Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada,comp.software-eng,comp.edu Subject: Ada-related curriculum grant program announced again Date: 6 Jun 1994 21:31:49 -0400 NOTE: the deadline for proposal submission is June 30. Source: Defense Information Systems Agency, Contract Management Division, 701 South Court House Road, Arlington, VA 22204-2199 Title: BROAD AGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT IN SOFTWARE AND INFORMATION ENGINEERING AND ADA POC Contact: Mr. David Basel, (703) 604-4619 The Defense Information Systems Agency, Center for Information Management (DISA/CIM) and the Ada Joint Program Office (AJPO) are soliciting proposals to support the development of undergraduate software and information engineering curricula and courses in the Ada Programming language. Of particular interest is the development of curricula, courses and course materials that focus on the effective use of the Ada programming language in traditional computer science, business, engineering, information management and related curriculum. This program is intended to advance the capability of United States post secondary educational institutions to help provide a highly qualified software work force into the 21st century. Proposed research should investigate innovative approaches, curriculum and tools that lead to or enable significant advances in teaching software and information engineering. Specifically excluded is research which primarily results in only minor improvement to the existing state of practice or focuses on a University specific course, system or hardware solution. Proposals will be accepted in Categories (1) through (3) as elaborated below. Category (1): Ada in Traditional Computer Science, Business, Engineering, Information Management and Related Courses: Proposals should describe research in the use of the Ada programming language in undergraduate courses and the development of materials useful to educators. This can include investigating the effectiveness of Ada as an implementation language in courses that traditionally use other languages, or the issues raised by the Ada language itself in areas such as compiler construction or operating systems. Awards in this category are expected to support one principal investigator for approximately two to three months of full-time effort, or the equivalent level of effort part-time during the academic year. Schools without an appropriate Ada implementation may also request funding for compilers and associated software tools. Category (2): Significant New Course Sequences: Proposals submitted in this category should describe the design and implementation of significant new course sequences in an undergraduate curriculum. For example, proposals may describe the conversion of an introductory programming/data structures sequence to use the Ada language, or the development of a year-long sequence in software engineering. Awards in this category are expected to support one principal investigator for approximately four to five months of full- time effort, or the equivalent level of effort part-time during the academic year. Category (3): In conjunction with a proposal for Category 1 or 2, a proposal may be submitted for the development or modification of tools to assist in the instruction or delivery of Ada-based software engineering with particular focus on the new features of Ada 9X or transition to Ada 9X. Awards in this category, in addition to that support requested in the category 1 or 2 proposals, are expected to support one principal investigator for approximately three months of full-time effort plus one half-time student for approximately six months, or the equivalent level of effort part-time during the academic year. Results of the project should be embodied in educational materials suitable for wide dissemination and use in undergraduate computer science education and should include complete packages of materials suitable for adoption by educators planning similar course sequences. It is expected that the project's results will be integrated into the institution's academic programs within the period of the award or in the immediately following academic term. Each proposal must be in a single concise volume and shall include the following sections A - F (inclusive), each section starting on a new page (where a "page" is 8-1/2 x 11 inches with type not smaller than standard 12-pitch). Non-conforming proposals may be rejected without review. A: A cover page including BAA number, proposal title, technical and administrative contacts (telephone numbers and electronic mail addresses, if any) and if your institution is recognized as a Historically Black College or University (HBCU) or Minority Institution (MI), so indicate, followed by an official cover letter signed by your contract and grant office. B: Five (5) pages maximum for Category (1) proposals and ten (10) pages maximum for Category (2) and (3) proposals: A description of the project, including a clear Statement of Work (SOW) outlining the scope, technical approach, specific tasks of the effort. Include a summary of the anticipated results, products, and transferable technology expected from a prospective user's point of view, a summary of the benefits of pursuing the work to both the AJPO and the academic community at large, any proprietary claims to results and other artifacts supporting and/or necessary for the use of the curriculum or tool to be developed. If there are no proprietary claims, this shall be stated. C: Two (2) pages maximum. A summary of the innovative claims and rationale for the proposed curriculum or tool, including the utility and relevance to achieving the goals of the BAA both within your institution and throughout the wider educational community. D: One (1) page: A summary of the time frame, schedule and milestones for proposed project and a list of key personnel along with the amount of effort to be expended by each. E. One (1) page: Identification of offeror's previous accomplishments in this or related areas, a description of the facilities to be used for the proposed effort, summary of qualifications of key personnel along with other major sources of support, bibliography of relevant technical papers, research notes (published & unpublished) and course curriculum development which document the ideas and approach upon which the proposal is based. This section shall list all other related pending proposals. F: Two (2) pages maximum. A cost breakdown to the level of major tasks and equipment. Where the effort consists of multiple portions which could reasonably be partitioned for purposes of funding, these should be identified as contract options with separate cost estimates for each. If cost sharing is proposed, a letter committing to the arrangement must be included signed by an authorized official of the University. G: Optional appendices providing additional relevant material (Papers, Bibliographies, Vitae, etc.) may be included with the proposal, but they may or may not be read depending on time available, and will not be considered as part of the evaluation. Five copies of each proposal should be addressed to, BAA 94-01, DISA/Code PM (Jean Hudson), 701 South Court House Road, Arlington, VA 22204-2199. Facsimile or electronic submissions will not be accepted. Restrictive notices notwithstanding, proposals will be handled for administrative purposes by a support contractor. FFRDC employees may participate in this review process. Proposals may be reviewed and acted on as they arrive. The closing date is 30 Jun 94, 4:00 p.m. A follow-on BAA of this nature is anticipated for the 1995/1996 academic year. Proposals will be evaluated through a Government expert review process according to the following criteria listed in descending order of relative importance: (1) Quality and merit of the proposed project, (2) Capability of the investigator(s) and the adequacy of the institutional resources to carry out the proposed work, (3) Utility or relevance and expected impact of the proposed project, (4) Degree of cost sharing (cost sharing, although not mandatory, is highly desirable), fund availability, cost realism, cost effectiveness and commitment to use the results. This notice itself constitutes the BAA as contemplated in FAR 6.102(d)(2). Except for the white paper referenced below, no additional written information is available, nor will a formal RFP or other solicitation regarding this announcement be issued. Requests for same will be disregarded. Projected total funding available for this work is expected to be in the range of $300,000 to $800,000 for this year. The Government reserves the right to select for award all, some, or none of the proposals received. Only responsible US degree-granting educational institutions capable of satisfying the Government's needs may submit a proposal. Approximately 10 percent (10%) of this BAA shall be set aside for Minority Institutions (MI) and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) participation. Individual proposal evaluations will be based on acceptability or unacceptability without regard to other proposals submitted under the announcement, however, all selected proposals may not be funded due to budgetary constraints. Proposals selected for funding may result in a contract, grant or other agreement depending upon the nature of the work proposed, the required degree of interaction between parties and other factors. Response to this announcement is expected to be large, therefore only written inquiries will be accepted (by mail to the DISA address), by electronic mail to BAA@ajpo.sei.cmu.edu, or by facsimile to (703) 685-7019. A white paper with additional information can be requested from the above. DISA Reference BAA 94- 01. (0152) ---------- (Text provided by Mike Feldman, The George Washington University--Washington, DC)