Grantee Research Project Results

2019 Progress Report: ASPPH/EPA Fellowship Program for ORD and S&T

EPA Grant Number: X3839470
Title: ASPPH/EPA Fellowship Program for ORD and S&T
Investigators: Stadtler, Monica G
Institution: Association of Schools and Public Health
EPA Project Officer: Floyd, Matthew
Project Period: January 1, 2019 through September 30, 2024
Project Period Covered by this Report: January 1, 2019 through December 31,2019
Project Amount: $450,206
RFA: GRO Fellowships for Graduate Environmental Study (2006) RFA Text |  Recipients Lists
Research Category: Academic Fellowships

Objective:

To provide experiential, mentored fellowship opportunities for early career public health professionals that will strengthen their capacity to apply environmental health research to practice, and to develop a network of leaders who are well prepared to address current and emerging environmental health issues.

Objective 1: By the end of Year One, and annually thereafter through Year Four, ASPPH will recruit qualified applicants from CEPH-accredited, ASPPH-member schools and programs of public health for practice-based training opportunities focusing on Science and Technology within EPA’s Office of Research and Development (ORD).
Performance Measures: Successful development of recruitment timeline; Successful development and deployment of fellowship promotion materials; Timely electronic processing of submitted applications; Number of qualified candidates applying to the program; and, Up-to-date website and Online Application System.
Status: Year One - Completed
Summary of Progress & Results: During Year One, ASPPH accomplished the following:

• For the Program Participant who began in May 2019 (to launch the grant), ASPPH recruited candidates from an existing and available pool of ASPPH fellowship applicants who had already successfully completed the ASPPH competitive screening process and deemed highly qualified. This approach was taken this year in order to be able to place a Program Participant during the first year of the grant.
• From this group of 15 candidates, ASPPH and EPA identified one Program Participant, Ms. Brie Reed, MPH, Touro University - California MPH Program, to be placed in EPA’s Office of Research and Development (ORD), Office of Science Policy.
• Ms. Reed began her fellowship on May 1, 2019.
• For the Program Participants who would start in October/November 2019, managed a recruitment campaign in January/February 2019 to recruit candidates including:

• Utilized a variety of social media tools to promote the fellowship program.
• Featured information about the ASPPH/EPA fellowship program on the ASPPH website.
• Published multiple articles to promote the fellowship program in the ASPPH weekly electronic newsletter, Friday Letter.
• Promoted the fellowship program at five “This is Public Health” (“TIPH”) Fairs. TIPH Fairs are opportunities for prospective students to engage with ASPPH member schools and programs. Prospective students learn about opportunities to pursue graduate education and to train in environmental health. The five locations included: Atlanta, GA; Boston, MA; Indianapolis, IN; Kansas City, KS; and, Washington, DC.
• Hosted a webinar on January 9, 2019 to promote the fellowship program to students. During the webinars, ASPPH staff reviewed the application process and submission deadlines. Former ASPPH/EPA Program Participant, DeAndra Morris, shared her perspective on the benefits of the fellowship. ASPPH staff also answered questions from students.
• A total of 72 individuals logged on to the webinar. The total number of attendees may be higher as many schools organize an event for students to gather in a common location and connect through one telephone line.
• Recruited and received applications from 43 qualified candidates from 28 ASPPH member schools and programs.

Problems, Delays, Modifications: As the grant award would not be issued until January 2019, ASPPH consulted with our Board of Directors and EPA to receive permission to use ASPPH membership funds to begin recruitment efforts in 2018 for the 2019 – 2020 application cycle that would start Program Participants in October/November 2019. Due to the importance of this fellowship program, ASPPH membership funds were used to initiate many of the recruitment activities under this objective, including developing the recruitment materials and launching the application cycle. This was necessary in order to place new Program Participants at the start of Year Two.
 

Objective 2: By the end of Year One, and annually thereafter through Year Four, ASPPH will conduct a thorough, transparent, and objective selection process to match eligible candidates to the most suitable fellowship placements.
Performance Measures: Number of faculty and staff approved to serve as objective reviewers; Timely and efficient management of electronic objective review, in-person interviews, and technical review processes; Number of available fellowship positions filled; and, Percent of applicants identified for prospective qualified candidate database.
Status: Year One - Completed
• Objective Review: Identified 9 objective reviewers, representing 9 ASPPH-member institutions, to review the 43 applications. Completed a fair, transparent and objective review process for the Fellowship Program and identified 24 semi-finalists for the Panel Interview process.
• Panel Interviews: Planned and convened a three-day interview process and invited 24 semi-finalists for web-based, video-conference interviews with a panel of reviewers that included three former ASPPH/EPA Fellowship Program Participants. Twenty-three of the 24 candidates accepted the invitation to interview. The panelists conducted interviews to assess each candidate’s communication skills, thought-processing skills, and social skills/adaptability. From these interviews, 22 candidates were recommended for the final technical review process.
• Technical Review: During this project period, EPA did not conduct the technical review process.
Problems, Delays, Modifications: Due to funding restrictions, the EPA Office of Research and Development (ORD) and Science and Technology (S&T) did not identify any new positions to begin in October 2019. Because of the lack of funding, EPA/ORD did not conduct the technical review process and no new Program Participants were placed for the 2019 – 2020 fellowship year.
 

Objective 3: By the end of Year One, and annually thereafter, ASPPH will administer all aspects of the ASPPH/EPA Fellowship Program.
Performance Measures: Number of new program participants completing security clearance in advance of start of fellowship; Presentation of orientation for program participants; Presentation of orientation for mentors; Facilitation of annual professional development training opportunity for program participants; Results of orientation evaluations by program participants; Timely development and distribution of Guidebooks and Fellowship Agreements; Results from program participant and mentor evaluations of ASPPH administration and management of the program; Timely submission of required reports to EPA; Timely and thorough collection of program participant close-out documents using the ASPPH electronic
reporting system; and, Creation of an alumni group and coordination of at least one event annually for current program participants and alumni.
Status: Year One - Completed
• Developed updated versions of the 2019 ASPPH Guidebook for Program Participants and the 2019 Fellowship Reimbursement Handbook for the one Program Participant placed during this project period, Ms. Reed.
• Reviewed and updated the 2019 ASPPH Guidebook for Mentors that was provided to EPA staff.
• Developed and executed fellowship agreement for Ms. Reed.
• Facilitated EPA security process for Ms. Reed.
• Onboarded Ms. Reed into ASPPH financial and reporting systems.
• Conducted in-depth orientation program for Ms. Reed including a review of all logistics, procedures, and ASPPH program requirements.
• Managed budgets and financials for Ms. Reed. This included the timely processing of stipend payments; review of reimbursement requests; payment of reimbursements, if acceptable; and, reviewing and reconciling the Program Participant’s accounts.
• Monitored ASPPH administrative financial reports to ensure expenses were appropriate and project work was within budget.
• Maintained regular contact with Ms. Reed to assure seamless integration into the program.
Problems, Delays, Modifications: N/A

Objective 4: By the end of Year Two, ASPPH, working with EPA, will identify appropriate competencies for entry-level to mid-level program participants, developed within the framework of the Core Competencies for Public Health Professionals, in defined skill domains appropriate for public health professionals practicing in the area of environmental health. In years Three through Five, ASPPH will incorporate competencies into the instructional framework for program participants and assess program participant’s competency advancement.
Performance Measures: Successful development of a set of competencies for the fellowship program; Successful implementation of competencies into the instructional framework of the fellowship program; Percent of program participants who report they have participated in training opportunities related to their training area and competencies; and, Number and types of training resources promoted to program participants related to primary training areas and competencies.
Status: Forthcoming in Year Two
Problems, Delays, Modifications: N/A

Objective 5: ASPPH will guide program participants in the development of goals, learning objectives and activities (instructional frameworks) throughout the course of their fellowships.
Performance Measures: Effective instruction and guidance to program participants on establishing goals and learning objectives and how to use the electronic reporting system; Successful review of and guidance provided to all program participants’ regarding their instructional frameworks and learning objectives; Successful review of and guidance provided to all program participants on their progress reports; and, Effective management of electronic reporting system.
Status: Year One - Completed
• Maintained an online, secure portal, the ASPPH Reporting & Evaluation (R&E) Tool, through which program participants input their goals and objectives for the fellowship period and subsequently report their progress to ASPPH. Information is also shared by the program participant to their mentor(s).
• Provided technical assistance to Ms. Reed on the goals and objectives she established, in consultation with her mentor, for the fellowship period (fellowship framework).
• Finalized and approved Ms. Reed’s fellowship framework in July 2019.
Problems, Delays, Modifications: Ms. Reed will begin reporting on her progress at 6-months, 9-months and 12-months, which will occur during the next reporting period.

Objective 6: At the end of each project year, ASPPH will evaluate the effectiveness of the program for all ended fellowship placements.
Performance Measures: Number of program participants’ reporting on career paths, and impact of the fellowship on their careers, upon exit and after two years; Percent of program participants who report that they are “satisfied” or “very satisfied” that their fellowship provided hands-on experience in environmental health to achieve their fellowship goals and objectives; and, Percent of mentors reporting that their satisfaction with the overall quality of the program participants’ contributions and with the administration of the fellowship program as “satisfied” or “very satisfied”.
Status: Forthcoming in Year Two
Problems, Delays, Modifications: N/A.

Rationale:

ASPPH has effectively managed the budget for the ASPPH/EPA Environmental Health Fellowship Program. ASPPH follows a rigorous budget monitoring system which includes monthly review of data on disbursements and progress of work. The ASPPH project team meets with ASPPH senior leadership to review financial reports to identify progress and any deviations in the budget line items and reconcile Program Participants’ budgets and expenditures on a monthly basis.
The first year of the grant period (January 1, 2019 through September 30, 2019) was only 9 months. The total expenditures are $78,115 (including all administrative costs and program participant costs). This is 58% of the total award of $135,000 granted to ASPPH to support the full 12-month placement of the Program Participant, Brie Reed from April 1, 2019 through March 31, 2020.
Per grant guidelines, ASPPH must undergo an annual audit by an independent consulting firm. The annual audit includes thorough review of all financial documents, records, invoices, and staff timesheets associated with all ASPPH federal awards, including the EPA Cooperative Agreement. During the process, auditors analyze the ASPPH General Ledger and Project Cost Report for the awards, as well as ASPPH administrative procedures, accounting procedures, and procurement policies/procedures. The audit for the period 2017 – 2018 received the highest rating of “no material findings.” The audit for the period 2018 – 2019 is currently being finalized by the auditors.
Additionally, ASPPH prepares and submits an annual EPA form 5700-52A (“MBE/WBE Report”) as required by EPA on an annual basis. Pursuant to instructions from EPA Technical Advisors, ASPPH submitted the report stating only that the report is “Not relevant to this project”.

Progress and Final Reports:

Original Abstract

2020 Progress Report

2021 Progress Report

2022 Progress Report

2023

Final Report