1. SPA Realignment
Sponsored Projects Administration (SPA) will be reorganizing on July 1 to become a constituency-based organization, meaning each University department/unit will have an assigned primary grants administrator who will handle all of that unit’s sponsored projects proposals, awards, and subawards (regardless of sponsor) except for projects from business and industry sponsors and the State of Minnesota. Business and industry and state-sponsored agreements will continue to be served by other designated grants administrators who specialize in those areas. Previously, SPA was organized by sponsor, requiring investigators and departments to work with many different SPA staff to handle the breadth of their sponsored projects portfolios.
This updated organizational model is a common model nationally, and is used to enhance customer service by fostering relationships between departments/units and SPA staff; by facilitating development and retention of a broader cohort of expert staff; and by promoting more consistent and efficient business practices.
Complete information about the reorganization, including the full text of the realignment announcement, an organizational chart, and the list of grant administrator assignments to each department/unit is available at http://www.ospa.umn.edu/announcements/realignment.htm.
2. OVPR Systems Become EFS Compliant
As a part of the Enterprise Financial System (EFS) transition, the systems run by the OVPR (including EGMS, RSPP, REPA, ROC, RCR, ROHP, and MTARF) are being updated to contain fields needed by the EFS. These systems will be unavailable from 6:00 p.m. on Monday, June 30 until 8:00 a.m., July 1. All data and records in these systems (including in-progress records) will be retained and available for use once the system is available again. No action is required by users. Principal Investigators or departmental administrators who are working on proposals for early July should be aware of this temporary shutdown, as PRFs and EGMS budgets will not be accessible. NIH R01 proposals with a due date of July 5 and other proposals due on July 1 should not be impacted, as these proposals should have already arrived at SPA by this time. If you have any questions or concerns, contact the EGMS Help Desk at help@egms.umn.edu or 612.624.1600.
3. Sponsored Projects to Go Live in EFS on July 1
Effective July 1, proposals and awards will be tracked and managed in the new Enterprise Financial System (EFS) rather than the three systems previously used (EGMSi, CUFS, and JD Edwards). Processing of all transactions that were held after June 16 because of the cutover process will be resumed. Most processes, including establishing pre-award accounts, award setup, approval of rebudgeting requests, issuance of subawards, and payment of subward invoices will resume on July 1. Financial reporting and invoicing will resume July 7, after the detailed financial transactions finish being converted into the new system. Proposals and awards have continued to be sent to sponsors during the cutover process, but will now also be entered into the University’s record-keeping systems. Backlogs of transactions that had to be held during the cutover will be processed as rapidly as possible.
4. Federal Agencies to Implement Standard Research Terms and Conditions
Excerpted from the June 2008 edition of Federal Grants News for Colleges and Universities.
In January 2008, the federal government issued the core standard research terms and conditions for research awards, including grants and contracts. The new standard terms and conditions should result in greater consistency in the administration of federal research awards.
Federal agencies participating in the Federal Demonstration Partnership are required to use the new terms and conditions; other agencies are encouraged to use them as well. Agencies must post their implementation plans no later than July 2008 at the Research Business Models Subcommittee Web site at http://rbm.nih.gov. For the rest of the article, go to http://www.oar.umn.edu/compliance_news.cfm.
5. Controlled Substance Training
The Office of Regulatory Affairs is offering controlled substance training for anyone new to using controlled substances for research. The training session is scheduled on July 15, 2008. For full details and to pre-register, go to https://onestop2.umn.edu/training/courseDetail
.jsp?course=RA0001.
For more information, contact Cathy Marquardt at marqu005@umn.edu or 612.625.9624.
6.
NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts
The NIH Guide is
the official publication for NIH medical and behavioral research
grant policies, guidelines and funding opportunities for the National
Institutes of Health. To subscribe to the Guide’s
weekly listserv or to read it online, go to http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/.
The following institute(s)/center(s) have grant opportunities in
the current Guide: NIDA, NIDCR, and NICHHD. Other information includes:
NIH Policy on Submission of Additional Grant Application Materials.
7.
Funding Opportunities and Program Announcements
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