RAC Minutes

09-September-2003 meeting - items discussed:

New Safety Protocol Requirements from the Department of Defense, Dan Nordquist:
- Dan Nordquist has been working with Environmental Health & Safety to work on a Research/Lab Safety Certification that will be signed by the PI and Dwight Hagihara for each DOD project. This is a new requirement in addition to the approved University Wide Safety Plan. The documents will be sent via the listserv which outlines EH&S, PI, and OGRD responsibilities.

DUNS#, Dan Nordquist:
- There is a push for grants.gov to be functioning by the 1st of October. The DUNS# is the official university number when submitting proposals for federal funds. We will be checking to make sure that the DUNS number is included on cover pages as well as adding the DNS number to the proposal submission letters for all proposals.

2003-2004 Workshops & Seminars, Dan Nordquist:
- Please go to http://www.ogrd.wsu.edu/workshops.asp for a list of upcoming workshops & seminars

FDP Project: Expanding the Expanded Authorities, Dan Nordquist:
- OGRD is tracking the approval rate on requests that go back to Federal Agencies for items covered under A-110 Expanded Authorities. If the majority (or all) of these requests are granted, there will be a good argument for incorporating these Expanded Authorities with a greater number of Federal Agencies than have already accepted them.

Processing Time, Dan Nordquist:
- Quick overview of the improvement in processing time for both SPS and OGRD on Federal Grants. Although we have already significantly cut processing time, we acknowledge the need to and will continue to work on this to shorten the time it takes to get these grants processed. The month of July showed the best results with total processing time of 6.38 days for OGRD, 23.5 days for department and sponsor, and 4.55 days for SPS for a total of 34.43 days. OGRD and SPS processing time was limited to 10. 93 days which nearly meets the commitment for account setup time for new or renewed federal grants for Sept. 1st of 7-10 days.

OGRD MEMO #24, Dan Nordquist:
- OGRD MEMO #24 was opened up for comment and suggestion. The overall feeling is that this memo would be better off as an educational tool or question and answer guideline rather than a policy that would hold us to stricter Costing Policy than is already required by CAS and A-21. There are simply too many allowable exceptions in A-21 policy to put something down in writing for all university projects, therefore, this needs some analysis of its function. .

USDA-NRI RFA Update, Jennifer Jansen:
- The original USDA-NRI RFA has been pulled and no due dates have yet been set. USDA is hoping to have the new RFA up by October and is anticipating that the deadlines will be 6 weeks after the RFA is posted. OGRD advises that PIs continue to work on proposals as if the original deadlines still hold just in case USDA decides to give less than six weeks for submission at the time of RFA posting.

USDA Award Processing Due Date, Jennifer Jansen:
- All USDA awards must be back to the agency by September 25 in order to allow USDA to process the awards before the end of their fiscal year (Sept. 30, 2003). If departments wish to have awards Federal Expressed back to USDA, please include a Request for Shipment of Merchandise form with the reviewed award.

U.S. Forest Service, Jennifer Jansen:
- The U.S. Forest Service is currently requiring a 48 hour turn around for awards due to continual budget cuts. OGRD will be faxing awards to departments and requests that they process immediately in order to get the awards back to the U.S. Forest Service within this timeframe.

Grants.gov Update, Dan Nordquist:
- This will likely be a slow process. Right now there is a push to accept OMB Form 424 as a standard for all Federal Agencies.

WTC Proposals, Jennifer Jansen:
- WTC is once again requiring a $250 proposal processing fee in the form of check or credit card authorization. The intent is that PIs work with the Company to get this payment. WTC will not waive this fee, nor will they accept purchase orders.

SPS News, Lori Selby
- Nancy McMahon will be teaching a course on Calculating F&A for proposal budgets. This is a great opportunity for new department administrators and a great refresher for those who would like up to date information on this issue. The class is tentatively set for October 2, but watch HRS Employee Development Course Listings for exact date/time/location.

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