Grantee Research Project Results

2021 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: October 1, 2020 through September 30,2021
Project Amount: $450,206
RFA: GRO Fellowships for Graduate Environmental Study (2006) RFA Text |  Recipients Lists
Research Category: Academic Fellowships

Objective:

 

Project Goals: 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 distribution of fellowship promotional 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: Completed Summary of Progress & Results: During Year Three, ASPPH accomplished the following:

·       ASPPH staff worked with our EPA Project Officer to finalize the timeline for Year Three (2020 - 2021) of the grant cycle the timeline was finalized on October 12, 2020 (during the previous reporting period.) Timeline milestones included:

·       Developed electronic promotional and marketing materials for the fellowship program: November 2020

·       Updated the ASPPH website and the online application system to reflect new fellowship opportunities for 2021: December 10, 2020 o Announced new opportunities to ASPPH-member institutions: December 11, 2020

·       Established application deadline for February 11, 2021

·       Conducted preliminary review and processing of applications: February 23, 2021

·       Released the application announcement to the 130 ASPPH-member, CEPH-accredited schools and programs of public health on December 11, 2020.

·       Utilized social media tools (LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter) to promote the fellowship program and drive prospective applicants to the ASPPH website and online application for details on the fellowship program.

·       Featured information about the fellowship program on the ASPPH website.

·       Published multiple articles to promote the fellowship program in the ASPPH weekly electronic newsletter, Friday Letter.

·       Sent targeted announcements to faculty and staff with specific responsibilities to support and advise students in career planning. Emails were sent to the career services offices, associate deans of practice, and alumni career offices of the 130 ASPPH-member, CEPH-accredited schools and programs of public health located in the U.S.

·       Received 35 applications for the program.

·       Conducted preliminary review of all 35 applications to ensure applications were complete and applicants met all eligibility requirements; three applications were deemed either ineligible or incomplete.

·       Identified 32 applicants from 26 different ASPPH member schools and programs to advance to the next stage of review.

Problems, Delays, Modifications: There were no problems, delays, or modifications to the workplan for Year Three.

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: Completed Summary of Progress & Results: During Year Three, ASPPH accomplished the following:  

Objective Review: From a pool of 50 reviewer volunteers, identified 11 objective reviewers, representing 11 ASPPH-member institutions, to review the 32 applications from 26 different ASPPH[1]member institutions. Completed a fair, transparent, and objective review process for the Fellowship Program and identified the 20 semi-finalists for the Panel Interview process.

Panel Interviews: Planned and convened a three-day interview process and invited 20 semi-finalists for web-based, video-conference interviews with a panel of reviewers that included two former ASPPH/EPA Fellowship Program Participants and one current Program Participant. Nineteen of the 20 candidates accepted the invitation to interview. The panelists conducted interviews to assess each candidates communication skills, thought-processing skills, and social skills/adaptability. From these 19 interviews, 18 candidates were recommended for the final technical review process.

Technical Review: During this project period, no new fellowship opportunities were identified for the ORD and S&T Offices. Therefore, EPA did not participate in the technical review process in Year Three. Problems, Delays,

Modifications: Due to funding restrictions, the EPA ORD and S&T Offices did not identify any new positions to begin in November 2021 and, therefore, no new Program Participants were selected for placement during the 2021 - 2022 fellowship year (Year Four).

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: Completed Summary of Progress & Results: During Year Three, ASPPH accomplished the following:

·       Developed updated versions of the 2021 Fellowship Guidebook and the 2021 Fellowship Reimbursement Handbook for the one Program Participant, Dr. Williamson, who will renew her fellowship for another year.

·       Reviewed and updated the 2021 ASPPH Guidebook for Mentors that was provided to EPA staff.

·       Developed and executed fellowship extension agreement for second-year Program Participant, Dr. Williamson.

·       Facilitated a smooth renewal process for second-year Program Participant, Dr. Williamson.

·       Managed budgets and financial disbursements for Dr. Williamson. This included the timely processing of stipend payments; review of reimbursement requests; payment of reimbursements, if acceptable; and, reviewing and reconciling the Program Participants accounts.

·       Monitored ASPPH administrative monthly financial reports to ensure expenses were appropriate and project work was conducted within budget.

Problems, Delays, Modifications: There were no problems, delays, or modifications to the workplan for Year Three.

Objective 4: 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: Completed Summary of Progress & Results: During Year Three, ASPPH accomplished the following:

·       Maintained an online, secure portal, the ASPPH Reporting & Evaluation (R&E) Tool, through which the fellows can easily input goals, learning objectives and activities (instructional frameworks) for the fellowship period and subsequently report their progress to ASPPH. Information was also shared by the fellows with their mentor(s).

·       Collected, reviewed, and provided feedback on 6-month and 9-month Progress Reports, which were submitted by Ms. Brie Reed for her second fellowship year.

·       Ms. Reed's Project Goal was to Collaborate with a group of stakeholders from the public health, healthcare, and healthcare system communities to bridge gaps in understanding of environmental pollutants associated with disease outcomes. Also, work to understand population vulnerability factors with respect to environmental justice and how these can inform future regulatory decisions on pollution burden factors.

·       Information provided through the ASPPH R&E Tool shows the following highlights of Ms. Reed's progress toward meeting this goal:

·       Participated in virtual meetings to convene partners from public health, health care, and health care systems to identify environmental health concerns of mutual interest and motivate the conceptualization of innovative collaborative approaches across professional disciplines to address these concerns.

·       Co-authored several internal workshop summaries and reports. o Developed a table of tools available for stakeholders who are working to address the areas of mutual interest identified from the workshops.

·       Utilized qualitative data analysis techniques to interpret mind maps submitted by virtual meeting attendees.

·       Collected and reviewed final 12-month progress report and evaluation from Ms. Reed, who completed her two-year fellowship on April 30, 2021.

·       Collected, reviewed, and provided feedback on 6-month and 9-month Progress Reports, which were submitted by Dr. Williamson's for her first fellowship year. (The 12-month report will be reviewed early in Year Four.)

·       Dr. Williamson's Project Goal was to Create an organized understanding of measures and tools used in the Scientific Integrity (SI) Program.

·       Information provided through the ASPPH R&E Tool shows the following highlights of Dr. Williamson's progress toward meeting this goal:

·       Led evaluation efforts with the SI Program towards a greater understanding of what is needed to create a culture of SI across the Agency.

·       Developed, launched and analyzed a SI survey, which led to a 94-page technical report that provides a structured understanding of the mixed methods approach used, analytic findings, and detailed data summaries that now serve as the core content for the SI Program's microsite.

Problems, Delays, Modifications: There were no problems, delays, or modifications to the workplan for Year Three. This is particularly notable due the situation with the COVID-19 pandemic and the need for an entirely virtual work/learning environment. Despite the circumstances, the program participants reported great progress on their fellowship projects and learning objectives. This could not have been done without significant coordination and engagement from both the fellows and their EPA mentors.

Objective 5: 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; Percent of program participants who report above average or outstanding that their fellowship provided opportunities to interact with experts in the field of public health, that the fellowship provided opportunities to develop specialized skills & apply them to project activities, and on the quality of overall fellowship experience; and, Percent of mentors reporting above average or outstanding that their fellows demonstrated professional development: has acquired appropriate knowledge & skills to augment academic background; and on the overall quality of the fellows project.

Status: Completed Summary of Progress & Results: During Year Three, ASPPH accomplished the following:

·       Collected career path information from departing fellow, Ms. Brie Reed. Upon ending the fellowship, Ms. Reed was preparing to apply to graduate school to pursue a PhD in Clinical Psychology. At the time of this report, she was in the application process.

·       Ms. Reed reported the following in her final evaluation: o Fellowship provided opportunities to interact with experts in the field of public health 5 - Outstanding

·       Fellowship provided opportunities to develop specialized skills & apply them to project activities 3 - Average

·       Quality of overall Fellowship experience 4 Above Average

Problems, Delays, Modifications: Ms. Reed's mentor did not submit an evaluation. We recognize that EPA mentors have many demands on their time and providing feedback on the work of the fellows and our performance may not be a priority. However, the feedback from the mentors is critical in our ability to continuously improve the quality of the program.

Progress and Final Reports:

Original Abstract

2019 Progress Report

2020 Progress Report

2022 Progress Report

2023

Final Report