Things to consider when deciding on whether or not to apply for an external faculty fellowship.

IS APPLYING FEASIBLE?

Before applying for an external faculty fellowship, consider the following:

How long is the fellowship?

Does it stretch across a semester or full academic year?

How much of your salary will the fellowship cover?
Are health insurance/benefits included, or are they an option as part of the fellowship?Is the recipient required to accept the funder’s insurance/health benefits package as part of the fellowship?

Does the fellowship cover fringe benefits?

If not, what, if anything, is your department able to do to contribute toward these costs?

Where does the fellowship take place:
At your home institution, another country, in residence at the funder’s location?
Is the location considered a Restricted Region?
Will there be additional travel considerations related to the location of the fellowship?

Will the fellowship require you to be on leave or get a release from teaching?

Are you eligible for leave or a release from teaching?
RELATED: CoLA HR: Faculty Leaves & Awards

How are the fellowship funds dispersed?

Do you have options for how funds are distributed, or does funder specify distribution method?
- If distribution method is only to you as an individual outside of UT, and:
  - The fellowship doesn’t fully cover your salary, and:
  - You are planning to apply for an OVPR/CoLA Co-Sponsored External Fellowship award (CSEF):
    
    Are you prepared to go on leave without pay for the portion of time that the fellowship covers directly (while remaining employed and paid by the University for the CSEF portion of time)?
- If the fellowship funds don’t run through UT and you do not obtain a CSEF award, are you prepared for your health insurance/benefits to be discontinued throughout the fellowship, and to be 100% on leave without pay from the university.

BEFORE APPLYING, REACH OUT TO YOUR CHAIR TO DISCUSS:

Types of leave you can take – See CoLA’s Faculty Leave wiki
Disposition of teaching duties, if applicable
Whether or not the fellowship would require additional financial support, such as a portion of salary and/or fringe benefits

If the fellowship doesn’t cover fringe, what assistance is the department able to provide?
Would you need to apply for CoLA’s Co-Sponsored External Fellowship award?
- Are you eligible for the CSEF award and associated leave?

BEFORE APPLYING, REACH OUT TO CoLA RSO:

Send in the brief Intent to Submit Notice

Must include program or fellowship terms of acceptance or a link to program guidelines or terms
RSO requests 1 week or more in advance of submission deadline

OPTIONAL SERVICES

If you know that upon receiving the fellowship, the University would be administering the funds, consider providing a rough draft of your budget and budget narrative to the RSO two weeks in advance of proposal submission date, in order to receive a soft review. RSO can make sure the budget and narrative are compliant with University requirements, which could reduce the amount of time it takes to process through OSP Pre-Awards Services, OSP Grants Team, and Post-Award Services.

Email your budget and justification to CoLA Office of Research & Scholarship and we’ll follow up ASAP.