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RAC Meeting Minutes
June 12, 2006
SPS Agenda Items :
FDP Meeting Overview - http://thefdp.org/Meeting_May2006.html
Subrecipient Monitoring – The file attached to the agenda should be reviewed. Discussion will be opened in relation to implementation of this process at WSU.
OBE Code Discussion
Cell Phone Charges – Nancy will have additional information related to this at the next meeting.
SPS Updates
OGRD Agenda Items :
1 . PERMS/TEMPS Discussion
Dan met with Lori Stemmene and Lavon Frazier regarding improving the automation of WSUTEMPS and WSUPERMS to better handle non-WSU individuals that will become WSU employees. The goal is to find a standard mechanism for workflow and it may be possible to piggyback onto the Forms System that Ralph Jenks is looking for as a replacement for Filemaker. Ralph's goal is to find a system that is data-base driven, cross application, and utilized WSU's Active Directory system. (Dan Nordquist)
2. Change in 424 Form
Effective June 15, there are a number of changes to the form. The announcement from NIH is as follows:
MANDATORY AND R&R FORMS UPDATE
Grants.gov will deploy upgraded SF-424 Mandatory (M) and SF-424 Research and Related (R&R) forms for agency use on June 15, 2006 – the next step in our commitment to upgrade the SF-424 form family over the next month. Originally, the forms were scheduled to be deployed June 1. Yet, Grants.gov delayed this deployment to June 15 to allow sufficient time to incorporate a missing data element, which was uncovered during the testingtransition period. Grants.gov will extend this transition period to allow for the field update on the forms, as well as to allow for additional testing. Hereare the affected forms and the dates when they will be available for Acceptance Testing (AT):
• SF-424 R&R (available on AT on June 9),
• R&R Project/Performance Site Location(s) (available on AT on June 9),
• R&R Senior/Key Person Profile (available on AT on June 9),
• R&R Senior/Key Person Profile (Expanded) forms (available on AT
on June 9),
• PHS 398 Cover Page Supplemental (available on AT on June 13),
• NSF FastLane System Registration, (available on AT on June 13) and
• HHS Checklist (PHS-5161) (available on AT on June 13).
In the next few weeks before the forms are deployed to production,you should ensure that the revised forms map to your agency's back-end grants management systems. On June 15, the forms will be moved to the production server and will be available for use in creating and publishing new application packages – replacing the current forms and templates. All templates with old versions of these forms will be deleted from the system. You will need to recreate those templates with the new version of the forms. Should you have any questions regarding this upgrade and migration, please contact your agency's Grants.gov Program Advisor. You may identify your Advisor at:
http://www.grants.gov/assets/GrantsgovAgencyContactList.pdf
UPDATE from GRANTS.GOV 6-20-06
Grants.gov and NIH Update SF424 (R&R) and Agency-specific Forms
Grants.gov and NIH recently have made changes to the standard SF424 (R&R) and agency-specific PHS 398 electronic form components. The forms changes provide greater consistency between forms and align the forms with current policy. Among the changes are:
• State Code List has been updated to include US possessions, territories, and Military Codes (see attached for updated pick list)
• Address field for Province has been added
• Enumeration values containing abbreviations and full descriptions have been standardized with a value format of abbreviation, colon space, full description (e.g. AK: Alaska )
• Type of Applicant pick-list expanded (SF424 (R&R) cover component
field 7)
• Field length adjustments have been made to:
- Congressional District
- Employer Identification (EIN/TIN)
- Organization name
- Opportunity ID
- Competition ID
• Grants.gov form hover text has been updated
• Four new sections of the PHS 398 Research Plan have been added: Inclusion Enrollment Report and Progress Report Publication List are now separate attachments. These were previously part of section 4. Preliminary Studies/Progress Report. They have been separated out to avoid being counted in the page limit validations. In addition, new distinct sections have been added for Select Agent Research and Multiple PI Leadership Plan. Some of the previous sections have been renumbered accordingly. The other change to the Research Plan Component eliminates the separate section for Data and Safety Monitoring. This is now incorporated as a subtopic within section 8. Protection of Human Subjects.
• PHS 398 Checklist component has been modified to remove the itemized list of policies, assurances, and certifications that appeared on the form. Instead, applicants are instructed to consult a specific website.
The forms changes will be included in all new Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs) that NIH posts. Over the next few months, NIH also will update existing FOAs that use the older forms and are open for multiple receipt dates (read on to learn more).
The Challenge of Forms Changes
So, that doesn't sound so bad…we've updated the forms, new announcements will use them and old announcements will be upgraded so that all FOAs are working from a common form set. Simple, right? Not exactly; there are some challenges associated with forms changes .
Until all FOAs can be modified to use the new forms, we will need to maintain and support two form packages and their associated application instructions.
What this means to you:
• For new FOAs (Release/Posted Date after June 15), the process is straight forward. The application package attached to the FOA will already contain the new forms and application guide. Make sure the application guide available for download with the forms is used. No other special instructions to applicants are needed.
• For older FOAs (Release/Posted Date before June 15), the process becomes more complicated.
- FOAs that have a single receipt date (typically NIH RFAs and PARs) will be evaluated and, in most cases, will be allowed to close naturally with no change to the associated form package. No special action needs to be taken.
- For older FOAs with multiple receipt dates, you will need to pay close attention to the form set used to create the application package to be submitted. NIH is targeting July 5-15 to update older FOAs for the R03, R15, R21, R21/R33, R33 and R34 grant programs and September 9-15 to update older FOAs for the R43/R44 and R13/U13 grant programs with the new form packages. Once the new form packages are in place for a particular FOA, the old form packages will no longer be accepted by Grants.gov. Any application “in the works” will need to be moved to the new form package (i.e., download new forms and cut-and-paste content from one form to the other). If your business office provides to Principal Investigators versions of the form packages that are pre-populated with your organizations information, you will want to make sure your form package templates are updated . We have timed the updates to occur well in advance of the next standard receipt date of each grant program to provide enough lead time to take any necessary actions.
• To assist you in identifying the form version used to create an application package, NIH will populate the Competition ID of new forms packages with the label “Version 2 Forms”. The Competition ID appears at the top of the page when you open an application package with the PureEdge viewer. Similarly, the appropriate application guides will be labeled Version 1 and Version 2 on the cover page and within the footers.
• There will be a short period of time when both the old and new form packages will be available for download. Whenever there is a choice, the package labeled “Version 2 Forms” in the Competition ID field should be used. To help in the transition, NIH will develop a splash screen that will alert users to select the Version 2 package. However, the splash screen only will be visible when using the NIH Guide and the download button from within the NIH Guide FOA to find and download opportunities.
• The NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts , the NIH Electronic Submission of Grant Applications website and this listserv will be used as the primary communication channels for these activities. When changes are made to the OAs, anyone that subscribed to receive notification of changes when they downloaded an application package also will receive an automated email from Grants.gov.
3. Reminder - New NIH Forms
A number of PIs submitted proposals on the old forms. Information on the new forms was provided at prior RAC meetings as well as sent out by email. Andrea asked for additional suggestions for releasing notices of such changes to RAs and PIs. The following ideas were suggested: Sharepoint and WSU Announcements.
NIH form changes can be found at: http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/funding/phs398/phs398.html
( Andrea Comley )
4 . Multiple PIs on NIH Proposals
Allowed only if RFP specifically states that it is allowed. (Andrea Comley)
5. Export Controls
Department of Commerce had pulled the proposed rule that would change regulations in regards to export controls. The original ruling will stand. This ruling indicates that determination of export licenses for ‘deemed' exports shall be based upon an individual's country of citizenship and a six-fold criteria determining use. This ruling reduces the number of instances where export licenses would be required at institutions of higher education. WSU has established an Ad-hoc Presidential committee to discuss distribution of information and education of Deans, Directors, Faculty, Administrators, etc in export control regulations. For information on export controls visit the OGRD homepage ( www.ogrd.wsu.edu ). ( Andrea Comley )
6. Revised GRA Matrices, Budget Template, and Quick Guide
Hard copies were distributed of GRA matrices and Quick Guide. The revised budget template will be distributed through the RAC email and available from any of the OGRD Coordinators. Benefit rates have been reviewed based upon updated information from the budget office.
The rates, effective 7/1/06 are as follows:
34% for faculty, AP, and staff
11.5% Part-time Non-Student
2.4% Part-time Student
(Andrea and Lori)
7. OGRD Updates
Jennifer Jansen has left OGRD for a position in WSU Extension. A revised OGRD Quick Guide was provided during the meeting which identified new Coordinator assignments by area. The Quick Guide can be found on the OGRD website at: http://www.ogrd.wsu.edu/documents/Quick_Guide_060612.doc A Grant & Contract Coordinator Lead position is posted and will remain open until June 26. Until the position is filled, inquiries related to the responsibilities of the vacant position should be referred to Andrea Comley ; acomley@wsu.edu ; 335-9661.
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