New NDSEG website not secure?

[Entangled Phantoms]

14 minutes ago, GoldenDog said:

Let me just point out that just because someone can do something doesn't mean that it is in their best interests, that it is right, ethical, or permissible. 

These guys are a second rate defense contractor. Which means their only talent is winning bids. I remember their shotty website and complaints about the security of their portal. They won the bid and completely mailed it in. Right away. No first year of even trying. 

Calling your reps to lambasted STI is a great idea.

Edited April 13, 2018 by Entangled Phantoms

[GoldenDog]

5 minutes ago, Entangled Phantoms said:

Oh I agree. Just saying these guys are a second rate defense contractor. Which means their only talent is winning bids. I remember their shotty website and complaints about the security of their portal. They won the bid and completely mailed it in. Right away. No first year of even trying. 

Calling your reps to lambasted STI is a great idea.

Oh yeah, lets be clear-- for many of these defense contractors and SBIR grant-based companies, they rely on connections more than anything. Often the contracts they bid on were written with a scope such that they are nearly the only company allowed to bid. I will be contacting my reps, regardless of my results. This contract should still be with ASEE.

[icapybara]

So did anyone else not get an email at all today? I asked them to resend but I'm not expecting to hear anything till Monday. 

[threephoton]

27 minutes ago, icapybara said:

So did anyone else not get an email at all today? I asked them to resend but I'm not expecting to hear anything till Monday. 

Yup, same. I think we'll be lucky if we hear back on Monday. Frustrating for sure.

[KD35]

28 minutes ago, icapybara said:

So did anyone else not get an email at all today? I asked them to resend but I'm not expecting to hear anything till Monday. 

I got nothing as well, emailed sti-tec but haven't got a response yet (besides the instant automated one which says to wait up to two weeks for a response. Lol)

Two of my friends also got nothing. Although Barb doesn't seem to know any more than we do, at this point I'm inclined to agree with her that it most likely means we got rejected.

[GoldenDog]

43 minutes ago, KD35 said:

I got nothing as well, emailed sti-tec but haven't got a response yet (besides the instant automated one which says to wait up to two weeks for a response. Lol)

Two of my friends also got nothing. Although Barb doesn't seem to know any more than we do, at this point I'm inclined to agree with her that it most likely means we got rejected.

I mean based on prev comments I made, NDSEGF component of STI-TEC is in Ohio. So the question is if Barb is really in Tulsa or Ohio. If Tulsa like the area code indicates, then yeah I'd bet she literally knows nothing more than us. She always refers us to the email address. So I'd bet she doesn't know anything. But, your're the one who talked to her on the phone. I don't know what her tone was. I can see why she would say no email==reject, or better phrasing, I could see how she would assume no email== no processed application.

Edited April 14, 2018 by GoldenDog

[KD35]

55 minutes ago, GoldenDog said:

I mean based on prev comments I made, NDSEGF component of STI-TEC is in Ohio. So the question is if Barb is really in Tulsa or Ohio. If Tulsa like the area code indicates, then yeah I'd bet she literally knows nothing more than us. She always refers us to the email address. So I'd bet she doesn't know anything. But, your're the one who talked to her on the phone. I don't know what her tone was. I can see why she would say no email==reject, or better phrasing, I could see how she would assume no email== no processed application.

My application was definitely processed since I got both the finalist and update information notifications, so it’s not like I was missing a rec / GRE / etc and disqualified automatically. She just said she would assume I had been rejected and to email them. She said “they told me that all emails have been sent out” which is obviously false, so it seems like she doesn’t actually know. I wish I could get in touch with “they.” We at least deserve to know one way or another, this whole thing has been an absolute debacle.

[GoldenDog]

37 minutes ago, KD35 said:

My application was definitely processed since I got both the finalist and update information notifications, so it’s not like I was missing a rec / GRE / etc and disqualified automatically. She just said she would assume I had been rejected and to email them. She said “they told me that all emails have been sent out” which is obviously false, so it seems like she doesn’t actually know. I wish I could get in touch with “they.” We at least deserve to know one way or another, this whole thing has been an absolute debacle.

Yeah, she clearly has little close affiliation with the people actually handling this...

[icapybara]

Well, enjoy your weekend everyone. Congrats to those that got it. Hopefully those of us still in the dark find out soon lol.

[Fork]

I was accepted. E-mail (un-encrypted ) went to spam folder on Apr 13! So make sure you check there. 

[icapybara]

Yeah nothing there. I asked them to resend, hopefully they do on Monday. Expecting a rejection at this point but would still be nice to know.

[qubitwrastler]

@natolambert just set up an account here, as yet another member of the top-200-not-receiving-funding group.  Thanks for the work you've already put in to addressing this problem.  I think it's pretty unacceptable for them to be so misleading about the number of fellowships to be awarded, but I did have a constructive thought, and I'd love to hear what anyone else in this group thinks about it:

Assuming the funding is a lost cause, it wouldn't cost anyone anything for them to still give us some kind of credit for being in the group that would have been awarded under normal circumstances.  That is, what am I going to put on my CV with regard to this?  I've sent STI-TEC messages, but not heard anything.  Anyone know more about this, or have further thoughts?

[natolambert]

5 hours ago, qubitwrastler said:

@natolambert just set up an account here, as yet another member of the top-200-not-receiving-funding group.  Thanks for the work you've already put in to addressing this problem.  I think it's pretty unacceptable for them to be so misleading about the number of fellowships to be awarded, but I did have a constructive thought, and I'd love to hear what anyone else in this group thinks about it:

Assuming the funding is a lost cause, it wouldn't cost anyone anything for them to still give us some kind of credit for being in the group that would have been awarded under normal circumstances.  That is, what am I going to put on my CV with regard to this?  I've sent STI-TEC messages, but not heard anything.  Anyone know more about this, or have further thoughts?

I would get behind this. They definitely have a ton of emails to go through but let us know when you get an answer eventually.

[qubitwrastler]

@natolambert will do.

[KD35]

Anyone get a response to their email yet? 

[NeoOzymandias]

"Don't criticize us or the program will get shut down."

Very professional.

 

https://twitter.com/NDSEGF/status/985914904598204416

Edited April 16, 2018 by NeoOzymandias

[campuscat]

I just received an email from them with an acceptance! I had not received an email on Friday ( I did receive the finalist email as well as the education update email).

[blobbyblob]

On 4/13/2018 at 4:14 PM, natolambert said:

I called my congressional representative + senators, and they sent me an email of a congressional staffer Jain Thapa who supposedly works with budgeting on DoD matters. He responded to my email saying he would follow up next week.

What is his contact information? Was also in the 200 that did not receive funding. Thanks!

[Eigen]

2 hours ago, NeoOzymandias said:

"Don't criticize us or the program will get shut down."

Very professional.

 

https://twitter.com/NDSEGF/status/985914904598204416

Sadly, they probably aren't very far off base in this funding climate. 

[GoldenDog]

I got my rejection email this morning,  after having emailed and called multiple times on Friday. 

1 hour ago, Eigen said:

Sadly, they probably aren't very far off base in this funding climate. 

There is a difference between the funding being removed versus finding a different contractor to take care of this. STI-TEC has failed miserably. 

[KD35]

Just got my rejection. I knew it was coming, but somehow it didn't make it less depressing.

[crystal1712]

27 minutes ago, GoldenDog said:

I got my rejection email this morning,  after having emailed and called multiple times on Friday. 

There is a difference between the funding being removed versus finding a different contractor to take care of this. STI-TEC has failed miserably. 

Well if DoD cut the program from 200 to 69 they're probably already looking at cutting the program all together. I don't think it has anything to do with STI-TEC I actually think they're trying to make sure the program stays in tact. In regards to them failing miserably they're new at it and everyone/company makes mistakes they said they were taking all comments into consideration so I think everyone should chill on the comments and give them a chance its their first year and people were upset with ASEE as well so a new contractor isn't always the best option because there will just be another year of this. 

[GoldenDog]

38 minutes ago, crystal1712 said:

Well if DoD cut the program from 200 to 69 they're probably already looking at cutting the program all together. I don't think it has anything to do with STI-TEC I actually think they're trying to make sure the program stays in tact. In regards to them failing miserably they're new at it and everyone/company makes mistakes they said they were taking all comments into consideration so I think everyone should chill on the comments and give them a chance its their first year and people were upset with ASEE as well so a new contractor isn't always the best option because there will just be another year of this. 

You're making an awful lot of assumptions... STI-TEC has little or no influence on the number of awards given. At the same time, there is also no reason to conclude that criticizing the administration (STI-TEC) would hurt the program funding. There is a difference between them saying that criticizing the program is bad, and criticizing them is bad.

Additionally, they have known of these issues for months and haven't addressed them. The one job that STI-TEC has is data management. They clearly failed at that. They have been doing data management for a while, and when that's your "core competency..." I personally have no pity for them, based upon their conduct. For example, they didn't even have their kickoff meeting for this fellowship until nearly December. They didn't even define criteria until Nov. 27th (~4 months after receiving the contract). Clearly, this contract isn't a priority for them.

Edited April 16, 2018 by GoldenDog

[blobbyblob]

Reached out to the government affairs office at my university. Very odd they cut number of fellowships awarded given that NDSEG specifically is a subprogram funded through the AF University Research Initiative account, which had a $12M increase over FY17.

[Entangled Phantoms]

5 hours ago, crystal1712 said:

Well if DoD cut the program from 200 to 69 they're probably already looking at cutting the program all together. I don't think it has anything to do with STI-TEC I actually think they're trying to make sure the program stays in tact. In regards to them failing miserably they're new at it and everyone/company makes mistakes they said they were taking all comments into consideration so I think everyone should chill on the comments and give them a chance its their first year and people were upset with ASEE as well so a new contractor isn't always the best option because there will just be another year of this. 

This is a very odd first comment for a new user.