and how it would benefit your institution. We recommend limiting this section to 1000 characters, so that you may also include it in the project description on the SF-424 form, which will appear on the cover page of the application.

Intellectual rationale (aligns with review criteria Intellectual quality and Impact) This section of the narrative should:

• Identify the topic or issue that the project addresses and explain how the project brings the resources and perspectives of the humanities into students’ broader educational goals.

• Address how your project will integrate the subject matter, approaches, and learning activities from two or more disciplines (at least one in the humanities and one in the non-humanities). If applicable, explain how partnership(s) beyond the institution will help accomplish your goals.

• Describe the interdisciplinary learning activities in which students would engage. As relevant to your project, outline how you would get your initiative or curriculum approved by your institution; explain any partnerships with other faculty or with other institutions, and whether those partnerships are in place or need to be developed; and/or estimate when you would begin enrolling students.

For Implementation proposals, summarize the conclusions reached as a result of your planning process (whether or not NEH funded that process).

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Institutional context (aligns with review criteria Design quality and feasibility and Impact) Situate your proposed initiative or curriculum within your institution’s current humanities offerings. Include information about current enrollment, majors, faculty, and existing resources and initiatives.

Explain how your project expands the role of the humanities at your institution. This might include increasing enrollments in humanities programs or integrating humanities courses into other programs.

If relevant, describe how humanities faculty contribute to current interdisciplinary programs.

If the project involves more than one institution, describe how the proposed collaboration will enhance any ongoing or previous partnerships or arrangements.

Content and activities (aligns with review criteria Intellectual quality and Design quality and feasibility) As appropriate to the funding level (Planning or Implementation), outline the stages for developing your project during the award period and the specific project activities you will undertake. This section should:

• explain the project’s structure and content, including how the coursework forms an integrated whole and which texts and other resources you plan to use

• detail the specific subject areas students would explore and how often your institution will offer any courses or other activities your project will revise or create

• outline the steps for collaboration between departments, schools, and/or outside organizations, and explain their relevance to the project

• articulate your outreach strategies to achieve faculty buy-in and attract students to the new educational opportunities, both initially and long-term

Provide a work plan in Attachment 2 and a list of relevant readings and resources in Attachment 3.

Collaborative team (aligns with review criterion Design quality and feasibility) Describe the qualifications and responsibilities of the project director(s) and other personnel who will collaborate in the planning process. Outline the team’s composition and explain how it reflects the key stakeholders in the planning process, including any external contributors to the project, such as visiting scholars, consultants, and/or community partners.

Team members may include:

• full-time or adjunct faculty from two or more departments, with a minimum of one in and one outside of the humanities (required)

• high-level administrators, such as deans or provosts

• humanities-oriented teaching and learning professionals, such as librarians and media specialists

• experts in specific pedagogical approaches, such as applied humanities, archival research, field or laboratory research, or other learning activities appropriate to the project

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• members of cultural or community organizations, professional societies, or other external collaborators relevant to the project

For both Planning and Implementation proposals, if you anticipate subsequent additions to the team, describe the process by which you will recruit or select them.

Provide brief résumés or biographies as Attachment 4 and letters or emails of commitment as Attachment 5.

Impact and evaluation (aligns with review criteria Design quality and feasibility and Impact) Explain how you will assess the project during and after the period of performance. Describe the anticipated impact on institutional, program, or project goals, such as the expected number of students enrolled in the new curriculum over a given span of years. Incorporate quantitative measures, such as the number of new or revised courses offered, undergraduate participation in new programs (such as certificates or minors), extent of student engagement and enrollment data, and faculty development results.

For Planning proposals, explain how you will assess the feasibility of proceeding to the next stage of the project.

For Implementation proposals, describe the anticipated long-term impact of the project and explain how you will sustain the curricular innovation and scale student enrollment beyond the period of performance.

As a reminder, NEH does not require external evaluation in this program.

Attachment 2: Work plan (required) Your work plan should reflect the major activities you describe in your narrative, the project dates on your SF-424 Application for Federal Assistance - Short Organizational, and your Research and Related Budget.

Describe the activities that will take place during the period of performance to achieve each of the proposed objectives. Use a timeline that includes each activity and identifies responsible staff. Explain how outcomes from one activity will carry over into the next. For multi-institutional collaborative projects, discuss the distribution of responsibilities across each institution. As appropriate, identify meaningful support and collaboration with key stakeholders in planning, designing, and implementing activities.

Include in your work plan required, virtual meetings for all Humanities Connections project team members in June 2025 and January 2026.

This attachment has a suggested length of two to three pages. Name the file workplan.pdf.

Attachment 3: Readings and resources (required) Include a list of relevant readings and resources for the project. This list should convey to reviewers the humanities content that informs your curriculum or initiative. You may also list texts that might be included on syllabi.

This attachment has a suggested length of one to two pages. Name the file readings.pdf.

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Attachment 4: Résumés for key personnel (required) Include brief résumés or biographies for the project director(s), members of the collaborative team, consultants, speakers, and other key personnel.

This attachment has a suggested length of two pages per résumé. Name the file resumes.pdf.

Attachment 5: Letters of commitment and support (required) Include at least one letter from leadership (such as the president, provost, or dean) at the applicant institution. The letter should explain the project’s significance within the institution’s curriculum. At the Implementation level, the letter should attest that the institution will offer long-term support for the project.

NEH also encourages you to include letters or emails of commitment from other individuals or organizations involved in the project, such as chairs or deans of the departments or schools whose faculty will be collaborating during the grant period.

Elected government officials, NEH staff, and current members of the National Council on the Humanities may not serve as letter writers.

Name the file letters.pdf.

Attachment 6: Subrecipient budget(s) (conditionally required) If your project includes subawards, you must provide a separate Research and Related Budget and budget justification for each subrecipient.

Download a fillable PDF of the Research and Related Budget form from the NEH website for each subrecipient. You must open and complete this form in Adobe Reader 8.0 or higher rather than in your web browser.

Prepare a budget and budget justification for each subrecipient using the same instructions in this notice, with a few exceptions:

• Enter the subrecipient’s Unique Entity Identifier, organization name, and period of performance start and end date (these fields will not prepopulate).

• For “budget type,” check “Subaward/Consortium.”

If your subrecipients have a federally negotiated indirect cost rate, you must honor it. If they do not have a federally negotiated indirect cost rate, they may negotiate a rate with you consistent with 2 CFR § 200.414 or use the de minimis rate.

Rather than attaching related documents (budget justification, additional personnel, additional equipment) to the form itself, you will separately convert each document into a PDF and combine all subrecipients’ budget forms and related documents into a single document. Do not attach portfolios containing multiple PDFs.

NEH cannot accept security-enhanced PDFs (e.g., XFA files, PDFs that include password-protection, encryption, digital signatures). Remove these features (or “flatten” these files) before merging them into a single PDF and uploading it to the Attachments Form.

Name the file subrecipient.pdf.

https://www.neh.gov/about/national-council-on-the-humanities https://www.neh.gov/about/national-council-on-the-humanities https://www.neh.gov/sites/default/files/inline-files/RR_Budget10_3_0-V3.0.pdf https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=d22b09774a679ad264cf0098635dabb8&mc=true&node=pt2.1.200&rgn=div5#se2.1.200_1414

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Attachment 7: Federally negotiated indirect cost rate agreement (conditionally required) If your organization is claiming indirect costs and has a current federally negotiated indirect cost rate agreement, provide a copy of the agreement. If applicable, provide the indirect cost rate agreements for subrecipients claiming indirect costs. If you and your subrecipients are requesting the de minimis rate, you do not need to submit this attachment.

Name the file agreement.pdf.

Attachment 8: Explanation of delinquent federal debt (conditionally required for recipients) If your organization is delinquent in the repayment of any federal debt, explain why. Provide evidence that you have entered into a repayment agreement with the Internal Revenue Service, if applicable, and that you are current on all payments due. Examples of relevant debt include delinquent payroll or other taxes, audit disallowances, and benefit overpayments. See OMB Circular A-129.

Name the file delinquentdebt.pdf.

Application Components: Grants.gov Forms

SF-424 Application for Federal Assistance – Short Organizational (Grants.gov form) This form requests basic information about your institution, the proposed project, and key contacts. Items 1, 2, and 4 will be automatically filled in; leave item 3 blank.

5. Applicant Information a-d. Provide your organization’s legal name, address, and web address. Select the applicant type that best describes your organization from the drop-down menu.

e-f. Provide your organization’s employer/taxpayer identification number (EIN/TIN), and Unique Entity Identifier assigned by the System for Award Management. If you do not know your identifier, contact your grant administrator or chief financial officer. See D3. Unique Entity Identifier and System for Award Management.

g. Provide your congressional district with your two-character state abbreviation followed by your three-character district number. For example, if your institution is located in the 5th congressional district of Alabama, enter “AL-005.” If your institution is in a state or U.S.

jurisdiction that does not have districts, enter “000” in place of the district number. If your institution is outside the U.S., enter “00-000.”

6. Project Information

a. Provide your project’s title. It should be brief (no more than 125 characters, including spaces), descriptive of the project, and easily understood by the general public. If NEH funds your project, the agency may retitle your project for clarity in internal and external communications, including the public announcement of awards. Regardless, you may use your preferred title when carrying out the project.

b. Provide a brief description of your project (no more than 1,000 characters, including spaces).

You should write the description for a nonspecialist audience, clearly stating the importance of https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/omb/circulars_a129_rev2013 https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/omb/circulars_a129_rev2013 https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative

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the proposed work and its relation to larger issues in the humanities. This description will appear on the cover sheet of your application and will serve as a project abstract during the review process. If funded, this description will also appear in NEH’s database of funded projects.

c. State your project’s period of performance start and end dates. Your project must start on the first day of a month and end on the last day of a month. See B2. Summary of Funding for allowable periods of performance.

7. Project Director Provide the project director’s name, title, and contact information. The project director is responsible for the programmatic aspects and day-to-day management of the proposed project.

You must notify the NEH Office of Grant Management immediately if you need to change project directors.

If the project director is not employed by the applicant organization, you must have a formal written agreement with the project director that specifies an official relationship between the parties even if the relationship does not involve a salary or other form of remuneration.

8. Primary Contact/Grant Administrator Provide the name, title, and contact information for the official responsible for the administration of the award (e.g., negotiating the budget and ensuring compliance with the terms and conditions of the award).

As a matter of NEH policy, the project director and primary contact/grant administrator must not be the same person.

The grant administrator (also called the “institutional grant administrator”) functions as the representative of the recipient organization. This individual should have authority to act on the organization’s behalf in matters related to the administration of the award. The institutional grant administrator must sign or countersign financial reports and prior approval requests such as budget revisions, extensions to the period of performance, and changes in key personnel.

NEH will address official correspondence (for example, the offer letter or Notice of Action) to the institutional grant administrator and copy the project director.

9. Authorized Representative Provide the name, title, and contact information for the authorized organization representative (AOR) who is submitting the application on behalf of the institution. This person, often called an “authorizing official,” is typically someone from the Office of Sponsored Projects, or the institution’s president, vice president, executive director, or board chair. The institution’s Grants.gov E-Business Point of Contact must designate the AOR. The AOR’s signature must match the contact’s name. See the Grants.gov Online User Guide.

Supplementary Cover Sheet for NEH Grant Programs (Grants.gov form)

1. Project Director Select the project director’s major field of study from the drop-down menu.

2. Institutional Information Select your institution type from the drop-down menu.

https://apply07.grants.gov/help/html/help/index.htm?callingApp=custom#t=GetStarted%2FGetStarted.htm

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3. Project Funding Enter the amount requested under “Outright Funds.” Do not enter anything under “Federal Match” or “Cost Sharing.”

Learn more about the types of funding NEH offers.

4. Application Information Indicate whether you or others will submit complementary proposals to other NEH programs, government agencies, or private entities. If so, specify when and to whom. NEH will not consider this information when evaluating the merits of your proposal. See C3. Other Eligibility Information for restrictions regarding overlapping costs.

For type of application, check “new.”

Select the project’s primary discipline from the drop-down menu. If applicable, select the project’s secondary and tertiary disciplines.

Project/Performance Site Location(s) Form (Grants.gov form) Provide the primary location and any other locations where you will conduct project activities during the period of performance.

Enter congressional districts using the two-letter state abbreviation followed by your three-character district number. For example, if your institution is in the 5th congressional district of Alabama, enter “AL-005.” If your institution is in a state or U.S. jurisdiction that does not have districts, enter “000” in place of the district number. If your institution is outside the U.S., enter “00-000.”

The form has space for 300 sites. If your project includes additional locations, list them in a separate document. Save the document as a PDF named additionallocations.pdf and attach it under “Additional Locations.”

Research and Related Budget (Grants.gov form) You must submit a project budget using the Research and Related Budget form included in the Grants.gov application package and attach a budget justification. Complete the SF-424 Application for Federal Assistance - Short Organizational form prior to completing your Research and Related Budget.

Complete a separate detailed budget for each 12-month span of the period of performance. The form will generate a cumulative budget.

The form indicates required fields in yellow. Round all costs to the nearest whole dollar. The inclusion of a cost category on the Research and Related Budget form does not automatically indicate that an expense is allowable in this program. See D6. Funding Restrictions to ensure that proposed costs are allowable.

If you provide voluntary cost share, do not include it on the Research and Related Budget form.

You may describe it in your budget justification.

All costs must be reasonable, necessary to accomplish project objectives, allowable in terms of 2 CFR 200 Subpart E - Cost Principles, auditable, and incurred during the period of performance.

https://www.neh.gov/grants/manage/types-funding https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-A/chapter-II/part-200/subpart-E https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-A/chapter-II/part-200/subpart-E https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=236bb02f01d2e050f7a5b60c88a67066&mc=true&node=pt2.1.200&rgn=div5#sp2.1.200.e

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Costs are subject to audit, record retention, and other requirements set forth in 2 CFR 200 Subpart F - Audit Requirements.

You should include only your own employees under A. Senior/Key Person and B. Other Personnel. Include team members in leadership roles in the project under A. Senior/Key Person.

Include other team members under B. Other Personnel. Include costs for non-employees under F3. Consultant Services or F5. Subawards/Consortium/Contractual Costs, as appropriate.

If you charge indirect costs to the project, you must not charge the same costs to the project as direct costs. See H. Indirect Costs.

Introductory Fields Your SF-424 Application for Federal Assistance - Short Organizational form should pre-populate introductory fields. If not pre-populated, indicate your organization’s Unique Entity Identifier, name, and the period of performance. This should match the information you provide on your SF-424 Application for Federal Assistance - Short Organizational. Your period of performance must start on the first day of the month and end on the last day of the month. For budget type, check “project.”

A. Senior/Key Person Include personnel who are employed by the applicant institution in leadership roles on the project. Do not include collaborators at other institutions or consultants, as you will include them in F. Other Direct Costs.

Enter the base salary (annual compensation) for each senior/key person and identify the number of months they will devote to the project. If you do not include base salaries, your award may be delayed.

Many non-academic institutions organize their budgets using calendar months. If your organization does not differentiate between academic and summer months, use only the calendar months column.

If your organization follows an academic calendar, you may differentiate levels of effort by using the academic and summer months columns. You may use both columns if your institutional policy requires separate accounting for academic and summer months. If your institution does not use a nine-month academic year and a three-month summer period, include your institution's definition of these terms in your budget justification.

Enter the requested salary and fringe benefits for each senior/key person. Per 2 CFR § 200.431, fringe benefits are allowances and services you provide in addition to salaries and wages. Fringe benefits may include the costs of leave (e.g., vacation, family-related, sick, or military), employee insurance, pensions, and unemployment benefit plans.

Requested salaries and wages must comply with 2 CFR §§ 200.430 and .466 and fringe benefits must comply with 2 CFR § 200.431.

The form will calculate the requested salary and…