EPA Star Fellowship 2013

[Lumidee]

Any mails or calls today ?

[mbs191]

Hot off the press......*zonk*  Oh boy :-(  The dreaded envelope just showed up in West Philly......  

No-go on B-2.........Very Good, Good, and Good.

 

Oh well........................ best of luck to everyone else!!!

[apisregina]

Packet of doom arrived in Michigan. C3, dated May 3: VG, VG, G.

[jdog]

E1 denied in Nebraska.  Only 1 review though? VG.  What's that mean only having 1?  Only neg comment was because I hadn't gotten the masters paper out published in time before the fall deadline....lazy co-author.  That's really all it takes to be denied?  Only 1 neg thing and 1 review?  It also appears that they feel being a veteran is a negative reflection on my "commitment to envio career"  WTH?

[jacket24]

Just got word that a certain packet from the EPA was received on Saturday at my parents' house. Haven't picked it up it yet but it looks as though I'm out as well (FON = E1, location = Georgia).

[dubstep:drop da NaOH]

UPDATE: 

I got in touch with Bronda Harrison. She said that the decisions from the external reviews were made sometime between late April and early May. I asked her if they have made decisions on who has won the award, and she says that she is not sure yet because of the fate of the STAR fellowship funding is uncertain. She emphasized contacting Brandon because he may have more information, but she wasn't she if he had more information than her. She said that award recipients may have been emailed but she also said that she wasn't sure. I contacted Brandon and he did not answer the phone. I didn't leave a message because I don't like leaving messages xD. Gif related.

 

TL;DR: The sequestration sucks.

[sone461]

Thank you very much for posting the update dubstep.  I've tried contacting all three program officers without response, so the information is much appreciated.

[withoutwords]

If they have been emailing people or calling them I am sure we would have heard on this board by now, I would guess they haven't  and I am guessing they are still determining either who is going to get the award, and if they are giong to award it at all.

UPDATE: 

I got in touch with Bronda Harrison. She said that the decisions from the external reviews were made sometime between late April and early May. I asked her if they have made decisions on who has won the award, and she says that she is not sure yet because of the fate of the STAR fellowship funding is uncertain. She emphasized contacting Brandon because he may have more information, but she wasn't she if he had more information than her. She said that award recipients may have been emailed but she also said that she wasn't sure. I contacted Brandon and he did not answer the phone. I didn't leave a message because I don't like leaving messages xD. Gif related.

 

TL;DR: The sequestration sucks.

[marshymarsh]

If they have been emailing people or calling them I am sure we would have heard on this board by now, I would guess they haven't  and I am guessing they are still determining either who is going to get the award, and if they are giong to award it at all.

 

Thanks for the update @dubstep!  The real question is... is 'no news' still 'good news' or just that they are rejecting us slowly (and painfully)?

[dubstep:drop da NaOH]

Like I said earlier, Bronda said that the decisions for the external reviews were already made. This makes sense because someone earlier in this thread said that the external reviews began in March. I am guessing that because they have not updated anything on their website (as in delayed responses like in the year 2011) they may have already contacted the winners and therefore situation two may be more probable.   

 

I really have no idea.I have a couple of guesses

 

1) They have already made decisions and have a list, but they might not have contacted the winners because they are waiting for funding results. If the program does get funding then the question is how much. Did they get the full amount? If so everyone they have selected will be contacted. If they did not get the full amount then they may choose from the pool of winners who gets funding and who does not based on the amount of money they have.

 

2) They have already contacted the winners but have yet to say whether or not they will actually get the money. These contacted winners may either a) choose to wait for results or if they have applied for funding elsewhere and have won (outside, TAship, etc), then they may choose the funding they are most certain of having first (most likely not EPA) if they are not allowed to having multiple sources of funding at the same time (anyone here an expert in game theory??? LOL). This would make things slower, because runner ups would be contacted and etc. If the EPA does not get the full amount they may contact those who have won but have not received funding due to budget constraints from the sequestration...I think this is likely because I spoke with someone from NOAA today and he said that that is what they had to do for one of their fellowships (was originally allocated for 3, only got funding for two after the sequestration, so the third person who won was told that she won but did not get any money due to the budget cut). 

 

 

 

As to why the winners have not said anything yet, maybe they don't visit gradcafe forums...or they think: the situation is so grim, why bother saying anything?

 

TL;DR: I am waiting for my envelope in the mail at this point.

[Lumidee]

You are all overthinking this . I spoke to a colleague at the ncer branch. He told me to mail him by the middle of the week if I don't get a declination letter . He said he will then check if I am under programmatic review. I will email him first thing tomorrow morning. I have more info for u afterwards . Y'all need to stay calm

[MochaMocha]

Like I said earlier, Bronda said that the decisions for the external reviews were already made. This makes sense because someone earlier in this thread said that the external reviews began in March. I am guessing that because they have not updated anything on their website (as in delayed responses like in the year 2011) they may have already contacted the winners and therefore situation two may be more probable.   

 

I really have no idea.I have a couple of guesses

 

1) They have already made decisions and have a list, but they might not have contacted the winners because they are waiting for funding results. If the program does get funding then the question is how much. Did they get the full amount? If so everyone they have selected will be contacted. If they did not get the full amount then they may choose from the pool of winners who gets funding and who does not based on the amount of money they have.

 

2) They have already contacted the winners but have yet to say whether or not they will actually get the money. These contacted winners may either a) choose to wait for results or if they have applied for funding elsewhere and have won (outside, TAship, etc), then they may choose the funding they are most certain of having first (most likely not EPA) if they are not allowed to having multiple sources of funding at the same time (anyone here an expert in game theory??? LOL). This would make things slower, because runner ups would be contacted and etc. If the EPA does not get the full amount they may contact those who have won but have not received funding due to budget constraints from the sequestration...I think this is likely because I spoke with someone from NOAA today and he said that that is what they had to do for one of their fellowships (was originally allocated for 3, only got funding for two after the sequestration, so the third person who won was told that she won but did not get any money due to the budget cut). 

 

 

 

As to why the winners have not said anything yet, maybe they don't visit gradcafe forums...or they think: the situation is so grim, why bother saying anything?

 

TL;DR: I am waiting for my envelope in the mail at this point.

 

Spoeaking of going crazzzzy - since we still know nothing about the EPA .... did you ask them about the Nancy Foster Scholarship - or another program?

[dubstep:drop da NaOH]

Spoeaking of going crazzzzy - since we still know nothing about the EPA .... did you ask them about the Nancy Foster Scholarship - or another program?

 

No

 

edit: Checked the mailbox, E1 in RI...nothing yet

Edited May 15, 2013 by dubstep:drop da NaOH

[marshymarsh]

No

 

edit: Checked the mailbox, E1 in RI...nothing yet

 

@dubstep  I'm in RI also (still nothing here as well, B2)! Glad we have concentrated all the crazy to one tiny little state :-)

[kknierim]

Hey everyone.  I am a 2011 STAR recipient and I thought maybe I could add some info to this discussion.  I know how frightening this process is.

 

In 2011, I received in email at the end of May (May 27) stating that I was a finalists for the STAR, but that nothing was official until my paperwork came.  It sounded like they had made selections, but were having problems with the money that year.  Here is the content of that email:

 

"Dear Applicant,

Congratulations!  You recently applied for an Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) Science to Achieve Results (STAR) Fellowship for the 2011
award year. The review process has been completed and you have been
selected as a finalist and are now eligible to receive an EPA
Fellowship.

We will now begin the process to recommend to EPA’s Grants and
Interagency Agreements Management Division (GIAMD) that you receive this
fellowship award.  GIAMD is the only organization in EPA that can
formally offer you this fellowship.   You should refrain from making any
type of formal announcement about this decision or any monetary
commitments until you have received and signed the formal offer (i.e.,
Activation Notice) that will be sent to you directly from GIAMD.

Upon receiving confirmation of your declination/acceptance you will
receive further information in order to get your formal acceptance
letter.  Please do so by May 31st.  If we have heard no word of your
acceptance after the 31st your recommendation will be revoked and given
to another perspective fellow."

 

I immediately replied that I would like to accept, and it took most of the summer for my paperwork to come through (I called it the "Summer of Anxiety").  What is interesting is that during the summer, they were contacting us about registering for the fall conference.  I took that as a good sign that things were moving forward, but that obviously won't be happening this year since they cancelled the conference.  Even in September we were filling out paperwork to help get our fellowship stipends more quickly so we wouldn't be a out a paycheck.  Considering the political climate this year, I would guess there will be delays.

 

I filled out my renewal forms (for my final, 3rd year of EPA STAR funding) in April, and last year we had our renewal packets (to have signed by our advisors) at the beginning of May.  I am anxously awaiting my renewal packet...

 

Good luck to everyone who is left!

[Lumidee]

These are excerpts from my conversation with two NCER employees.

 

Me " I have not gotten a declination letter. Can you please check on this for me?"

Ncer "Looking at the listings I have, I can say that you will not be getting a first round declination letter.

This means that your application is still under consideration and in processing.

Me " Can you tell how long the process will take?"

NCER " At this point I am unable to give an answer about timing"..

My understanding is we have encountered some delays due to sequestration. . The Sequester has put a damper on many functions within the Federal government including the EPA and the STAR Fellowship process and announcements. Declination letters have gone out from the 2013 STAR Fellowship Announcement, we are on hold with award announcements.

I am sorry I cannot provide more information at this time."

 

This says it all. Its a waiting game. Sucks

 

 

 

[ekpfeil]

I am an F3.  My friend is an F2 and she got a rejection on Monday. I have yet to hear anything.

[withoutwords]

These are excerpts from my conversation with two NCER employees.

 

Me " I have not gotten a declination letter. Can you please check on this for me?"

Ncer "Looking at the listings I have, I can say that you will not be getting a first round declination letter.

This means that your application is still under consideration and in processing.

Me " Can you tell how long the process will take?"

NCER " At this point I am unable to give an answer about timing"..

My understanding is we have encountered some delays due to sequestration. . The Sequester has put a damper on many functions within the Federal government including the EPA and the STAR Fellowship process and announcements. Declination letters have gone out from the 2013 STAR Fellowship Announcement, we are on hold with award announcements.

I am sorry I cannot provide more information at this time."

 

This says it all. Its a waiting game. Sucks

That confirms what I was thinking that they haven't announced winners yet, once they do we'll hear about it on here, unless they award a very small amount and none of the awardees are on hear or know of anyone who checks this.

[dbg6ydr]

Hi All,

 

I'm still waiting to hear a response to my B2 proposal. I emailed Bronda Harrison last week and received the following response:

 

"I understand information is soon to be available, but we don't know exactly when.  It could be today, it could be in a couple of weeks.  I've cc'd Brandon Jones, the fellowship team lead, so you'll know how to contact him.  Brandon will have any new information earlier than I will."

 

This hopefully confirms the previous assumption that awards haven't yet been announced. Still have my fingers crossed...

[CCA-B2]

Thanks everyone for posting your updates consistently. Your information has been really helpful with easing the anxiety that comes with waiting.  If it is not too much to ask, can we do a roll call of all those left? That way we can have some idea if they've sent out all rejections or only first round rejections. 

 

I am a B2 applicant, with no rejection letter, yet. 

[withoutwords]

E3 No rejection, in CO.

 

I am guessing it is just first round rejections since there seems there are so many on here w/o rejections.

[Lumidee]

I was specifically told they sent out first round declination letter

[MochaMocha]

F1

[CCA-B2]

Are we sure that they have not gone through the internal reviews? Because, someone on here stated that they received only one review, which is indicative of not making it through the internal review process. Just asking...

 

I'm out of the running. B3.

 

I'm confused though because I only have ONE review instead of three this time, which shows an average application score and some feedback on each criterion. I wonder if I had made it to internal review this year? Does everyone else have one review labeled "Peer Review Results"?

[Heat_her_bee]

B2 in California, no letter.