General Information on Teaching Development Fellowships, 2011-2012

The deadline for accepting 2011-2012 NEH Teaching Development Fellowship awards is April 29, 2011.
To accept the award, please complete, sign, and return the acceptance form to the NEH Teaching Development 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 program via the information in the letterhead.

Part One of this document describes the terms and conditions governing NEH Teaching Development Fellowships.

Part Two provides specific information on tenure, and stipend amount, as well as payment procedures and instructions for completing the acceptance form.

PART ONE: TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF AWARD

Full-time Study: You are encouraged to devote full time during your fellowship term to the proposed project. You may, however, teach half time during the fellowship if necessary. Additional courses or other administrative work, however, are not permitted. If you are considering other activity during your fellowship tenure, you must first consult with the Teaching Development Fellowships Program staff to determine whether the proposed activity is permissible.
Project Changes: You may make minor changes in your proposed project without consulting the Endowment. However, any significant change must be approved in advance. You should describe and justify the changes to the Endowment in writing so that the Endowment can determine whether the new plans fall within the intent of the award.
Work Leading toward Degrees: You may audit courses and seminars pertinent to your fellowship project, but you may not enroll in a degree program or engage in work you intend to apply toward a degree either now or later.
Resignation or Termination: Your fellowship may be terminated by the Endowment if, for any reason, you resign or discontinue the proposed program before the end of the fellowship term or fail to observe the award’s terms and conditions. If you resign before the end of your term, 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.

Recipients will be expected to submit a revised course syllabus, a bibliography, and other relevant materials upon the completion of the fellowship. These materials may be posted on the NEH Web site.
Prohibition on the Use of Funds for Lobbying Activities: 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 Teaching Development Fellowship: 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 must contain an acknowledgment of NEH 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.” One copy of all award products should be forwarded to the Endowment as soon as they are available, no matter how long after tenure the work may appear.
Medical Insurance and Other Fringe Benefits: The Endowment provides neither medical insurance nor any other fringe benefits for fellows. 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 fellows 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 accept an NEH Teaching Development Fellowship award, and to indicate the exact dates of your fellowship tenure. You should retain a copy of the completed form for your records and notify NEH whenever you make modifications to the arrangements agreed to by the Endowment. The acceptance form must include the following information:

Application Number: Your application number can be found on the offer letter. It begins with “FW-”.
Name
Social Security Number
Mailing Address, Home and Office Phone Numbers, and E-Mail Address
Teaching Development Fellowship Term Dates: The fellowship must cover an uninterrupted period of from three to five full months. 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. 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. The earliest that you may begin your grant term is June 1, 2011. The latest that you may begin the grant term is March 1, 2012.

The final amount of the stipend is based on the number of months you requested in your application. For each full month of tenure, the NEH pays $4,200. Thus, a fellowship for 5 months would carry a stipend of $21,000 ($4,200 X 5 months). NEH does not allow its fellows to increase the length of their awards from that designated in their applications; fellows may, however, decrease the length of their awards from that mentioned in their applications.

You should be certain of the term dates entered on the acceptance form so that no changes will be required at a later date. The dates of term given on the acceptance form may be different from the dates requested in the application.

While you may hold other fellowships (e.g., sabbaticals and supplemental grants) or grants during fellowship tenure, 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 an NEH Teaching Development Fellowship.
How would you like the stipend paid?: Fellowship stipends 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 award will be provided with the letter officially awarding the fellowship.

All payments are made electronically by the U.S. Treasury Department and can be deposited either in your bank account or in your employing institution’s bank. Please indicate the option you prefer. Please choose only one.
- Payments electronically deposited into your checking or savings 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.
Acceptance and Certification: You must accept or decline the offer of a 2011-2012 NEH Teaching Development Fellowship award not later than Friday, April 29, 2011. To accept the award, please complete, sign, and return the acceptance form to the NEH Teaching Development Fellowships Program by either scanning and e-mailing it to @email or faxing it to (202) 606-8204 by this deadline.