Any other current DOD employee also a semi-finalist?

[Current DOD Employee]

I was curious what the process is for other facilities for current DOD employees. At my facility I had to do a supplement form when I applied in December while I applied online. Then I notified my facility I became a semi-finalist. What happens next? I am guessing my facility sends my name to SMART. How can I know my facility sent my name correctly to SMART since we have not had a SMART scholar here? The process is new for them. Does that mean there is one more cut from the 500-600 candidates to the 200-300 candidates who get the scholarship?

[Guest]

It's my experience that the facility will receive your name on a "short list" from SMART, then they would select you and send that back to the SMART office. I don't think you will get notified unless your office tells you what's going on. You would think that would would be easy match at that point, but I'll be on the waiting for an email just like everyone else. My facility has had previous scholars and I've been told there were slots for those scholars appropriated; I don't know if that makes a difference in your case.

[Current DOD Employee]

Thanks for the advice. The only advice for any DOD employee is to hound your training dept and the SMART rep.

[DODscholar1]

It really depends on your SF. As a current SMART scholar and government employee, I was selected as a semi-finalist, my name went to my facility, but somehow my facility did not connect the dots that I was already working for them -- meaning there was no "short list". Basically, after contacting my HR department they attempted to add me as a SMART scholar, which is what ended up happening in the end. The point is -- don't trust the SF to send your name back, and don't assume that your SF HR department (whoever selects scholars) is even going to know that you work for the SF. The above situation is what I *believe* happened, but to be fair I don't know the exact interworkings of my agencies HR department.

[kmroose]

I am currently in this boat, and from what I understand, we have to relinquish our position as of July 31st of this year (if awarded). I emailed the SMART committee and this is what they told me. I decided to post in case anyone else is in a similar situation.

[wannabephd]

I am currently in this boat, and from what I understand, we have to relinquish our position as of July 31st of this year (if awarded). I emailed the SMART committee and this is what they told me. I decided to post in case anyone else is in a similar situation.

So is this in the case that our current facility doesn't sponsor us or do they code our positions different if we are awarded the scholarship? I'm kind of confused as to why we would have to do that if we're already working at our SF full-time.

[kmroose]

I am currently in this boat, and from what I understand, we have to relinquish our position as of July 31st of this year (if awarded). I emailed the SMART committee and this is what they told me. I decided to post in case anyone else is in a similar situation.

So is this in the case that our current facility doesn't sponsor us or do they code our positions different if we are awarded the scholarship? I'm kind of confused as to why we would have to do that if we're already working at our SF full-time.

I'm not sure if my organization is considered a "facility." We do DoD sponsored work mostly with modeling and simulation. I am currently working here during the semester and have a full time internship during the summer. I emailed SMART asking them if there would be conflicts and they told me that you cannot have another federally funded work position. I'm sorry if I'm not understanding your question...

[wannabephd]

So from my understanding from being an pathways intern in the past, although paid as a full-time employee, you are not listed as permanent until you finish school and they convert you. So it seems that is what you were referring to as to why you have to relinquish your position.

If you are full-time permanent, which I thought you were referrencing towards originally, I didn't understand why you would have to relinquish your position if the point was to retain you and keep you at your location.

I don't know if that makes sense, but I can reword it if it doesn't.

[kmroose]

This was the email I sent:

SMART Staff,
Thank you very much for your response. I understand you are going through a transition period and are very busy. I appreciate your time.

I do have one more question. Are there restrictions for working for a current DoD funded company? I have an internship with XXXXX this summer and I just wanted to clarify that there would be no conflicts.

Thanks!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This was the reply:
Thank you for your email. If offered an award, you will need to resign from any positions that are federally funded by 31 July 2018.

Please let us know if you have any further questions.
Thank you,
SMART Staff

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm not sure what a pathway intern means. I don't think my worksite is one of the placement sites that they have listed...

[wannabephd]

I think the response you received is based on the fact that you are interning. Looking at the 2017 handbook it states

During phase 1, recruitment SSPPs may accept employment outside of SMART that does not exceed 16
hours per week. However, the outside employment cannot be through a federal agency or be federally
funded tasking. Federal employment in a temporary position, such as Pathways, must be terminated by
31 July of the year funding begins.
SMART does not require retention SSPPs to continue working for the SF during phase 1. Retention SSPPs
may work full-time for the SF during Phase 1. However, retention SSPPs are expected to work less than
full-time prior to completion of all degree requirements, including thesis or dissertation writing. Funding
provided by the SSP is to be used for academic pursuit pertaining to the SSA, not to fund SF project
work.

So I believe if you asked that without the intern portion of the question, you probably would've received a much different answer based on what the handbook states.

[kbl2017]

So you're interning, which is totally fine but because it is federally funded you cannot be paid by SMART and the federally funded internship at the same time. So you just need to officially stop working for the facility before the first month of your stipend.

It's a weird government funding thing, but it should be easy enough to work around with your start/end dates.

This original post is discussing people who worked full time with a DOD facility and applied as what is called retention applicants. That entire process is much different than someone who is a student/intern where we are recruitment applicants. We were not full time salaried employees before receiving this award. Retention employees generally receive the scholarship through their current workplace and are paid their normal salary during school. This 100% is not you unless you have a full time year round job at a DOD facility.