foreign language and area studies fellowship program (flas)

Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS)

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Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship Program (FLAS)

84.015 BFY 2010-2013Peter Baker

Program Officer

International Education Programs Service (IEPS)


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Session agenda:I. Program purpose and statutory foundationII. 2010–13 FLAS funding cycleIII. The institution FLAS application evaluation process

IV. FLAS funding and budget considerationsV. FLAS language eligibilityVI. FLAS awardee selection proceduresVII. Impact and evaluationVIII. Successful applicationsIX. FLAS reporting cycleX. Program contacts


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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.


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Purpose continued…1. The purpose of the FLAS Program is to create a

pool of advanced language learners with relevant area studies program on your campus.

2. FLAS Fellowship awards are based on the strength of the language and area/international studies program on your campus.


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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


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II. FLAS Funding CycleThe FY 2010 NRC and FLAS competition will be for a 4 year cycle – FY 2010-13

Year # Fiscal Year (FY) Academic Year (AY) Dates1 FY 2010 AY 2010-2011 8/15/10 –

8/14/112 FY 2011 AY 2011-2012 8/15/11 –

8/14/123 FY 2012 AY 2012-2013 8/15/12 –

8/14/134 FY 2013 AY 2013-2014 8/15/13 –

8/14/14


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III. Evaluating your FLAS application1. Your FLAS application will be evaluated by experts

in your respective world areas and languages and scored on FLAS selection criteria.

2. 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.


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FLAS Evaluation CriteriaEvaluation Criteria (from ’06 cycle)1. Commitment to subject area2. Quality of Curriculum Design

3. Quality of Non-language Instructional Program4. Quality of Language Instructional Program

5. Strength of Library

6. Quality of Staff Resources

7. Impact and Evaluation

8. FLAS Awardee Selection Procedure

9. Competitive Priorities – To Be Announced


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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:

1. Monday – 1:00 - 2:302. Tuesday – 8:15 – 9:453. Tuesday – 2:00 – 3:30Evaluation criteria specific to the FLAS program will be discussed later in this presentation.


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


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FLAS Budget fundamentals1. Grants awarded under the FLAS Fellowship program are

for fellowships only.

2. A fellowship consists of a standard institutional payment (in lieu of tuition and fees) and a subsistence allowance.

3. 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.


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FLAS Budget continued…5. Keep the budget simple.

6. Make sure to submit a request for your NRC budget request and FLAS. (see attached examples - 1a. & 1b. - for individual and consortia applications)

7. 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.


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FLAS Budget continued…9. Check your math!

10. 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)


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Don’ts for FLAS Budgets1. 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).


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V. Language Eligibility1. State clearly the languages for which you are

requesting FLAS eligibility.

2. Languages can be added throughout the course of the grant.

3. 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.).


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Language Eligibility continued…Information to include in your course list:

2008-09 (courses previously offered)

2009-10 (courses being offered)

2010-11 (courses to be offered)

Course # X X X

Course title & description

X X X

Instructor X X X

When offered X X X

Credit hours X X X

Enrollment Grad. X

Enrollment U.G. X

Notes / Explanation X


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Language Eligibility continued…5. Blanket approval will not automatically be given for

all languages listed in the course list.

6. By law FLAS eligible language instruction must be performance based; or plans must be in place for developing performance based instruction.

7. 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.


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VI. FLAS Awardee Selection Procedures

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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:


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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.


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Eligibility Requirements for Summer Graduate FLAS fellows:

Language-level Min. # of weeks Min. # of hours of classroom instruction

Beginner 6 140

Intermediate 6 140Advance 6 120

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.

Summer FLAS classroom instruction time requirements:


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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;”


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FLAS Awardee Selection Procedures continued…

3. Describe the selection committee protocol and composition of the committee.

4. 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.


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FLAS Awardee Selection Procedures continued…

6. 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).


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VII. Impact and Evaluation

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.

These points address the ‘Impact and Evaluation’ Evaluation Criterion


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VIII. If your application is successful…Be sure to educate the selection committee about:

1. The purpose of the FLAS program;

2. Any target languages you might have outlined in your application;

3. Any US/ED priorities, including LCTLs.

**If successful, grantees will be expected to hold their FLAS competitions as outlined in their applications.**


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IX. FLAS Reporting CycleReport Type Report Due Date Report Content Responsible

party (student or institution)

Interim Academic Year

Sept. 1st , each year

Interim list of fellows, Interim budget

Institution

Final Academic Year

June 1st , each year

Final list of fellows, fellow detail, final budget

Institution and student

Interim Summer

June 1st , each year

Interim list of fellows, Interim budget

Institution

Final Summer Sept. 1st , each year

Final list of fellows, fellow detail, final budget

Institution and student


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X. When to contact your program officer?

Any time you have a question that you are not sure of the answer…

If you have have a question about the online reporting system (IRIS), however, you should contact the IRIS helpdesk…

[email protected]


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NRC/FLAS Program StaffCheryl Gibbs

Asia, East Asia, Pacific Islands, South Asia, Southeast [email protected]

Peter BakerAfrica, Europe and Russia, Inner Asia, International, Russia/ E. Europe, W. [email protected]

Christine CoreyMiddle [email protected]

Amy WilsonLatin America, [email protected]

Samuel Eisen – Branch [email protected], 202-502-7522

Carla White – Program [email protected], 202-502-7631

foreign language and area studies fellowship program (flas)

Documents

flas program

flas language eligibilityvi

language experts

announcedforeign language

flas awards

flas selection criteria

area studies flasstatute

area studies flasiii