Information for Fellowship Recipients

UPCOMING MEETINGS

Post-Fellowship Symposium for 2012-2013 fellows: Friday, October 25, 2013, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm

Library of Congress, Lessing J. Rosenwald Room, Thomas Jefferson building
101 Independence Ave., SE / Washington, DC 20540
Meeting agenda >>

Pre-symposium dinner
Thursday, October 24, 2013, 6:00 pm
Art and Soul
415 New Jersey Ave., NW / Washington DC 20001

Hotel
The Hotel George
15 E Street, NW / Washington, DC 20001

PREVIOUS MEETINGS

Pre-Fellowship Workshop for 2013-2014 fellows: Friday, May 17, 2013, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm

Library of Congress, Lessing J. Rosenwald Room, Thomas Jefferson building
101 Independence Ave., SE / Washington, DC 20540

Agenda >>

Pre-workshop dinner
Thursday, May 16, 2013, 6:00 pm
The Liaison Capitol Hill
415 New Jersey Ave., NW / Washington DC 20001

Hotel
The Liaison Capitol Hill
415 New Jersey Ave., NW / Washington, DC 20001

DOCUMENTS

Documents for Mellon Fellowship recipients

FELLOWSHIP GUIDELINES

Adherence to Stated Policies
The fellowship is offered in support of the research proposal described in your application, and for the period of time set forth in the award letter or agreed upon in subsequent correspondence. Fellowships cannot be renewed or extended; nor may other paid fellowship awards be held simultaneously with CLIR's. You are expected to devote full time to your dissertation research without undertaking paid work, and you may not use the stipend to defray tuition costs.

Fellows are required to acknowledge, by completing and signing the stipend disbursement form, that they will abide by all the fellowship regulations posted on this website under the Fellowship Tenure and Conditions.

Communications
Fellows with questions for CLIR during their tenure should contact Program Officer Amy Lucko at alucko@clir.org.

Communication from CLIR to the fellows regarding this fellowship is primarily conducted by e-mail, as we realize most of our fellows travel extensively and regular mail is often not convenient. Fellows should ensure CLIR has a current e-mail address on file at all times.

However, some items do need to be sent by mail; notably tax forms (see Payment of Stipends below). Fellows should complete the stipend disbursement form and return it to CLIR prior to their fellowship. This form should also be used to communicate any changes in fellows' addresses or disbursement schedules during the fellowship tenure.

Payment of Stipends
Unless other arrangements are specifically requested and agreed to in writing, CLIR issues stipends to U.S. banks via Paychex direct deposit. Payments may also be made to non-U.S. accounts (in compliance with U.S. regulations); these payments will be made by wire.

Please complete the provided stipend disbursement form and direct deposit form and return them to CLIR. CLIR cannot issue stipend payments to you until we have signed and dated copies of these forms on file. If you are unable to complete the form prior to the pre-fellowship workshop, please do so as soon as possible. The forms may be e-mailed to alucko@clir.org, faxed to 202-939-4765, or sent by regular mail to:

Attn: Amy Lucko
Council on Library and Information Resources
1707 L Street, NW #650
Washington, DC 20036

Stipend payments are made in equal installments twice monthly, on the 15th and last day of each month. (Should those dates fall on a weekend or U.S. bank holiday, the payment will be made the last business day prior to that date.) Your first stipend payment will be made on the last day of the month preceding the month your fellowship is slated to begin. You may direct that your stipend payment be allocated to two or more accounts, as indicated on the direct deposit form.

Taxation of Stipends
The IRS’s current guidelines include the following statement:

Scholarships
Do not use Form 1099-MISC to report scholarship or fellowship grants. Scholarship or fellowship grants that are taxable to the recipient because they are paid for teaching, research, or other services as a condition for receiving the grant are considered wages and must be reported on Form W-2. Other taxable scholarship or fellowship payments (to a degree or nondegree candidate) do not have to be reported by you to the IRS on any form. See Notice 87-31, 1987-1 C.B. 475, and Regulations section 1.6041-3(n) for more information.

Source: http://www.irs.gov/instructions/i1099msc/ar02.html#d0e311 (accessed June 12, 2013)

Because fellows in this program are not being paid for teaching, research or other services rendered to CLIR, CLIR's interpretation of the guidelines is that these fellowship grants are not to be considered as wages, and thus it is not necessary for CLIR to report these stipend payments to the IRS. Accordingly, CLIR will not report these funds or issue tax forms in 2013 or future years, unless the IRS guidelines change.

However, please note that CLIR staff are not qualified to provide tax advice and fellows are encouraged to review the tax regulations for themselves at the Internal Revenue Service's website, www.irs.gov.

Reimbursement of Travel Expenses
Mellon Fellows are asked to attend two meetings, one before and one after the fellowship period. CLIR will reimburse you for your costs to attend these meetings in accordance with CLIR's travel policy for this fellowship. These reimbursements are separate from and in addition to the fellowship stipend. Requests for reimbursement must be made using CLIR's travel reimbursement form.

Fellows' travel to their research sites may be paid for using stipend funds, and is not otherwise reimbursable. Fellows do not need to seek approval from CLIR prior to making travel arrangements related to their research.

The Research Schedule
Fellows are expected to adhere to the schedule they proposed in the application approved by CLIR. However, CLIR recognizes that fellows may find they need to revise their research schedule as they progress with their research. CLIR understands and encourages such exploration and revision, but it is important that fellows notify CLIR of changes to the accepted research schedule before acting on them. Fellows should keep track of the reasoning behind such changes, as this is part of the information which should be included in the final report to CLIR.

Minor breaks, such as a visit home for the holidays, do not need to be approved by CLIR. If a serious matter arises, requiring a significant amount of time and changes to the accepted research schedule, please let CLIR know as soon as possible.

The Final Report
Your final report will be due to CLIR no later than 30 days after your last month as a CLIR fellow, and should be submitted by e-mail to CLIR Program Officer Amy Lucko at alucko@clir.org. Reports should be about 3,000 words in length.

The report should not focus on the information you gleaned from various archives and libraries in your research. Rather, CLIR is interested in hearing about the processes you developed and established over the course of your research.

What worked, what didn't work?
What can libraries and archives do better from a researcher's perspective, and what did you learn about the way they do business in different locations and situations?
How difficult or otherwise was it to find the records or information you sought, and to then gain access to it?
Did you find what you expected based on your preliminary research, or did you find situations different than 'advertised'?
What tactics did you have to employ to gain access to libraries, archives and items?
What advice would you offer to archivists and librarians?
What advice would you offer to fellow researchers?

The Post-Fellowship Symposium
Shortly after the Mellon Fellows have completed their fellowships, CLIR will reconvene the group. This mandatory meeting takes place at the Library of Congress in mid-October. (The exact date, once set, will be sent to fellows by e-mail and will also be posted on this page.) At the post-fellowship seminar fellows will be issued a final stipend payment, pursuant to CLIR's acceptance of the final report and the fellows' attendance at the meeting. The purpose of the meeting is to allow fellows to exchange experiences and thoughts, and to advise CLIR on the results of their research experience.