Catagories for Proposals
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. However, use of the GNAT Ada 95 compiler available without
charge from the Free Software Foundation is highly encouraged.
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):
Development or Modification of Tools to Assist
in the Instruction or Delivery of Ada-based Software Engineering
(emphasis on Ada 95)
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 95
or transition to Ada 95. 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 and continued
for a period of at least two years.
Sections A-F
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 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.
- Section I is limited to 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, and other artifacts supporting and/or necessary for
the use of the curriculum or tool to be developed. This grant
offer shall not be based on or contain proprietary data.
-
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.
- 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.
- 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.
- One (1) page: Letters of commitment from the appropriate official
or Dean of the institution to teach the course once it has been
satisfactorily completed.
- Two (2) pages maximum. A cost breakdown to the level of major
tasks and equipment. If cost sharing is proposed, a letter committing
to the arrangement must be included signed by an authorized official
of the University.
- 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.
Ten copies of each proposal should be addressed to, BAA 95-01,
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. The
closing date is 30 Jun 95, 4:00 p.m. A follow-on BAA of this
nature is anticipated for the 1996/1997 academic year.
Proposal Evaluation
Proposals will be evaluated through a Government expert review
process according to the following criteria listed in descending
order of relative importance:
- Quality and merit of the proposed project,
- Capability of the investigator(s) and the adequacy of the institutional
resources to carry out the proposed work,
- Utility or relevance and expected impact of the proposed project,
- Degree of cost sharing (cost sharing, although not mandatory,
is highly desirable), and commitment to use the results,
- Commitment to teach the courses,
- Past accomplishments.
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.
14 Awards
Fourteen awards, totaling $745,000 were awarded as part of the
first part of this grants program in FY94. Grants ranged from
$30,000 - $65,000 for Category 1 and from $45,000 to $90,000 for
Category 2. This agency anticipates funding in the range of $800,000
to be available for the FY95 grants program. The Government reserves
the right to select for award all, some, or none of the proposals
received. Only US degree-granting educational institutions may
submit a proposal. Approximately 20 percent (20%) 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. A white paper (DISA Reference BAA 95-01) with additional
information can be requested (by mail to the DISA address), or
by facsimile to (703) 681-2786, or by electronic mail sent to:
BAA@ajpo.sei.cmu.edu
Proposer Information Pamphlet
BAA 95-01: Undergraduate Curriculum and Course Development Software
and Information Engineering & the Use of Ada
Scope of Program
The Defense Information Systems Agency, Center for Information
Management (DISA/CIM) and the Defense Automation Resources Information
Center (DARIC) Educational Institutions Partnership Program plans
to announce its intent to conduct a multi-year program to support
the development of undergraduate and graduate curricula and courses.
This program is intended to help United States post-secondary
educational institutions advance their capability to provide a
highly qualified software engineering work force into the 21st
century.
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 curricula, or
programs that emphasize the use of the features of Ada 95 to encourage
better software engineering and software reuse. It is expected
that the project's results will be integrated into the institution's
academic program and taught within the period of the award or
in the immediately following academic term.
Results of the project should be embodied in educational materials
suitable for wide dissemination and use in undergraduate and graduate
education and should produce complete packages of materials suitable
for adoption by educators planning similar courses or course sequences.
Materials may include:
- lecture notes
- classroom examples
- student exercises
- examinations
- reading assignments
- textbook recommendations
- team project guidelines
- a detailed course syllabus (in the case where introduction of Ada requires a complete restructuring of a course)
- significant examples of software engineering issues raised or solved by Ada
- examples of the use of Ada's features in the design of common kinds of systems
- implementations of libraries of building blocks related to a particular subject area
- high-quality implementations of important algorithms in Ada, and monographs
All materials produced will be made available to the teaching
public via the Asset reuse library. Information as to the format
of the materials will be provided by DARIC at a later date. Proposals
to produce Ada programs and building block as part of the materials
should adhere to the Ada Style Guide being developed by the Software
Productivity Consortium (SPC) for Ada 95. Schools without an
appropriate Ada implementation may also request funding for compilers
and associated software tools. However, use of the GNAT Ada 95
compiler available without charge from the Free Software Foundation
is highly encouraged.
Publication of results and attendance at the annual Ada software
educators workshop is strongly encouraged. Presentations at major
education-oriented professional meetings, such as the SEI Conference
on Software Engineering Education or the ACM SIGCSE Technical
Symposium on Computer Science Education, will also be supported.
Program Goals
The principal goals of the program are:
To support the development of courses and educational materials
that use Ada and Ada 95 and that can be widely distributed to
and used by educators as part of existing curricula.
To enhance the software engineering content of courses and
course sequences in undergraduate computer science, business,
engineering, information management and related curricula.
To develop or modify tools and advanced delivery methods to
assist in the instruction of Ada-based Software Engineering curricula.
To support the teaching of reuse-based concepts in Ada and
addition of reuse segments into existing courseware and curricula.
Proposal Categories
Proposals will be accepted in three (3) categories as described
on page 1 and 2.
Who May Submit?
Proposals are invited from accredited two-year colleges, institutions,
and universities offering undergraduate and graduate courses and
curricula appropriate to the goals of the program. Business,
computer science, engineering and information management departments
are encouraged to apply. Proposals will be accepted only from
US degree-granting educational institutions.
Evaluation of Proposals
Proposals will be evaluated by expert review. Twenty percent
of the funds for this program will be set aside for participation
from minority institutions and historically black colleges and
universities (HBCU). In addition to the specific selection criteria
described above for the categories, proposals will be evaluated
according to the following general criteria listed in descending
order of relative importance:
Intrinsic technical merit of the proposed project.
Utility, relevance and expected impact of the proposed project
on the student, the institutions overall curricula, the local
industrial base and the US work force overall. The potential
of the proposed work to produce materials that can be widely disseminated
and adopted by educators and that will significantly improve the
quality of the instruction in schools using them.
Ability to accelerate commercial use of Ada.
Capability of the investigator(s), the adequacy of the institutional
resources to carry out the proposed work. The experience of the
principal investigator in developing and teaching similar course
materials, similar tools and leveraging those tools is a major
factor, as is applicability of the course across stakeholder areas
(Junior Colleges, colleges, HBCUs, etc.)
Commitment to the institution to teach the course on a continuing
basis for at least two years.
Degree of cost sharing (cost sharing, although not mandatory,
is encouraged).
Schools not receiving awards in the past shall receive preference
should they be rated equal with those receiving awards in the
past. Fourteen awards, totaling $745,000 were awarded as part
of the first part of this grants program. This agency anticipates
funding in the range of $800,000 to be available for this grants
program this fiscal year. Individual proposal evaluations will
be based on acceptability or unacceptability without regard to
other proposals submitted under the announcement. However, some
selected proposals may not receive funding due to budgetary constraints.
The Government reserves the right to select for award all, some,
or none of the proposals received.
Announcement and Administration of Awards
We anticipate a Commence Business Daily (CBD) announcement during
the second quarter of each calendar year. Qualified US institutions
of higher education may place their names on a DARIC mailing list
to receive notification of the announcement. Awards may be made
anytime during the calendar year. Deadline for submission of
proposals will be eight (8) weeks after the CBD announcement.
Work shall start at the beginning of the semester or equivalent
following award, with completion scheduled in time for use in
the following academic year at the latest.
The number of awards in each category will depend on the quality
of the proposals received and the availability of funds for this
program.
Educational materials produced by awardees will be collected,
organized and published by DARIC, or its designated agent, for
the purpose of achieving the widest possible dissemination and
use of the materials. The development of electronic copies of
the materials suitable for further electronic distribution is
encouraged. Producers of the materials, however, will retain
the right to use, modify, copy and distribute those materials.
Proposal Preparation and Format
Ten copies of each proposal are required: These should be sent
to:
BAA 95-01
DISA Code D412
701 South Courthouse Road
Arlington, VA 22204-2199
Facsimile or electronic submissions will not be accepted.
A short and concise proposal is desired. It should present clearly
the vision, goals, plans, and anticipated results of the proposed
project in sufficient detail to be evaluated in accordance with
the criteria listed above. The proposal should contain only material
essential for the review. The proposal shall be limited to a
maximum of 25 pages. Additional material substantiating claims
and expertise may be placed in appendices (appendices shall be
for information only and shall not be part of the proposal evaluation
process).
Each proposal should contain the following information in the
order listed. Proposals must be in a single volume and shall
include the following sections (A - F). Each section should start
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.
Section A:
A cover page including the Broad Agency Announcement
(BAA) number 95-01, proposal title, the names of 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.
Section A should be followed by the official cover letter submitting
your proposal, signed by the appropriate contract and grant office.
Section B:
A description of the project (limited to 5 pages for
category 1 and 10 pages for category 2 and 3), including:
- A clear statement of work (SOW) outlining the scope, technical approach, and specific tasks to be performed.
- A summary of the anticipated results, products, and transferable technology expected from the prospective user's point of view.
- A summary of the benefits of pursuing the work to both DARIC and the academic community at large.
- This grant offer shall not be based on or contain proprietary
data.
Section C:
A summary of innovative claims and rationale for the
proposed curriculum or tool. The utility and relevance to achieving
the goals of the BAA, both within your institution and throughout
the wider educational community. (limited to 2 pages)
Section D:
A summary of the timeframe, schedule and milestones
for the proposed project, and a list of key personnel along with
the amount of effort to be expended by each. (limited to 1 page)
Section E:
A summary identifying the 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 and 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. (limited to 2 pages)
Section F:
Letters of commitment from the appropriate official
or Dean of the institution to teach the course once it has been
satisfactorily completed. (limited to 1 page)
Section G:
A cost breakdown to the level of major tasks. Funding
for equipment is specifically excluded. Public domain software
supporting the Ada language is available by contacting the resources
listed under the heading "PROGRAM INQUIRIES AND ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION" at the end of this paper. If cost sharing is
proposed, a letter committing to the arrangement must be included
signed by an authorized official of the university. (limited
to 2 pages)
Section H:
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.
Program Inquiries and Additional Information
Inquiries and requests for future BAA information may be directed
via electronic mail to baa@AJPO.SEI.CMU.EDU, via facsimile to
(703) 681-2786, or by surface mail at the following address:
Ms. Jean Hudson, (703) 607-6919
DISA Code D412
701 South Courthouse Road
Arlington, VA 22204-2199
The Software Engineering Institute's model undergraduate software
engineering curriculum may be requested by electronic mail at
education@sei.cmu.edu, by phone at (412) 268-5800 or by surface
mail at the following address:
Software Engineering Curriculum Project
Software Engineering Institute
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
An example of an Ada coding standard is the Ada Style guide from
the Software Productivity Consortium. This is available 24hours a
day on the AdaIC's Internet host (www.adaic.org) via
the following Internet access, search, and retrieval utilities:
anonymous file transfer protocol (ftp)
ftp sw-eng.falls-church.va.us
login: anonymous
password: <your email address>
Gopher
gopher sw-eng.falls-church.va.us
World Wide Web (WWW)
http://archive.adaic.com/
Direct any questions concerning access to action@sw-eng.falls-church.va.us
or to the AdaIC telephone helpdesk staff at 1/800AdaIC11 (2324211)
or 703/6812466.
Form E112
