Office of Sponsored Programs

February 2020 Updates

February 26, 2020 • Newsletter

OSP News

We’re Moving!

The Office of Sponsored Programs will be moving to the 6th floor of the new Bailey building in March. Please be advised that we will have limited availability March 19 – 23 due to the move.

Our Website has a New Look

The OSP Website is undergoing some changes. We have reorganized our navigation to make it a bit more user friendly. We are also working on adding new content to help you find the information you need and to provide the university community with reference tools. Updates include:

  • New Policies page!
  • How to Request a Contract
  • Proposal Deadline Policy guidance
  • ECC training and resource documents

Please take a few minutes to check out the new policies page as there are several updates to our Policies including PI Eligibility, Cost Sharing, and Effort. We will be updating the website frequently as we add new content, so please check back regularly for updates!

Interdepartmental Charges Documentation

IDTs (inter-departmental transfers) are a method to apply expenses to a grant once a recharge center has been utilized. As part of best practices for financial oversight of Sponsored Projects, OSP requires PI approval for all sponsored project expenses, including those applied through IDTs. This is to ensure that the charge is scientifically appropriate and correctly applied to the project. Some examples of the centers providing services are DLAM and Core Labs. Others may include (if specifically justified and approved by the Sponsor) Telcom, IT Help Desk, Facilities Management, Copy Services, and Mail Services.

When you receive the request to approve IDTs, please review each charge being allocated to your Project Account. If there are errors, please reply to that service center for corrections. If you have any questions about this process, please reach out to your Post Award Analyst in OSP or to your FRST or ORS contact.

December Monthly Report in PowerBI

The Monthly Report data for December is now available in Power BI. If you have any questions, or suggestions for improvement to this report, please do not hesitate to reach out to us via email at OSP-Grants-IT@unthsc.edu. If you would like to dig into your data in Power BI, but don’t know where to start, we have our handy instruction guide here.  

Time and Effort for Q1 is here

The Office of Sponsored Programs distributed FY20 first quarter effort reports (September – December) on January 30, 2020.  This is the first effort cycle in the new Effort Compensation Compliance (ECC) system. If you have not already certified your effort, please login and do so now. You can find a link to the new ECC system on our effort reporting page.

Looking forward to the next cycle, please check ECC or Grant Workcenter to review your payroll allocations now to ensure they are in line with your project effort.

Sponsor Updates

NIH Updated Salary Caps

The Office of Personnel Management has recently released new salary levels for the Executive Pay Scale. Effective January 5, 2020, the salary limitation for Executive Level II is $197,300. For more information, see NOT-OD-20-065. EPars will need to be processed to reflect the new salary cap limitations for affected faculty paid on grants, the salary cap calculator on our Forms Page has been updated for the new caps. Please contact your Post Award Analyst or FRST/ORS representative if you have any questions.

*Includes all sponsors under DHHS: NIH, CMS, CDC, FDA, AHRQ, HRSA and SAMHSA

Note: AHRQ has adopted the new ELII Salary Level

NIH Revisions to Continuous Submission Eligibility

NIH will no longer offer continuous submission eligibility for Substantial Service (i.e. serving on a peer review panel 6 times or more in 18 months). NIH found that offering this opportunity had unintended consequences to the peer review process, primarily encouraging frequent service by a small number of individuals which granted that group disproportionate influence on award selection.

NSF Updated PAPPG for 2020 Released

NSF has released the 2020 Proposals & Awards Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG) which will take effect June 1. NSF conducted a webinar to go over the updates, which can be viewed at the link below. Per NSF, “Significant changes include:

  • NSF will require use of an NSF-approved format in submission of the biographical sketch and current and pending support documents, once the PAPPG (NSF 20-1) becomes effective; 
  • New requirement for proposing organizations to submit government-wide representations and certifications in the System for Award Management (SAM);
  • New requirement for providing e-mail documentation of Program Officer approval for the submission of RAPID and EAGER proposals; and
  • Clarifications to current and pending support coverage as well as other changes throughout the document.”
  • Link: Policy and Webinar Info

Compliance Bulletin

Three Individuals Charged, Including a Harvard Chair, with False Claims Act Allegations

Three individuals, including one Harvard department chair, have been charged with False Claims Act violations for concealing support from China.

Celebrating Success

ECC Launched!

After 6 months of hard work from OSP personnel in collaboration with ITSS, ITS, FRST, our Faculty focus groups, and DRAs around campus, we have launched the new ECC Time and Effort System. This is the first step towards the Research Division’s upcoming global research management suite of software. We want to thank everyone who participated whether they were part of the core project team, or contributed through participation in one of our pre-launch testing sessions, we so appreciate the support from campus as we worked on this new effort solution!