You have a SURF awardee, now what do you do? SURF’S UP!! You have a SURF awardee, now what do you do?

You’ve heard you have a SURF award!! Your student should have received a letter of acceptance from Mr. Jonathan Coleman at the Arkansas Department of Higher Education by e-mail. The student’s mentor also receives a copy of this e-mail. With the new electronic processing of applications, the acceptance letter will be delayed until the end of the semester. The student must respond to the e-mail if they accept or decline the award. If the student does not respond in a timely manner, the award is automatically declined and an alternate is chosen. At this time, the mentor and student should submit any IRB, Animal Care and/or Biosafety protocols for approval.

RSSP Establishes Account RSSP will also review the project for any research compliance issues. An e-mail is sent to the Mentor and Student notifying a protocol should be submitted to the appropriate committee immediately. If the student already has an approved protocol, a copy of the approval letter should be sent to RSSP. This will expedite the process. If RSSP does not receive a copy of the approval letter, an account (CCN) will not be established until it is received.

continued If all requirements are met, RSSP will prepare the award and e-mail the award document to the Mentor, Departmental Representative, Department Chair/Head, Dean and Research Accounting. The CCNs will be activated. The document includes a Summary Page, Award Summary, Award Budget, Fellowship Form and any additional information needed to assist with the administration of the award.

SURF Terms & Conditions -- Award Maintenance The student must be enrolled full-time. The UA policy is 12 hours each semester. Six (6) hours in any summer session is considered full-time during the summer by ADHE. Once the student graduates, a Mentor cannot ask for a time extension past the student’s graduation date. The mentor can receive summer salary only if the student is working on the project during the summer.

continued Fellowship stipends are to be paid on a monthly basis. You will use both CCNs (0412 and 0362 accounts). If the Mentor requests the purchase of a computer and/or iPad and it was not indicated in the original proposal, a budget justification is required (from the Mentor) for submission to the sponsor (ADHE) by RSSP. There is no guarantee the request will be approved. DO NOT WAIT until the end of the project for this type of request. All budget revision requests must be sent to RSSP for processing. Some types of revision requests are: the student plans to attend a conference after their graduation date, the mentor wants to use their funds for travel.

Continued… Funds allocated in the Participant Travel category is only to be used by the student awardee. It cannot be used for another student and cannot be rebudgeted to another category. Any remaining funds will be returned to ADHE.

Completion of Fellowship Form The Fellowship form and Acknowledgement form are included in the original e-mail. The forms can be found at: http://vpred.uark.edu/units/rssp/award-management-post-award.php Please assist the Mentor and Student to ensure all information on the form is correct. Check the form to see how many hours the student is enrolled and inform the student they cannot go below 12 hours. If they do, the student needs to work with the Mentor to ensure they are full-time. If not, the SURF award will have to be terminated and returned to ADHE. Be sure the student has completed the Determination and Acknowledgement form (Page 2).

Closeout of Award The student is required to submit a Final Report to ADHE. The report should be concise and not more than two pages. Most reports are one page. If you have a good relationship with your student, please remind them to send RSSP a copy so we can close our file. Any unexpended funds will be returned to ADHE.