Support/Monitoring Issues affecting Fellow Grant Administration IFP Global Meeting Bangkok, Thailand March 2006

Pre-departure Reviewing grant materials with Fellow, including health insurance information Obtaining visas No need to wait for full grant document If necessary, IIE can prepare “Embassy Letter” confirming basic placement & funding information provided in NoP When departure is delayed IIE must be notified to cancel health insurance premium and adjust grant dates University should also be contacted to confirm delayed start or deferral recommendations If Fellows are delayed 2 weeks or longer, Grant Amendment required

Pre-departure (cont’d) Communicating with other IFP Fellows and host university IIE retains list of current Fellows with email addresses to encourage correspondence among those attending same institution Fellow is responsible for contacting university re. housing arrangement IIE must be notified (in NoP) if tuition and/or housing deposits required and, if so, how they will be handled (by IP, PP or IIE)

Upon arrival at host institution Receiving welcome letter from PP responsible for specialized monitoring Sharing information with university officials Fellow must give copy of Billing Authorization to Finance Office Fellow should show copy of Grant Agreement to Academic Advisor, Program Coordinator and/or International Student Advisor

During academic program Providing timely approval (30-day advance notification) of requests for: Special disbursements (FF, DF, PEF, LT) Need to minimize extra payments Sandwich Program and Field Research Impact on LA rates Grant Renewal, Suspension & Reinstatement, Termination Affect payment schedules

LSJI Participation Fellows will be sent invitations for application to attend by LSJ Coordinators (this is NOT IIE-NY) For Fellows completing programs up to one-month prior to LSJ, IIE will prepare Grant Amendments to provide 1-month extensions of living allowance and health insurance, only for Fellows staying in the Host Country until LSJI Those in US on J-1 sponsored visas will receive visa extensions to coincide with new Grant End Date

For Fellows in the U.S. under IIE’s J-1 visa Notifying IIE early of any dependents who will accompany/join Fellows Submitting DS-2019 for travel validation and other reporting responsibilities related to SEVIS Maintaining full-time status and good academic standing, including summer plans Approving Employment and/or Academic Training requests in a timely fashion Guiding process for filing U.S. taxes (for all US-based Fellows)

Nearing completion of grant period Keeping IIE informed of: Pending extensions (must be approved prior to GED) Repatriation Plans (must be submitted 30 days prior to GED) Note: Since no disbursements can be made after GED, IIE will notify IPs/PPs if any invoices are outstanding!

What we’ve learned Fellows have the best possible experience when: Materials are finalized as soon as possible to give Fellow chance to review, ask questions, digest and prepare before departure Host PAT ≠ Language requirements only! An extra month of “Bridging” (where available) can make a world of difference, especially in intensive short Master’s programs Family joins later After about 1 semester once the Fellow has had a chance to settle in and get used to the demands of academic life