Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship Program (FLAS)

1. Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship Program (FLAS) 84.015 B FY 2010-2013 Peter Baker Program Officer International Education Programs Service (IEPS) Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS)

2. Session agenda: Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS)

3. I. Purpose Grants given to institutions of higher education and consortia of higher education for general assistance in strengthening nationally-recognized centers of excellence in foreign language and area or international studies and for fellowship assistance to meritorious graduate and undergraduate students undergoing training in modern foreign language and related area or international studies. Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS)

4. Purpose continued… The purpose of the FLAS Program is to create a pool of advanced language learners with relevant area studies program on your campus. FLAS Fellowship awards are based on the strength of the language and area/international studies program on your campus. Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS)

5. Statute and Regulations 1. The Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) passed in August, 2008 contains language that will add to and modify the program’s existing regulations. 2. Some of these changes include: - FLAS awards for undergraduate students in the intermediate or advanced study of a LCTL - Bi-annual student tracking requirements Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS)

6. II. FLAS Funding Cycle The FY 2010 NRC and FLAS competition will be for a 4 year cycle – FY 2010-13 Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS)

7. III. Evaluating your FLAS application 1. Your FLAS application will be evaluated by experts in your respective world areas and languages and scored on FLAS selection criteria. The world area and language experts evaluate an application on the basis of the quality of the applicant’s program. 3. Institutions applying for funding under both programs submit a single application addressing the selection criteria for both programs. Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS)

8. FLAS Evaluation Criteria Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS)

9. FLAS Evaluation Criteria continued… In-depth detail about the common NRC and FLAS evaluation criteria will be given by Cheryl Gibbs at the break-out sessions entitled: ‘NRC Criteria 1-6’ Those sessions will be offered at the following times: Monday – 1:00 - 2:30 Tuesday – 8:15 – 9:45 Tuesday – 2:00 – 3:30 Evaluation criteria specific to the FLAS program will be discussed later in this presentation. Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS)

10. IV. FY 09 FLAS Funding Academic Year (AY) FLAS award: Subsistence Allowance: $15,000 Institutional Payment: $12,000 Total AY Award: $27,000 Summer FLAS award: Subsistence Allowance: $2,500 Institutional Payment: $4,000 Total Summer Award: $6,500 FY 2010 FLAS budget allocation is not yet available. Please read the Closing Date Notice for actual amounts. Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS)

11. FLAS Budget fundamentals 1. Grants awarded under the FLAS Fellowship program are for fellowships only. A fellowship consists of a standard institutional payment (in lieu of tuition and fees) and a subsistence allowance. If an institution’s tuition rate is lower than the standard institutional payment, the difference between actual tuition and fees and the institutional payment must be used to fund additional fellowships to the extent that funds are available for a full subsistence allowance. 4. If an institution’s tuition rate is higher than the standard institutional payment the institution is expected to cover the difference. Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS)

12. FLAS Budget continued… 5. Keep the budget simple. Make sure to submit a request for your NRC budget request and FLAS. (see attached examples - 1a. & 1b. - for individual and consortia applications) Be sure to include a budget for all 4 years of grant. The budget is simple – base it on the FY ’10 FLAS funding amounts (which will be in the CDN). 8. Request the number of fellowships you can realistically award. Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS)

13. FLAS Budget continued… 9. Check your math! Check the Closing Date Notice (CDN) for the FY 2010 FLAS award amounts (*this is what you’ll base your budget on). 11. The total amount of your FLAS budget goes on Line 11 - entitled ‘Training Stipend’ – of the ED 524 form (which is a standardized department budget form that must be submitted with your application). (see attached example - #2) Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS)

14. Don’ts for FLAS Budgets 1. Don’t include any indirect costs. 2. Don’t show institutional waivers or matching information in the budget or ED 524. If your institution does do that then put it in the budget narrative. 3. Don’t request travel awards (they only occur if you have unexpended AY or summer funds). Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS)

15. V. Language Eligibility State clearly the languages for which you are requesting FLAS eligibility. Languages can be added throughout the course of the grant. A consortium should clearly list the languages, by university. 4. FLAS languages should be available through the advanced level, and offered regularly. This can best be demonstrated by a properly constructed course list (*see attached example – 3a. & 3b.). Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS)

16. Language Eligibility continued… Information to include in your course list: Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS)

17. Language Eligibility continued… Blanket approval will not automatically be given for all languages listed in the course list. By law FLAS eligible language instruction must be performance based; or plans must be in place for developing performance based instruction. Emphasis on the Less Commonly Taught Languages (LCTLs) and modern languages. 8. Undergraduate students can not get a fellowship for any language other than a LCTL. Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS)

18. VI. FLAS Awardee Selection Procedures Note: This is the only evaluation criterion that the FLAS program does not share with the NRC program. 1. Each school decides how to run its FLAS competition and this must be outlined in the application. 2. In order to be eligible for a FLAS a student must: a Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS)

19. Eligibility Requirements for Academic Year (AY) Graduate FLAS fellows: a. Must enrolled full-time. b. Must take at least one language and one area studies course per AY reporting period (quarter or semester). Lowest consideration in selection of AY Graduate fellows should go to: c. Students who already possess language fluency equivalent to educated native speakers in the language for which the award is sought; and d. Students who are taking the first 12 semester hours or the equivalent in commonly taught languages. Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS)

20. Summer FLAS classroom instruction time requirements: Overseas summer language programs are allowed, but: a. A student at the beginner-level must attend a domestic summer program, if one is available; b. Detailed information about the overseas programs (instructor, curriculum, duration, etc) is required and must be submitted via IRIS and be approved by your Program Officer before a student can travel. Eligibility Requirements for Summer Graduate FLAS fellows: Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS)

21. Eligibility Requirements for Undergraduate FLAS fellows: The 2008 HEOA added undergraduate students as eligible FLAS recipients. The language reads: (2) ELIGIBLE STUDENTS.- A student receiving a stipend described in paragraph (1) shall be engaged- “(A) in an instructional program with stated performance goals for functional foreign language use or in a program developing such performance goals, in combination with area studies, international studies, or the international aspects of a professional studies program; and “(B)(i) in the case of an undergraduate student, in the intermediate or advanced study of a less commonly taught language;” Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS)

22. FLAS Awardee Selection Procedures continued… 3. Describe the selection committee protocol and composition of the committee. The committee should include faculty from the social sciences, humanities, professional schools, and language faculty. 5. Describe the mechanisms the institution will use for advertising FLAS Fellowships to enrolled and incoming students - brochures, list serves, mailings, etc. Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS)

23. FLAS Awardee Selection Procedures continued… Specify the application timeline and procedures for students. What do they have to submit for you to make your decision – transcripts, GRE scores, letters of recommendations, etc? 7. If applicable, describe how the selection plan may result in awards being made to correspond to any announced priorities (i.e. language priorities). Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS)

24. VII. Impact and Evaluation These points address the ‘Impact and Evaluation’ Evaluation Criterion 1. Grantees need to demonstrate to what extent the applicant’s activities and training programs have contributed to an improved supply of specialists - this is usually done through placement data. 2. Work with the appropriate people on your campus to ensure that you are able to identify and track your “program” students, including FLAS Fellows. This is especially important due to the HEOA’s new bi-annual tracking requirement. Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS)

25. VIII. If your application is successful… Be sure to educate the selection committee about: 1. The purpose of the FLAS program; Any target languages you might have outlined in your application; Any US/ED priorities, including LCTLs. **If successful, grantees will be expected to hold their FLAS competitions as outlined in their applications.** Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS)

26. IX. FLAS Reporting Cycle Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS)

27. X. When to contact your program officer? If you have have a question about the online reporting system (IRIS), however, you should contact the IRIS helpdesk… Any time you have a question that you are not sure of the answer… IRIS@cds2.com Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS)

28. NRC/FLAS Program Staff Samuel Eisen – Branch Chief Samuel.Eisen@ed.gov, 202-502-7522 Carla White – Program Asst. Carla.White@ed.gov, 202-502-7631 Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS)