Nancy,

I directed your message to one of our faculty members who was a FIPSE program
manager only two years ago.  Her response was:  "The doctorate is quite
irrelevant to the FIPSE staff, about half of whom don't have doctorates
either.  (It is conceivable that it could matter to some reviewer, somewhere.)
But my advice is not to worry about this AT ALL.  It's a non-issue."

So, go for it, and don't forget to call your program manager to discuss the
proposal before it's submitted!

Ruth Tallman

Office of Research and Sponsored Programs
Lehigh University
526 Brodhead Ave.
Bethlehem, PA  18015
Phone: 610-758-3024
E-Mail: xxxxxx@lehigh.edu