[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 32, Volume 2]
[Revised as of July 1, 2008]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 32CFR206.1]

[Page 387-389]
 
                       TITLE 32--NATIONAL DEFENSE
 
        CHAPTER I--OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE (CONTINUED)
 
PART 206_NATIONAL SECURITY EDUCATION PROGRAM (NSEP) GRANTS TO INSTITUTIONS OF 
 
Sec. 206.1  Major characteristics of the NSEP institutional grants program.

    (a) The Institutional Grants Program provides support in the form of 
grants to U.S. institutions of higher education. During the 1994-95 and 
1995-96 academic years, a program of pilot grants is being initiated 
with an annual competition for grants held during the spring of each 
year. Grants to institutions will complement NSEP scholarship and 
fellowship programs. NSEP encourages the development of programs and 
curricula which:
    (1) Improves the quality and infrastructure of international 
education;
    (2) Addresses issues of national capacity; and
    (3) Defines innovative approaches to issues not addressed by NSEP 
scholarship and fellowship programs.
    (b) The NSEP Grants Program is designed to address a number of 
important objectives critical to the United States:
    (1) To equip Americans with an understanding of less commonly taught 
languages and cultures and enable them to become integrally involved in 
global issues.
    (2) To build a critical base of future leaders in the marketplace 
and in government service who have cultivated international 
relationships and worked and studied along-side foreign experts.
    (3) To develop a cadre of professionals with more than the 
traditional knowledge of language and culture who can use this ability 
to help the U.S. make sound decisions and deal effectively with global 
issues; and
    (4) To enhance institutional capacity and increase the number of 
faculty who can educate U.S. citizens toward achieving these goals.
    (c) Grants will be awarded for initial 1- or 2-year periods. 
Potential follow-on commitments will be based on a rigorous evaluation 
and assessment process. Between 15 and 25 awards are expected to be made 
in the first year ranging from approximately $25,000 to $250,000. These 
are only estimates and

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do not bind the NSEP to a specific number of grants or to the amount of 
the grant.
    (d) The following key characteristics will be emphasized in the NSEP 
Institutional Grants Program:
    (1) Programmatic in emphasis. The purpose of the grants is to 
address weaknesses and gaps in programs and curricula. The grants should 
be used to strengthen the national capacity in international education. 
While ``operational'' support for already existing centers and projects 
may be a component of a grant, NSEP emphasizes commitment of its limited 
resources to projects that establish and improve educational programs 
available to students and teachers.
    (2) Demand and requirements oriented. Grants are designed to address 
national needs. These needs must be clearly articulated and defended in 
a grant proposal. It must be clear that the following questions are 
addressed:
    (i) Who will benefit from the program funded by the grant?
    (ii) What need does the program address?
    (iii) How will this program augment the capacity of the Federal 
Government or of the field of education in areas consistent with the 
objectives of the NSEP? How does it fit the national requirement?
    (3) Cooperation and collaboration among institutions is mandated in 
order to ensure that a wider cross-section of colleges and universities 
benefit from a program funded under NSEP. NSEP is committed to providing 
opportunities to the widest cross-section of the higher education 
population as is feasible. Cooperation can be in the form of formal 
consortia arrangements or less formal but equally effective agreements 
among institutions. Both vertical (among different types of 
institutions) and horizontal (among similar institutions across 
functional areas) integration are encouraged. Outreach to institutions 
that do not normally benefit from such programs is also strongly 
favored.
    (4) Complementary to other Federal programs such as Title VI of the 
Higher Education Act. NSEP is designed to address gaps and shortfalls in 
Higher Education and to build and expand national capacity. NSEP 
recognizes that base capacity currently exists in some foreign languages 
and area studies. It also recognizes that funding shortfalls and other 
factors have contributed to tremendous gaps and weaknesses. Funding for 
expansion of the international education infrastructure remains limited. 
Duplication of effort is not affordable. NSEP encourages new initiatives 
as well as expansion of existing programs to increase supply in cases 
where the demand cannot be met and encourages efforts that increase 
demand.
    (5) NSEP encourages proposals that address two categories of issues 
relating to the mission of NSEP:
    (i) Programs in specific foreign languages, countries or areas; and/
or
    (ii) Programs addressing professional, disciplinary and/or 
interdisciplinary opportunities involving international education.
    (6) NSEP views student funding as portable and hopes that 
universities will develop ways to move students to programs and to 
provide credit with these programs. NSEP believes that programs need to 
be developed that are available to a wider cross-section of students. 
Thus, they need to be ``open'' to students from other institutions. 
Programs might also be ``transportable'' from one institution to 
another.
    (7) NSEP emphasizes leveraging of funds and cost-sharing in order to 
maximize the impact of NSEP funding. It encourages institutions to seek 
other sources of funding to leverage against NSEP funding and to commit 
institutional resources in support of the program as well. NSEP also 
emphasizes burden sharing between the institution and the Program. NSEP 
encourages institutions to demonstrate a commitment to international 
education and to present a plan for how funding for the proposed program 
will be achieved over a 3-5 year period so that NSEP can reduce its 
financial commitment to programs. The funds requested from NSEP should 
minimize costs allocated to unassigned institutional ``overhead.'' NSEP 
institutional grants are assumed to be for training programs. 
Consequently, university/college indirect costs associated with training 
programs should be used as a

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general benchmark for determining appropriate overhead rates.
    (8) NSEP encourages creativity and is responsive to the needs of 
higher education to expand the capacity to provide more opportunities 
for quality international education. We do not suggest that the 
guidelines presented in the grant solicitation will cover all problems 
and issues. Quite to the contrary, we encourage careful consideration of 
issues confronting international education in the U.S. and thoughtful 
proposals that address these issues, consistent with the overall mission 
of the NSEP.