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Application Guide

The procedures outlined in the Federal Register Notice of the Request for Proposals must be followed for applying for the cooperative agreement. Following are some highlights and instructions for better consideration of your application.

Who Is Eligible

Applicants must be an institution of higher education. Proposals may be submitted by public or private colleges or universities, research foundations maintained by a college or university, or private nonprofit organizations funded by a group of colleges or universities. Under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995, an organization described in section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 501(c)(4)) which engages in lobbying activities, is not eligible to apply.

Other Eligibility Considerations

Matching funds are not required, but are highly encouraged. The percent of match will have a direct effect on the score received on the application. (See scoring criteria below.)

Indirect costs in excess of 10 percent of the direct cost will be ineligible for funding.

Research must be done in cooperation with USDA Rural Development. This is a cooperative agreement, not a grant application. Therefore, the project proposed must include a description of USDA Rural Development’s substantial participation.

Project must be completed by September 30, 2008. Applications that request funds for a time period after September 30, 2008 will not be considered for funding.

Application Process

You may file an application in either paper or electronic format.

Send paper applications by U.S. Postal Service or courier delivery services. Send an original paper application (no stamped, photocopied, or initialed signatures) and one copy to the following address:

USDA-Rural Development’s Cooperative Program
Attn: Cooperative Research
Mail STOP 3250, Rm. 4016-South
1400 Independence Ave. SW
Washington, DC 20250-3250
(202) 720-7558 [For TDD: (800) 877-8339 Federal Information Relay Service]

File an application electronically through http://www.grants.gov, the official Federal Government website. Note that you will need to follow the instructions on the website to submit an application. Your submission will include the required forms (outlined below) and an attachment which should include all remaining elements of your application. You must be registered with Grants.gov before you can submit an application. If you have not used Grants.gov before, you will need to register with the Central Contractor Registry (CCR) and the Credential Provider. You will need a DUNS number to access or register at any of the services. The registration process may take several business days to complete. Follow the instructions at Grants.gov for registering and submitting an electronic application. USDA-Rural Development may request original signatures on electronically submitted documents later. The CCR registers your organization, housing your organizational information and allowing Grants.gov to use it to verify your identity. You may register for the CCR by calling the CCR Assistance Center at (888) 227-2423 or you may register online at: http://www.ccr.gov. The Credential Provider gives you or your representative a username and password, as part of the Federal Government’s e-Authentication to ensure a secure transaction. You will need the username and password when you register with Grants.gov or use Grants.gov to submit your application. You must register with the Credential Provider through Grants.gov at the following website: https://apply.grants.gov/OrcRegister.

USDA-Rural Development will not accept applications by hand-delivery, fax, or e-mail.

DUNS Number Requirement
Whether you file a paper or an electronic application, you will need a Dun and Bradstreet Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number. You must provide your DUNS number on the SF-424, “Application for Federal Assistance.”

To verify that your organization has a DUNS number or to receive one at no cost, call the dedicated toll-free request line at (866) 705-5711 or access the website at: http://www.dnb.com/us/. You will need the following pieces of information when requesting a DUNS number.

• Legal name
• Headquarters name and address of the organization
• Doing business as (dba) or other name by which the organization is commonly recognized
• Physical address
• Mailing address (if separate from headquarters and/or physical address)
• Telephone number
• Contact name and title
• Number of employees at the physical location

Deadline for Application

The deadline to submit applications is June 30, 2006.

All applications must be received by the filing deadline to be considered for funding.

A paper application will be considered on time if it is postmarked by the deadline date. If the application is filed electronically, an electronic date and time stamp on or before the deadline date will be considered on time.

Note: Packages arriving at USDA via the U.S. Postal Service are irradiated, which can damage the contents. We encourage you to consider the impact of this procedure when selecting your application delivery method.

Application Content

A complete application must contain the following items:

Form SF-424, “Application for Federal Assistance”
Form SF-424A, “Budget Information—Non-Construction Programs”
Form SF-424B, “Assurances—Non-Construction Programs”
Title Page
Table of Contents
Executive Summary
Eligibility Discussion
      Applicant Eligibility
      Purpose Eligibility
Proposal Narrative
      Project Title
      Information Sheet
      Goals of the Project
      Work Plan
      Proposal Evaluation Criteria
Certification of Judgment
Verification of Matching Funds

Standard Forms

In addition to the narrative on the proposal, there are three Standard Forms (SF-424, SF-424A, and SF-424B) that are required for the application. The Grants or Sponsored Programs office at the institution of higher education is the usual place to seek assistance in filling out the forms.

The SF-424, “Application for Federal Assistance” must contain the legal name of the applicant (the Institution of Higher Education), the applicant’s DUNS number, the applicant’s complete mailing address for the agreement or financial aspects, the name and telephone number of a contact person, the employer identification number (EIN), the start date (which must be before September 30, 2006) and the end date (which must be before September 30, 2008), the amount of Federal funds requested, other funds that will be used as matching funds, an answer to the question “Is applicant delinquent on any Federal debt?”, the name, signature, and telephone number of an authorized representative, and the date the form was signed. Other information asked for on the form is self explanatory and should be filled out accordingly.

The SF-424A, “Budget Information – Non-Construction Programs” must be filled out in all four section (A, B, C and D) and must include both Federal and any matching funds. See the Forms section for samples and helpful hints on completing this form.

The SF-424B, “Assurances – Non-Construction Programs” is a certification that the applicant will follow all the laws and regulations outlined on the form. It must be signed by an authorized institution of higher education authorized official and include the title, name of applicant, and date.

See the Forms pages for the individual forms with instruction.

Proposal

The bulk of the application will be a proposal in narrative form. While the format of the narrative is somewhat flexible, it must contain the following:

The Title Page should include the title of the project as well as any other relevant identifying information. The length should not exceed one page.

The Table of Contents should include page numbers for each main element of the application, including the Proposal Evaluation Criteria.

The Executive Summary should briefly (1 page or less) describe the project, including goals and tasks to be completed, the amount requested, how the work will be performed (e.g., organizational staff, consortium members, consultants, or contractors) and the percentage of work that will be performed among the parties.

The Eligibility Discussion must provide a detailed discussion, not to exceed 4 pages, describing how the applicant meets the eligibility requirements. The applicant’s status as an institution of higher education must be described. In addition, the discussion must describe how the proposed project consists of activities needed, and the sufficiency of those activities, to determine the national economic impact of all types of cooperatives.

The Proposal Narrative must include a Project Title, an Information Sheet, Goals of the Project, a Work Plan, and a Proposal Evaluation Criteria section.

The title of the proposed project must be brief, not to exceed 75 characters, yet describe the essentials of the project. It should match the project title submitted on the SF-424. The Project Title does not need to appear on a separate page. It can be included on the Title Page and/or on the Information Sheet.

The Information Sheet is a separate one page document listing each of the Proposal Evaluation Criteria referenced in the RFP followed by the page numbers of all relevant material contained in the proposal that addresses or supports each Proposal Evaluation Criterion. If the evaluation criteria are referenced on the Table of Contents, then submitting the information sheet is not necessary. The information sheet is primarily to be a guide for the proposal reviewers to locate the relevant information needed to provide a fair review.

The Goals of the Project section should contain an explanation of how economic benefit will be measured.

The Work Plan section must contain a description of the project and the tasks involved in completing the project. The description should specify the activity, whom will perform the activity, during what time frame the activity will take place, and the cost of the activity. The description must be reasonably detailed to allow for the reviewers to differentiate between proposals.

The Proposal Evaluation Criteria section must address, specifically and individually, in narrative form, each of the proposal evaluation criteria referenced in the RFP. Some of the narrative may reference other sections of the proposal if appropriate. For instance, the “Relevance of the project proposal” requires a discussion of the stated objectives demonstrating economic impact of cooperatives. If the “Goals of the Project” section discusses the goals in sufficient detail to demonstrate the cooperative’s unique impacts on communities, then the specific part of that section should be noted in the “Proposal Evaluation Criteria” section. This section should be viewed as an aid to the reviewers to clearly find all the relevant information on which to evaluate the proposal.

Certification of Judgment

Applicants must certify that the United States has not obtained a judgment against them. No cooperative agreement funds shall be used to pay a judgment owed to the United States. It is suggested that applicants include a separate section in the narrative stating:

“[INSERT NAME OF APPLICANT, for instance The University of XYZ,] certifies that the United States has not obtained a judgment against it.”

Verification of Matching Funds

Applicants must provide a budget to support the work plan showing all sources and uses of funds during the project period. Applicants will be required to verify all matching funds, both cash and in-kind. All proposed matching funds must be specifically documented in the application. Further guidelines for this section of the narrative are found in the RFP.

Application Review Process

Each complete and eligible application will be evaluated by a panel of USDA employees with knowledge and experience in economic evaluation or research and in cooperative operations. Evaluations will be based on the four criteria outlined in the Request for Proposals. Each proposal will be scored and ranked according to:

1. Relevance of the project proposal,
2. Quality of Workplan,
3. Quality of personnel and management plan, and
4. Funding match and cooperative community support.

See the RFP for a complete description of what all is included in the four evaluation criteria.

Possible USDA Actions on an Application

In making its decision about your application, we may determine that your application is:

• Eligible and selected for funding
• Eligible, but offered fewer funds than requested
• Eligible, but not selected for funding
• Ineligible for funding

Appeals Process

In accordance with 7 CFR part 11, you generally have the right to appeal Rural Development decisions that are adverse to you. Rural Development will notify you of your appeal rights when it notifies you of the decision for your application. If Rural Development has determined its decision is not appealable, you may request that the National Appeals Division (NAD) determine the appealability of a specific decision. The request must be in writing and filed at the appropriate Regional Office, which can be found at http://www.nad.usda.gov/offices.htm or by calling (703) 305-1166.