| December-13-2004
Meeting - Items Discussed:
OGRD
ITEMS DISCUSSED:
1.
FDP-CSREES Demonstration (Jennifer Jansen):
WSU
was invited to be part of a trial for second automatic no-cost
extensions for USDA-
CSREES-FDP Grant Awards. For those USDA-CSREES awards where
FDP terms and conditions
apply and no special terms and conditions prohibit such extensions,
a second
automatic no-cost extension can be processed via SPAR, just
like the first automatic no-cost
extensions are now processed when they apply to grant awards.
The trial period for this exercise
begins January 1, 2005 and ends September 30, 2005. There
are four conditions where this
automatic no-cost extension does not apply:
a. Special Terms
& Conditions Prohibit Automatic No-Cost Extensions
b. Additional Federal Funding is needed
in addition to time extension
c. Scope of Work change is requested
with Time Extension
d. Requested Period extension is
beyond the statutory limit allowed by the grant
terms and conditions.
Go to http://www.thefdp.org/CSREES_Demo.html
for more details on this FDP-CSREES Demonstration.
Please note that prior agency approval is still necessary
for no cost extensions for USDA
Cooperative Agreements and Contracts.
2.
Grants.gov Celebrates 1 Year Anniversary (Jennifer
Jansen):
WSU
has submitted only 2 grant proposals via grants.gov. We would
very much like to see more
of this type of proposal to allow us to become more familiar
with the process so that we can
better assist PIs and provide more useful feedback to the
grants.gov design team.
Please
see attached Grants.gov
Newsletter for more information of the
services grants.gov has
processed in 2004.
Please
contact Lynn Fister (509.335.3825) or Amy Ratliff (509.335.4462)
if you are interested
in registering on grants.gov and using this tool to further
your resources.
3.
NSF Fastlane Quick Guide (Jennifer Jansen):
OGRD
has developed an NSF
Fastlane Quick Guide that assists in
everything from the steps
to obtaining a logon and password to proposal preparation/upload,
award processes, and
administration items.
This
item can be viewed at the link above or on the OGRD Webpage
under Guidelines. If you
are unable to find it, contact your Grant & Contract Coordinator
for a copy.
4.
OGRD Distribution (Jennifer Jansen):
There
has been a delay from the December 1 st estimated start date
for OGRD’s new distribution
system, but this policy will be implemented shortly. Please
note that you will need the
latest copy of Adobe Acrobat (6.0) to enable you to view the
images from the database. You can
download a free copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader 6.1 (see details
below). This download will also
be available shortly on the OGRD Home Page.
Acrobat Reader 6.1
Update http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html
System Requirements
:
Windows:
Intel® Pentium®
processor
Microsoft®
Windows 98 Second Edition, Windows
Millennium Edition,
Windows NT® 4.0 with Service
Pack 6, Windows 2000 with
Service Pack 2, Windows
XP Professional or Home Edition,Windows
XP Tablet PC
Edition
32MB of RAM (64MB recommended)
60MB of available hard-disk space
Internet
Explorer 5.01, 5.5, 6.0, or 6.1
Macintosh
PowerPC®
G3 processor
Mac OS X
v.10.2.2-10.3
32MB of RAM
with virtual memory on (64MB
recommended)
70MB of available
hard-disk space
5.
Grant Transfers (Jennifer Jansen):
Please
note that finalization of outgoing grant transfers typically
take between 2 and 9 months from the time the initial transfer
request is received by OGRD. When a transfer request arrives
at OGRD, it is
immediately logged, then sent to SPS for verification of the
remaining balance.
Please be sure that no further expenditures will need to be
made on or transferred off of the accounts for the project
being transferred. This can cause complications that can be
difficult to rectify after the transfer has been Initiated
with the sponsor. Once the balance is verified, OGRD will
work with the department and/or PI to forward the transfer
request to the agency or new SRO
(depending on agency guidelines).
Also note, for NSF transfers, expect delays if the request
memo is received at a time other than
the end of a quarter. NSF financial reports are submitted
quarterly, and SPS is unable to verify
an award balance until these quarterly reports are finished.
These reports are completed within
six weeks of the end of the quarter. Quarters, in this case,
are based on calendar year (March
31, June 30, September 30, December 31).
Also
discussed were incoming transfers. Note that is a guarantee
is in place and the transfer is not awarded within ninety
days (assuming 90 day pre award costs) of the guarantee start
day a request for pre-award costs in excess of 90 days will
need to be submitted to the agency. In the case of NSF, you
will need to outline each expense by amount, item and date.
6.
Updated REX Form (Jennifer Jansen):
OGRD has revised the REX
Form as follows:
A.
At the top there is now a choice of social security
number or WSU ID# for PIs and Co-PIs. It is very important
for proper proposal processing that OGRD has one of these
numbers. There are several duplicate names at WSU and without
an identifying number it can be difficult to ensure we have
the correct PI receiving credit.
B.
The second line has been rearranged in the following
order, Responsible Area (college level), Responsible
Department (Department to receive credit for the award), Zip
Code (of Responsible
Department), Budget Number (please be sure to include to avoid
delay in award
processing).
Please note that the REX Form will be further amended in the
near future to include Responsible Unit (this is the area/department
that is administrating the grant, which can be different from
the Responsible Department getting credit for the award).
This will ensure that the proper people are receiving distribution.
Also note that when the REX goes electronic there will also
be a credit form to fill out that will allow department credit
to be split between several
departments by percentage.
The issue was brought up by several department administrators
that, with recent database access changes, they are having
trouble seeing projects that they are responsible for. Until
the above changes take place, the Responsible Department or
Area personnel will need to ensure the true responsible administrative
personnel receive copies for distribution. Again, what is
on the REX form drives distribution and database access.
Barb Korzyk, of SPS, requested a separate box for zip code
and budget as it is difficult at times to tell which is which
and often times there is only one number listed. Jennifer
Jansen has made the change on the form linked above and on
the OGRD Webpage.
C.
Please note that the Department/College Administrator
should be the administrative contact person
for questions regarding the proposal, award, etc (example:
Department Research Administrator
or Finance Officer).
D.
Question 15 has been amended to more clearly define
what constitutes a Conflict of Interest. Page
two of the REX further explains. Please also see OGRD
Memo #3 for additional clarification
of this item.
E. Lines have been added in the routing for signature
lines to reflect the OGRD Proposal Processing Procedures.
The Grant & Contract Specialist will sign for evaluation
of package including entry into the database, cover letter
and shipping label preparation and ensuring package completion.
The Grant & Contract Coordinator will sign to indicate
review of proposal
for compliance with the Request for Proposal as well as WSU
and OGRD Policies and
Procedures.
F.
The Budget Detail has been amended to more accurately
reflect WSU Budget Object Coding.
Tom Martin requested lines be inserted in between budget objects
to ensure ease in readability
of the amounts as listed across from each budget object; Jennifer
Jansen added lines
on the REX copy which is attached above and to be posted on
the OGRD Webpage.
Please note that if a budget is to be split between multiple
accounts, OGRD requests that you provide an approved detail
budget split for each account with appropriate budget numbers
for each account. This ensures that the account is set up
correctly. If the split budget is not provided, the account
will need to be modified after set up via SPAR forms from
the department.
7.
Tip of the Month: OGRD Deadline Reminder (Jennifer
Jansen):
OGRD
has recently faced a couple of major deadlines where the majority
of proposals were received on the day they needed to be shipped
to the agency, many of them coming in only an hour in advance
of the FedEx pick up. We have noticed several faculty members
citing an increase in teaching load making timely proposal
submission very difficult to achieve. Please contact Dan Nordquist
or Nancy Shrope at OGRD (509.335.9661) if there is any way
OGRD can assist with communicating this issue to the administration
on behalf of the faculty if this is an issue for your area.
As
a friendly reminder, the current deadline for proposal submission
to OGRD is 5:00 pm the day
before the proposal needs to be shipped to the agency; However,
we will likely redefine this process
in the months to come. For example, changing our deadline
statement to “OGRD needs to
receive a proposal 48 hours in advance of the date of submission
to the agency in order to ensure
substantive OGRD review. When proposals are received later
than the current deadline, OGRD
will do everything we can to ensure your proposal meets the
agency deadline. Please be aware
that this often does not leave enough time for a effective
review for compliance with agency
and University guidelines. OGRD would like to ensure that
we are able to assist in increasing
your chances of a successful proposal.
SPS
ITEMS DISCUSSED (Details to Follow):
1.
Cost Share on Effort Certification Forms (Lori
Selby):
2.
Tip of the Month: Future Effective Guarantees
(Barb Korzyk):
The
next RAC Meeting will be Monday, January 10, 2004 at 9:10
am.
Jen
Raupp
Grant
& Contract Coordinator
OGRD
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