News Article

COE: Update from the Department of Education: SSS Funding Notification and TS/EOC Competition Schedule
Tuesday, July 6th, 2010

Update from the Department of Education: SSS Funding Notification and TS/EOC Competition Schedule

FY 2010 SSS Competition
From the TRIO Division, U.S. Department of Education-June 16, 2010: Notifications of new FY 2010 grant awards as well as non-competing continuation awards for the Student Support Services Program are expected to be made by July 9, 2010.
JULY 1st UPDATE: COE HAS JUST HEARD DIRECTLY FROM A CONGRESSIONAL OFFICE THAT THE SSS NOTIFICATION TO CONGRESS IS NOW PROJECTED TO BE JULY 16TH.
Comments from COE:
Although we cannot be sure of the EXACT date when SSS funding slates by state will be sent to the U.S. Congress, COE will send an alert to the TRIO community when we have definite information that the slates are available. SSS applicants may then call the Education or Legislative Aide at your U.S. Senators' or Representative's Washington DC offices to ask if their college/university is on the slate of funded SSS programs.
Congress is the only entity with the funding information for approximately ten days. The Department is not allowed to release any information on funding status at any time and COE does not have access to funding slates.
After the Congressional notification period, the ED will begin to mail the Grant Award Notifications and/or funding letters and then notify applicants who were not successful.
Again, this is the only information COE has at this time but we will be sending alerts to the community as soon as we have more definitive information.
FY 2011 TS and EOC Competitions
From the U.S. Department of Education, TRIO Division on June 16th: "The College and University Preparation and Support team is working hard to prepare for the Talent Search (TS) and Educational Opportunity Centers (EOC) competition scheduled to happen this fall." The Pre-application Workshops may take place in early fall (not early September, however)-(dates and locations to follow). Tentatively the TS Grant Applications will be due mid November of 2010 and EOC Grant Applications will be due mid December of 2010.
The last TS/EOC competitions had a closing date of February, 2006. You may go to www.ed.gov/ope/trio & under Talent Search or EOC, click on "Applicant Info". You may download the archived application from that site if you would like to view the outdated version as a sample. This ED website has a wealth of info on both programs' regulations, services, and parameters.
Do be aware that the proposed program regulations are in the midst of being finalized by ED. A copy of the proposed TS or EOC regulations may be downloaded from the front page of www.coenet.us which is COE's website. The entire document is important to study but section 21 includes the proposed selection criteria for the Talent Search (tentative mid-November competition) and the EOC (tentative mid-December competition).
EOC has very few proposed changes in the Selection Criteria and the change in Objectives will most likely hold as those changes have been instituted in every TRIO competition since 2006. EOC grants may be written now; do not wait until September to begin to write your 2010 submission.
For Talent Search, the proposed regulations outline the changes-many will hold as they are mandated by law. It is possible and advisable to begin your Talent Search application now as the direction is clear-some of the details are not but the expanded services and scope will require a great deal of thought, planning and time to execute a fundable draft.
As the summer goes on, ED will post the location and dates for their 10 free Technical Review Workshops-mid- to late-September and October (travel and expenses must be paid by your college/agency) which will be most helpful to all writers.
In addition, if you have access to proposal development workshops, you should obtain college/agency funds to attend those for which you are eligible.
This will be a very competitive application process. A 2010 EOC or Talent Search grant will be very different from the 2006 submissions even if the applicant scored well last competition. The Readers have high expectations that criteria will be followed exactly and information will be fully developed, the competition from your peers has increased and the world of outreach services has become much more sophisticated over the past 4 years.
If you have questions or need assistance, please e-mail julia.tower@coenet .