General Information on NEH-NSF
Documenting Endangered Languages Fellowships

The deadline for accepting 2008-2009 DEL Fellowships is Friday, May 16, 2008.

Part One of this document describes the terms and conditions governing NEH-NSF Documenting Endangered Languages (DEL) Fellowships.

Part Two provides specific information on tenure, stipends, and payment procedures and instructions for completing the acceptance form.

The National Endowment for the Humanities administers all DEL fellowships. We welcome your questions and comments. You can contact NEH program staff by calling (202) 606-8200, writing to the address in the letterhead, or sending an e-mail to fellowships@neh.gov. Our fax number is (202) 606-8204. Because our regular mail deliveries are often delayed up to two weeks, we ask that you e-mail or fax your intention to accept or decline the fellowship as soon as possible. Your paperwork may follow later.

PART ONE: TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF AWARD

1. Full-time Tenure: You must complete your fellowship tenure within two years of your fellowship start date. If full-time continuous tenure is not feasible for you, you may divide your tenure into two separate periods, during which you must work full-time on the project and may not accept a teaching assignment or undertake any other major activity. You may attend conferences related to your fellowship and give presentations on it, but if you are contemplating any additional activity during your periods of commitment to your project, you must first consult with the NEH program staff to determine whether the proposed activity is permissible.
2. 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.
3. Work Leading toward Degrees: Fellowships under this program are not intended to support graduate course work or completion of a degree.
4. 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 tenure period or fail to observe the terms and conditions of the fellowship. If you resign before the end of the tenure period, 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.

5. Final Report: You must submit a final report on activities accomplished with your NEH fellowship. This report can be completed online at www.neh.gov/online/fellowships.asp. If you do not have access to the Internet, please request a printed or electronic copy of the final report form by calling (202) 606-8494 or e-mailing GrantManagement@neh.gov. The final report is due within ninety days after the conclusion of tenure.
6. Prohibition on the Use of Funds for Lobbying Activites: 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.

7. 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. The policy is available at www.neh.gov/grants/guidelines/researchmisconduct.html.
8. Publishing as a Result of Your NEH-NSF Fellowship: Although there is no formal requirement that you publish the results of your investigations, most recipients intend to do so. 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 Endowment support. The acknowledgment must also include the following statement: “Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this (publication) (program) (Web site) do not necessarily reflect those of the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Science Foundation.”

   Two copies of all fellowship products should be sent to NEH as soon as they are available, no matter how long after tenure the work may appear. One copy of all publications will be forwarded by NEH to the National Science Foundation.

9. Medical Insurance and Other Fringe Benefits: The Endowment provides neither medical insurance nor any other fringe benefits for awardees. It is therefore recommended that you continue your existing medical insurance or other benefit programs in which you are participating. Unemployment compensation and Social Security insurance are not covered because recipients are not employees of the U.S. Government.
10. Income Tax: The tax laws governing fellowships 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 fellowship is taxable. The Endowment does not withhold taxes from stipends. Neither does the Endowment send to recipients an IRS form W-2 or IRS form 1099. You should familiarize yourself with the tax laws to determine the tax liability of your award and whether you are entitled to deduct any expenses in connection with it. The IRS has not advised the Endowment concerning tax treatment of fellowships, and NEH cannot provide tax advice or answers to tax questions. Therefore, you are encouraged to consult the IRS or your tax advisor.

PART TWO: INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE ACCEPTANCE FORM

The acceptance form is used to claim a DEL fellowship, identify the account into which your stipend payments will be deposited, and indicate the exact tenure dates of your fellowship. You should retain a copy of the completed form for your records and notify the program whenever you make modifications to the arrangements agreed to by the Endowment.

1. Application Number:Your application number, a combination of a two-letter prefix (FN) plus five digits, can be found on your offer letter.
2. Name
3. Social Security Number
4. Mailing Address, Home and Office Phone Numbers, and E-Mail Address
5. Award Tenure Period: Indicate the dates (month/year) on which you intend to begin and end your fellowship tenure. The earliest date on which your fellowship may begin is June 1, 2008. The latest date on which your fellowship may begin is September 1, 2009.

   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 12 months would carry a stipend of $50,400 ($4,200 X 12 months). NEH does not allow its fellows to increase the length of their awards from that mentioned in their applications; fellows may, however, decrease the length of their awards from that mentioned in their applications.

   You should be certain of the tenure period entered on the acceptance form so that no changes will be required at a later date. The dates of tenure given on the acceptance form may be different from the dates requested in the application. Please note that tenure must begin on the first day of the month and end on the last day of the month.

   Tenure of your award may be continuous or divided.

   Continuous tenure: You may choose a continuous tenure if you plan to begin and end your award without interruption. A continuous full-time tenure must be devoted to full-time work on the project and may not include a teaching assignment or any other major activity.

   Divided tenure: If the continuous-tenure option does not suit the demands of your schedule, you may choose to divide your tenure into two separate periods of work. Each active period of a divided tenure must be at least three months in duration and must be devoted to full-time work on the project. You may not teach or undertake any other major activity during these active periods. You must complete your fellowship tenure within two years of the beginning of the fellowship tenure. For example, if you requested ten months of tenure in your application, you could undertake a full-time active period from September 2008 through December 2008, break from January 2009 through December 2009, and complete your tenure with a second full-time active period from January 2010 through June 2010.

   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 Fellowship.

6. How would you like the stipend paid? Fellowships are paid in installments and prorated according to the length of tenure. Typically, the first payment is made at the beginning of the tenure period and subsequent payments are made every third month through the tenure of the fellowship. The payment schedule and amounts for your particular fellowship will be provided with the letter officially making the award.

   All payments are made electronically by the U.S. Treasury Department and can be deposited either in your personal bank account or in your employing institution’s bank. Please indicate the option you prefer. Please choose only one.

   • Payments electronically deposited into your bank account using the Automated Clearing House (ACH) system. If you choose this option, you must supply NEH with either your bank's ACH routing information or a voided check (a deposit slip is not acceptable) when you return your acceptance form.
   • 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 and complete the bank transit information.

   Please note that payments cannot be sent to foreign addresses. Recipients working abroad must have deposits made to a bank in the United States.

7. Do you need your first payment early? You may receive your first payment thirty days before tenure begins if, for example, you anticipate major travel expenses early in your tenure.
8. Do you need a larger first payment? If you have particularly high initial expenses, you may receive a larger first payment to cover them.
9. Acceptance and Certification: You must accept or decline the offer of a 2008-2009 NEH-NSF Documenting Endangered Languages fellowship not later than May 16, 2008. To accept the fellowship, you must complete and submit the acceptance form by this deadline.