Grant Connections | December 2016 Notes

Notes from the December Grant Connections meeting are included below for your reference.  We hope to see you at the next meeting on Wednesday, January 25th.

 

Issuance of Revised NSF Award Terms and Conditions

Please share as appropriate. 

Dear Colleagues:

I wanted to make you aware that the Foundation’s entire suite of Award Terms and Conditions (see full listing below) has been revised to align with changes to the Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) (NSF 17-1). All references to the Grant Proposal Guide (GPG) and Award & Administration Guide (AAG) have been replaced with references to the PAPPG. Each set of terms and conditions is accompanied by a summary of changes made to that document.

The revised Terms and Conditions will apply to all new NSF awards and funding amendments to existing NSF awards issued on or after January 30, 2017.

Revisions have been made to the following documents:

• Grant General Conditions (GC-1);
• Cooperative Agreement Financial & Administrative Terms and Conditions (CA-FATC);
• Cooperative Agreement Supplemental Financial & Administrative Terms and Conditions for Managers of Large Facilities;
• Cooperative Agreement Supplemental Financial & Administrative Terms and Conditions for Managers of Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCS);
• International Research Terms and Conditions;
• Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)/Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I Grant General Conditions; 
• Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)/Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase II Grant General Conditions; and
• Administration of NSF Conference or Group Travel Grant Special Conditions (FL 26). 

If you have any questions regarding these changes, please contact the DIAS Policy Office on (703) 292-8243 or by email to policy@nsf.gov.

Regards,

Jean

Jean Feldman
Head, Policy Office
Division of Institution & Award Support (DIAS)
Office of Budget, Finance and Award Management

New FAQs on Proposal Preparation and Award Administration for Use with the New PAPPG (NSF 17-1)

Below please find a message from NSF: 

Dear Colleagues:

We are pleased to announce that a revised set of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on Proposal Preparation and Award Administration has been issued. These FAQs accompany the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG), (NSF 17-1), and are effective for proposals submitted or due, and awards made on or after, January 30, 2017.

If you have any questions regarding these FAQs, please contact the Policy Office in the Division of Institution & Award Support at 703.292.8243 or by e-mail to policy@nsf.gov.

Regards,

Jean Feldman
Head, Policy Office
Division of Institution and Award Support
Office of Budget, Finance & Award Management

Grant Fact Sheet updated 12/05/2016

MU Grants Community,

A new version of the Grant Fact Sheet, dated 12/05/16, is available on the OSPA website. Please access the current version here. Updates included:

Page 4: Updated tentative Institutional Minimum Graduate Research and Teaching Assistant Stipends

NIH Publishes New GPS 11/17/16

Please share as applicable.

Publication of the Revised NIH Grants Policy Statement (Rev. November 2016) for FY 2017

Notice Number: NOT-OD-17-021

Key Dates
Release Date: November 17, 2016

Related Announcements
None  

Issued by
National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Purpose
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announces the publication of the revised NIH Grants Policy Statement (NIHGPS, rev. November 2016).  This revision is applicable to all NIH grants and cooperative agreements with budget periods beginning on or after October 1, 2016. This revision supersedes, in its entirety, the NIH Grants Policy Statement (October/November 2015) as a standard term and condition of award.  Previous versions of the NIHGPS remain applicable as a standard term and condition for all NIH grants and cooperative agreements with budget periods that began prior to October 1, 2016.

The NIHGPS provides both up-to-date policy guidance that serves as NIH standard terms and conditions of awards for grants and cooperative agreements, and extensive guidance to those who are interested in pursuing NIH grants.

While this revision does not introduce any new material for the first time, it incorporates new and modified requirements, clarifies certain policies, and implements changes in statutes, regulations, and policies that have been implemented through appropriate legal and/or policy processes since the previous version of the NIHGPS dated October/November 2015. The document is available in the following electronic formats: HTML and PDF (http://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/nihgps/index.htm).  Prior versions of the NIHGPS are accessible at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/policy.htm#gps.

NIH will continue to publish interim grants policy changes through the issuance of NIH Guide Notices found at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/index.html.   Each change will be described, including its applicability and effective date; and the necessary language to implement it as a term or condition of award provided.

A document is available that summarizes the significant changes that are implemented with the November 2016 NIHGPS: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/nihgps/Significant_Changes_NIHGPS_Oct2016.pdf.

Inquiries
Please direct all inquiries to:
Division of Grants Policy
Office of Policy for Extramural Research Administration (OPERA)
Telephone: 301-435-0949
Email: GrantsPolicy@od.nih.gov

eRA Reminder: Please Update Your Browsers by Nov. 30 to Continue Using eRA Modules

eRA Reminder: Please Update Your Browsers by Nov. 30 
Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Just a reminder that on Wednesday, November 30, 2016, eRA is updating access to all its publicly-accessible websites to use ‘https only’ secure connections per federal mandate (OMB M-15-13, dated June 8, 2015). Please update your browsers to continue using eRA Commons, ASSIST, IAR and iEdison.

NOTE: This update will not impact System-to-System connections or security certificates. 

Original message below sent Wednesday, October 26, 2016 at 8:26 a.m. ET. 

Grant Connections | September 2016 Notes

Notes from the September Grant Connections meeting are included below. Thank you to all who attended. We hope to see you at the next meeting on Wednesday, October 26th.

 

Grant Connections - September 2016

Wednesday, September 28, 2016
11:00 a.m. – noon
Room 572 of the Bond Life Sciences Center

Agenda

• Hot Topics
• FDP Update: Jamie Szabo and Brenda Leuenberger attended FDP 9/21-9/23 and will share updates with the group
• Awards Dashboard: OSPA Preaward will do a demonstration of the new Awards Dashboard
• Sponsor Spotlight: OSPA Preaward will present on American Heart Association and US Department of Education

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

• Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Grant Connections Organizational Crew

Send your suggestions for future topics and questions to this group.

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

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

Keeping up with the FLSA Final Rule - Impact on Grants - Update as of 09/17/2016

MU Grants Community,

As we are nearing the effective date (December 1) for the FLSA final overtime rule, below is a summary of what we know at this time:

How NSF will handle new regulations (please see NSF FLSA FAQs):

• NSF released a FAQ on 8/10 describing the rules and how they would impact current and future awards. NSF awards typically allow for rebudgeting without sponsor approval, provided the rebudgeting action does not change the scope of the project.
• NSF will not be unilaterally supplementing awards with additional funds; however, if you determine rebudgeting would result in a change of scope or that supplemental funding is needed to comply with the new regulations, we are encouraged to contact your NSF Program Officer to discuss the issue. We cannot guarantee there will be funds available, but there are specific policies that address requesting supplemental funding, and we would be happy to walk you through this process should you desire to do so.

How NIH will handle new regulations:

• Released on 8/10, NIH has provided us with updated FY2017 stipend levels for postdoctoral trainees and fellows on NRSA awards. These stipend levels are in line with the new FLSA regulations. This guidance does not address how NIH will handle postdocs working on non-NRSA awards, particularly as it relates to supplemental funding to cover this extra expense for institutions. In a blog posted 8/30, the NIH’s Deputy Director indicated the NIH would be releasing more guidance and FAQs in the coming months. Please note that the typical rules for rebudgeting NIH awards are similar to those of the NSF; we would typically be able to rebudget to account for the new FLSA guidelines without sponsor approval, provided it did not change the scope of work. We have not received any indication that additional funds would be available to NIH awardees.

How the University is handling new regulations:

• The University’s overview, FAQs and timelines as it relates to the new FLSA regulations can be found here. Although there is no official guidance online that we are aware of, we have been told there is no fund at MU to cover the salary increases, and those increases will need to come from grant, department or divisional funds. Postdocs and other salaried employees who were under the new FLSA salary floor will receive their salary increases on 12/1/16.

Guidance from OSPA on how to handle the regulations moving forward:

• Effective immediately when filling out proposals, OSPA would encourage PIs to budget postdocs at the new floor of $47,476 plus the correct fringe rate regardless of their current salary. If you have concerns about current awards and how to make up the budget shortfall caused by the new regulations, please don’t hesitate to contact your OSPA pre-award/post-award liaison directly and we can discuss your options for potentially requesting additional funds from the sponsor, if available.

Grant Connections | August 2016 Notes

Notes from the August Grant Connections meeting are included below. Thank you to all who attended. We hope to see you at the next meeting on Wednesday, September 28th.