Grant Connections | December 2015 Meeting Notes

Notes from the December Grant Connections meeting are included below for your review and reference. Thanks to all who attended. We hope to see you at the next meeting on Wednesday, January 27, 2016.

Happy New Year!

 

NIH Notices: For 1/25/16 due dates, revised SF424 Application Guides including new REQUIRED attachment | Revised FY16 Grants Policy Statement

MU Grants Community,

Please take note of the following NIH announcements. Should you have questions about the applicability of this guidance to current or anticipated projects, please contact your OSPA Pre-Award or Post-Award staff.

Effective for proposal with due dates on or after January 25, 2016:
Revised SF424 (R&R) Application Guides and Supplemental Instructions (NOT-OD-16-029)

Rigor and Transparency*
Change: Updated application requirements and review language to enhance reproducibility of research findings through increased scientific rigor and transparency. These changes will take effect for most research grant applications (including small business and complex research grant applications), but will not impact institutional training and individual fellowship applications until a later date. Changes include:

• Updates to application guide instructions for preparing your research strategy attachment 
• Use of a new required attachment: "Authentication of Key Resources Plan” (uploaded in Other Attachments section of R&R Other Project Information form) 
• Additional rigor and transparency questions reviewers will be asked to consider when reviewing applications

See the attached summary and NOT-OD-16-011 and NOT-OD-16-012.

Grant Connections - December 2015

Wednesday, December 9, 2015
11:00 a.m. – noon
Room 572 of the Bond Life Sciences Center

Agenda

• Hot Topics
• Office of Research Ongoing Strategic Initiatives and Core Research Infrastructure Support. Mark McIntosh, Ph.D., Interim Vice Chancellor for Research, Graduate Studies, and Economic Development; Associate Vice Chancellor for Research and Strategic Initiatives; Director of the Research Core Facilities; and Professor and Chairman of the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology. Dr. McIntosh will talk about the key role we as research administrators play in strategic initiatives for growing MU’s research enterprise. 

Mark your calendars! Meetings are scheduled for the following dates.

• January 27, 2016
• February 24, 2016
• March 23, 2016
• April 27, 2016
• May 25, 2016

Grant Connections Organizational Crew (send your suggestions for future topics to these people)

• Liz Bent, Grants & Contracts Administrator, CAFNR 
• Marty Carter, Senior Business Operations Associate, School of Medicine 
• Brandi Clements, Grants & Contracts Administrator, College of Education 
• Craig David, Director, OSPA 
• Jill Ferguson, Senior Compliance Manager, OSPA 
• Sheryl Koenig, Grant Proposal Manager, Bond Life Sciences Center 
• Julia Rodriguez, Grants & Contracts Administrator, Bond Life Sciences Center 
• Jamie Szabo, Senior Compliance Manager, OSPA 

Please share this information with anyone else associated with research who you think might be interested in attending.

OSPA Updates 10/23/2015

New Links on the OSPA website for quick reference to data management and public access resources

• Many funding agencies, including the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), have requirements for data sharing and data management plans. Under Proposal Development Resources on the OSPA main page, you can now find a link to an MU Libraries resource page on Data Management Plans. 
• The NIH public access policy requires scientists to submit final peer-reviewed journal manuscripts that arise from NIH funds to PubMed Central immediately upon acceptance for publication. NIH will delay processing of non-competing continuation grant awards if publications arising from that award are not in compliance with the public access mandate. Under Federal Guidance and Regulations on the OSPA main page, you can now find a link to an MU Libraries resource page on the NIH Public Access Policy.
  
  Note that NSF recently released its own public access policy. The library resource page will be updated soon to incorporate NSF and other funder policies. In the meantime, frequently asked questions about the NSF policy can be found here. 

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An article in The Chronicle of Higher Education highlights the ever-stricter administrative requirements for submitting grant proposals:

Application guidelines are nothing new, but the ferocity with which they are being enforced is. The wrong font size on a proposal could lead to its rejection, forcing the applicant to wait months until the next grant cycle to resubmit. The delay can prove damaging with the tenure and promotion clock ticking.

Grant Programs Get Persnickety

Sponsor Notices: NSF PAPPG (NSF 16-1) effective 1/25/16 | NIH Webinars; 2016 Policy, Instructions, and Form Changes

MU Grants Community,
Please take note of the following federal agency announcements. Should you have questions about the applicability of this guidance to current or anticipated projects, please contact your OSPA Pre-Award or Post-Award staff.

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National Science Foundation (NSF)

A revised version of the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG), (NSF 16-1) has been issued. The new PAPPG will be effective for proposals submitted, or due, on or after January 25, 2016. Significant changes include:

• Enforcement of 5 p.m. submitter’s local time across all NSF funding opportunities 
• Implementation of NSF’s Public Access Policy 
• NSF’s implementation of the US Government Policy for Institutional Oversight of Life Sciences on Dual Use Research of Concern 
• Provision of Collaborators and Other Affiliations information as a new single-copy document, instead of as part of the Biographical Sketch 
• Submission of Biographical Sketches and Current and Pending Support separately for each senior personnel 
• Revision of timeframe for submission of final project reports, project outcomes reports and financial closure of awards to 120 days after the award end date 

Given the number of important revisions, the community is strongly encouraged to review the by-chapter summary of changes provided in the Introduction section of the PAPPG.

Grant Connections - October 2015

Wednesday, October 28, 2015
1:00 – 2:30pm
MU Student Center, Room 2205

Join us for a campus-wide screening of the Proposal Development webinar from the NCURA Life Cycle of the Award Series. The attached email provides more information, or click straight over to register on the OSPA Training webpage: https://apps.orcs.missouri.edu/ospa_training/login. Please note the time and location listed above, which is different from typical Grant Connections meetings.

Agenda

• NCURA Webinar: Proposal Development, Part 2. Part 1 of the series on October 14 is not a prerequisite for Part 2; however, Part 2 will pick up where Part 1 leaves off, covering the budget and justification and proposal preparation and submission. 
• Hot Topics (as time allows following the webinar) 

Mark your calendars! Meetings are scheduled for the following dates.

• November (no meeting)
• December 9, 2015 (note early date before the end of the semester and holidays)
• January 27, 2016
• February 24, 2016
• March 23, 2016
• April 27, 2016
• May 25, 2016

Grant Connections | September Meeting Notes

Please use these notes from the September Grant Connections meeting for your review and reference.  Thanks to all who attended. We hope to see you at the next meeting on Wednesday, October 28.

 

 

Grant Connections - September 2015

Wednesday, September 23, 2015
11:00 a.m. – noon
Reading Room (171) of the Bond Life Sciences Center

Please note: Dr. Mark McIntosh’s anticipated visit to Grant Connections will be rescheduled for a later date.

Agenda

• Hot Topics
• Managing International Collaborations. International collaborations bring both exciting opportunities and unique challenges. Geographic distance, language barriers, and differences in business practices and regulatory requirements each require alternative approaches to grants administration. Heather Little, Compliance Manager in the Office of Export Controls; Christy Copeland, Assistant Director of CAFNR International Programs; and Jamie Szabo from the Office of Sponsored Programs Administration will lead a panel discussion. 

Mark your calendars! Meetings are scheduled for the following dates.

• October 28, 2015
• November (no meeting)
• December 9, 2015 (note early date before the end of the semester and holidays)
• January 27, 2016
• February 24, 2016
• March 23, 2016
• April 27, 2016
• May 25, 2016

Grant Connections | August Meeting Notes

Please use these notes from the August Grant Connections meeting for your review and reference. Thanks to all who attended. We hope to see you at the next meeting on Wednesday, September 23, when Dr. Mark McIntosh will be the invited guest.

Dr. McIntosh is Associate Vice Chancellor for Research and Strategic Initiatives in the Office of Research, Graduate Studies, and Economic Development, as well as Professor and Chairman of the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology. In anticipation of our conversation with Dr. McIntosh, send questions or topics to Julia Rodriguez at rodriguezj@missouri.edu or call her at 884-1783.

OSPA Policy and Procedure Updates: Investigator Form | Shared Credit Change Request | Participant Support Costs

MU Grants Community,

Please note the following updates to sponsored projects policies and procedures:

Financial Conflict of Interest (FCOI): Alpha-1 Foundation and PCORI
The Investigator Form is revised to add the Alpha-1 Foundation and the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) as organizations having adopted the PHS FCOI Regulation. The Sponsored Programs Procedure Guide will be updated soon to reflect the same. Because these organizations have adopted the PHS FCOI Regulation in full, UM and MU COI polices related to PHS FCOI apply without exception. Proposals will not be submitted to these organizations before confirmation that each Investigator has a current Outside Interest Disclosure Form on file.

As a reminder, please be sure to access frequently-used form by way of the OSPA Forms page rather than referring back to a local copy. Investigator Forms currently in process can proceed; we will not refuse the old forms but will ask that you use the new form, dated 08/27/2015, for your next applicable project.

New Form: Shared Credit Change Request
Use the Shared Credit Change Request form to request changes in shared credit on existing awards. Correct shared credit designation ensures accurate Research Incentive Fund (RIF) distribution and reporting of expenditures in the Office of Research Annual Report. The form should be completed, approved by the impacted department chairs and deans, and then submitted to tigerteam@missouri.edu.

Addition to the Sponsored Programs Procedure Guide (SPPG): Participant Support Costs

NIH Notices: Current Forms | eRA Service Desk | Prior Approval Rules for Human Subjects Research Awards

MU Grants Community,

Please see the following NIH Notices: 

• OMB Approval for Form Changes Underway - Continue to Use Current Forms Until Further Notice (NOT-OD-15-146)
  Until further notice, applicants and grantees must continue to use the current agency-specific forms listed in this Notice despite the expiration date of August 31, 2015. NIH is authorized to continue to use the current forms while working with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to obtain approval for form updates. Once OMB approval is in place, NIH will provide information on data collection changes and implementation plans.

• eRA Commons Help Desk Rebranded as eRA Service Desk (NOT-OD-15-147)
  The eRA Commons Help Desk has been rebranded as the eRA Service Desk to reflect the team’s expansion to support ASSIST and other eRA services in addition to eRA Commons.

• Guidance on Changes That Involve Human Subjects in Active Awards and That Will Require Prior NIH Approval: Updated Notice (NOT-OD-15-128)
  Provides detailed guidance on the types of changes in human subjects research awards that will require prior NIH approval and provides information on the process for submission of such requests. 
• Prior NIH Approval of Human Subjects Research in Active Awards Initially Submitted without Definitive Plans for Human Subjects Involvement (Delayed Onset Awards): Updated Notice (NOT-OD-15-129)
  Clarifies NIH requirements related to prior NIH approval of human subjects research plans for awards which were submitted with the intent to conduct human subjects research during the period of support, but for which definitive plans could not be described in the grant application. 

Should you have questions about the applicability of these policies to current or anticipated projects, please contact your OSPA pre-award or post-award staff.

Grant Connections - August Meeting

Wednesday, August 26, 2015
11:00 a.m. – noon
Room 171 of the Bond Life Sciences Center

Agenda

• Hot Topics. Attendees of the NCURA Annual Meeting in early August, please share with us what you learned! 
• Graduate Student Health Insurance and Sponsored Projects.
  Update: The health insurance subsidy component of the MU Graduate Student Support Program was reinstated on 8/21/15. We will still briefly discuss how and why allowable costs to grants would have been impacted. A discussion of the impact on allowable costs as a result of the recent changes to graduate student health insurance at MU.
• DHHS Award Transition to Subaccounts. OSPA will deliver a brief presentation on the transition of Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) awards, including National Institutes of Health (NIH) awards, from pooled to subaccounts. We will discuss the impact on our existing awards including new MoCodes, carry over, no cost time extensions, and progress reporting.

Mark your calendars! Meetings are scheduled for the following dates.

• September 23, 2015 
• October 28, 2015

Grant Connections Organizational Crew (send your suggestions)

• Liz Bent, Grants & Contracts Administrator, CAFNR 
• Marty Carter, Senior Business Operations Associate, School of Medicine 
• Brandi Clements, Grants & Contracts Administrator, College of Education 
• Craig David, Director, OSPA 
• Jill Ferguson, Senior Compliance Manager, OSPA 
• Sheryl Koenig, Grant Proposal Coordinator, Bond Life Sciences Center 
• Julia Rodriguez, Grants & Contracts Administrator, Bond Life Sciences Center 
• Jamie Szabo, Senior Compliance Manager, OSPA 

Please share this information with anyone else associated with research who you think might be interested in attending.

Important Update re: Changes in Student Health Insurance Subsidy for Graduate Teaching and Research

MU Grants Community,

Please see the update regarding graduate student health insurance subsidies on the Office of Graduate Studies website: http://gradstudies.missouri.edu/about/news-events/news-features/2015/response-to-graduate-student-demands-and-update-on-health-insurance/

Based on recent conversations with external experts and leadership, along with consultation with peer institutions, compliance experts and internal constituents, MU will defer implementation of its decision regarding graduate student health insurance. As a result, the university will pay for health insurance for eligible graduate students.

As such, the grants-specific FAQs issued on 8/19/15 are no longer applicable. Graduate student health insurance costs may be charged to a grant if allowable based on specific guidelines of the sponsor and applied according to federal cost principles.

Changes in Student Health Insurance Subsidy for Graduate Teaching and Research - Impact on Sponsored Project FAQs

Update: Based on the update issued by the Office of the Chancellor on 08/21/2015 the grants-specific FAQs issued on 08/19/15 are no longer applicable and have been removed from this post. 

MU Grants Community,

Included below please find an initial set of grants-specific FAQs. Please further distribute this guidance to your faculty, staff, and students as appropriate.

The agenda for next Wednesday’s Grant Connections meeting will include discussion of this topic. Thank you for the feedback you have provided thus far and for your patience while we gather and review information as it becomes available. 

Grant Connections | July Meeting Notes

Notes from the July Grant Connections meeting are included below for your review and reference. Though meeting notes are disseminated to the full Grants Community listserv, we encourage your continued (or new!) attendance. Your contributions to discussion and the selection of topics are crucial to the ongoing success of the meetings.  We hope to see you at the next meeting on Wednesday, August 26.

 

Grant Connections - July Meeting

Wednesday, July 29, 2015
11:00 a.m. – noon
Room 572 of the Bond Life Sciences Center

Agenda

• Hot Topics
• Mizzou Contracts Web Portal. Casey Forbis from Business Services will give an overview of MU’s new contracts portal. While you or your department’s fiscal staff may have already attended a training session, this will be a good opportunity to discuss how the new portal fits into sponsored projects workflows. 
• Salary Limits. Have you heard of the “NSF two-month rule”?* We will use this a basis to discuss sponsor salary limitations and how they apply in various scenarios. 

Mark your calendars! Meetings are scheduled for the following dates.

• August 26, 2015 
• September 23, 2015 
• October 28, 2015

Grant Connections Organizational Crew (send your suggestions)

• Liz Bent, Grants & Contracts Administrator, CAFNR 
• Marty Carter, Senior Business Operations Associate, School of Medicine 
• Brandi Clements, Grants & Contracts Administrator, College of Education 
• Craig David, Director, OSPA 
• Jill Ferguson, Senior Compliance Manager, OSPA 
• Sheryl Koenig, Grant Proposal Coordinator, Bond Life Sciences Center 
• Julia Rodriguez, Grants & Contracts Administrator, Bond Life Sciences Center 
• Jamie Szabo, Senior Compliance Manager, OSPA 

Please share this information with anyone else associated with research who you think might be interested in attending.

NSF Notices: New Automated Proposal Compliance Checks | Update on Rollouts in Research.gov

MU Grants Community,

Please take note of the following information from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Should you have questions about the applicability of this guidance to current or anticipated projects, please contact your OSPA Pre-Award or Post-Award staff.

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New Automated Proposal Compliance Checks in FastLane

On July, 24, 2015, the next set of automated proposal compliance checks will be released in FastLane. The checks will trigger warning messages if the following proposal sections do not exist for proposals submitted in response to a Program Solicitation for the applicable funding mechanism type (Conference, Equipment, Ideas Lab, Facility/Center, and Fellowship):

• References Cited
• Biographical Sketch(es)
• Budget Justification: Primary Organization 
• Budget Justification: Sub recipient Organization 
• Current and Pending Support
• Facilities, Equipment and Other Resources

OSPA Certificate Series for Specialized Grants Training | Post-Award and Regulatory Sessions

After a bit of summer break, the OSPA Certificate Series is back! Finishing out the Post-Award Track Training, the following sessions are open for registration:  

Subawards and Consulting Agreements

Utilizing case studies, analyze the difference between subrecipients/subawards and vendors/consulting agreements as they pertain to sponsored projects. Discuss the subaward process throughout in the award cycle, from the documentation needed before a subrecipient can be named in a proposal submitted to a sponsor to closing out the subaward. Discuss the consulting agreement process throughout the award cycle, from issuing the consulting agreement to receipt of deliverables and payment.

Cost Sharing

Define cost sharing and the different types, including mandatory, voluntary committed, and voluntary uncommitted. Understand compliance requirements related to cost sharing. Discuss third-party and unallowable cost share and the related impacts on facilities and administrative (F&A) cost recovery. Utilizing case studies, identify different types of cost sharing, discuss proper documentation and reporting, and examine issues of noncompliance.

Effort Verification Reporting (EVR), Cost Transfers, and Payroll Correcting Entries (PCE)

Utilizing case studies, review EVR, PCE, and cost transfer examples and their application to sponsored projects. Discuss compliance requirements for each of these activities. Identify common issues and risks of noncompliance.

Grant Fact Sheet Update: OSPA's New Permanent Address

Please note a slight change to OSPA’s new permanent address. Due to incompatibility with some federal grant application systems, we will no longer use the ZIP suffix code of 8330. Instead, the full ZIP+4 for all official purposes is 65211-0001. Please access the current version here, noting the following change:

Grant Connections | June Meeting Notes

Notes from the June Grant Connections meeting are included below for your review and reference. Though meeting notes are disseminated to the full Grants Community listserv, we encourage your continued (or new!) attendance. Your contributions to discussion and the selection of topics are crucial to the ongoing success of the meetings.  We hope to see you at the next meeting on Wednesday, July 29.

 

 

Sponsor Notices: NIFA | NSF | NIH

MU Grants Community,

Please take note of the following federal agency announcements. Should you have questions about the applicability of this guidance to current or anticipated projects, please contact your OSPA Pre-Award or Post-Award staff.

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United States Department of Agriculture | National Institute of Food and Agriculture

NIFA issued guidance regarding an updated acknowledgement statement for USDA support by NIFA. NIFA’s Office of Grants and Financial Management will add this same statement to award terms as appropriate.

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National Science Foundation 

On July 24, 2015, NSF will take a next step in its transition from FastLane to Research.gov by releasing the following ten additional notifications and requests in Research.gov and retiring them from FastLane: 

• Long-term Disengagement of the PI/PD or co-PI/co-PD (>3 months) 
• Pre-Award Costs in Excess of 90 Days 
• Significant Changes in Methods/Procedures 
• Significant Changes/Delays or Events of Unusual Interest 
• Changes in Objectives or Scope 
• Reallocation of Funds Provided for Participant Support Costs 
• Change in Person-Months Devoted to Project 
• Withdrawal of PI/PD or co-PI/co-PD 
• Rearrangements/Alterations in excess of $25,000 (construction) 
• Conflicts of Interest

Grant Fact Sheet Update: OSPA's New Address | 2015-16 GRA Stipends, Medical Insurance Rates

 MU Grants Community, 

A new version of the Grant Fact Sheet, dated 07/07/2015, is available on the OSPA website. Please access the current version here, noting the following changes:

1. Applicant Organization Mailing Address (p. 1)
OSPA has established permanent offices at Mizzou North on Business Loop 70W and will not return to its former Jesse Hall location. Effective immediately, please use the Mizzou North address listed on the Grant Fact Sheet when providing official Applicant Organization contact information.

2. Graduate Research and Teaching Assistant Stipends updated to 2015-2016 rates (p. 4)

3. Graduate Student Medical Insurance updated to 2015-2016 rates (p. 4)

PeopleSoft Financials Outage: June 30-July 6 | OSPA Temporary Proposal Form

MU Grants Community,

PeopleSoft Financial System applications will be unavailable from Tuesday, June 30, at 5:00 p.m. until Monday, July 6, at 7:00 a.m. for the fiscal year end. As all accesses to the Grants Module are affected, please refer to the attached instructions for utilizing the Temporary Proposal Form for proposal processing during this period. As a reminder, PS Financial Reporting-FSRPT is available for viewing existing data during the outage period; you cannot make changes in Reporting.

Should you have questions, please contact your OPSA pre-award staff.

Grant Connections - June 2015

Wednesday, June 24, 2015
11:00 a.m. – noon
Room 572 of the Bond Life Sciences Center

Agenda

• Hot Topics
• ASSIST Panel Discussion. Application Submission System & Interface for Submission Tracking (ASSIST) is NIH’s online system for preparation, submission and tracking of grant applications through Grants.gov to NIH. NIH recently opened ASSIST to support R01s, U01, and Career Development grant applications in addition to all multi-project grant programs and R03s and R21s. Sheryl Koenig (Bond Life Sciences Center) and Angie Hake and Jill Ferguson (OSPA) will lead a discussion and Q&A. 
• iThenticate. iThenticate is text recognition software that checks a manuscript or proposal against published works to identify both legitimate duplication (e.g., literature citations) and inappropriate use of text (e.g., plagiarism, redundant publication). Jill Ferguson will demo iThenticate and talk about efforts around campus to support its use. 

Mark your calendars! Meetings are scheduled for the following dates.

• July 29, 2015 
• August 26, 2015 
• September 23, 2015 
• October 28, 2015

Grant Connections Organizational Crew (send your suggestions)

• Liz Bent, Grants & Contracts Administrator, CAFNR 
• Marty Carter, Senior Business Operations Associate, School of Medicine 
• Brandi Clements, Grants & Contracts Administrator, College of Education 
• Craig David, Director, OSPA 
• Jill Ferguson, Senior Compliance Manager, OSPA 
• Sheryl Koenig, Grant Proposal Coordinator, Bond Life Sciences Center 
• Julia Rodriguez, Grants & Contracts Administrator, Bond Life Sciences Center 
• Jamie Szabo, Senior Compliance Manager, OSPA 

Please share this with anyone else associated with research who you think might be interested in attending.

Grant Connections | May Meeting Notes

Notes from the May Grant Connections meeting are included below for your review and reference. Though meeting notes are disseminated to the full Grants Community listserv, we encourage your continued (or new!) attendance. Your contributions to discussion and the selection of topics are crucial to the ongoing success of the meetings. Thank you in advance! 

 

F&A Cost Recovery: On- and Off-Campus Rates

Good morning,

The Office of Sponsored Programs Administration (OSPA) maintains internal policies and procedures for recovery of facilities and administrative (F&A) costs consistent with System-wide BPM-203, F&A Cost Recovery (Grants & Contracts).

In collaboration with MU campus and UM System partners, OSPA has developed an addition to the F&A policy* to provide clear and consistent guidance for determining on- or off-campus classification of sponsored activities. There is also clarification regarding the applicable rates for clinical trials.

The guidance is published to the OSPA website as an addition to the F&A Cost Recovery policy. Should you have questions about the applicability of this policy to current or anticipated projects, please contact OSPA.    

Craig David

Director

Authorized Signer, Grants and Contracts

Phone: 573.882.9570 | Fax: 573.884.4078 | davidcr@missouri.edu
University of Missouri | Sponsored Programs | 310 Jesse Hall, Columbia, MO 65211

Grant Connections - May 2015

Wednesday, May 27, 2015
11:00 a.m. – noon
Room 572 of the Bond Life Sciences Center

Agenda

• Hot Topics including, but not limited to, federal agency updates from the May meeting of the Federal Demonstration Partnership (FDP). As always, bring your own hot topics! 
• What’s new in the Office of Research, Graduate Studies and Economic Development—and what does it mean for me? An interview with Steve Wyatt, Associate Vice Chancellor and Vice Provost for Economic Development, to discuss the current Research Division structure, future directions, and challenges and opportunities.

Mark your calendars! Meetings are scheduled for the following dates.

• June 24, 2015 
• July 29, 2015 
• August 26, 2015 
• September 23, 2015 
• October 28, 2015

Grant Connections Organizational Crew (send your suggestions)

• Liz Bent, Grants & Contracts Administrator, CAFNR 
• Marty Carter, Senior Business Operations Associate, School of Medicine 
• Brandi Clements, Grants & Contracts Administrator, College of Education 
• Craig David, Director, OSPA 
• Jill Ferguson, Pre-award Compliance Manager, OSPA 
• Sheryl Koenig, Grant Proposal Coordinator, Bond Life Sciences Center 
• Julia Rodriguez, Grants & Contracts Administrator, Bond Life Sciences Center 
• Jamie Szabo, Post-award Compliance Manager, OSPA 

Please share this with anyone else associated with research who you think might be interested in attending.

Grants Connections | April Meeting Notes

Notes from the April Grant Connections meeting are included below for your review and reference. Though meeting notes are disseminated to the full Grants Community listserv, we encourage your continued (or new!) attendance. Your contributions to discussion and the selection of topics are crucial to the ongoing success of the meetings. Thank you in advance!

Grant Fact Sheet Update: Fringe Benefits Rates

MU Grants Community,

A new version of the Grant Fact Sheet, dated 5/6/2015, is available on the OSPA website. Please access the current version here, noting the following changes.

Page 3: Non-federal fringe benefits rates are updated to include fiscal year (FY) 2016 calculated rates and projected rates for FY2017-FY2020.

Certificate Series: Registration Open

The following Certificate Series announcement was issued January 7, 2015.

MU Research Community,

As you welcome a new year, please consider attending one, a few, or all of the OSPA Certificate Series for Specialized Grants Training sessions planned for 2015. A new registration page provides the details for scheduled sessions—including proposal development, budget development, ePSRS, F&A, and more!—and the full range of offerings to be scheduled for the year: https://apps.orcs.missouri.edu/ospa_training/

Or from the OSPA homepage, look for Training Registration in the quick-links sidebar.

Certificate Series: More Courses Now Open for Registration!

The following Certificate Series announcement was issued March 10, 2015.

OSPA Certificate Series sessions through August are now open for registration! Topics include the following:

• Budget Development *Tomorrow, Wednesday, March 11, 8:30am. Seats remain! Please join us!
• Notice of Grant Award (NGA), Acceptance, and Establishment of an Award
• PeopleSoft Grants Module Financial Reports and Queries
• Allowability 
• Management of Award
• Federal Contracts
• Subawards and Consulting Agreements
• Cost Sharing 

View full details (including course descriptions, day/time, and location) and register here: https://apps.orcs.missouri.edu/ospa_training/

Grant Fact Sheet Update: Human Subject Research and Animal Use Assurances

MU Grants Community

A new version of the Grant Fact Sheet, dated 4/21/215, is available on the OSPA website. Please access the current version here, noting the following changes.

Page 3: Human Subject Research and Animal Use Assurances

NIH Notices: Reporting Publications in the RPPR | Application Compliance Reminder

MU Grants Community,

Please review the following NIH Notices:

• Reporting Publications in the Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR) (NOT-OD-15-090)
  Awardees are encouraged to electronically report any publications found in Table 1 of the RPPR which were previously reported using the paper 2590 process or as part of a competing renewal application. This transitional, one-time measure to report each publication electronically in the RPPR ensures that NIH systems can store all appropriate award-publication associations. 

• Reminder: NIH Policy on Application Compliance (NOT-OD-15-095)
  Application non-compliance can have serious consequences. NIH may withdraw any application identified during the receipt, referral and review process that is not compliant with the instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide, the Funding Opportunity Announcement, and relevant NIH Guide Notices. 

Should you have questions about the applicability of these policies to current or anticipated projects, please contact your OSPA Pre-Award or Post-Award staff.

Notice to NSF Applicants: Important Information Regarding Automated Compliance Checking of NSF Proposals

MU Grants Community,

Please see the notice below from the National Science Foundation regarding new automated compliance checks at proposal submission, effective April 24, 2015.

As a reminder, the memo linked here from OSPA Director Craig David, dated February 27, 2015, provides MU submission guidelines to ensure adequate time for proposal review and successful submission. Under this policy, a complete and final proposal, accompanied by the necessary internal approvals, must be received by the Office of Sponsored Programs Administration (OSPA) at least five (5) business days prior to the sponsor’s due date and time.

Please contact your OSPA pre-award staff with questions.

Dear Colleagues:

On April, 24, 2015, the National Science Foundation (NSF) will release updates to FastLane that may impact the way you work. Proposals submitted in response to Program Solicitations in FastLane will undergo a series of automated proposal compliance validation checks to ensure they comply with requirements outlined in the PAPPG (Chapter II.C.2 of the Grants Proposal Guide (GPG)). These checks will automatically validate a proposal for compliance against proposal sections per type of funding mechanism. For example, an error message will appear if a project description or budget are not provided in proposals submitted in response to a Program Solicitation.

Grant Connections - April 2015

Wednesday, April 29, 2015 (next week, not this week!)
11:00 a.m. – noon
Room 572 of the Bond Life Sciences Center

Agenda

• Hot Topics including, but not limited to, the new NIH biosketch format effective for application deadlines on or after May 26, 2015. As always, bring your own hot topics! 
• FY14 A-133 Single Audit Report. Jeremy Cox (OSPA) will provide an overview and context for the University’s fiscal year 2014 Single Audit. The audit report was issued on March 16, 2015.
• “At Award” Panel Discussion. Hannah Clampitt and Megan White (OSPA) and Brandi Clements (College of Education) will lead a discussion and Q&A about what goes on behind the scenes from the time the University receives a Notice of Award to when OSPA issues the Grant Award Summary (MoCode), indicating that work on the sponsored project can begin. 

Mark your calendars! Meetings are scheduled for the following dates.

• May 27, 2015 
• June 24, 2015 
• July 29, 2015 
• August 26, 2015 
• September 23, 2015 
• October 28, 2015

Grant Connections Organizational Crew (send your suggestions)

• Liz Bent, Grants & Contracts Administrator, CAFNR 
• Marty Carter, Senior Business Operations Associate, School of Medicine 
• Brandi Clements, Grants & Contracts Administrator, College of Education 
• Craig David, Director, OSPA 
• Jill Ferguson, Pre-award Compliance Manager, OSPA 
• Sheryl Koenig, Grant Proposal Coordinator, Bond Life Sciences Center 
• Julia Rodriguez, Grants & Contracts Administrator, Bond Life Sciences Center 
• Jamie Szabo, Post-award Compliance Manager, OSPA 

Please share this post with anyone else associated with research who you think might be interested in attending.

Grant Fact Sheet Update: Graduate Student Support Program (GSSP) Rates

MU Grants Community,

A new version of the Grant Fact Sheet, dated 4/14/2015, is available on the OSPA website. Please access the current version here, noting the following changes:

Page 4: Graduate Student Support Program (GSSP) Rates: Tuition and Fee Costs

Institutional Minimum Graduate Research and Teaching Assistant Stipends and Graduate Student Medical Insurance sections will be updated with 2015-2016 rates as soon as they are available.

InFocus F&A Quarterly Newsletter

The latest issue of the InFocue F&A Quarterly Newsletter was distributed on Thursday, April 16, 2015.  Key topics include the PeopleSoft Finance/Supply Chain Upgrade, Space Survey details, and A-133 Audit updates.  Read the full newsletter here.

Update on NIH and NSF Implementations of the OMB Uniform Guidance | Revised NIH Grants Policy Statement | NSF FAQs

Grants Community,

Please take note of the following federal agency announcements:

National Institutes of Health (NIH) issued NOT-OD-15-087 regarding publication of a revised NIH Grants Policy Statement (GPS), dated 3/31/2015. The revised NIH GPS is effective for all NIH grants and cooperative agreements with a budget period beginning on or after December 26, 2014, and awards receiving supplemental funds on or after that date. The 3/31/2015 revision supersedes, in its entirety, the NIH Grants Policy Statement (10/01/2013) and the NIH Interim General Grant Conditions (2/5/2015) as a standard term and condition of the award. A “Significant Changes” document summarizes the revision: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/nihgps/Significant_Changes_NIHGPS.pdf

National Science Foundation (NSF) issued a set of frequently asked questions (FAQs) on its implementation the OMB Uniform Guidance. The FAQs will be updated periodically as additional questions arise. http://www.nsf.gov/bfa/dias/policy/faqs/faqs_2cfr200.pdf

The OMB Uniform Guidance page on the OSPA website is revised to reflect these updates. Should you have questions about the applicability of the policies to current or anticipated projects, please contact your OSPA Pre-Award or Post-Award staff.

NIH and AHRQ Reminder: Biosketch Requirements for Due Dates on or After May 25, 2015

Important reminder to NIH and AHRQ applicants!

The new biosketch format is required for applications submitted to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Agency for Health Research and Quality (AHRQ) for due dates on or after May 25, 2015. Biosketch format pages, instructions, samples and FAQs are available on the Biosketches section of the SF424 (R&R) Forms and Applications page. NIH encourages applicants to use SciENcv (the Science Experts Network Curriculum Vitae system) to generate their biosketches in the new format.  

For more information, listen to the NIH “ALL About Grants” podcasts:

• Understanding NIH’s Biosketch Requirements (mp3 and transcript)
• Using SciENcv to Create an NIH Biosketch (mp3 and transcript)

and watch the SciENcv You Tube video.

Please contact Jill Ferguson (fergusonjs@missouri.edu) or your OSPA Pre-Award staff with questions.

Grant Connections - March 2015

Wednesday, March 25, 2015
11:00 a.m. – noon
Room 171 (Reading Room) of the Bond Life Sciences Center

Agenda

• Hot Topics
• SciENcv and the new NIH and NSF biosketch formats. Science Experts Network Curriculum Vitae, or SciENcv, is a researcher profile system for all individuals who apply for, receive, or are associated with federal research funding. Sheryl Koenig will demo how to create a SciENcv profile and how SciENcv generates biosketches in NIH, NSF, and other formats. 
• Pivot Funding Opportunities Database. Pivot is a subscription database of funding opportunities and a scholar database designed to help researchers collaborate. Jill Ferguson will demo Pivot’s funding search and scholar profile functionality and talk about efforts around campus to support its use. 

Mark your calendars! Meetings are scheduled for the following dates.

• April 22, 2015 
• May 27, 2015 
• June 24, 2015 
• July 29, 2015 
• August 26, 2015 
• September 23, 2015 
• October 28, 2015

Grant Connections Organizational Crew (send your suggestions)

• Liz Bent, Grants & Contracts Administrator, CAFNR 
• Marty Carter, Senior Business Operations Associate, School of Medicine 
• Brandi Clements, Grants & Contracts Administrator, College of Education 
• Craig David, Director, OSPA 
• Jill Ferguson, Pre-award Compliance Manager, OSPA 
• Sheryl Koenig, Grant Proposal Coordinator, Bond Life Sciences Center 
• Julia Rodriguez, Grants & Contracts Administrator, Bond Life Sciences Center 
• Jamie Szabo, Post-award Compliance Manager, OSPA 

Please forward this email to anyone associated with research who you think might be interested in attending.

Proposal Submission Deadlines

The following notice was issued by Craig David, Director of the Office of Sponsored Programs Administration, on February 27, 2015.

The University of Missouri-Columbia (MU) implemented submission guidelines for sponsored project proposals to government agencies, foundations, and corporations in 2011. Under this policy, a complete and final proposal, accompanied by the necessary internal approvals, must be received by the Office of Sponsored Programs Administration (OSPA) at least five (5) business days prior to the sponsor’s due date and time. These requirements are intended to provide OSPA adequate time to review proposals so that any problem areas can be identified and corrected before submission.

The proposal submission deadlines are instrumental to the success of the University’s research enterprise for the following reasons:

Ensure successful on-time submission of accurate and responsive proposals. Adherence to these deadlines ensures that all proposals receive complete review. Such review includes consideration of project narratives for consistency with budgets, staffing, and scopes of work.

Maintain fairness among faculty. Adherence to the submission guidelines ensures that all faculty benefit from full pre-award support and all proposals receive proper review in the order received by OSPA.

Safeguard compliance. In this era of increased focus on regulatory compliance, it is essential that the University take adequate measures to address federal-wide and sponsor-specific submission requirements.


Thank you for your efforts and, in advance, for your adherence to the proposal submission and review policies. If you have questions, please contact me at (573) 882-7560.

Craig David

Director

NSF System Update: Grants.gov Email Concerning Deleted Funding Opps

The following notice from the National Science Foundation (NSF) was issued on March 11, 2015.  Should you have any questions or concerns, please contact your OSPA Pre-Award staff.

We are writing to let you know that some of the National Science Foundation (NSF) awardees and applicants may have received an email from Grants.gov stating the following:

“A grant opportunity you have previously downloaded from Grants.gov has been deleted. National Science Foundation will no longer be accepting applications for this opportunity…”

Although some funding opportunities are legitimately deleted for various reasons, it may be the case that this email was sent about funding opportunities that are actually still available on Grants.gov and FastLane. For consistency with revisions made to FastLane resulting from issuance of the FY2015 Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG), some funding packages with outdated forms needed to be deleted from Grants.gov and replaced with updated forms. Unfortunately, this deletion process created an automatic email from the Grants.gov system. NSF is working with Grants.gov to determine if this situation can be prevented in the future.

If you received this message from Grants.gov or you receive questions about this message, please direct awardees and applicants to use the same federal grants opportunity number to search for the same grant opportunity on Grants.gov to see if it is still active. If it is not, then it has likely been deleted for a legitimate reason and we are asking that applicants and awardees contact the cognizant Program Officer for more information.

For additional questions, please contact the NSF Help Desk.
7 AM to 9 PM
1-800-673-6188.


Thank you,
The National Science Foundation

Grant Connections - February 2015

Wednesday, February 25, 2015
11:00 a.m. – noon
Room 572 (Collaboratory) of the Bond Life Sciences Center

Agenda

• Hot Topics
• Environmental Health and Safety: Steve Hynes, Mary Reichel, Sunny Hoffman
• RPPR Roundtable Discussion: Tyeece Little (Division of Arts and Sciences), Ieshia Griffith (School of Medicine Grants and Contracts), Angie Hake (OSPA) and Karen Geren (OSPA)

Mark your calendars! Meetings are scheduled for the following dates.

• March 25, 2015 
• April 29, 2015 
• May 27, 2015 

Grant Connections Organizational Crew (send your suggestions)

• Liz Bent, Grants & Contracts Administrator, CAFNR 
• Marty Carter, Senior Business Operations Associate, School of Medicine 
• Brandi Clements, Grants & Contracts Administrator, College of Education 
• Craig David, Director, OSPA 
• Jill Ferguson, Senior Compliance Manager, OSPA 
• Sheryl Koenig, Grant Proposal Coordinator, Bond Life Sciences Center 
• Julia Rodriguez, Grants & Contracts Administrator, Bond Life Sciences Center 
• Jamie Szabo, Senior Compliance Manager, OSPA 

Please forward this email on to anyone else associated with research who you think might be interested in attending.

InFocus - Electronic EVR (eEVR)

The following editorial from Brian Burnett, Vice President for Finance and CFO and compliance update from Donna Johanning, Director of Financial Information Systems, was included in the InFocus - F&A Quarterly Newsletter released on February 20, 2015.

Welcome to InFocus!

The only constant in life... change.

With the diverse missions of the University of Missouri System and its campuses and operations, there is no question our ability to serve is increasingly financially strained under increasing demands for service from more students, limited state appropriation growth, tuition increase limits, and a challenging environment for competitive research funding. These are the realities we face as we work to serve the state of Missouri and the students who come to our campuses to learn and grow their abilities to be productive citizens of the state and nation. Thus, as the university continues to look for ways to not just survive but thrive in an era of a challenging funding climate, we must continue to examine ways to improve our operations and services. For the UM System Office of Finance, we must find ways to improve our operations and effectiveness of our services to the campuses we serve.

Notice to NIH Grant Applicants: eRA Information: Proactively Check Status of Application in eRA Commons

MU Grants Community, 

Please see the following alert from NIH issued Tuesday, February 3, 2015. OSPA checks the application status upon submission; however, as NIH suggests below, we also encourage PIs and Departmental Research Administrators to do the same. 

eRA Information: Proactively Check Status of Application in eRA Commons 

It has come to our attention that some notifications, sent upon application submission, are not being delivered to the email addresses listed on the SF424 R&R cover form of the application. 

We are looking into the issue and will send an update once we have resolved it.

Meanwhile, we encourage Principal Investigators and Signing Officials to proactively check the status of their submitted grant application in eRA Commons.

eRA Communications

Division of Communications and Outreach

NIH Office of Extramural Research

Questions? Please contact the eRA Help Desk. Check out self-help resources on the Help page before submitting an online ticket; or call Toll-free: 1-866-504-9552, Phone: 301-402-7469.  Help Desk hours are Mon-Fri, 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET