Due each year on October 31st, the annual report for your institution's MMUF grant should account for activities from October 1st of the previous year through September 30th of the reporting year, and consists of a narrative report, a financial statement, and a fellow census, all of which should be submitted together via the portal maintained by the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS), which administers MMUF reporting in collaboration with Mellon staff. The portal is located at https://mmuf.acls.org.
The narrative portion of your report should describe and evaluate the activities achieved during the grant period and include reporting on the following topics: fellow recruitment strategy, mentoring, academic-year program activities (such as regional undergraduate conferences, fellows' participation in other conferences, fellows' journal submissions, group/individual travel, graduate school preparation, and exit interview procedures), fellows' summer activities, graduate school admissions and fellows' other postgraduate plans, program accomplishments, program challenges, changes to program personnel, institutional buy-in, future plans for the upcoming grant year, and any relevant additional topics (such as participation in program activities by MMUF graduate students and/or PhDs or past/present support for student enhancement from other funders or foundations).
You should also include a financial narrative section that comments on actual expenditures during the current reporting period as they relate to the proposed budget, and an explanation of any significant variance between projected spending and actual spending in each budget category. If you anticipate needing a budget reallocation, please make a note of this in your financial narrative section. Please note that annual reports will not be accepted without this section.
The financial report should be completed using ACLS’s template. The budget categories should be customized to match those of your proposal or most recently approved budget (if you have had a reallocation). All financial reports must include all of the following: the amount of accrued interest income; the original amount of the award; a column showing the expected budget for the reporting period; and an accounting of expenditures during the reporting period of both the grant funds and interest earned. (South African institutions should show expenditures in local currency, but should report the total award amount and remaining balance in U.S. dollars and local currency, citing the exchange rate at the time of the grant payment.) The financial report must be signed by a financial manager at your institution; unsigned reports will not be accepted.
The fellow census portion of your report should include information on the current status of each fellow in spreadsheet or text document form (preferably in a printer-friendly, letter-size format). Fellow information should include: name, cohort number, major/concentration (both undergraduate and graduate); degree/graduation date; graduate school/entry date; current status/degree; other academic awards; and loan repayment status.
Updated guidelines to assist you with the reporting process will be provided to you via email about two months before the report due date. If you have any questions about the annual report, please feel free to contact us.
The renewal process begins in late spring of each year. At that time, coordinators will have a series of conversations with Armando or Renee to discuss budgetary and programmatic issues related to grant renewal.
The renewal proposal package generally is composed of:
We will provide you with a detailed description of renewal proposal guidelines in advance of your proposal due date.
A reallocation occurs when a grantee wishes to use grant funds for a purpose other than that which was originally approved. You must receive permission before you reallocate funds. Please remember that the Mellon Foundation Board approved the funds for specific uses; any significant change (e.g., more than a few hundred dollars; for a new line item not in the original budget) requires prior Foundation approval. For example, if you would like to use the new funds designated for the “coordinator laptop/book award” for other purposes, you will need to submit a reallocation request.
Once you have determined that you will need a reallocation, please submit a request by email or letter to Armando or Renee. This email (preferred) or letter should state, in addition to the amount, why you need a reallocation and what has changed to prompt the request. Please do not spend funds for reallocated purposes until you have received approval to do so.
May we submit a financial statement from our financial office instead of the customized template?
We now require that all MMUF institutions complete our customized template. This is part of our effort to standardize the reporting process. Please refer to our guidelines, which will be provided to you in advance of the reporting due date, for more information.
When is the official effective date for rollover of funds remaining from existing grants to renewal grants? When is the official start of the renewal grant?
Both the start of the renewal grant and the rollover occur on the date listed on your award letter. Renewal funds should be combined with remaining existing grant funds so that future annual reports should report on combined awards.
