Administration of NEH Division of Education Institutes and Landmarks Grants

Published September 17, 2024

For NEH Division of Education offers and awards issued on or after August 1, 2023, with a federal award identification number prefix “BG”, “BH”, “EH”, or “ES”.  

Download a PDF of the Administration of NEH Division of Education Institutes and Landmarks Grants. 

Should there be any inconsistency between the General Terms and Conditions for Awards and the Administration of NEH Division of Education Institutes and Landmarks Grants, the latter will govern.   

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

1. NEH Required Dates
2. Project Websites
3. Publicizing and NEH Acknowledgement
4. Principles of Civility
5. Equal Employment Opportunity Statement 
6. Participant Eligibility
7. Participant Selection
8. Stipends
9. Food Costs
10. Participant Selection Report
11. Program Evaluations

1. NEH Required Dates

Projects must adhere to specific deadlines for participant application, notification, and acceptance as furnished by the NEH Division of Education Programs: 

  • October 1, 2024: Notice of Action issued. The period of performance for all Institutes and Landmarks projects awarded for this year will be October 1, 2024 to December 31, 2025.
  • October 8, 2024: Mandatory virtual meeting for institutional grant administrators and project director(s) for all Institutes and Landmarks grant recipients. Other project staff and administrators are also welcome to attend. 
  • October 10, 2024: Mandatory virtual meeting for project directors and co-project directors for all Institutes grant recipients. Other members of your project team are encouraged to attend.
  • October 17, 2024: Mandatory virtual meeting for project directors and co-project directors for all Landmarks grant recipients. Other members of your project team are encouraged to attend.
  • November 8, 2024: Project teams submit their website URL and project description information for inclusion on the NEH Professional Development programs page.
  • November 15, 2024: Project teams submit a beta version or nearly complete draft of their project website for NEH staff review.
  • December 13, 2024: Project websites go live, participant applications open.
  • February 4, 2025: Mandatory virtual meeting for project directors and co-project directors for all Institutes grant recipients. Other members of your project team are encouraged to attend.
  • February 6, 2025: Mandatory virtual meeting for project directors and co-project directors for all Landmarks grant recipients. Other members of your project team are encouraged to attend.
  • March 5, 2025: Participant application deadline, review of applications and selection of participants by all Institutes and Landmarks projects.
  • April 2, 2025: All applicants must be notified of their acceptance, waitlist, or non-acceptance status on the date specified by the Division of Education programs. Applicants chosen for participation have two weeks to accept or decline.
  • April 16, 2025: Participant acceptance or decline deadline for all Institutes and Landmarks projects.
  • June 1, 2025: Participant Selection Report submitted to NEH.
  • April 30, 2026: Final reports submitted to NEH.

2. Project Websites

Institutes and Landmarks grant recipients are required to create a project website that supports participant recruitment and provides intellectual and practical resources for participants. Project websites must be available for review by NEH staff and available to accept participant applications in accordance with the dates listed above. Project website URLs and key project details will be included in the NEH website’s listing of projects.

The NEH Division of Education will provide a website guide that includes requirements and recommendations for all Institutes and Landmarks project websites. Previously awarded projects must use the most recent website guide to make necessary revisions to their project website in accordance with NEH policies and program requirements.

3. Publicizing and NEH Acknowledgement

All materials publicizing or resulting from NEH-funded activities must contain an acknowledgment of NEH support. Consult the Acknowledgment and Publicity Requirements for NEH Awards and Publicizing Your Project pages on the NEH website for guidance on acknowledging NEH support and promotion.

4. Principles of Civility

Project websites must include, and project team and program participants must adhere to, the Principles of Civility for NEH Professional Development Programs detailed here: https://www.neh.gov/grants/principles-civility

5. Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

NEH does not condone or tolerate discrimination or harassment based on age, color, disability, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity), genetic information, national origin, race, or religion. Nor does NEH condone or tolerate retaliation against those who initiate discrimination complaints (either formally or informally), serve as witnesses, or otherwise participate in the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) process, or oppose discrimination or harassment. For further information, write to the Equal Opportunity Officer, National Endowment for the Humanities, 400 7th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20024. TDD: 202-606-8282 (this is a special telephone device for the Deaf). 

6. Participant Eligibility

Participant eligibility guidelines are determined by NEH. Application review and offer decisions are determined by individual project teams in accordance with NEH eligibility requirements. Participants may not accept an additional offer or withdraw in order to accept a different offer once they have accepted an offer to attend an NEH Institutes or Landmarks program. Applicants who accept an offer to participate are expected to remain during the entire period of the program and to participate in its work on a full-time basis. Returning projects must follow the most recent participant eligibility guidelines.

7. Participant Selection

Programs for K-12 educators target a national audience of full- or part-time K-12 educators who teach in public, charter, independent, and religiously affiliated schools, or as home schooling educators. They may also admit museum educators and other K-12 school personnel who demonstrate that participation will advance project goals and enhance their own professional work. They must reserve 20% of available spaces for early-career educators (those who have been teaching for five years or fewer).

Programs for higher education faculty and humanities professionals target a national audience of full- or part-time faculty who teach undergraduate students and/or whose work in the humanities lies outside undergraduate teaching but who demonstrate that their participation will advance project goals and enhance their own professional work.

  • Landmarks for Higher Education Faculty must reserve 20% of the available spaces for early career faculty (three or fewer years as higher education faculty), humanities professionals, and/or non-tenure track faculty and 10% of the available spaces for advanced graduate students (individuals who have reached candidacy in a doctoral program or are in the final year of a terminal degree program). 
  • Institutes for Higher Education Faculty must reserve 20% of the available spaces for non-tenured/non-tenure track faculty and 10% of the available spaces for advanced graduate students (individuals who have reached candidacy in a doctoral program or are in the final year of a terminal degree program).  

8. Stipends

Stipends provide compensation to participants for their time commitment and help to defray participation costs, such as travel, program activities, lodging, and meals (for residential programs), and technical support (for virtual workshops). While project directors may need to use NEH funds to make initial deposits to secure such arrangements, participants use their stipends to cover these costs. Stipends are taxable as income. 

Project teams must not reduce participant stipends for project-related activities, lodging, and meal costs without prior approval. Project teams must not place contingencies (completing a lesson plan, completing a program evaluation, etc.) on the receipt of participant stipends. 

 1 Week2 Weeks3 Weeks4 Weeks
Residential & Combined Programs$1,300$2,200$2,850$3,450
Virtual Programs$650$1,100$1,425$1,725

NEH expects participants to attend the professional development program (Landmarks or Institutes) in its entirety and to take part on a full-time basis. If a participant is obliged through special circumstances to arrive after the beginning or depart before the end of the Institutes or Landmarks program, it shall be the recipient institution's responsibility to see that only a pro rata share of the stipend is received or that the appropriate pro rata share of the stipend is returned if the participant has already received the full stipend.

9. Food Costs

See Allowability of Food Costs on NEH Awards. 

10. Participant Selection Reports

A participant selection report that identifies the following information will be due to eGMS by June 1, 2025, before your program is held.

For Institutes and Landmarks programs for K-12 educators:  

  • Application review team members and affiliations
  • Total number of completed applications received
  • Process used to recruit applicants
  • Process used to evaluate applications
  • Number of first-time NEH program applicants
  • Number of first-time NEH program attendees
  • Number of first offers accepted
  • Number of alternates who accepted

For each participant accepted into the program:

  • Name
  • Preferred email
  • School’s city and state or jurisdiction
  • School type (public, private, charter, home school, etc.)
  • Grade level(s) taught
  • Subject area(s) taught
  • Years of teaching experience
  • Number of students taught per year
  • How did they learn about the program?

For Institutes and Landmarks higher education programs: 

  • Application review team members and affiliations 
  • Total number of completed applications received
  • Process used to recruit applicants
  • Process used to evaluate applications  
  • Number of first-time NEH program applicants  
  • Number of first-time NEH program attendees

  • Number of nontenured and non-tenure track applicants 

  • Number of nontenured and non-tenure track attendees 

  • Number of first offers accepted
  • Number of alternates who accepted

For each participant accepted into the program:

  • Name  
  • Preferred email  
  • Institution’s city and state or jurisdiction 
  • Institution type (public, private, community college, etc.)  
  • Subject area(s) taught  
  • Years of teaching experience 
  • Number of students taught per year  
  • How did they learn about the program?

11. Program Evaluations

Project Directors must collect anonymous participant evaluations at the conclusion of their programs that include the following information. Unedited participant evaluation responses must be included in the project’s final report and any future Institutes or Landmarks application.

Evaluations for Institutes programs:

a) Evaluate the intellectual significance of the program, considering but not limited to, readings, presentations, and other activities and materials; 
b) Provide an assessment of the program’s approach to their central themes and topics in relation to their treatment in humanities curricula; 
c) Evaluate the program’s structure, considering but not limited to, sequencing of days and topics, connections between scholarship and sites, and classroom application sessions; 
d) Assess the overall effectiveness of the program team, considering but not limited to, communication, intellectual leadership, and fostering a learning environment; 
e) Evaluate the institutional context for the program, considering but not limited to, access to scholarly resources, housing and dining options, and use of online platforms or hybrid delivery (where relevant).

Evaluations for Landmarks programs:

a) Evaluate the intellectual significance of the program, considering but not limited to, readings, presentations, and other activities and materials; 
b) Evaluate the experiential learning opportunities and the program’s support for developing place-based approaches to teaching and learning; 
c) Evaluate the program’s structure, considering but not limited to, sequencing of days and topics, connections between scholarship and sites, and classroom application sessions; 
d) Assess the overall effectiveness of the program team, considering but not limited to, communication, intellectual leadership, and fostering a learning environment; 
e) Evaluate the institutional context for the program, considering but not limited to, access to scholarly resources, housing and dining options, and use of online platforms (where relevant).