Operational Excellence
IN RESEARCH ADMINISTRATION
WHY WE’RE DOING THIS
The quality of administrative services provided by the Research Office is critical to creating an efficient and effective research environment at the University. Our goals during this initiative are to:
- Improve service to faculty who participate in sponsored research
- Increase process efficiency via enhanced policies, procedures, tools, and systems
- Bolster institutional compliance with federal and sponsor requirements
- Implement performance metrics to continuously review administrative effectiveness
PROGRESS UPDATES
We will be engaging the broader research community and sharing our progress throughout this transformation effort. Ongoing communications and status updates can be viewed in the announcement section below.
Announcements
1. NASA Policy Update: Implementation of New Grant and Cooperative Agreement Manual (Friday, October 18, 2024)
On October 1, 2024, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) released an updated version of the NASA Grant and Cooperative Agreement Manual (GCAM) which now provides a single resource for guidance covering the full life cycle – from proposal to closeout – of NASA-sponsored programs. The 2024 GCAM, available here, implements the Office of Management and Budget’s 2024 revisions to Title 2 of the Code of Federal Regulations (2 CFR), and fully incorporates the guidance previously found in the Proposer’s Guide, which will no longer be utilized.
The 2024 GCAM is effective October 1, 2024, and applies to all new awards and amendments issued on or after 10/1 regardless of when the proposal was submitted. The NASA Grant & Cooperative Agreement Terms and Conditions, which set forth general and specific award terms, have been separated from the GCAM to create a standalone document posted on the Grants Policy and Compliance page and available here.
To implement requirements of the National Security Presidential Memorandum-33 (NSPM-33) and the CHIPS and Science Act, all covered individuals, as defined in the 2024 GCAM, are now required to submit the common disclosure forms with their applications. The templates for the biographical sketch and current and pending support forms are posted here along with NASA’s Pre-Award and Post-Award Disclosure Requirements table. Both common forms require a signed certification that the individual is not a party to a malign foreign talent recruitment program.
As a reminder, senior/key personnel are required to disclose pending applications to and current participation in programs sponsored by foreign governments, instrumentalities, or entities, including foreign government-sponsored talent recruitment programs. Covered individuals are prohibited from participating in a malign foreign talent recruitment program.
All Announcements
2. New Resumption of Operations at NSF (Monday, January 28, 2019)
A Resumption of Operations at NSF page has been developed that includes Important Notice No. 145, Resumption of Operations at the National Science Foundation, dated January 28, 2019, as well as supplemental guidance that addresses grant and cooperative agreement-related policy and systems issues. This page will be of interest to your membership and we would appreciate your sharing this link as soon as possible. This page will continue to be updated as new information becomes available.
Policy-related questions regarding resumption of operations at NSF may be addressed to policy@nsf.gov.
3. Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects Update (Common Rule) (Monday, January 21, 2019)
Significant revisions to the “Common Rule” – a regulation that governs research involving human subjects conducted or sponsored by the Federal departments and agencies that have adopted those rules – are expected to take full effect on January 21, 2019.
This is the first revision to the Common Rule since its publication in 1991 and aims to strengthen the protection of research participants, while also reducing administrative burden for investigators.
The UD Institutional Review Board (IRB) will continue providing oversight of any studies reviewed and approved prior to January 21, 2019 under the version of the Common Rule under which the study was originally approved (pre-revisions). All new project submissions to the UD IRB beginning January 21, 2019 will be required to comply with the Revised Common Rule and will need to use the new templates as posted in IRBNet.
A new course on the “Revised Common Rule” is available under the University of Delaware training curriculum at www.citiprogram.org. Below is a summary of several key provisions and changes that will require compliance beginning January 21, 2019.
4. Partial Government Shutdown (Wednesday, January 2, 2019)
A partial government shutdown has continued into the new year. While NIH and the Department of Education are funded, others such as NSF, NASA, NOAA, USDA, NIST, and NEH are not. Agency Contingency Plans and FAQs can be found on the OMB website.
5. UD Financials Upgrade (Monday, April 16, 2018)
UD Financials PeopleSoft upgrade is now complete.
If you have any questions, please contact the Research Office
6. Delay on the Updated Common Rule Effective Date (Monday, January 22, 2018)
In a final rule published on January 19, 2017, federal departments and agencies listed in this document made revisions to the Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) adopted the same regulatory changes in a separate final rule published on September 18, 2017. The revised policy, reflected in both final rules, is described here as the “2018 Requirements.” The 2018 Requirements are scheduled to become effective on January 19, 2018, with a general compliance date of January 19, 2018 (with the exception of the revisions to the cooperative research provision).
This interim final rule delays the effective date and general compliance date of the 2018 Requirements to July 19, 2018. The federal departments and agencies listed in this document are in the process of developing a proposed rule to further delay implementation of the 2018 Requirements. The limited implementation delay accomplished by this interim final rule both provides additional time to regulated entities for the preparations necessary to implement the 2018 Requirements, and additional time for the departments and agencies listed in this document to seek input from interested stakeholders through a notice and comment rulemaking process that allows for public engagement on the proposal for a further implementation delay.
7. NSF accepting proposals related to hurricane Irma (Thursday, September 21, 2017)
With the second major hurricane – Hurricane Irma – to strike the United States, the National Science Foundation (NSF) and its staff remain strongly committed to supporting the people and institutions affected by these storms. Now that the consequences of these disasters are upon us, new science and engineering questions are being raised. Through this Dear Colleague Letter, NSF encourages the submission of proposals that seek to address the challenges related to Hurricane Irma.
8. Procedure requesting letters of Support and Cost Share commitments from the Research Office (Monday, May 15, 2017)
Please see here procedure for requesting letters of support and cost share commitment from the Research Office.
Please see UD’s Cost-Sharing Policy here:
http://sites.udel.edu/generalcounsel/policies/cost-sharing/
9. NSF Newsletters (Monday, April 24, 2017)
The Proposal & Award Policy Newsletter is a quarterly publication designed to provide information about upcoming changes and clarifications to policies and procedures that affect how you prepare and submit proposals, and manage NSF awards.
10. NIH initiatives for 2017 (Friday, January 6, 2017)
The Research Office writes to inform the UD Research Community of several reforms and new initiatives the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will be implementing in the upcoming weeks and months with the aim of enhancing clinical trials stewardship.