10-November-2003 meeting - items discussed:
- STATUS CALLS, Andrea Comley:
- Thank you to all of the departments that have respected our request to not get calls from 10:00 am - 2:00 pm while we are processing proposals unless the calls are proposal related or urgent. This has helped the coordinators be more efficient. Also note, you may get a response quicker any time during the day by e-mailing your coordinator rather than trying to reach her by phone.
- ELECTRONIC PROPOSAL SYSTEMS, Jennifer Jansen:
- U.S. Department of Education - This system does not allow for SRO access so after the PI uploads all of the required elements of the proposal, they need to bring their proposal package to OGRD and wait for approval to submit. The PI may also choose to give OGRD their user id and password so that the reviewing coordinator can submit directly. Either option is fine, but please do indicate on the REX how you would like it submitted
- NASA Electronic Abstract Submission - Proposals are sent hard copy to NASA, but they do require an electronic copy of just the ABSTRACT to be uploaded into their system upon award. OGRD will be contacting the department/PI to request these electronically so OGRD can perform this function. The uploaded document should be in a searchable format such as MS Word.
- OGRD PERSONNEL UPDATE, Andrea Comley:
- We will be interviewing candidates for the Grant & Contract Specialist on Friday, November 14, 2003 and Monday, November 17, 2003. We are hoping to make an offer by December 1, 2003.
- USDA NRI REQUEST FOR APPLICATIONS, Jennifer Jansen:
- The NRI RFA is expected to be released this Friday, November 14, 2003. The estimated first due date will be six weeks after the release of the RFA, approximately January 9, 2004. Please alert your PIs to be looking for this so that they can get started on their proposals.
- DISTRIBUTION OF PROPOSALS AND AWARDS, Andrea Comley:
- PDF attachments will now be distributed as follows due to over half of department chairs delegating to a departmental research administrator. This change is so that OGRD can be consistent. It will be the research administrator's responsibility to track any special requests for departmental distribution contrary to the outline below.
- Proposal Distribution - PI, Dept. Research Administrator, Dean (or Research Dean)
- Grant Award Distribution (electronic) - PI, Dept. Research Administrator, Dean (or Research Dean)
- Contract/Award Distribution (hard copy with DN Memo for routing) - Research Administrator (via intercampus mail, or if urgent, electronic copy)
- All other additional information will be distributed to the PI and Dept. Research Administrator only.
- TIP OF THE MONTH - COST SHARING ADVICE, Shelagh O'Neill:
- Watch for cost share commitment from Federal Funds as this is not allowed without prior approval from the agency. Either omit federal funds from your proposal or obtain prior approval before sending proposal package to OGRD. PI's are reluctant to take this out and it can be a problem if we get the proposal package last minute. This is difficult to resolve after the fact.
- EFFORT REPORTING UPDATE, Lori Selby:
- Please see attached image of the DRAFT Revised BPPM for Effort Reporting and direct any comments or concerns to Lori Selby at lselby@wsu.edu or by calling her at (509) 335-1050.
- Please note: this new reduction of effort reporting for employees only on state funds and not cost shared on another project will not apply to College of Agriculture and Home Economics. SPS is working with other agencies to see if there is a way to make it possible to pass through at least parts of this revision to CAHE eventually.
- For all other areas, this new policy will be in effect for Fall 2003, which will mean reduced work for effort reporting beginning January 2004.
- SPS UPDATE, Lori Selby:
- Brad Bailey has been promoted to F&A Specialist and will be taking the lead in preparing the next F&A Rate Proposal to DHHS. Please take time to read the F&A Primer on the SPS Website at http://www.wsu.edu/~sponsor/pdf/F&ACostsPrimer.pdf . We will discuss this document at the December RAC Meeting. Barry Johnston requested that we be able to use the University of Washington as a format for the WSU Primer, Brad Bailey and Lori Selby worked on making changes appropriate to WSU information and Jim Petersen worked to fine tune the document for accuracy and clarity. Thanks to all four of these individuals, we have a very solid F&A Primer that will prove helpful for greater understanding of F&A. (Please note, if you do not wish to review the electronic version, you can print the document from PDF format from the web as a hard copy.)
- Lori Selby and Brad Bailey will be giving Space Reporting Training closer to the date of the F&A Rate Proposal.
- SPS TIP OF THE MONTH, Lori Selby:
- The Office of the Inspector General is coming to WSU Spokane to review/audit one of our large grants. They will be spending three weeks for this audit beginning November 17, 2003. They will be reviewing documentation for all employees paid from grant funds, the most recent financial statements, and all grant expenditures to make sure they are all allowable, reasonable and allocable. This audit is expected to go well due to the diligent and consistent tracking of expenditures. This is something that is important to remember for all grants as audits can happen at any time.
- "A.R.T." - The ALLOWABILITY Test, Dan Nordquist:
- Dan commented in regards to determining whether a cost is allowable or not - there really is an "A.R.T." to that determination. Use this acronym to remember to make sure costs are (1) Allocable, (2) Reasonable and (3) Treated Consistently. Make sure to review OMB Circular A-110 for definitions and OMB Circular A-21, Section C(2) for factors affecting allowability of costs.
- DEPARTMENTAL RESEARCH ADMINISTRATOR TRAVEL, Dan Nordquist:
- If at all possible, it would be a wonderful resource for the departmental research administrators to attend the NCURA National Meeting. This is a great opportunity to learn as well as to network with peers at many other institutions including personnel from other pre and post-award offices and other department administrators.
- OFFICE OF RESEARCH UPDATE, Kris Boreen:
- For Graduate Research Assistants already appointed through the academic year, the 2% salary increase will happen automatically and no new PAF will need to be completed. A PAF will be required for appointments being extended that currently end on December 31, 2003.
- A new Document Memo Twelve is coming out in the next few weeks with regards to Graduate Student Appointments.
- Date and Time for Next Meeting TBA via RAC Listserv.
Jen Raupp
Grant & Contract Coordinator
OGRD
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