EPA Star Fellowship 2013

[Blue Gopher]

Agreed. I don't know why they don't just cancel the 2013 competition and open it back up later this year?

@bsgerig - When is this message from Brandon from, and did he mention any kind of time line?

Also, and this is for everyone that has gotten a response from either Brandon or Bronda, what exactly are you saying to them to get a response? I've emailed them five different times since the beginning of this whole fiasco and haven't gotten a single response. To me, that has been the most frustrating part of this whole process, the complete void of communication.

[guscrea]

@ heat_her_bee and Blue Gopher -- I'm with you--it's RIDICULOUS. The least they could do is send out an email to the remaining applicants to clarify what processes we're waiting for and so on, even if they can't give a timeline, rather than leaving us to a) pester people like Brandon or Bronda and gossip and speculate on this board.

 

Still, have faith!!! If the money comes through, even after all this time, it's going to be great news! They could have just given up for 2013, and picked up cleanly for a 2015 competition. I'm glad that there is still at least a chance we could win the fellowship!

Edited February 13, 2014 by guscrea

[bsgerig]

@ Blue Gopher.  The message from Brandon was on Monday or Tuesday. I am surprised you have had trouble getting feedback. I must have emailed Bronda over the course of 2013, 10 or so times and always was responded to within 1-2 days.  

 

From Brandon's email, it sounds like the funding is secured and we are waiting on the slow turning of the bureaucratic cogs, hopefully this whole thing will be resolved soon.

[Heat_her_bee]

From Brandon today in response to an email begging for any information on an expected decision date. 

More of the same, but he is quick to respond which I really appreciate.  I am sure feeling just as annoyed with the process as we are (well almost just as annoyed). 

 

"We do not have a timeline as of yet for decisions, but the budget is making its way through the Agency approval process, so I'm hopeful to at least hear about STAR by the end of the month or first week of March. Who knows at this point, but at least there's a budget."

[Blue Gopher]

That is encouraging and a shorter time line than I would (do?) expect from the EPA, given how things have transpired thus far. Atleast you guys are getting responses!

[guscrea]

Good news. Thanks for sharing!

[Blue Gopher]

I recently received a one-year fellowship from my university and have to either accept or reject the fellowship by March 3rd. So, I decided to email Brandon to see if their anticipated timeline was in line with this response deadline. His reply was as follows:

 

"We are waiting to hear from the Agency regarding the budget for the Program, but I do not think we will that soon. On the other hand, receiving a STAR Fellowship does not preclude you from receiving the Institutional fellowship. You can have both."

 

I thought his response was encouraging on a number of different fronts. I thought I would pass this information on to all of you in hopes that it would be encouraging as well as answer some questions regarding institutional fellowships that some of you may have received. 

Edited February 20, 2014 by Blue Gopher

[dbg6ydr]

Oh no, it looks like he said that they will not have the program budget soon. Is that how you interpreted it, Gopher?

[Blue Gopher]

My interpretation was that they are waiting on EPA "higher ups" to determine how much money to allot to the STAR program, but that they likely won't have those numbers by March 3rd. I have no idea what that means in terms of a timeline though.

[nafine1]

Yay!  The deadlock is breaking!

 

Greetings 2013 EPA STAR Graduate Fellowship Applicants!!

If you are receiving this email, you have successfully made it through our external peer review process. Congratulations!!

 

Because of the unique nature of the 2013 Sequester and other budget related issues, the Programmatic Review process has been protracted and the Award Decision process has been on hold.

 

Since the 2013 STAR Fellowship application deadline was more than a year ago (November 27, 2012), the Program needs to assess the status of the remaining applicants. The following link will take you to a short poll. The information you provide in this poll will help EPA gather the data needed to make decisions on next steps regarding the 2013 STAR Fellowship announcement. The deadline to complete the poll is Monday, March 3, 2014.

 

To be clear, this is not an award offer nor a recommendation for award!

 

The past year has generated a very different process than the Agency, and of course you, are used to, and we appreciate your patience as we move through this process together.

 

Thank you for your interest in EPA's STAR Fellowship and we look forward to receiving your poll responses.

 

Sincerely,

Brandon Jones, PhD

EPA STAR Fellowship Program Manager

[dbg6ydr]

Did anyone take the poll and find that nothing happened when you hit submit? That is happening to me now and I'm terrified my response won't be recorded.

[nafine1]

what does "financial contact" mean.  It's been awhile.

[dbg6ydr]

what does "financial contact" mean.  It's been awhile.

I just put down our department's grants administrator.

[Solanox]

Asked Brandon that question and got the following response:

 

The individual who would handle your tuiton and fee funding if you were to receive the fellowship.
M. Brandon Jones, PhD

 

I'm glad that SOMETHING is happening!!

[Alaudid]

I had given up... what a nice surprise to see that this is moving forward!

 

However, I'm not getting a confirmation when I hit submit.. has anyone successfully submitted their info yet?

Edited February 21, 2014 by Alaudid

[texasfight]

Did anyone take the poll and find that nothing happened when you hit submit? That is happening to me now and I'm terrified my response won't be recorded.

 

This happened to me too...

[dbg6ydr]

I had given up... what a nice surprise to see that this is moving forward!

 

However, I'm not getting a confirmation when I hit submit.. has anyone successfully submitted their info yet?

Same problem here. Brandon said he is checking on it.

[nafine1]

Poll is not responding for me either. 

[Benthon]

Same problem here. I just emailed Brandon back to let him know we are having the issue with the submit button.

 

Also, hooray for all of us! I hope it all works out!

[nafine1]

Thanks Benthon, let us know what to do!

[Alaudid]

Does anyone here know of any people who've received a rejection notification during this round? I'm trying to figure out what is going on with this review process and if we will have to wait longer for additional reviews...

Edited February 21, 2014 by Alaudid

[withoutwords]

Has anyone changed their project from what they wrote their grant on? Do you think that this will kill a chance of an award?

[ekpfeil]

My project has changed a bit, but it still falls into my dissertation topic. I don't think it will kill the chances of an award. I think its pretty common for projects to change a bit after a while, especially as you gain experience. I could be wrong, thats just my opinion on it.

[Blue Gopher]

This is great!

I'm curious how many folks that originally applied are no longer eligible. I'm assuming that the pool of folks still eligible to receive the fellowship is fewer than those that originally applied and made it through the external review. I'd read in the FAQ section of the call for applications that you must have at least two years left in your program to receive the award.

[ekpfeil]

This is great!

I'm curious how many folks that originally applied are no longer eligible. I'm assuming that the pool of folks still eligible to receive the fellowship is fewer than those that originally applied and made it through the external review. I'd read in the FAQ section of the call for applications that you must have at least two years left in your program to receive the award.

 

I was wondering the same thing. My program allows for 7 years max, though I doubt many people would choose to stay in a program for longer than they had too.