Third Round Competition
Updated Frequently Asked Questions
On February 12, 2016, HUD posted a new round of
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) received during the application period. Please refer to page 25 for updated responses.
View the updated Third Round Promise Zone Competition FAQs.
Applicants with questions are directed to review the updated FAQs. Additional questions can be submitted directly to promisezones@hud.gov.
Application Timelines
A non-binding
Application Request Form is due by
February 19, 2016 at 5:00 PM EST. Once the form is submitted the applicant will receive, within 1-2 business days, an individualized link to access the Promise Zone application.
Application Deadline: Electronic copies of application materials must be received by 5:00 PM EST on Tuesday, February 23, 2016 via Max Survey.
Notice to Third Round Promise Zone Applicants
New Option to view Promise Zones Application Export before application submission || Deadline to request: February 18, 5:00 PM EST
HUD has received multiple requests from applicants seeking to view or print the application material they have entered into the MAX Survey online platform before they click “submit” to finalize, and lose the ability to edit online. Unfortunately, the application survey entries can only be printed in full by the user after the application is submitted via MAX Survey. Once the applicant submits, the entry will lock, and the applicant may not reopen the application.
We strongly recommend that applicants backup their application materials. One person at a time should be responsible for working in the online application. The MAX Survey platform is not able to support multiple users working on the application simultaneously. A PDF document showing the survey questions as they appear in MAX Survey is posted on the Promise Zones webpage for reference as applicants organize their drafting and MAX Survey processes. This will make it possible for more than one person to work on the application outside the MAX Survey platform.
In addition, applicants have requested to view their application as it will look once MAX Survey exports the application materials for reviewers. In response to this request, HUD is making a new option available to all Round 3 Promise Zones applicants (Urban, Rural, and Tribal). If an applicant wishes to view its inputs in MAX Survey in a print-out form, please email promisezones@hud.gov before Thursday, February 18 at 5:00 PM EST with the subject line “Application Export Request”. This request email must originate from the same email address used to request an application (and to which the application invitation email was sent). In the request, please provide the full name of the person who requested the Promise Zone application, the name of lead applicant organization, and whether the application is for an urban, rural, or tribal designation. All fields must match our records for HUD to be able to fulfill a request.
Each applicant may request its export document only once.
If approved, applicants requesting an application export document by the request deadline will receive, by Friday, February 19, 2016 at 5:00 PM EST, a reply email with their MAX application export attached to the email in a Microsoft Word Document. This document will include the applicant’s saved entries into the MAX Survey platform as of the date of the request response. The application export document will display the applicant’s information in the format produced for reviewers in the application review process. It will include the applicable Abstract and Eligibility data, and any goals and activities details entered and saved by the date of the request response. It will not include any answers to the optional questions under each activity (related to federal barriers and technical assistance), nor the policy areas identified for each activity.
The application export document will not include any files attached to the application, or any indication of whether or not attachments were uploaded. Applicants can view the names of files they have uploaded on the last page of the MAX Survey online form at any time before they submit their application. Applicants should check to make sure, before the application is submitted, that all the correct file names are listed on the last page of the online form. Files may be deleted and re-uploaded before the application is submitted. After submitting their applications, applicants have the opportunity to print a document that includes the list of file names that have been uploaded.
If, after reviewing their application export document, applicants need to make any changes to their application entries, those changes must be made directly into MAX Survey, in the appropriate place in the application, before the applicant clicks “submit”. HUD/USDA will not accept application export documents submitted back to us via email or in any other way as applications, or as application attachments. All applications must be submitted via MAX Survey by the application deadline: February 23, 2016 at 5:00 PM EST regardless of whether an application export was requested, and regardless of when a reply was received.
