2026-2030 NOFO Information Sessions and Q&A
The Tribal Epidemiology Centers Program Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) is now available at:
Informational Call
Date: June 2, 2026.
Time: 3:00PM Eastern Time/1:00 PM Mountain Time
The recording of the call will be linked on this site soon.
Questions and Answers
The Program will post all Questions and Answers on this site, updating every Thursday until July 13, 2026.
Q. For the optional activities, should the budget narratives for those activities be included within the overall five-page budget narrative limit for the application, or should they be submitted separately?
A. They should be included in the overall budget narrative.
Q. Regarding the optional awards themselves, I wanted to clarify how they will be distributed. For example, if an optional activity lists “Number of Awards: 1” or another number, does that indicate the total number of recipients that will receive that optional award?
A. Yes. Final awards are dependent on available funding at time of award.
Q. I also wanted to confirm whether the optional activity funding, once awarded, would continue across the full five-year project period or if those awards are issued on a year-by-year basis.
A. All awards are issued on a year-to-year basis pending final funding availability.
Q. The NOFO states that the funding range is between $2,000,000 to $3,500,000 for required activities. Is there a funding cap based on the number of tribes served within a given service area?
A. No. There is no funding cap based on the number of tribes within a given service area. Applicants may propose a budget up to the maximum amount within the stated funding range. Once funding decisions are made and a Notice of Award (NoA) is distributed, awardees may revise their budgets if the final amount differs from the proposed budget.
Q. The overall page limit of the Project Narrative section is 10 pages. The NOFO states that applications exceeding the page limit will not be reviewed. However, the Logic Model and Work Plan templates exceed 10 pages. How should applicants include these documents while remaining within the page limit?
A. The logic model and work plan will not count toward the 10-page limit for the section, Project Narrative.
Q. On page 41 of the NOFO, it states that the objectives, workplan, and approach section should be under 4 pages. Are the logic model and workplan expected to be under 4 pages?
A. No. Please see page 37 of the NOFO. The logic model and work plan tables are meant to be included as separate attachments and do not count towards the 10-page limit.
Q. Does the 5-10% budget requirements on evaluation expenditures apply to the core funding only, or should this be reflected in supplement budget proposals as well?
A. The IHS evaluation policy (Chapter 8 - Program Evaluation | Part 4) states, “Programs shall use program resources to cover the costs of evaluation planning, implementation, and analysis. For planning purposes, the industry standard, at the low end is 5-10% of program funding.” The 5-10% budget requirement for evaluation expenditures applies to the total budget, including supplements.
Q. Will an HHS and OMB review be required prior to award this time?
A. Yes. All awards must be reviewed before issue based on requirements when they are made.
Q. Are biosketches to be in the NIH format or are resumes or CVs okay for this round?
A. Per DGM guidance, biosketches, CVs and resumes are all acceptable for key personnel documentation. A resume or CV is appropriate for positions that are filled at the time of proposal
Q. Hello, will this PPT be shared out with attendees after this meeting?
A. A recording of this meeting will be posted.
Q. Hello! Is the work plan template provided on page 46 the required format? We used a different work plan format for our 2021-2026 work plan that worked well for us in the past and we were wondering if we can use that template again. Thank you!
A. It is strongly encouraged to use the format in the NOFO. If you use your own format, ensure that the criteria are all included.
Q. Does the required activity B within TEC Function 4 refer to the annual meeting hosted by the grantee awarded with supplement 1? If so will the grantee of supplement 1 provide travel stipend support to attendees or will we be responsible for funding travel to attend the annual meeting??
A. That is the annual meeting in Supplement 1. All awardees should plan to be responsible for their own travel to attend.
Q. Regarding the budget page limit of 5 pages, does that include the supplements? It is very hard to get it all at 5 pages to include salaries, fringe and budget narrative with the supplements
A. The 5-page budget narrative applies to the entire proposed budget, including both required and proposed optional activities. Applicants may use the permitted spreadsheet (pg.44) attachment to provide additional budget detail, as the spreadsheet does not count toward the 5-page limit.
Q. How do we make it clear which supplements we propose to conduct if the budgets are not separate?
A. Please pay special attention to the Optional attachment outlined on page 46-47, “activities materials.” Uploading a separate file as an Other Attachment with your proposed list reduces potential confusion for award reviews.
Q. Are the supplements available for one year or across all 5 years?
A. All funding is based on availability per year, but the expectation is that awardees will have the same supplements throughout the entire 5 year award.
Q. For the work plan is the performance period Y1 or all 5 years?
A. It is for all 5 years.
Q. Since planning for 5 years is challenging, Will be be allowed to review plans after year 1?
A. There will be the usual continuation application/ review process every project year.
Q. So the supplement applications should also reflect 5 full years as well?
A. Yes.
Q. Just to clarify, the award date/earliest start date is Sept 1. So the grant years run September 1 - August 31 ?
A. Yes.
Q. On page 40 under “table : project narrative components”- there is a recommended page limit for “Project objectives, work plan, and approach” which is 4 pages , do we use the work plan chart template for the narrative?
A. The narrative described on page 41 is separate from the template/table on page 46. The narrative in the project narrative should summarize the activities detailed in the work plan chart, so reviewers can understand readily the connection between the objectives, work plan, and the planned approach.
Q. On page 37 under the required “attachment”, work plan chart is listed with no page limits. Does this mean we submit the work plan twice? Would you please provide us clarification about this ?
A. The work plan chart on page 46 is in a table format with the following headers
| Detailed activities you will implement | Progress or process measures | Annual outcomes | Responsible position or party | Completion date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (Specific) | (Measurable) | (Achievable and realistic) | (Time-bound) |
