NNLM CHIS Training Award Year 5 (2025-2026)

Application Overview

Before submitting your application, ensure that:

• Your institution is an NNLM member with an NNLM Member record.
  • If unsure, contact the NNLM Training Office for assistance.
• You (the applicant) MUST have a NNLM account. Set up an account here if needed.
• Your NNLM account is connected to your institution’s Member record (this will show a 5-digit NNLM ID).
• If you need help with this step, please contact sam.nunn@utah.edu.

Form Summary

In the form, prepare to describe:

• Describe your anticipated audience - including number, geographic location, and professions.
• Which CHIS class do you plan to present? Why this class?
  • Check out our menu of available CHIS classes to teach in your community.
• Please briefly summarize your experience teaching CHIS classes and/or your intended audience. 

Complete your application online. Deadline: March 2, 2026, 11:59 pm Eastern.

Notifications of award will be sent 2 weeks after the submission date.

Once selected, you will be required to sign a memorandum of agreement that will be provided by the NTO. 

Funding Information

Selected awardees will be compensated upon completion of presenting a CHIS class and the reporting requirements. To get compensated for completing the deliverables, awardees will need to provide the following:

1. Submit an invoice for payment. The NTO will provide an invoice template to use. The invoice should be submitted no later than 10 days after the class is completed. The last day to submit an invoice is April 3, 2026.
2. Provide a signed copy of the W-9 form. Note: Payment for services may be reported as income. As such, the Awardee will provide this documentation in order to be compensated.  

This award is administered by the University of Utah with Federal funds from the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, under Cooperative Agreement Number UG4LM013732 with the University of Utah.

Reporting Requirements

The following reporting requirements are mandatory for award recipients.

1. Distribute an NNLM Training Evaluation to class participants. This evaluation will collect feedback from participants on their experience taking the class and will be the method for students to claim MLA's CHIS credit. The NTO will provide the evaluation for the awardee.  
2. Complete the online activity report through NNLM's Data Reporting System to share your experience teaching the class. This report must be completed within 10 days of the class. 

3. Collect participant data from class participants using the participant information form. This data will be included in your activity report. The data will need to include the following.

   a. Zip code

   b. Professional Role 

For more information about award reporting requirements, please visit the Grant Reporting page.  

Please contact the NTO (nto@utah.edu) with questions about reporting requirements. 

Important Notices

1. Awards are cost-reimbursable after the completion of award activities.
2. This award is administered through the University of Utah under a Cooperative Agreement with the National Library of Medicine Award Number UG4LM013732.
3. Applicants are NOT required to budget to the maximum amount if the proposal cannot justify it.
4. The NTO Administration Office provides all subaward agreement or a memorandum of agreement documents for ALL approved projects.
5. Award applicants are NOT to begin their project until the University of Utah has completed and signed all necessary documentation.
6. All award recipients must agree to comply with the below required terms set by the National Institutes of Health (see "NIH Requirements" tab for more details).

Awardees must complete the following requirements before spending award funds: 

1. Complete a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA). The NTO will provide the MOA.
2. Submit a signed W-9 form for compensation (see the "Funding Information" tab for more details).

All award recipients must agree to comply with the below required terms set by the National Institutes of Health.

508 Compliance 
Section 508 requires that all website content be accessible to people with disabilities. This applies to web applications, web pages and all attached files on the intranet as well as internet. The National Library of Medicine is a part of the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Recipients of National Library of Medicine funding through the NNLM must meet all requirements under Section 508. Information on 508 compliance.

NIH Public Access Policy
Recipients of NNLM funding are required to deposit any peer-reviewed manuscript upon acceptance for publication in PubMed Central in accordance with the NIH Public Access Policy.

Data Sharing and Development of Training Materials
To facilitate the dissemination of knowledge and information associated with the NNLM Cooperative Agreement Award, all sub-awardees are required to share any data or training material resulting from funding. This information must be submitted to the following collection sites as applicable:
•    Network of the National Library of Medicine (NNLM) website;
•    Other websites specifically designated by the NLM as part of the Network of the National Library of Medicine (considering changes in the project and data repositories required to maintain sharing within the Network).
In addition, recipients of funding are expected to use or adapt existing training materials before developing new materials. Consult with your RML/Office and the NNLM Training Office (NTO) prior to developing materials.

Publication and Copyrighting
Per Section 8.2.1. – Right in Data (Publication and Copyrighting) of the NIH Grants Policy Statement. The NIH must be given a royalty-free, nonexclusive, and irrevocable license for the Federal government to reproduce, publish, or otherwise use any materials developed as a result of funding and to authorize others to do so for Federal purposes, i.e. the ongoing development of the Network of the National Library of Medicine. Data developed by sub-awardees/consortium participants and consultants are also subject to this policy.

NIH Acknowledgement
Any resources developed with project funds must include an acknowledgement of NIH grant support and a disclaimer.
"This project has been funded in whole or in part with Federal funds from the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, under Cooperative Agreement Number UG4LM013732 with the University of Utah. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health."

Additional notices: 

1. Human Subject Research Restrictions: All proposed assessment and evaluation activities must either 1) not meet the definition of research (a systematic investigation designed to develop or contribute to generalizable knowledge [45 CFR 46.102(l)] or 2) MUST be have been determined by the applicant's Institutional Review Board to be Exempt Research as defined by the Basic HHS Policy for Protection of Human Research Subjects §46.104(d). Additional human subjects research requirements may apply.
2. Institution Tax ID: Applicant must provide the 9-digit tax identification number for your institution. Professional Development Awards reimbursement requests paid to an individual are excluded.
3. Institution Unique Entity ID: Please confirm your organization’s Unique Entity ID (UEI) with the System for Award Management (SAM.gov). If your organization does not have a UEI, register for one as soon as possible. Professional Development Awards reimbursement requests paid to an individual are excluded.
4. Funded projects are displayed on the publicly accessible NNLM website and are often provided by NLM in response to data requests from NIH, HHS, OMB, Congress, and the White House.
    

Are you interested in teaching CHIS classes in your community? This guide contains materials for teaching several of our most popular consumer health classes, to support health information professionals in providing quality health information in local communities.

About CHIS

CHIS stands for Consumer Health Information Specialization, a program that the Medical Library Association (MLA) provides. The MLA Consumer Health Information Specialization (CHIS) offers training in providing health information services to consumers and recognition for acquiring new health information skills.

You can learn more about CHIS in our CHIS Guide

Topics:

1. Health outreach and programming
2. Providing health resources
3. MedlinePlus
4. Providing mental health resources 

Many of these classes focus on MedlinePlus. If you would like a refresher on MedlinePlus, please review the Introduction to MedlinePlus slides or the MedlinePlus Tutorial for Librarians and Health Educators. 

Contact

For questions or to share feedback on how you have used these materials, please contact nto@utah.edu 

Funding statement: 

This program was developed by the NNLM National Training Office (NTO) and National All of Us Program (NAPC) with funding from the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, under Cooperative Agreement Number UG4LM013732

All materials provided here are public domain and freely available for re-use. Please acknowledge NLM as the source of the information by including the phrase “Courtesy of the U.S. National Library of Medicine” or “Source: U.S. National Library of Medicine.”