Short leave of absence with the NSF GRFP?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the challenges faced by participants regarding taking a short leave of absence while funded by the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP), particularly in the context of medical deferrals and the implications for their academic tenure. Participants share personal experiences and seek advice on navigating university policies and funding issues during difficult personal circumstances.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Technical explanation
  • Homework-related

Main Points Raised

  • One participant describes needing a leave of absence to care for a family member in hospice, highlighting the difficulty of changing GRFP status mid-tenure year.
  • Another participant asserts that medical deferral is the only viable option for maintaining GRFP funding, emphasizing the strict rules governing federal funding.
  • A participant expresses frustration over the inability to change tenure status during the year, suggesting that this policy is overly rigid.
  • Some participants propose that remote work could be an option, such as attending meetings via Zoom or processing data from a distance, though one participant counters that caregiving responsibilities severely limit their capacity to work.
  • A later reply shares a similar situation, indicating confusion over the process and expressing concern about the lack of clear guidance from university officials.
  • Another participant notes that the original poster has not been active for a significant time, suggesting that responses may be limited.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree that medical deferral is the primary option available, but there is significant disagreement regarding the policies surrounding tenure changes and the feasibility of remote work during caregiving. The discussion remains unresolved, with multiple perspectives on how to navigate the situation.

Contextual Notes

Participants express uncertainty about the specific policies of their universities regarding GRFP funding and medical deferrals, indicating a lack of clear information from administrative staff. There are also concerns about the implications of taking a leave of absence versus a complete withdrawal from the program.

Who May Find This Useful

This discussion may be useful for graduate students in similar situations, particularly those funded by the NSF GRFP who are facing personal challenges that impact their academic responsibilities.

Dishsoap
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Hey fellas!

I'm wondering if anyone here has experience taking a short (~1-2 month) leave of absence while being funded by the NSF GRFP.

The longer version is that I'm eligible for a medical deferral, as I'm taking care of my mom while she is in home hospice, 800 miles away from my (experimental) PhD program. However, I'm also in the middle of my tenure (my last funded year will end May 2020). My advisor has informally let me take time off (when her life expectancy was days-weeks), but at this point I've been gone for a month and the poor guy is still paying the portion of my stipend/tuition that the GRFP isn't covering, and my mom is still alive but needs my help. In order to take a leave of absence from the program (so my advisor can stop paying me), I need to change my GRFP status.

My university has a particular person appointed to handle the GRFP students, however they're being pretty unhelpful, telling me that I cannot change my tenure status in the middle of the year.

After talking to an administrative person at my university, it seems like one option is to leave the program (which is apparently different from a leave of absence?), which will then cancel the remainder of my GRFP. However, I have two non-NSF nine-month fellowships which I will forfeit by doing so.

I can guarantee I'm not the first person to be in these circumstances, so I thought I'd reach out to see if anyone knows of a solution. Unfortunately, when I left I didn't know that I wouldn't be returning (her cancer spread incredibly quickly), and so I wasn't able to sort these things out in person.
 
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The unfortunate answer is "medical deferral" is your only option for staying in the program. NSF is part of the federal government, and the government sure loves its rules - it is more important to be "fair" than just about anything else.

Worse, your advisor is taking a bit of a risk in continuing to support you if he is doing so on research funds. The federal government is paying him to hire a student and if the student is doing research, that's not good. If it's weeks, nobody cares. If it's months, his PM will see this in his progress report.

Some universities keep a pot of money on hand to deal with these issues. It would usually involve going up the chain: department head, dean, provost or VPR.
 
I understand that medical deferral is the only real option, but by the time I am able to change my tenure status to medical deferral, I will have been back at work for months. Frankly, I'm shocked that there's no way to change my tenure status in the middle of a "tenure year". I would expect that I would forfeit the rest of my tenure, but not that I would be literally unable to change it.

I didn't know if it would be worth going up the chain, but I will pursue that, first by contacting the DGS. Thank you!

Edit: Your point about my advisor being at risk is a great one. He doesn't seem to be concerned about letting me have time off "for free", but I suspect that he should be, which is why I'm exploring these options.
 
I don't know much about grants and stuff and how they work since I've never applied for one myself, but is it possible for you to work on some software stuff while you're away and attend your weekly group meeting via zoom or something? I would expect your research to require some data processing which you probably can do remotely. If you need someone to take data in your lab, maybe you can ask other students in your group to help you out?
 
Phys12 said:
I don't know much about grants and stuff and how they work since I've never applied for one myself, but is it possible for you to work on some software stuff while you're away and attend your weekly group meeting via zoom or something? I would expect your research to require some data processing which you probably can do remotely. If you need someone to take data in your lab, maybe you can ask other students in your group to help you out?

Unfortunately, being a hospice caretaker doesn't lend itself well to accomplishing much else. My available free time, ability to focus, and amount of sleep are all in short supply. Also, I would never dream of asking my labmates to take data for me, and the data processing I have to do is minimal.
 
Hi! I just found this thread and I'm in a very similar situation. I have an NSF GRFP, need to take a 2ish month medical deferral, and my department person who is supposed to be helping with this has no clue what they're doing. By the time we get everything worked out I feel like I'll already be back at work. My university thinks there's a chance I could keep receiving my GRFP stipend during those 2 months but really no one seems to know anything concrete. Seeing that this thread was posted in 2019, I was wondering if maybe you had an update that could help my situation? Thank you so much for any help you can give!
 
Unfortunately the original poster hasn't been on the forum in almost 2 years, so you're probably not going to get an answer from them. If you dm them they might get an email notification that prompts them to check the website.
 

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