Information for Scholars

Acronyms

AMFDP: The Harold Amos Medical Faculty Development Program

MMFDP: Minority Medical Faculty Development Program (precursor to the AMFDP)

RWJF: The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

NAC: National Advisory Committee

NPO: National Program Office (James Gavin and Nina Ardery)

The Award • Annual Meeting • Budgets • Mentors • National Advisory Committee • Changing Institutions • Site Visits • Leaving the Program • Reporting Requirements • Correspondence with the RWJF • Publications • Who Are We? • Contact Information

The Award

Start date: In general, two options are available for beginning the award: January 1 or July 1 in the year after selection. The award may not be delayed in order for the Scholar to complete clinical training.

Project director: The Scholar may be the project director. In some cases, the institution places restrictions on who may be a project director, for example, allowing only those with faculty appointments to act in that capacity. In that case, the mentor or department chair may be the project director.

Grant number: It is important to include your six-digit grant identification number on all correspondence with RWJF. Although the NPO tracks Scholars by name, the RWJF has vast numbers of grants, and uses ID numbers.

Award letters: Award letters are generally sent out approximately two weeks before the beginning of a grant.

Leave of absence: Leaves may be granted, on a case-by-case basis, for situations such as the birth of a child, relocation, extended illness, or professional opportunities. Please call the NPO to discuss options.

Annual Meeting

ALL SCHOLARS ARE REQUIRED TO ATTEND ALL OF THE ANNUAL MEETING EACH OF THE FOUR YEARS IN THE PROGRAM. Failure to attend the annual meeting is grounds for discontinuation of the award. The 2008 Annual Meeting will be October 1 (late afternoon) through October 3 (mid-afternoon), at a site still to be determined.

Timing: Annual meetings are generally in October, although some have been in September or November. They begin on a Wednesday with a reception, dinner, and Edward Hook Memorial Lecture (usually delivered by an alum of the AMFDP's precursor program). Thursday's program consists of presentations by second-year Scholars and their mentors. Friday is devoted to talks by alumni, comments by fourth-year Scholars, and career development workshops.

Responsibilities: First-year Scholars meet with their mentors and their assigned National Advisory Committee mentors to discuss their progress and plans. This is a very informal meeting, and may take place during a break or a meal. Second-year Scholars make formal, 15-minute presentations to the entire group, followed by five-minute commentaries by their mentors placing the research in a larger context. Third-year Scholars have no formal role in the meeting, but are expected to attend all sessions. Fourth-year Scholars make five-minute "valedictory remarks," which may recap research successes with slides, or may focus on the personal impact of the award on career and person. All mentors meet with the NAC as a whole to discuss problems and issues. First-year mentors meet informally with their Scholar and assigned NAC member as discussed above, and second-year mentors comment on research presentations as noted above.

Who is invited? All Scholars are expected to attend all of the meeting. Mentors of first- and second-year Scholars are invited, as are mentors new to the program. If a mentor can not come to the meeting, an appropriate substitute familiar with the Scholar's research may attend. Each year, a limited number of alumni and outside speakers attend. Of course, the members of the NAC and staff of the RWJF attend as their schedules permit.

Who pays? Mentors, NAC, and alumni are guests of the program, and will have economy-class transportation, lodging, and meals reimbursed. Scholars pay for attendance at the meeting from their grants.

Budgets

Revisions: It is inevitable that a revision in your budget will be necessary at some point during the four years of the award. This could result, for example, from equipment, travel, or technical assistance costing less than anticipated, or because of an unanticipated award of funds or supplies from another source. As soon as possible after becoming aware of the need for a revision, please submit the following: a letter detailing the reasons for the revision (include your grant number); the approved budget, the proposed revisions, and the new budget (it is easiest if these are arrayed in three columns on one page for each year); and a narrative for the affected line items. Guidelines for this submission are found at <http://www.rwjf.org/files/publications/RWJF_BudgetRevisionGuidelines.pdf>. Revisions should be submitted to Stephen Theisen at RWJF, with a copy to the NPO, or to the NPO with a copy to Mr. Theisen. Please allow up to three months for a budget revision. Call the NPO with any questions.

Fringe benefits: It is the hope of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the AMFDP that fringe benefits will be paid by the institution. In cases where this is not possible (for example, when state law decrees that a source of salary funding must also fund fringes), fringes may come from the Stipend line item. They may also come from the research portion of the budget; however, that scenario leaves little left for research.

Technician: It is sometimes possible to pay a portion of a technician's salary as part of the Stipend line item. Please consult the NPO to discuss your particular situation.

Travel: No RWJF travel funds may be used to travel to a foreign country, including Canada. No funds may be used to travel to a review course for board certification.

Carryovers: If you do not spend all the funds budgeted in a given grant year, you may request that those funds be carried over to the next year. See Revisions above. This process should be initiated as soon as possible after final figures are available.

No-cost extensions: If you anticipate that funds will remain in the grant at the end of the fourth year, you may request a no-cost extension of your grant. In this case, you must still file an annual report on work done through the original end date of the grant, and then a final report at the end of the extension. Extensions of three months are typical. Please inform the NPO as soon as possible of the need for an extension. You should submit a letter detailing the reasons for the extension, and a proposed budget and narrative for the amount to be carried over. Funds carried over to an extension may not be used for the Scholar's stipend or salary, or for equipment. See guidelines at <http://www.rwjf.org/publications/grantreporting.jhtml>.

Indirect costs: The indirect cost (overhead) rate is up to 9% for grants that started before July, 2006, and 12% thereafter. If you budgeted $91,350 ($91,350 x 4= $365,400) for a given year, the 9% indirect costs for that year would be $7,543. The $7,543 must be included in the $91,350. Indirect costs are not over and above the amount of the award. For awardees chosen in 2006 and 2007, if you budget $104,140 ($104,140 x 4 = $416,560) for a given year, the 12% indirect costs for that year would be $11,158. The $11,158 must be included in the $104,140. For those chosen in 2008, if you budget $105,000 ($105,000 x 4 = $420,000) for a given year, the direct costs for that year would be $93,750 and the 12% indirect costs would be $11,250, which must be included in the $105,000.

Mentors

Your mentor is an important part of the program. He or she will be invited to the Annual Meeting for the first two years you are a Scholar. If, however, some problem arises and you should need to change mentors, you should notify the NPO as soon as possible. You will need to change mentors if your mentor leaves your institution and you do not plan to follow, if your mentor retires or becomes incapacitated, if you transfer your grant to a different institution, or if the relationship between you and your mentor hinders your scientific or professional development.

After you have identified a new mentor, he or she should submit all of the information required of mentors of applicants. Please see the Letter to Proposed Mentor. You should also write a letter detailing why a change in mentors is appropriate. It may be necessary for a NAC member to make a site visit to your proposed mentor before a decision may be made on the change. In cases where a change in mentor is made, continued funding in the program is not guaranteed.

National Advisory Committee

The National Advisory Committee is composed of distinguished individuals who have an interest in fostering the careers of young researchers. Each Scholar is assigned to one NAC member, who follows the progress of the Scholar for the four years of the program and beyond.

You should keep in touch with your assigned NAC member by sending him or her copies of your annual reports and any publications that arise out of your research. Although most of your contact will probably be with your assigned NAC member, you should feel free to contact any of them with problems and questions. It is your responsibility to foster your relationship with the NAC.

Changing Institutions

If you plan to change institutions, please notify the NPO as soon as possible. Continued funding is not guaranteed in the new institution. A new grant application must be made, including a project support form, letter of request, proposal, budget, narrative, Scholar's CV, mentor's CV, letter of support from the mentor, and a letter detailing the reason for the change. The old institution must provide a letter of relinquishment, a final financial report, and refund of any unspent funds. The Scholar must provide a final narrative report. In some cases, a site visit by a member of the NAC will be necessary. When a change of institutions involves a physical relocation of some distance, it is sometimes possible to arrange a leave of absence from the program.

Site Visits

Occasionally, members of the NAC make site visits to Scholars, to ensure the continued appropriateness of the institution and mentor. Site visits should not by any means be interpreted as a shortcoming on the part of the Scholar.

Leaving the Program

If you should feel that you need to terminate your award, please call the NPO to discuss the situation as soon as possible.

Reporting Requirements

Grantees are responsible to the RWJF for at least two reports each year: the annual (narrative) report, and the financial report. In some cases, more frequent financial reports may be requested.

The annual, or narrative, report is an account of the scientific and administrative progress toward your research goals. The first three years, the report is called the "annual" report; in the last year it is the "final" report. Guidelines and specific questions to be answered will be sent to you a few months in advance of the deadline, and may be found under "Grantee Resources/Reporting Instructions" in the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's website <http://www.rwjf.org/grantees/annualgrantreporting.jhtml> and <http://www.rwjf.org/grantees/finalgrantreporting.jhtml>. The deadline for these reports is one month after the anniversary of your start date. For example, for a grant that started July 1, 2007, the first annual report would be due July 31, 2008. It is the Scholar's responsibility to ensure that the reports are submitted by the deadline. If this is not possible, the Scholar should contact the NPO. You should prepare five copies of this report: Three must be submitted to the Grants Administrator at RWJF, one should be sent to the NPO, and one should be sent as an update to your NAC mentor.

The financial report is likewise due a month after the anniversary of the grant's start date. This report is usually sent directly to RWJF by the financial section of your institution's sponsored projects or research office. Make sure that you get a copy of this report so that you may ensure that funds are being expended as planned.

If you leave your institution for any reason, final financial and narrative reports are due, no matter how far along in your award you were at the time of departure.

Correspondence with the RWJF

All correspondence with the RWJF include your grant ID number and should be cc:ed to the National Program Office. Please keep a copy of correspondence for your files.

Publications

We appreciate receiving copies of publications stemming from your research under this grant. This helps keep us up-to-date on your activities, and can also be of assistance when and if you need a letter of reference. You should also send publications to the RWJF's Communications department. Although you should acknowledge the support of the RWJF and the AMFDP, there is no specific language required for this.

Who Are We?

James R. Gavin III, M.D., Ph.D. has served on the National Advisory Committee of the MMFDP from its inception in 1983, and has served as the Program Director of the MMFDP and AMFDP since 1993.

Nina Ardery <amfdp@indiana.edu> is the Deputy Director of the AMFDP. She has been with the MMFDP and AMFDP since 1993, and oversees the day-to-day operations of the National Program Office in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Jeane Ann Grisso, M.D. is the Senior Program Officer and Stephen Theisen the Grants Administrator who oversee this program. Linda Wright Moore is the Communications Officer assigned to the program. Indiana University is the institution to which the grant supporting the NPO was made. Therefore, reimbursements of travel expenses for mentors, alumni, interviewees, and NAC come from Indiana.

Contacting Us

You should almost always contact the National Program Office first with any problems or questions:

Harold Amos Medical Faculty Development Program (or AMFDP)
714 N. Senate Avenue, EF 212
Indianapolis, IN 46202-3763
317-278-0500 telephone
317-278-0508 fax
amfdp@indiana.edu

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
P.O. Box 2316
Princeton, NJ 08543-2316

Address for overnight delivery:
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
U.S. Rt. 1 and College Road East
Princeton, NJ 08543