Arra - Centers Of Excellence

 

As funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), the Centers of Excellence program assists eligible schools in supporting programs of excellence in health professions education for underrepresented minority(URM) individuals. The COE program is a catalyst for institutionalizing a commitment to URM students/faculty and to serve as a national resource and educational center for diversity and minority health issue. Additionally, the COE program will help to strengthen the national capacity to produce a culturally competent healthcare workforce whose diversity is representative of the United States Population.

Deleted 09/09/2014 (Archived.) 93.415 Agency: Department of Health and Human Services
Office: Health Resources and Services Administration Project Grants Not Applicable. American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act),, Public Law 111-5. Eligible applicants include designated Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and health professions schools that are accredited schools of allopathic medicine, osteopathic medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, graduate programs in behavioral or mental health, or other public and nonprofit health or educational entities that meet the required conditions regarding underrepresented minorities as described in Section 736(c) of the Public Service Act:
Eligible applicants must also have: (1) a significant number of underrepresented minority individuals enrolled in the schools;
(2) been effective in assisting underrepresented minority students of the schools to complete the program of education and receive the degree involved;
(3) been effective in recruiting underrepresented minority individuals to enroll in and graduate from the school, including providing scholarships and other financial assistance to such individuals and encouraging under-represented minority students from all levels of the educational pipeline to pursue health professions careers; and
(4) made significant recruitment efforts to increase the number of under-represented minority individuals serving in faculty or administrative positions at the school. Designated HBCUs and eligible health professions schools must recruit and train a significant number of under-represented minority students in medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy; faculty recruitment, training and retention; and faculty and student research activities. Applicants should review the individual HRSA funding opportunity announcement issued under this CFDA program for any required proof or certifications which must be submitted prior to or simultaneous with submission of an application package. OMB Circular No. A-87 applies to this program. Preapplication coordination is not applicable. Environmental impact information is not required for this program. This program is excluded from coverage under E.O. 12372. This program is excluded from coverage under OMB Circular No. A-102. OMB Circular No. A-110 applies to this program. HRSA is requiring applicants to apply electronically through Grants.gov. All qualified applications will be forwarded to an objective review committee. Based on the advice of the objective review committee, the HRSA program official with delegated authority is responsible for final selection and funding decisions.

Notification is made in writing (electronic) by a Notice of Award. Contact the headquarters or regional office, as appropriate, for application deadlines. From 30 to 60 days. Not Applicable. Not Applicable. Procedures for assessing the technical merit of grant applications have been instituted to provide an objective review of applications and to assist the applicant in understanding the standards against which each application will be judged. Critical indicators have been developed for each review criterion to assist the applicant in presenting pertinent information related to that criterion and to provide the reviewer with a standard for evaluation. Competing applications are reviewed by nonfederal reviewers for technical merit recommendations.

The Centers of Excellence have seven criteria:
(1) NEED - The extent to which the application provides a description of a) the problem, and the associated contributing factors, b) the need with respect to students, faculty development, and URMs in the health professions, and c) geographic factors, such as the size of the area that will be served, and any regional issues.

(2) RESPONSE – The extent to which project responds to the “Purpose” included in the program description. This includes the clarity of the proposed goals and objectives and their relationship to the identified project and achieving the seven legislative requirements. The extent to which the activities (scientific or other) described in the application are capable of addressing the problem and attaining the project objectives.

(3) EVALUATIVE MEASURES - The effectiveness of the method proposed to monitor and evaluate the project results. Evaluative measures must be able to assess to what extent: 1) the program objectives have been met; and 2) these can be attributed to the project.

(4) IMPACT - The extent and effectiveness of the dissemination of the project results, the extent to which the project results may be national in scope, the degree to which the project activities are replicable, and the sustainability of the program beyond the federal funding,and established linkages/collaboration with key stakeholders. It may include the degree to which COE project outcomes and results are disseminated to the Health Professions Education community regionally or nationally.

(5) RESOURCES /CAPABILITIES – The extent to which project personnel are qualified by training and/or experience to implement and carry out projects. This includes the capabilities of the applicant organization, and the quality and availability of facilities and personnel to fulfill the needs and requirements of the proposed project. This may include whether the health professions school has a significant number of URM individuals enrolled in the school, including individuals accepted for enrollment and successful completion in the school, and the extent to which the applicant’s activities influent the recruitment, training and retention of URM faculty.

(6) SUPPORT REQUESTED - The extent to which the overall budget, including non-trainee expenses, is a) cost effective, reasonable, and consistent with the stated objectives and proposed activities, b) expenditures are well justified, and c) in-kind contributions are documented.

(7) CULTURAL COMPETENCE DEVELOPMENT – The extent to which the application reflects the institution’s commitment to developing culturally competent health professionals by establishing a system that values the importance of culture in the delivery of health care services to all segments of the population. The practices and initiatives of the applicant institution their commitment to increasing culturally competent and diverse health professionals. Grant funds must be used by health professions schools to: (1) develop a large competitive applicant pool through linkages with institutions of higher education, local school districts, and other community-based entities; and establish an education pipeline for health professions careers; (2) establish, strengthen, or expand programs to enhance the academic performance of underrepresented minority students attending the school; (3) improve the capacity of such school to train, recruit, and retain underrepresented minority faculty including the payment of stipends and fellowships as the Secretary may determine appropriate; (4) carry out activities to improve the information resources, clinical education, curricula and cultural competence of the graduates of the school as it relates to minority health issues; (5) facilitate faculty and student research on health issues particularly affecting underrepresented minority groups, including research on issues relating to the delivery of health care; (6) carry out a program to train students of the school in providing health services to a significant number of underrepresented minority individuals through training provided to such students at community-based health facilities. These facilities provide such health services and are located at a site remote from the main site of the teaching facilities of the school; and (7) provide stipends as the Secretary determines appropriate in the amounts the Secretary determines. All projects funded with ARRA funds are subject to special quarterly reporting requirements as outlined in Section 1512 of the Recovery Act. A uniform progress report must be submitted annually within the approved project period. Cash reports are not applicable. A final progress report and final financial report must be submitted within 90 days after the end of the project period. Financial Reports are required within 90 days after the end of each budget period. Expenditure reports are not applicable. Performance monitoring is not applicable. In accordance with the provisions of OMB Circular No. A-133 (Revised, June 27, 2003), "Audits of States, Local Governments, and Non-Profit Organizations," nonfederal entities that expend financial assistance of $500,000 or more in Federal awards will have a single or a program-specific audit conducted for that year. Nonfederal entities that expend less than $500,000 a year in Federal awards are exempt from Federal audit requirements for that year, except as noted in Circular No. A-133. Grantees are required to maintain grant accounting records three years after the date they submit the Federal Financial Report (FFR). If any litigation, claim, negotiation, audit or other action involving the award has been started before the expiration of the three year period, the records shall be retained until completion of the action and resolution of all issues which arise from it, or until the end of the regular three year period, whichever is later. Statutory formulas are not applicable to this program.
Matching requirements are not applicable to this program.
MOE requirements are not applicable to this program. Project periods are for approximately three years. See the following for information on how assistance is awarded/released: Grantee drawdown funds, as necessary, from the Payment Management System (PMS). PMS is the centralized web based payment system for HHS awards. See Regional Agency Offices. Violet Woo, Chief, Behavioral Health and Diversity Branch, Division Publich Health and Interdisciplinary Education, Bureau of Health Professions, Health Resources and Services Administration, Department of Health and Human Services, Room 9C-26, Parklawn Building, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20857. (301) 443-8032, Email: vwoo@hrsa.gov

Tia-Nicole Leak, Ph.D. Social Science Research Analyst/Project Officer, Division of Public Health and Interdisciplinary Education, Bureau of Health Professions, Health Resources and Services Administration, Department of Health and Human Services, 5600 Fishers Lane, Room 9C-36, Rockville, Maryland 20857 Phone: (301) 443-1134 E-mail: tleak@hrsa.gov. Violet Woo 5600 Fishers Lane, Room 9C-26, Rockville, Maryland 20857 Phone: (301) 443-8032 http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/grants/diversity.htm 75-0351-0-1-550. (Salaries) FY 12 $0; FY 13 est $0; and FY 14 est $0 - All funds awarded in FY10. Not applicable. All funds awarded in FY 10. This program is subject to the provisions of 45 CFR Part 92 for state, local and tribal governments and 45 CFR Part 74 for institutions of higher education, hospitals, other nonprofit organizations and commercial organizations.

HRSA awards are subject to the requirements of the HHS Grants Policy Statement (HHS GPS) that are applicable based on recipient type and purpose of award. The HHS GPS is available at http://www.hrsa.gov/grants. Not Applicable.