Ruth,

I'm going into my third one this summer.  Always in two payments as you note.
NEH correctly considers it inappropriately paternalistic to make decisions for
the participants.  For example, I once considered deducting the housing
expenses and paying the balance to eliminate the bureaucracy involved in
issuing a check and then charging separately for the room and board.  They
didn't want me to do it that way.  Plus, if you have participants who are
local, they may not need travel reimbursement at all.  The standard is to issue
one payment at the beginning and one at the end.

I think, but am not entirely sure, that the stipends are taxable, and the
institution needs to issue a 1099.  I don't handle the accounting so I'll need
to check on that myself.  For documentation, I always get a copy of the
restricted account budget that shows all the expenses with stipends identified
as such.  That's the cleanest way.

The seminars office is one of the most helpful I've worked with in 25 years
administering grants.  Your program officer will be more than happy to help
you.  Or call Jean Hughes, the head of the office.  If you want to talk to me
about my experiences, please feel free to call.

Andrew

At 11:24 AM 3/25/99 -0500, you wrote:
>Good Day,
>
>I am writing to ask how other schools handle the participants
>stipends.  I've been told that other schools have paid the stipend
>in two payments, one half when the teachers arrive on campus
>and one half at the end of the seminar.  I understand the stipend
>is meant to cover travel expenses, subsistence and costs of
>educational materials.  I would love it if we could handle this through
>travel reimbursement forms but I've been told that the lump sum
>payment is the norm.
>
>If you have dealt with an NEH Summer Seminar or Institute and
>have handled the stipend in this way, would you please let me know
>how you handled it in through your financial system and as
>documentation for the file?
>
>Ruth
>
>Ruth Tallman
>Office of Research and Sponsored Programs
>Lehigh University
>e-mail: xxxxxx@lehigh.edu
>phone: (610) 758-3024
>
>
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---------------------------
Andrew J. Grant, Ph.D.
Director of Foundation and Corporate Relations
The Jewish Theological Seminary of America
3080 Broadway, New York, New York 10027
Voice: (212) 678-8934; FAX: (212) 678-8941
E-mail: xxxxxx@jtsa.edu
URL: http://www.jtsa.edu

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