General Information on NEH-NSF Documenting Endangered Languages Fellowships, 2011-2012

The deadline for accepting 2011-2012 NEH-NSF Documenting Endangered Languages Fellowships is Friday, May 13, 2011.
To accept the award, please complete, sign, and return the acceptance form to the NEH Fellowships Program by either scanning and e-mailing it to @email or faxing it to (202) 606-8204 by this deadline. If you have questions, contact the Fellowships Program via the information in the letterhead.

Part One of this document describes the terms and conditions governing NEH-NSF Documenting Endangered Languages (DEL) Fellowships.

Part Two provides specific information on term dates, stipends, and payment procedures and instructions for completing the acceptance form.

PART ONE: TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF AWARD

Time Commitment: Full-time commitment to your project is expected during your fellowship term. However, if a full-time continuous term is not feasible for you, you may split your term into two separate active periods, each of which must be at least 3 months in duration. You must complete your fellowship term within two years of your initial month. During the two active periods, you must work full-time on the project and may not accept a teaching assignment or undertake any other major activity. You may attend conferences related to your fellowship and give presentations on it, but if you are contemplating any additional activity during your periods of commitment to your project, you must first consult with the NEH program staff to determine whether the proposed activity is permissible.
Project Changes: You may make minor changes in your proposed project without consulting NEH. However, any significant change must be approved in advance. You should describe and justify the changes in writing so that the Endowment can determine whether the new plans fall within the intent of the award.
Work Leading toward Degrees: Fellowships under this program are not intended to support graduate course work or completion of a degree.
Resignation or Termination: Your fellowship may be terminated by the Endowment if, for any reason, you resign or discontinue the proposed project before the end of the fellowship period or fail to observe the fellowship’s terms and conditions. If you resign before the end of the term period, you must return any funds received over and above those to which you are entitled.
If during the course of your fellowship you are unable to meet the terms of the award, then you are obliged to inform the Endowment immediately so that appropriate action may be taken. Because stipend payments are made in advance, it may be determined that a portion of the stipend must be returned to the Endowment; if this is the case, the Endowment will inform you of the amount that must be repaid, the basis for the calculation, and the date by which repayment must be made.
Final Report: You must submit a final report on activities accomplished with your NEH award. This report should be submitted electronically via “eGMS,” the NEH’s online grant management system. The final report is due within 90 days after the conclusion of your term.
Prohibition on the Use of Funds for Lobbying Activites: The Byrd Anti-Lobbying Amendment, 31 U.S.C. 1352, prohibits recipients of federal contracts, awards, cooperative agreements, and loans from using appropriated funds to influence the Executive or Legislative Branches of the federal government in connection with a specific contract, award, cooperative agreement, loan, or any other award covered by §1352. 18 U.S.C. 1913 makes it a crime to use funds appropriated by Congress to influence members of Congress regarding congressional legislation or appropriations. Finally, the following are unallowable charges to award funds or cost sharing: certain electioneering activities, financial support for political parties, attempts to influence federal or state legislation either directly or through grass-roots lobbying, and some legislative liaison activities.

The NEH is required by the provisions of its appropriations act to include the text of 18 U.S.C. 1913 in all of its award, cooperative agreement, and contract documents.

Text of 18 U.S.C. 1913:

No part of the money appropriated by any enactment of Congress shall, in the absence of express authorization by Congress, be used directly or indirectly to pay for any personal service, advertisement, telegram, telephone, letter, printed or written matter, or other device, intended or designed to influence in any manner a Member of Congress, a jurisdiction, or an official of any government, to favor, adopt, or oppose, by vote or otherwise, any legislation, law, ratification, policy, or appropriation, whether before or after the introduction of any bill, measure, or resolution proposing such legislation, law, ratification, policy, or appropriation; but this shall not prevent officers or employees of the United States or of its departments or agencies from communicating to any such Member or official, at his request, or to Congress or such official, through the proper official channels, requests for any legislation, law, ratification, policy, or appropriations which they deem necessary for the efficient conduct of the public business, or from making any communication whose prohibition by this section might, in the opinion of the Attorney General, violate the Constitution or interfere with the conduct of foreign policy, counter-intelligence, intelligence, or national security activities. Violations of this section shall constitute violations of section 1352(a) of title 31.
Research Misconduct: NEH will take appropriate action against individuals or organizations upon a determination that misconduct has occurred in proposing, performing, or reviewing research or reporting results from research activities funded by NEH in accordance with the NEH Research Misconduct Policy.
Publishing as a Result of Your NEH-NSF Fellowship: Although there is no formal requirement that you publish the results of your investigations, most recipients intend to do so. You may copyright any material produced as a result of fellowship activities, and you may make the results of your work available to the public without restriction.
All materials publicizing or resulting from activities accomplished under an award (e.g., books, articles, DVDs) must contain an acknowledgment of NEH and NSF support. The acknowledgment must also include the following statement: “Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this (publication) (program) (website) do not necessarily reflect those of the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Science Foundation.”

Two copies of all fellowship products should be sent to NEH as soon as they are available, no matter how long after grant completion the product may appear. One copy will be forwarded by NEH to the National Science Foundation.
Medical Insurance and Other Fringe Benefits: The Endowment provides neither medical insurance nor any other fringe benefits for awardees. It is therefore recommended that you continue the benefit programs in which you are participating. Unemployment compensation and Social Security insurance are not covered because recipients are not employees of the U.S. Government.
Income Tax: The tax laws governing fellowship awards were amended by the Tax Reform Act of 1986, and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the courts decide the extent to which a particular award is taxable. The Endowment does not withhold taxes from stipends. Neither does the Endowment send to Fellows an IRS form W-2 or IRS form 1099. You should familiarize yourself with the tax laws to determine the tax liability of your fellowship stipend and whether you are entitled to deduct any expenses in connection with your fellowship. The IRS has not advised the Endowment concerning tax treatment of fellowship awards, and NEH cannot provide tax advice or answers to tax questions.
Activities Outside the United States: Prior to undertaking activities outside the United States, recipients shall secure the necessary passports, visas or other required documents for entry into foreign countries. Recipients shall also obtain the appropriate licenses, permits, or approvals. The recipient must notify the NEH if a permit is denied or revoked after an award has been issued, or if an unforeseen circumstance, such as a natural disaster or political turmoil, threatens or prevents the recipient from carrying out project activities.
The NEH does not assume responsibility for recipient compliance with the laws and regulations of the country in which work is to be conducted.

Recipients should consult the updated travel advisories and warnings issued by the State Department through the American Citizens Services at 202-647-5225 or fax service 202-647-3000 or at the State Department’s website.

PART TWO: INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE ACCEPTANCE FORM

The acceptance form is used to claim a DEL fellowship and to indicate the exact term dates of your fellowship term. You should retain a copy of the completed form for your records and notify the program whenever you make modifications to the arrangements agreed to by the Endowment.

Application Number: Your application number, a combination of a two-letter prefix (FN) plus five digits, can be found on your offer letter.
Name
Social Security Number
Mailing Address, Home and Office Phone Numbers, and E-Mail Address
Documenting Endangered Language Fellowship Term Dates: Please note that your term must begin on the first day of your chosen first month and end on the last day of your chosen final month. You may begin your term any month during the 16-month window from June 2011 through September 2012. Indicate the month and year in which you will begin your fellowship term and the month and year in which you will end your term. Remember that you must complete your fellowship term within two years of your initial month.
The final amount of the stipend is based on the number of months of your term. For each full month of your term, NEH provides $4,200. Thus, a fellowship for 12 months carries a stipend of $50,400 ($4,200 x 12 months). The term dates you provide on the acceptance form may differ from the dates you originally requested in your application. While you may not increase the length of your term beyond your original request, you may, however, decrease the length of your term. Please be certain of the term dates you enter on the acceptance form so that no changes will be required later.

Your award term may be continuous or divided:
- Continuous term: You may choose a continuous term if you plan to begin and end your award period without interruption. A continuous full-time term must be devoted to full-time work on the project and may not include a teaching assignment or any other major activity.
- Divided term: If the continuous-term option does not suit the demands of your schedule, you may choose to divide your term into two separate periods of work. Each active period of a divided term must be at least 3 months in duration and must be devoted to full-time work on the project. You may not teach or undertake any other major activity during these active periods. For example, if you requested 10 months in your application, you could undertake a full-time active period from September 2011 through December 2011 (4 months), break from January 2012 through December 2012, and complete your term with a second full-time active period from January 2013 through June 2013 (6 months). Bear in mind that you must complete your term within two years of your initial month.
While you may hold other fellowships (e.g., sabbaticals and supplemental grants) or grants during your DEL fellowship term, you may not hold other awards from the NEH Division of Research Programs during the fiscal or calendar year or years in which you hold a DEL fellowship.
How would you like the stipend paid? Fellowships are paid in installments and prorated according to the term length. Typically, the first payment is made at the beginning of the term period and subsequent payments are made every third month through the fellowship term. The payment schedule and amounts for your particular fellowship will be provided with the letter officially making the award.
All payments are made electronically by the U.S. Treasury Department and can be deposited either in your personal bank account or in your employing institution’s bank. Please indicate the option you prefer.

Please choose only one.
- Payments electronically deposited into your bank account using the Automated Clearing House (ACH) system.
- Payments electronically deposited into an account of your employing institution also using the Automated Clearing House (ACH) system. Some institutions are willing to continue paying fringe benefits if payments are made through them. If you think that this opportunity is available to you, please consult with your employing institution.
Please note that payments cannot be sent to foreign addresses or deposited in non-U.S. banks.

IMPORTANT: The acceptance form does NOT request banking information for direct deposit of your award payments. Once your completed and signed acceptance form is received by NEH, the award letter will be sent to you that includes instructions on submitting your banking information to NEH.
Do you need your first payment early? You may receive your first payment 30 days before your term begins if, for example, you anticipate major travel expenses early in your term. However, no payment can be made before June 1, 2011.
Do you need a larger first payment? If you have particularly high initial expenses, you may receive a larger first payment to cover them.
Acceptance and Certification: You must accept or decline the offer of a 2010-2011 NEH-NSF Documenting Endangered Languages fellowship no later than May 13, 2011. To accept the award, please complete, sign, and return the acceptance form to the NEH Fellowships Program by either scanning and e-mailing it to @email or faxing it to (202) 606-8204 by this deadline.