EPA Star Fellowship 2013

[withoutwords]

I emailed Bronda asking if they have thought about doing an honorary fellowship, this is what she said back:

 

 

Brandon and I spoke yesterday about the possibility of doing something along the lines of what you suggest.  Due to doing anything along this line being  a rather broad and very public activity, Brandon was going to initiate the discussion by speaking with his supervisor.

 

Please also be aware that right now absolutely no decisions have been made regarding funding

[marshymarsh]

I emailed Bronda asking if they have thought about doing an honorary fellowship, this is what she said back:

 

 

Brandon and I spoke yesterday about the possibility of doing something along the lines of what you suggest.  Due to doing anything along this line being  a rather broad and very public activity, Brandon was going to initiate the discussion by speaking with his supervisor.

 

Please also be aware that right now absolutely no decisions have been made regarding funding

 

That's awesome. Thank you so much for asking them!

[Heat_her_bee]

 

hmmm, I'd still just rather have the money

[withoutwords]

It looks like they went ahead and awarded the GRO fellowships which is a good sign that they are funding what they intended to fund:

 

http://readme.readmedia.com/UNH-Sophomore-Named-EPA-Fellow-Gets-50-000-in-Support/6967689

[Lumidee]

My advisor wants me to register for classes (i.e. pay out of pocket) pending EPAs star grant notification. I was gonna defer my admission but she is concerned that might jeopardize any potential EPA funding. Any suggestions please?

[withoutwords]

My advisor wants me to register for classes (i.e. pay out of pocket) pending EPAs star grant notification. I was gonna defer my admission but she is concerned that might jeopardize any potential EPA funding. Any suggestions please?

Call Bronda and Brandon and leave them messages explaining the situation, that is pretty serious

[Lumidee]

Call Bronda and Brandon and leave them messages explaining the situation, that is pretty serious

Brandon Jones said I have to be enrolled to receive the graduate fellowship

[withoutwords]

Brandon Jones said I have to be enrolled to receive the graduate fellowship

That's a tough position to be in. Is it worth it to you to pay out of pocket for your program, because if not I would think you'd really want to know the chances of the program being funded, and when you'd know by.

 

I would try to explain the situation to them to see if they will give you any sort of indication of if they are going to fund the program and a timeframe of when you'd know by, probably phone would be the best since they might not feel comfortable in an email what they actually think.

Edited August 8, 2013 by withoutwords

[sone461]

Please keep us posted, Lumidee, if you don't mind. I'm about to find myself in the same pickle.

[ae123]

You could try talking to the finance, student accounts, or graduate dean office (or maybe all of them) at your university to see if they will work with you on this and delay having to pay tuition. I guess there may be a deadline for differing that could be a problem too. I wonder if they could let you hold off registering for classes since usually you can change them until the add/drop deadline, or wave late tuition fees. You may need your advisor or department head to help with this if the other offices say no.

 

I'm a current fellow and I've registered for classes but my tuition payment is now late because I haven't gotten my fellowship renewal for this year. So I informed the finance office about the situation and at the moment they have given me a one month late fee waver. Hopefully they'll wave it longer if need be. But at least they know I'm not paying for the moment, and I can drop the classes later if the renewal doesn't come though. 

 

I don't know how accommodating they will be, but may be worth a shot. 

[texasfight]

Hey everyone,

Just setting up this thread for the incoming EPA Star 2013 Fellowship applicants and am also wondering if anyone knows when the application on grants.gov will be open or when the FONs for the upcoming cycle will be posted?

 

reminiscing about the days when we were naive and hopeful about getting a fellowship...

[withoutwords]

reminiscing about the days when we were naive and hopeful about getting a fellowship...

we are also coming up on a year, pretty wild we haven't heard anything still!

[withoutwords]

FYI, Bronda said she would give me updates regarding doing an honorary fellowship. This is what she said below:

 

The idea is making its way through the management chain.  Three hurdles cleared, at least one more to go.  Yes, there is an actual reason for this.  Right now we're at a dead stop due to an essential person being unavailable.

[marshymarsh]

FYI, Bronda said she would give me updates regarding doing an honorary fellowship. This is what she said below:

 

The idea is making its way through the management chain.  Three hurdles cleared, at least one more to go.  Yes, there is an actual reason for this.  Right now we're at a dead stop due to an essential person being unavailable.

 

 

That's awesome. Please keep up posted if you hear anything else. Thanks!

[Heat_her_bee]

Any news? Seems to me they have to make a decision before the end of the month.

[Lumidee]

I was told they cant make any decision until a budget is passed by the congress

[sone461]

The budget has to be passed by the 30th of this month in order to avoid a government shutdown.  If history serves, they will bicker up until the last possible moment, and pass something at the eleventh hour.

 

I wonder if they'll have any further number crunching to do once they have a budget in hand, or if this is a line item and we'll immediately know the outcome?  I'm guessing the former...

[Heat_her_bee]

It is my understanding that they have to make a decision before the new budget passes. They lose all the money they don't spend or plan to spend from last budget year. So, we should have an answer imminently.

[bsgerig]

Do you think they have already selected proposals to be funded for the fellowship program.  Anyone have any clue if they have finished handing out rejections?

[sone461]

I doubt EPA even knows if they've finished handing out rejections.  It's some conjecture, but my understanding from my last conversation with Brandon Jones is that the whole program is contingent upon the passage and contents of the upcoming budget at the end of this month.  Congress may appropriate no money at all, less money than expected (in which case I assume more rejections would go out), or more money than any of us could ever dream of (but I'm not betting on that last one ; ).

 

Again, I'm not certain about this, but that is what I took from my last communiction with EPA.

[Blue Gopher]

So has anyone heard any news on these applications? I remember receiving notification during the summer that review of these applications was being suspended until further notice. 

[guttata]

In case you hadn't noticed, the entire government has been shut down for 2 weeks.

[withoutwords]

In case you hadn't noticed, the entire government has been shut down for 2 weeks.

 

 

o snap

[dbg6ydr]

Anyone know whether we can expect to hear anything from EPA now that the budget showdown is over (at least for now)?

 

Thanks!

[Blue Gopher]

I emailed Brandon Jones but I'm sure he's backed up from the shutdown. From what I understand, much of the sequester is still in place, leading me to believe that we won't hear anything anytime soon. Anyone else have other thoughts?