Form 1 Curriculum Development Centers - Application Forms

OMB No. 0990-XXXX

Expiration Date 05/31/2010

Application and Submission Information used for the Curriculum Development Centers Application Form

Address to Request Application Package

Application materials will be available for download at http://www.grants.gov. ONC is requiring full applications for all announcements to be submitted via electronic mail. Applicants will be able to download a copy of the application packet, complete it off-line, and then submit the application electronically via email.

APPLICATIONS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED THROUGH ANY WEBSITE, AND WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED THROUGH PAPER MAIL, COURIER, OR DELIVERY SERVICE.

APPLICANTS ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO COMPLETE AND SUBMIT APPLICATIONS AS FAR IN ADVANCE OF THE SUBMISSION DEADLINE AS POSSIBLE. THE APPLICATION INCLUDING ALL REQUIRED ATTACHMENTS AND INCLUDED FILES FOR POTENTIAL CONSIDERATION IN THE REVIEW PROCESS MUST BE RECEIVED BY 11:59 PM EASTERN TIME ON THE DATE SPECIFIED IN SECTION IV C, BELOW.

Applications procedures:

• Applicants must access the electronic application for this program via http://www.grants.gov.  Applicants must search the downloadable application page by the Funding Opportunity Number (- - - ) or CFDA number (93.718).

• All lead applicants should have a Dun and Bradstreet (D&B) Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number and register in the Central Contractor Registry (CCR) (for further information see section IV.B.2 below).  Applicants should allow a minimum of five days to complete the CCR registration. Although not required to process preliminary applications, lead applicants who do not already have a DUNS number and/or are not registered in CCR should do so as soon as possible. As there is no fee to complete these processes, applicants should not wait to receive the results of the preliminary application review before taking these steps.

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is 0990-XXXX. The time required to complete this information collection is estimated to average (hours)/ (minutes) per response, including the time to review instructions, search existing data resources, gather the data needed and complete and review the information collection. If you have comments concerning the accuracy of the time estimate(s) or suggestions for improving this form, please write to:  U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, OS/OCIO/PRA, 200 Independence Ave., S.W., Suite 537-H, Washington D.C. 20201 Attention: PRA Reports Clearance Officer.

• Applicants must submit all documents electronically, including all information included on the SF424 and all necessary assurances and certifications.

• The applicant’s application must comply with any page limitation requirements described in this Program Guidance.

• After the application is electronically submitted, the applicant will receive an automatic email notification from the email address that demonstrates the email was received.  This notification does not provide assurance that the application was complete, only that the email was received.

• After ONC reviews the email submission, a return receipt will be emailed to the applicant contact indicating the files that were received and able to be successfully opened and read. Due to volume of applications received, this receipt may not be available for several days; applicants are strongly encouraged to submit applications as far in advance as possible if they wish to receive confirmation of receipt prior to the deadline. Organizations applying for federal grants will need to be registered with the Central Contractor Registry (CCR). Applicants can register with the CCR online and it will take about 30 minutes (http://www.ccr.gov). If the applicant has already registered with CCR but have not renewed their registration in the last 12 months, they will need to renew their registration at http://www.ccr.gov.

Key Contact for Applications:

Inquiries should be addressed to:

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology

Email: HITCurriculum@hhs.gov

Content and Form of Application Submission

1. Letter of Intent

Applicants are requested, to submit a non-binding Letter of Intent indicating their plan to apply for this funding opportunity. This Letter will not be considered as part of the evaluation process; it will merely assist ONC in planning for the review process. The deadline for submission of the Letter of Intent is January 4, 2010.

Letters of intent must be sent electronically to:

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology

Email: HITCurriculum@hhs.gov

2. Letter of Intent Content Guidelines

Applicants may submit a Letter of Intent to apply for this funding opportunity; the deadline for the Letter of Intent is January 6, 2010. This Letter of Intent should contain the following:

• Number and title of the funding opportunity

• Name, address, and telephone number of the primary point of contact.

• Names of other key personnel

• Participating collaborators, especially community colleges and employers

3. DUNS Number

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) requires applicants to provide a Dun and Bradstreet (D&B) Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number when applying for Federal grants or cooperative agreements on or after October 1, 2003. It is entered on the SF 424. It is a unique, nine-digit identification number, which provides unique identifiers of single business entities. The DUNS number is free and easy to obtain.

Organizations can receive a DUNS number at no cost by calling the dedicated toll-free DUNS Number request line at 1-866-705-5711 or by using this link to access a guide: https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/grants/duns_num_guide.pdf .

4. Project Abstract

Applicants shall include a one-page abstract (no more than 500 words) in the application. Applicants should prepare a clear, accurate, concise abstract that can be understood without reference to other parts of the application and that provides a description of the proposed project, including: the project’s goal(s), objectives, overall approach, anticipated outcomes, products, and duration. The project abstract must be double-spaced, formatted to 8 ½” x 11” (letter-size) pages with 1” or larger margins on top, bottom, and both sides, and a font size of not less than 11 point.

The applicant shall place the following information at the top of the narrative abstract (this information is not included in the 500 word maximum):

• Project Title

• Applicant Name

• Address

• Contact Name

• Contact Phone Numbers (Voice, Fax)

• E-Mail Address

• Web Site Address, if applicable

5. Project Narrative

The project narrative must be double-spaced, formatted to 8 ½” x 11” (letter-size) pages with 1” or larger margins on top, bottom, and both sides, and a font size of not less than 11 point. The suggested length for the project narrative is 10 to 20 pages; 20 pages is the maximum length allowed. The 20-page limit excludes resumes or curriculum vitae, letters of support, program abstract, and other attachments. ONC will not accept applications with a project narrative that exceeds 20 pages.

The project narrative is the part of the application that will offer the most substantive information about the proposed project, and it will be used as the primary basis to determine whether or not the project meets the minimum requirements for grants under ARRA. The project narrative should provide a clear and concise description of the project.

The project narrative must include the following components. These components will be counted as part of the 20-page limit:

• Problem Statement (<1 page)

• Targeted Curriculum Components (2-3 pages)

• Proposed Approach (5-7 pages)

• Collaborator Involvement (1-2 pages)

• Project Management (1-2 pages)

• Evaluation (1-2 pages)

• Dissemination and Training (1-2 pages)

• Organizational Capability (2-3 pages exclusive of curriculum vitae and attachments describing course statistics)

Problem Statement. This section should describe, from the applicant’s perspective, the benefits of having these educational materials along with the challenges of creating them. (<1 page)

Targeted Curriculum Components. This section should describe which of the curriculum components the applicant is prepared to address (referring to the components in Appendix C). The applicant’s current experience with training in these topic areas should be discussed. Applicants should propose to address a minimum of seven and a maximum of 10 of these content areas. (2-3 pages)

Proposed Approach. This section should provide a clear and concise description of the approach the applicant proposes to use to develop the curriculum components and address the challenges described in the “Problem Statement.” This should consist of a detailed development plan, and include a discussion of how the modules will be updated and how version control will be maintained. The applicant should describe plans for collaborating with community colleges to shape the materials for community college use. The applicant should describe how the guidance of professional instructional designers will be incorporated. The applicant should also note any major barriers they anticipate encountering, and how their project will be able to overcome those barriers. This section should also describe how the proposed approach will address the needs of disadvantaged populations, including limited-English speaking populations.

This section should describe the instructional technology and format that the applicant would prefer to use for creating the modules, recognizing that the final decision will be a collective one among all funded development sites. As noted previously in Section 1, Part 4, Project Approach, this technology and format should not employ a proprietary course management system. (5-7 pages)

Collaborator Involvement. This section should describe the community colleges that will be directly engaged in the planning and implementation of the proposal project. Be sure to describe the role and makeup of any other strategic collaborators the applicant plans to involve in implementing the approach, including but not limited to other institutions of higher education or employer groups. (1-2 pages)

Project Management. This section should include a clear delineation of the roles and responsibilities of project staff, participating faculty members, consultants and collaborating organizations, and how they will contribute to achieving the project’s objectives and outcomes. It should specify who would have day-to-day responsibility for key tasks such as: leadership of project; monitoring the project’s on-going progress, preparation of reports; communications with other collaborating organizations and ONC. It should also describe the approach that will be used to monitor and track progress on the project’s tasks and objectives. (1-2 pages)

Evaluation. Recipients will be required to maintain information relevant to achieving the milestones specified in Section II, Part 3, Evaluation and Milestones. (1-2 pages)

Dissemination and training. This section should describe the applicant’s ideas regarding the best methods for training community college faculty in use of the materials. The applicant should detail any prior experience it has in this specific activity. (1-2 pages)

Organizational Capability Statement. For each curriculum component included in the problem statement, the application should include an organizational capability statement and roles and curriculum vitae for key project personnel, including all faculty members who will participate in creation of the instructional materials.

This section should provide descriptions of currently existing instructional programs designed or offered by the applicant on topics relevant to health IT. It should include all courses and statistics on numbers of students who have taken them on a year by year basis. It should detail any experience with electronic support and distribution of course materials and discuss the kinds of evaluation and testing of students used in these courses.

This description should also cover capabilities of the applicant not included in the program narrative, such as any current or previous relevant experience and/or the record of the project team in preparing cogent and useful reports, publications, training programs and other products. If appropriate, include an organization chart showing the relationship of the project to the current organization. Please attach short vitae for key project staff only. Neither vitae nor an organizational chart will count towards the narrative page limit. Also include information about any contractual organization(s) that will have a significant role(s) in implementing project and achieving project goals.

If also applying for the additional funding to serve as the national training and dissemination center, the project narrative should also cover the capabilities needed for this work (see Section I, Part 4, Project Approach). (2-3 pages exclusive of curriculum vitae and attachments describing course statistics)

6. Work Plan

The Project Work Plan should reflect and be consistent with the project narrative and budget and should cover both years of the project period.  For each major task or action step, the work plan should identify timeframes involved, including start- and end-dates.  (1-2 pages)

7. Letters of Commitment from Key Participating Organizations and Agencies

Applicants should include confirmation of the commitments to the project (should it be funded) made by key collaborating organizations and agencies in this part of the application. Any organization that is specifically named to have a significant role in carrying out the project should be considered an essential collaborator. For example, letters should be included for each community college collaborator, and for organizations providing professional instructional design for the materials. Signed letters of commitment should be scanned and included as attachments.

8. Budget Narrative/Justification

Each application must include a detailed budget for the first year of funding requested and a detailed summary of the request for both years. The applicant may request up to $1.82M total costs for up to 2 years, inclusive of indirect costs, to become a Curriculum Development Center. Institutions applying for the additional role of national training and dissemination center may request up to $2.72M total costs for up to 2 years, inclusive of indirect costs.

A typical budget could include (but is not restricted to) these elements:

• Salary support for faculty members and staff involved, organized by each curriculum component named in the project narrative problem statement (Section IV, Part 3c above)

• Costs for curriculum development and production

• Costs for development and validation of student tests

• Costs for development of instructor manuals

• Costs for two cycles of course material revision (for releases to occur in Spring/Summer 2011 and Spring/Summer 2012)

• Travel costs for up to four applicant representatives to attend the developers’ workshop in Washington, DC

• Facilities and administration costs at a federally approved indirect cost rate

Each applicant will, as part of the application project narrative, specify 7-10 content areas in which it is capable of producing materials. The budget submitted with the application should be divided into two parts, a core budget and a supplemental budget, that together will cover the 7-10 curriculum components. Each type of budget should cover the 2-year project period, should show the costs broken out by each budget year, and should include both direct and indirect costs.

For all applicants, the core budget should include expenses associated with development of four curriculum components. The applicant may choose which four components to include in its core budget; the core budget should include the four components the applicant feels most qualified to develop. The core budget may not exceed $1,820,000 inclusive of indirect costs. The supplemental budget should include estimated costs associated with development of the 3-6 additional curriculum components addressed in the project narrative (and not included in the core budget). Final budgets will be negotiated with each successful applicant.

Institutions may apply for the role of the national training and dissemination center for the national program in addition to the role of Curriculum Development Center. These applicants should add to Year 1 of their core budget a flat sum of $500,000 for convening faculty training workshops, which includes both direct and indirect costs. Institutions should also submit a detailed budget for the 2-year project period that lists the estimated costs for serving as the central national dissemination point for all materials. This detailed budget may not exceed $400,000 inclusive of indirect costs.

A combined multi-year Budget Narrative/Justification, as well as a detailed Budget Narrative/Justification for each year of potential grant funding is required. If contractors will be used to support the work of the applicant, detailed budget narratives/justifications must also be provided for each contractor for each year of potential grant funding.

There is no required format for providing the budget justification/narrative.

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