The purpose of these programs is to promote and strengthen the ability of eligible institutions in the Insular Areas to carry out education within the food, agricultural and natural resource sciences. RIIA projects strengthen institutional educational capacities, including libraries, curriculum, faculty, scientific instrumentation, instruction delivery systems, and student recruitment and retention, in order to respond to education needs in the food and agricultural sciences.
AGFEI projects support activities to acquire or renovate facilities and relevant equipment necessary for conducting agricultural research to support tropical and subtropical agricultural research, including pest and disease research.
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1. Individual Institutions. For the purposes of the RIIA program, an eligible institution is an institution of higher education, as defined in section 101(a) of the 2. Higher Education Act of 1995 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)); is located at an Insular Area; and has a demonstrable capacity to carry out teaching and extension programs in the FANH sciences. All public or non-profit 2-year and 4-year accredited institutions of higher education that offer certificate/degree programs in the FANH sciences are eligible. For the purposes of the AGFEI Program, only individual land-grant colleges and universities, and other institutions that have secured land-grant status through Federal legislation, and which are located at Insular Areas are eligible for awards under this RFA as individual applicants. The eight Insular Areas are: a. American Samoa, b. the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, c. the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, d. the Federated States of Micronesia, e. Guam, f. the Republic of the Marshall Islands, g. the Republic of Palau, and h. the United States Virgin Islands 3. Branch Institutions of a Territory University System. For the purposes of the RIIA and AGFEI programs, the individual branches of a territory university system that are separately accredited as degree-granting institutions are treated as separate, individual institutions eligible to apply for and receive awards, provided they otherwise satisfy the definition of “eligible institution” as specified above. 4. Independent Branch Campuses. Independent branch campuses of individual institutions may apply for and receive grant awards under this program, provided that they otherwise satisfy the definition of “eligible institution” as specified above. 5. Certification of Eligibility. At the time of application, each primary applicant will be required to demonstrate or certify that it is an eligible institution as defined by this RFA. A non-Land Grant institution must submit a letter signed by the institution’s Authorized Representative (AR) certifying that it meets the requirements of an “eligible institution” as defined above. The AR must also certify the institution, or parent institution in the case of an independent branch campus. a. Admits as regular students only persons having a certificate of graduation from a school providing secondary education, or the recognized equivalent of such a certificate. b. Is legally authorized by the Territory in which it is located to provide a program of education beyond secondary education. c. Provides an educational program for which the institution awards a bachelor’s degree or provides not less than a 2-year program that is acceptable for full credit toward such a degree. d. Is a public or other nonprofit institution; and is accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency or association, or if not so accredited, is an institution that has been granted pre-accreditation status by such an agency or association that has been recognized by the Secretary for the granting of pre- accreditation status, and the Secretary has determined that there is satisfactory assurance that the institution will meet the accreditation standards of such an agency or association within a reasonable time. Eligibility documentation must be submitted as part of the applicant’s Project Narrative. See Part IV § B, Field 8 of this RFA. 12 c. Provides an educational program for which the institution awards a bachelor’s degree or provides not less than a 2-year program that is acceptable for full credit toward such a degree. d. Is a public or other nonprofit institution; and is accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency or association, or if not so accredited, is an institution that has been granted pre-accreditation status by such an agency or association that has been recognized by the Secretary for the granting of pre- accreditation status, and the Secretary has determined that there is satisfactory assurance that the institution will meet the accreditation standards of such an agency or association within a reasonable time. Eligibility documentation must be submitted as part of the applicant’s Project Narrative. See Part IV § B, Field 8 of this RFA.