1. PURPOSE. To communicate procedures for requesting short courses offered by the National Highway Institute (NHI), to clarify sponsoring agency responsibilities, and to establish parameters for short course sponsorship on a per person basis.

2. CANCELLATION. FHWA Notice N 4900.3, dated July 31, 1987, Modification of Procedure for Obtaining National Highway Institute Short Courses, is cancelled.

3. EFFECTIVE DATE. The provisions of this Notice were effective as of October 1, 1988.

4. DEFINITIONS

   1. Short Course - a classroom presentation normally 1 to 5 days long available from the NHI. Special courses of somewhat longer duration are occasionally offered in selected topic areas.

   2. Short Course Duration - the actual instructional time, (not the period of time over which the course is presented).

   3. Short Course Fee - the amount charged by NHI for each short course.

   4. Sponsor - the public organization, including the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), requesting an NHI short course and accountable for the payment or collection of short course fees, when applicable.

5. SHORT COURSE FEE

   1. Short course fees are set forth annually in the NHICourse Catalog.

   2. The established short course fees represent one-half the average cost of all NHI short courses.

   3. Short course fees include curriculum development and course presentation costs.

   4. Full payment of the fee is the responsibility of the agency sponsoring the course presentation regardless of the number of participants.

   5. Up to 15 percent of the maximum number of participants specified for a given course may be reserved for FHWA employees to attend without charge. There will be no reduction in the course fee for the sponsoring agency.

   6. The sponsoring agency may charge all non-FHWA participants, including Federal employees from other agencies, a fee to attend a short course. While the sponsoring agency may establish its own fee structure for non-FHWA participants, it is not expected that the agency would recover an amount significantly greater than the course fee.

   7. The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1987 states that NHI shall provide education and training of Federal, State, and local highway department employees at no cost for those subject areas which are a Federal program responsibility. The subject areas for training will be selected by NHI and limited to the top priority 5 or 6 courses annually that provide legislative, policy or management guidelines essential to the conduct of the Federal-Aid Highway Program. The introduction of new "no fee" course began in FY 1988.

   8. The previous set-aside of one-half of 1 percent of Primary, Urban, and Secondary funds that was available for direct educational expenses of State and local highway department employees has been changed effective April 2, 1987 to one-fourth of 1 percent of Interstate, Interstate 4R and Primary funds with the added course fees for courses presented after the effective date. The provision to allow a maximum of 75 percent Federal funds as identified in the Federal-Aid Highway Program Manual, Volume 3, Chapter 1, Section 2 is applicable.

   9. In selected instances FHWA field offices may be approved by NHI to sponsor courses on a per person basis at the rate of $50 per person per day for each non-FHWA attendee. The FHWA field offices must remit payment of fees collected, along with copies of class rosters.

   10. Fees for special courses longer than 5-days duration arecalculated specifically for each course and take into account the relative costs associated with the presentation. The fees for these special courses are charged per attendee for individual sessions. These courses are coordinated by FHWA and highway agency nominees must compete in a nationwide selection process for approval to attend.

6. GUIDELINES FOR SPONSORING AGENCIES

   1. The following steps should be followed for sponsoring NHI short courses.

      Step 1.		Sponsor identifies a short course need.
      Step 2.		Sponsor advises the local FHWA office, and the State highway agency if the sponsor is other than the State, of the need and jointly determines the number of non-FHWA and FHWA employees expected to attend. Unless prior approval is obtained from NHI, the total number of attendees should not exceed the maximum number specified in the Course Announcement.
      Step 3.		Sponsor identifies the source of funds to pay the NHI course fee. If fees are to be collected from non-FHWA attendees, it is recommended that these fees be collected in advance of the actual course presentation.
      Step 4.		Sponsor asks local FHWA office for assistance in scheduling the course.
      Step 5.		Sponsor completes Form FHWA 1530, (copy attached) National Highway Institute Course Request and Confirmation, Section A, items 1-9.
      Step 6.		Sponsor sends completed Form FHWA 1530 to local FHWA office for endorsement and transmittal through FHWA region to NHI.
      Step 7.		Sponsor sends a service purchase contract to NHI for execution, if required by the sponsoring agency. The Federal tax identification number for FHWA is: 53-0204534.
      Step 8.		Sponsor receives an approved copy of form FHWA 1530 from NHI. Notification of approval is provided to the FHWA region and division office.
      Step 9.		Sponsor assumes responsibility for general "housekeeping" duties such as inviting participants, securing meeting facilities, and furnishing routine training equipment.
      Step 10		Sponsor receives a Bill of Collection from the FHWA Finance Division after course completion.
      Step 11.		Sponsor submits payment-in-full of the course fee, along with a copy of the Bill of Collection and the class roster, to:
      		Federal Highway Administration Finance Division (HFS-20) 400 Seventh Street, SW.

   2. If the sponsor has assessed non-FHWA participants a fee to attend, the monies collected may be submitted directly to the FHWA as partial payment of the course fee. FHWA will accept checks, money orders, and cash as payment of course fees. Cash will be accepted, but is not the preferred method of payment due to the administrative burden of safeguarding. Payment by cash should be discouraged whenever possible. Checks and money orders should be made payable to the FHWA. All fees collected should be forwarded immediately to the FHWA, FinanceDivision (HFS-20) for deposit.

   3. Purchase orders required by some States should be issued upon receipt of the approved Form FHWA 1530 and forwarded to NHI. NHI will execute these purchase orders and return to the States. Copies of the purchase orders will accompany the bills submitted to the States for payment.

   4. If the fees collected do not equal the established course fee, the sponsoring agency is responsible for paying any shortage, except when the sponsor is an FHWA field office as noted in paragraph 5i.

Attachment [SEE PRINTED COPY OF NOTICE FOR A COPY OF THE ATTACHMENT]