The following is an archive of notes documenting the proceedings of the Maxwell Research Administrator Network Monthly Meetings. Unit administrative staff with proposal development (pre-award) and/or grants management (post-award) responsibilities address together the research-related policies, processes, and best practices for Maxwell.
PLEASE NOTE: Agendas and notes from meetings after July 10th, 2024 are now posted on the Maxwell RAN Teams channel. Please email Vanessa Gatmaitan vqgatmai@syr.edu if you would like to join the Team!
In attendance: Vanessa Gatmaitan (Dean's Office), Liz Lance (ORD), Lisa Henty (Dean’s Office), Julie Davis (Dean’s Office), Doris Mahoney (ASI), Jacquie Meyer (Political Science), Lynnell Cabezas (ASPI), Karen Tavernese (ASI), Jackie Nocevski (Campbell), Debbie Toole (Geography), Juanita Horan (Moynihan)
cc: Peg Austin (CPR), Janet Coria (Sociology), Tara Slater (PARCC), Jackie Wells (Anthropology), Emily Graham (Lerner), Christiane Page (CQMI), Christina Cleason (History), Yetunde Hamilton (CEPA), Ashley DiCarlo (Economics), Katrina Fiacchi (CPR)
Fall start - 8/16/2024
Fall end date - 12/31/2024
Fall first pay - 8/31/2024
Fall last pay - 12/31/2024
Spring start - 1/1/25
Spring end - 5/15/2025
Spring first pay - 1/15/2025
Spring last pay - 5/15/2025
Full year start – 8/16/2024
Full year end – 5/15/202
Full year first pay – 8/31/2024
Full year last pay – 5/15/2025
In attendance: Vanessa Gatmaitan (Dean's Office), Liz Lance (Office of Research), Lisa Henty (Dean’s Office), Julie Davis (Dean’s Office), Janet Coria (Sociology), Doris Mahoney (ASI), Tara Slater (PARCC), Peg Austin (CPR), Jacquie Meyer (Political Science), Jackie Wells (Anthropology), Lynnell Cabezas (ASPI), Karen Tavernese (ASI), Jackie Nocevski (Campbell), Debbie Toole (Geography), Juanita Horan (Moynihan)
cc: Emily Graham (Lerner), (Christians Page (CQMI), Christina Cleason (HIST), Yetunde Hamilton (CEPA), Ashley DiCarlo (Economics), Katrina Fiacchi (CPR)
In attendance: Vanessa Gatmaitan (Dean's Office), Christiane Page (CQMI), Christina Cleason (HIST), Jacquie Meyer (Political Science), Yetunde Hamilton (CEPA), Jackie Wells (Anthropology), Lynnell Cabezas (ASPI), Karen Tavernese (ASI), Ashley DiCarlo (Economics), Jackie Nocevski (Campbell), Katrina Fiacchi (CPR), Debbie Toole (Geography), Juanita Horan (Moynihan)
cc: Doris Mahoney (ASI), Tara Slater (PARCC), Peg Austin (CPR), Emily Graham (Lerner)
In attendance: Vanessa Gatmaitan (Dean's Office), Liz Lance (Dean's Office), Christiane Page (CQMI), Christina Cleason (HIST), Jacquie Meyer (Political Science), Yetunde Hamilton (CEPA), Jackie Wells (Anthropology), Lynnell Cabezas (ASPI), Karen Tavernese (ASI), Doris Mahoney (ASI), Tara Slater (PARCC), Ashley DiCarlo (Economics), Jackie Nocevski (Campbell)
cc: Peg Austin (CPR), Katrina Fiacchi (CPR), , Debbie Toole (Geography), Emily Graham (Lerner), , Anthony Terrinoni (ASPI), Juanita Horan (Moynihan)
In attendance: Vanessa Gatmaitan (Dean's Office), Shana Gadarian (ADR), Peg Austin (CPR), Katrina Fiacchi (CPR), Karen Tavernese (ASI), Doris Mahoney (ASI), Debbie Toole (Geography), Jackie Wells (Anthropology), Jackie Nocevski (Campbell), Lynnell Cabezas (ASPI), Ashley DiCarlo (Economics), Jacquie Meyer (Political Science), Christiane Page (CQMI)
cc: Emily Graham (Lerner), Tara Slater (PARCC), Anthony Terrinoni (ASPI), Yetunde Hamilton (CEPA), Christina Cleason (HIST), Juanita Horan (Moynihan)
In attendance: Peg Austin (CPR), Lynnell Cabezas (ASPI), Katrina Fiacchi (CPR), Jill Ferguson (Dean’s Office), Yetunde Hamilton (CEPA), Juanita Horan (Moynihan), Doris Mahoney (ASI), Karen Tavernese (ASI), Debbie Toole (Geography), Jackie Wells (ANT)
cc: Emily Graham (Lerner), Jacquie Meyer (Political Science), Jackie Nocevski (Campbell), Tara Slater (PARCC), Anthony Terrinoni (ASPI)
Applications for grants from the Appleby-Mosher Fund for Faculty Research and the Roscoe Martin Fund for Dissertation and Thesis Research were due 12/4. Funding decisions will be announced in late December or early January.
The application deadline for both programs is Monday, December 4. For more information, including the CFPs, please see the following Answers pages: Appleby-Mosher Fund for Faculty Research and Roscoe Martin Fund for Dissertation and Thesis Research
A Call for Proposals for the Appleby-Mosher Fund for Faculty Research and the Roscoe Martin Fund for Dissertation and Thesis Research went out on last week to Maxwell faculty and graduate students, respectively.
The application deadline for both programs is Monday, December 4. For more information, including the CFPs, please see the following Answers pages: Appleby-Mosher Fund for Faculty Research and Roscoe Martin Fund for Dissertation and Thesis Research
In attendance: Peg Austin (CPR), Jill Ferguson (Dean’s Office), Yetunde Hamilton (CEPA), Heather Macknik (PAIA), Jacquie Meyer (Political Science), Karen Tavernese (ASI), Jackie Wells (ANT)
cc: Lynnell Cabezas (ASPI), Katrina Fiacchi (CPR), Emily Graham (Lerner), Juanita Horan (Moynihan), Doris Mahoney (ASI), Jackie Nocevski (Campbell), Alexandra Punch (Lerner), Amy Schmidt (CCE) , Tara Slater (PARCC), Anthony Terrinoni (ASPI), Debbie Toole (Geography)
https://su-jsm.atlassian.net/wiki/x/uYWVCQ
In attendance: Lynnell Cabezas (ASPI), Jill Ferguson (Dean’s Office), Katrina Fiacchi (CPR), Yetunde Hamilton (CEPA), Heather Macknik (PAIA), Doris Mahoney (ASI), Jacquie Meyer (Political Science), Jackie Nocevski (Campbell), Karen Tavernese (ASI), Jackie Wells (ANT)
cc: Peg Austin (CPR),Emily Graham (Lerner), Juanita Horan (Moynihan), Alexandra Punch (Lerner), Amy Schmidt (CCE) , Tara Slater (PARCC), Anthony Terrinoni (ASPI), Debbie Toole (Geography)
Per a June 27 email invitation to training sessions June 27-29, OSP has modified the OSP Budget Template to include a new "Other Personnel Detail" section: "The changes to the budget will allow for more precise personnel budgeting and will generate better alignment between the budgets and the SAMTool. The training will also provide guidance regarding proper expense account codes to be used when assigning chartstrings to pay employees for research activities."
Certification Period | Certification Window | Effort Period of Performance |
Spring 2023 | May 30, 2023 – June 16, 2023 | Faculty: January 1 – May 7 Staff: January 1 – May 15 |
In attendance: Peg Austin (CPR), Lynnell Cabezas (ASPI), Jill Ferguson (Dean’s Office), Heather Macknik (PAIA), Doris Mahoney (ASI), Jacquie Meyer (Political Science), Jackie Nocevski (Campbell), Tara Slater (PARCC), Karen Tavernese (ASI), Jackie Wells (ANT)
cc: Yetunde Dozier (CEPA), Katrina Fiacchi (CPR), Emily Graham (Lerner), Juanita Horan (Moynihan), Alexandra Punch (Lerner), Amy Schmidt (CCE), Anthony Terrinoni (ASPI), Debbie Toole (Geography)
Please continue to share about the RA professional development in which you participate; see here for a curated listing.
In attendance: Peg Austin (CPR), Lynnell Cabezas (ASPI), Yetunde Dozier (CEPA), Katrina Fiacchi (CPR), Jill Ferguson (Dean’s Office), Heather Macknik (PAIA), Jacquie Meyer (Political Science), Jackie Nocevski (Campbell), Karen Tavernese (ASI), Jackie Wells (ANT)
cc: Emily Graham (Lerner), Juanita Horan (Moynihan), Alexandra Punch (Lerner), Amy Schmidt (CCE), Tara Slater (PARCC), Anthony Terrinoni (ASPI), Debbie Toole (Geography)
In attendance: Peg Austin (CPR), Lynnell Cabezas (ASPI), Yetunde Dozier (CEPA), Jill Ferguson (Dean’s Office), Juanita Horan (Moynihan), Heather Macknik (PAIA), Jacquie Meyer (Political Science), Karen Tavernese (ASI), Debbie Toole (Geography and the Environment)
cc: Katrina Fiacchi (CPR), Emily Graham (Lerner), Kathy Forrest (ASI), Jackie Nocevski (Campbell), Tara Slater (PARCC), Alexandra Punch (Lerner), Amy Schmidt (CCE), Anthony Terrinoni (ASPI), Jackie Wells (ANT)
In attendance: Peg Austin (CPR), Lynnell Cabezas (ASPI), Yetunde Dozier (CEPA), Katrina Fiacchi (CPR), Jill Ferguson (Dean’s Office), Kathy Forrest (ASI), Jackie Nocevski (Campbell), Tara Slater (PARCC), Karen Tavernese (ASI),
cc: Emily Graham (Lerner), Juanita Horan (Moynihan), Heather Macknik (PAIA), Jacquie Meyer (Political Science), Alexandra Punch (Lerner), Amy Schmidt (CCE), Anthony Terrinoni (ASPI), Debbie Toole (Geography), Jackie Wells (ANT)
In attendance: Lynnell Cabezas (ASPI), Yetunde Dozier (CEPA), Katrina Fiacchi (CPR), Jill Ferguson (Dean’s Office), Jackie Nocevski (Campbell), Karen Tavernese (ASI), Debbie Toole (Geography)
cc: Peg Austin (CPR), Kathy Forrest (ASI), Emily Graham (Lerner), Juanita Horan (Moynihan), Heather Macknik (PAIA), Jacquie Meyer (Political Science), Alexandra Punch (Lerner), Amy Schmidt (CCE), Tara Slater (PARCC), Anthony Terrinoni (ASPI), Jackie Wells (ANT)
Pre-award
Post-award
10a. To update an appointment by moving a portion of salary to the sponsored account, enter a chartstring change request.
For committed effort, use the award’s chartstring for allocated costs. For cost sharing or voluntarily committed effort, use an institutional chart string, adding the award’s “project tail” (i.e., project, activity, and budget reference numbers).
*From the Administrator New Award Checklist (Maxwell RAN resource on Answers)
In attendance: Lynnell Cabezas (ASPI), Yetunde Dozier (CEPA), Jill Ferguson (Dean’s Office), Heather Macknik (PAIA), Jacquie Meyer (Political Science), Jackie Nocevski (Campbell), Tara Slater (PARCC), Karen Tavernese (ASI), Debbie Toole (Geography), Jackie Wells (ANT)
cc: Peg Austin (CPR), Katrina Fiacchi (CPR), Kathy Forrest (ASI), Emily Graham (Lerner), Juanita Horan (Moynihan), Alexandra Punch (Lerner), Amy Schmidt (CCE), Anthony Terrinoni (ASPI)
A Call for Proposals for the Appleby-Mosher Fund for Faculty Research and the Roscoe Martin Fund for Dissertation and Thesis Research went out on October 17 to Maxwell faculty and graduate students, respectively. The Maxwell Dean’s Office makes this funding available annually to support ongoing and emerging research across the School. The application deadline for both programs is Monday, November 21. For more information, including the CFPs, please see the following Answers pages: Appleby-Mosher Fund for Faculty Research and Roscoe Martin Fund for Dissertation and Thesis Research
In attendance: Peg Austin (CPR), Lynnell Cabezas (ASPI), Yetunde Dozier (CEPA), Jill Ferguson (Dean’s Office), Kathy Forrest (ASI), Jackie Nocevski (Campbell), Karen Tavernese (ASI), Debbie Toole (Geography), Jackie Wells (ANT)
cc: Katrina Fiacchi (CPR), Emily Graham (Lerner), Juanita Horan (Moynihan), Jacquie Meyer (Political Science), Alexandra Punch (Lerner), Heather Macknik (PAIA), Amy Schmidt (CCE), Tara Slater (PARCC), Anthony Terrinoni (ASPI)
In attendance: Lynnell Cabezas (ASPI), Yetunde Dozier (CEPA), Jill Ferguson (Dean’s Office), Kathy Forrest (ASI), Karen Tavernese (ASI), Debbie Toole (Geography)
cc: Peg Austin (CPR), Katrina Fiacchi (CPR), Juanita Horan (Moynihan), Jacquie Meyer (Political Science), Jackie Nocevski (Campbell), Alexandra Punch (Lerner), Heather Macknik (PAIA), Amy Schmidt (CCE), Tara Slater (PARCC), Anthony Terrinoni (ASPI), Jackie Wells (ANT)
https://su-jsm.atlassian.net/wiki/x/uYWVCQ
In attendance: Peg Austin (CPR), Yetunde Dozier (CEPA), Jill Ferguson (Dean’s Office), Katrina Fiacchi (CPR), Kathy Forrest (ASI), Heather Macknik (PAIA), Jacquie Meyer (Political Science), Karen Tavernese (ASI), Debbie Toole (Geography), Jackie Wells (ANT)
cc: Juanita Horan (Moynihan), Holly Johnson (Dean's Office), Alexandra Punch (Lerner), Jackie Nocevski (Campbell), Amy Schmidt (CCE), Tara Slater (PARCC), Anthony Terrinoni (ASPI)
In attendance: Peg Austin (CPR), Jill Ferguson (Dean’s Office), Kathy Forrest (ASI), Holly Johnson (Dean's Office), Jacquie Meyer (Political Science), Jackie Nocevski (Campbell), Karen Tavernese (ASI), Debbie Toole (Geography)
cc: Katrina Fiacchi (CPR), Juanita Horan (Moynihan), Alexandra Punch (Lerner), Heather Macknik (PAIA), Amy Schmidt (CCE), Tara Slater (PARCC), Anthony Terrinoni (ASPI), Jackie Wells (ANT)
The University has negotiated new fringe benefit rates with the federal government for fiscal year 2023 (July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023). These rates will be used for charging both sponsored (funds 13 and 91) and non-sponsored restricted (funds 15 and 16) chartstrings.
The University has recently finalized its federally negotiated F&A rate agreement with the Dept. of Health and Human Services, and this communication is to provide information regarding the application of the F&A rates from FY ‘22 through FY ‘25. This rate agreement is different than prior rate agreements in that it employs a “stepped rate” approach for on-campus research, rather than a single negotiated rate over the four year duration of the agreement. The University’s implementation of this rate agreement is presented in further detail below.
The four-year rate agreement, covering sponsored projects awarded between July 1, 2021 – June 30, 2025, is as follows:
- On-campus research, stepped rates per fiscal year period
- 50% = FY ‘22
- 49% = FY ‘23
- 49% = FY ‘24
- 49.5% = FY ‘25
- Training/ Instruction, rates stay constant from FY ’22 through FY ‘25, as follows:
- 34% for on-campus training/instruction
- Other Sponsored Activities, rates stay constant from FY ’22 through FY ’25, as follows:
- 35% for on-campus other sponsored activities
- Off-Campus Rate for all programs (research, training/instruction, and other sponsored activities), rates stay constant from FY ’22 through FY ’25, as follows:
- 26% for off-campus research, training/instruction, and other sponsored activities
Proposals are now being submitted with the new F&A rates. The OSP budget template has been updated to reflect the new F&A rates, as well as, the updated Fringe Benefit rates for FY ’23.
- Multi-year on-campus research proposals will have stepped rates:
- 49% for FY ‘23 budget period
- 49% for FY ’24 budget period
- 49.5% for FY ’25 budget period (and beyond, until next rate agreement is negotiated)
- On-campus Training/Instruction: 34% for all budget periods
- On-campus Other Sponsored Activities: 35% for all budget periods
- Off-campus, all programs: 26% for all budget periods
Implementation plan for new F&A rates on sponsored project awards: In accordance with federal Uniform Guidance (Appendix III to Part 200), the F&A rate in effect at the time of initial award shall be utilized throughout the “life of the award.” “Life” for the purpose of this guidance means each competitive segment of a sponsored project.
See below for example award scenarios of On-Campus Research, and F&A rate determinations based on date of initial award:
- New Award for On-campus Research, awarded between July 1, 2021 and June 30, 2022: F&A rate would be 50% for the life of the award.
- New Award for On-campus Research, awarded between July 1, 2022 and June 30, 2023: F&A rate would be 49% for the life of the award.
- New Award for On-campus Research, awarded between July 1, 2023 and June 30, 2024: F&A rate would be 49% for the life of the award.
- New award for On-campus Research, awarded between July 1, 2024 and June 30, 2025: F&A rate would be 49.5% for the life of the award.
In attendance: Karen Cimilluca (ASI), Jill Ferguson (Dean’s Office), Katrina Fiacchi (CPR), Kathy Forrest (ASI), Holly Johnson (Dean's Office), Heather Macknik (PAIA), Jacquie Meyer (Political Science), Jackie Nocevski (Campbell), Tara Slater (PARCC), Debbie Toole (Geography)
cc: Peg Austin (CPR), Juanita Horan (Moynihan), Alexandra Punch (Lerner), Amy Schmidt (CCE), Anthony Terrinoni (ASPI)
Certification Period | Certification Window | Effort Period of Performance |
Spring 2022 | May 31, 2022 – June 17, 2022 | Faculty: January 1 – May 7 Staff: January 1 – May 15 |
In attendance: Karen Cimilluca (ASI), Jill Ferguson (Dean’s Office), Katrina Fiacchi (CPR), Kathy Forrest (ASI), Holly Johnson (Dean's Office), Jacquie Meyer (Political Science), Debbie Toole (Geography)
cc: Peg Austin (CPR), Juanita Horan (Moynihan), Jackie Nocevski (Campbell), Alexandra Punch (Lerner), Heather Macknik (PAIA), Amy Schmidt (CCE), Tara Slater (PARCC), Anthony Terrinoni (ASPI)
In attendance: Karen Cimilluca (ASI), Jill Ferguson (Dean’s Office), Katrina Fiacchi (CPR), Kathy Forrest (ASI), Holly Johnson (Dean's Office), Heather Macknik (PAIA), Tara Slater (PARCC), Debbie Toole (Geography)
cc: Peg Austin (CPR), Juanita Horan (Moynihan), Jacquie Meyer (Political Science), Jackie Nocevski (Campbell), Alexandra Punch (Lerner), Amy Schmidt (CCE), Anthony Terrinoni (ASPI)
If 100% distribution to one chartstring:
SUID#: 123456-7890
NAME: Tut, King
COMPENSATION AMOUNT (Contract): $13,050.00
SEMI-MO RATE: $3,728.57 (3.5 pays)
CONTRACT PERIOD: 5/8/21-6/30/21
If distribution to more than one chartstring:
SUID#: 098765-4321
NAME: Harry, Debbie
COMPENSATION AMOUNT (Contract): $25,555.20
$10,222.08 on pr01161-001-01
$7,666.56 on pr01234-001-01
$7,666.56 on 11-21825-98765
SEMI-MO RATE: $8,518.40 (3.0 pays)
CONTRACT PERIOD: 5/16/21-6/30/21
Graduate Awards and Sponsored Accounting have worked together to determine efficiencies in processing paperwork for sponsored assistantships. Going forward, a department should only use the attached Sponsored Tuition Form if the award includes a tuition chartstring with a project tail AND >0 credit hours. If you are paying for a student’s wages with a sponsored award but there are no tuition charges or the tuition charges are not being charged to a chartstring with a project tail you do NOT need to send to sponsored accounting for pre-approval. In these cases, please use the standard TA_RA recommendation form (Department Funded, see attached). Also, if you are only changing the chartstring that the PIN is being charged to, this happens via the chartstring change form. It is not necessary to send type of change to Graduate Awards for processing.
Building Strong Proposal Budgets | 11/17/2021 | Recording | Slides |
In attendance: Karen Cimilluca (ASI), Katrina Fiacchi (CPR), Jill Ferguson (Dean’s Office), Jackie Nocevski (Campbell), Debbie Toole (Geography)
cc: Peg Austin (CPR), Kathy Forrest (ASI), Juanita Horan (Moynihan), Heather Macknik (PAIA), Jacquie Meyer (Political Science), Alexandra Punch (Lerner), Amy Schmidt (CCE), Tara Slater (Economics), Anthony Terrinoni (ASPI)
In attendance: Karen Cimilluca (ASI), Jill Ferguson (Dean’s Office), Kathy Forrest (ASI), Jackie Nocevski (Campbell), Debbie Toole (Geography), Roxanne Tupper (PARCC)
cc: Peg Austin (CPR), Katrina Fiacchi (CPR), Juanita Horan (Moynihan), Heather Macknik (PAIA), Jacquie Meyer (Political Science), Alexandra Punch (Lerner), Amy Schmidt (CCE), Tara Slater (Economics), Anthony Terrinoni (ASPI)
Call for Proposals for Appleby-Mosher funding for faculty research and Roscoe Martin funding for graduate-student research went out on October 21. Proposals are due November 22.
No programmatic changes from last year, including the following reminder: Under the current circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic, affected research activities, including those that involve travel and/or face-to-face contact with human participants, must adhere to restrictions and modifications as described in the University’s Return to Campus Research plan.
Applicants are asked to apply via the Syracuse University Application Portal (see below) instead of by email as in years past.
Requests for extensions to spend funds are reviewed and approved on a case-by-case basis.
Managed by the Office of Research, the Syracuse University Application Portal (InfoReady) is an online platform that streamlines the process of applying for internal funding opportunities and limited submission opportunities. Jill is one of several InfoReady system administrators for the Application Portal; contact Jill with questions or to explore using the portal for internal funding programs within Maxwell. (See above for Appleby-Mosher and Roscoe Martin as current examples, though the competitions will disappear after the application due date of 11/22/21.)
Please remind your faculty! Below are upcoming Office of Research events, which were announced in its October newsletter. Most past events are recorded and can be found on the Office of Research Trainings webpage.
Among other activities, The SOURCE awards funding to faculty to hire undergraduate research assistants: https://research.syr.edu/source/for-faculty/source-funding-opportunities-for-faculty/
Jackie N. spoke with Kate Hanson (SOURCE director) about how faculty currently receive funds (moved into research account) and new policies and processes in development where the SOURCE will follow the CUSE model to provide a SOURCE account code. Jackie will keep us posted if and as she learns more.
In attendance: Peg Austin (CPR), Karen Cimilluca (ASI), Jill Ferguson (Dean’s Office), Kathy Forrest (ASI), Heather Macknik (PAIA), Jackie Nocevski (Campbell), Debbie Toole (Geography), Anthony Terrinoni (ASPI), Roxanne Tupper (PARCC)
cc: Katrina Fiacchi (CPR), Juanita Horan (Moynihan), Jacquie Meyer (Political Science), Alexandra Punch (Lerner), Amy Schmidt (CCE), Tara Slater (Economics)
To further strengthen our identification as a student-focused and very-high-research-activity (Carnegie R1) university, Syracuse University will invest up to $1.4 M over two years to support up to 20 new postdoctoral scholars through its Invest Syracuse Initiative.
Per the Administrator New Award Checklist, under Non-SU Collaborators:
Forward funding on a sponsored project enables the PI to begin spending prior to having a fully executed award in place or to incur expenses before the start date of an expected award.
In the event the anticipated award is not received or costs incurred are subsequently determined to be unallowable by the sponsor or University, forward-funded costs will be transferred to the departmental or unit chartstring provided at the time of request.
In attendance: Karen Cimilluca (ASI), Jill Ferguson (Dean’s Office), Kathy Forrest (ASI), Juanita Horan (Moynihan), Heather Macknik (PAIA), Jackie Nocevski (Campbell), Debbie Toole (Geography), Roxanne Tupper (PARCC)
cc: Peg Austin (CPR), Katrina Fiacchi (CPR), Jacquie Meyer (Political Science), Alexandra Punch (Lerner), Amy Schmidt (CCE), Tara Slater (Economics), Anthony Terrinoni (ASPI)
In attendance: Karen Cimilluca (ASI), Jill Ferguson (Dean’s Office), Kathy Forrest (ASI), Juanita Horan (Moynihan), Heather Macknik (PAIA), Jackie Nocevski (Campbell), Debbie Toole (Geography), Roxanne Tupper (PARCC)
cc: Peg Austin (CPR), Katrina Fiacchi (CPR), Jacquie Meyer (Political Science), Alexandra Punch (Lerner), Amy Schmidt (CCE), Tara Slater (Economics), Anthony Terrinoni (ASPI)
NSF has released a new PAPPG to be effective for proposals submitted or due on or after October 4, 2021. Significant changes include:
In attendance: Karen Cimilluca (ASI), Jill Ferguson (Dean’s Office), Katrina Fiacchi (CPR), Kathy Forrest (ASI), Heather Macknik (PAIA), Jacquie Meyer (Political Science), Jackie Nocevski (Campbell), Debbie Toole (Geography), Roxanne Tupper (PARCC)
cc: Peg Austin (CPR), Juanita Horan (Moynihan), Alexandra Punch (Lerner), Amy Schmidt (CCE), Anthony Terrinoni (ASPI)
CUSE Grant Program Page, /wiki/spaces/osp/pages/162039155
Under the current circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic, affected research activities, including those that involve travel and/or face-to-face contact with human participants, must adhere to restrictions and modifications as described in the University’s Return to Campus Research plan.
https://bfas.syr.edu/comptroller/resources/effort-reporting/
https://bfas.syr.edu/comptroller/resources/effort-reporting/effort-reporting-faqs/
https://bfas.syr.edu/comptroller/resources/training/effort-reporting-training/
https://bfas.syr.edu/comptroller/resources/effort-reporting/effort-reporting-glossary/
In attendance: Peg Austin (CPR), Karen Cimilluca (ASI), Jill Ferguson (Dean’s Office), Katrina Fiacchi (CPR), Kathy Forrest (ASI), Juanita Horan (Moynihan), Jacquie Meyer (Political Science)
cc: Heather Macknik (PAIA), Jackie Nocevski (Campbell), Alexandra Punch (Lerner), Debbie Toole (Geography), Amy Schmidt (CCE), Roxanne Tupper (PARCC), Anthony Terrinoni (ASPI)
The graduate tuition per-credit-hour rate has increased from $1,683 (FY21) to $1,734 (FY22) (see 3/30/21 email from Mary Pat). Grant proposals budgets should use the new per-credit-hour rate.
Not yet released/posted. Keep an eye out here: https://bfas.syr.edu/budget/ (scroll down to Links section).
Upcoming sessions:
April 28 - Building Strong Proposal Budgets (SU Office of Research; Peg Austin on the panel)
May 4 - An Overview of the IRB: Policies and Procedures with Jeanne Diederich (Maxwell's Center for Qualitative and Multi-Method Inquiry; register here)
May 5 - Managing Your Sponsored Funding (SU Office of Research)
Applications due April 21. RFP sent via email to all Maxwell faculty on March 17 and posted here.
Additional approvals are still required for any Syracuse University Travel (SUT) and for face-to-face human participant research. See here for full guidance, or refer faculty and students to Jill.
From August 2020 meeting:
Per Maxwell Research Policies, budgets that include voluntary cost share require discussion and approval early in project planning and budget development—that is, well before the IRR routes for signatures. Examples include:
In such cases, please send an initial draft of the internal budget to Jill Ferguson for review; as needed, Jill with consult with Andrew for pre-approval of the budget.
In general, voluntary cost share should be a rare exception. As such, in most cases, budgets will not require pre-approval ahead of the IRR.
Please including supporting documentation and/or a note in the IRR routing email for situations such as the following:
In attendance: Peg Austin (CPR), Karen Cimilluca (ASI), Jill Ferguson (Dean’s Office), Katrina Fiacchi (CPR), Kathy Forrest (ASI), Heather Macknik (PAIA), Jacquie Meyer (Political Science)
cc: Juanita Horan (Moynihan), Jackie Nocevski (Campbell), Alexandra Punch (Lerner), Debbie Toole (Geography), Amy Schmidt (CCE), Roxanne Tupper (PARCC), Anthony Terrinoni (ASPI)
Discussions around (1) the fact that as Maxwell faculty get a greater number of internal grants, there are additional administrative tasks that fall to department, center, and institute staff; and (2) process differences around restricted funds like Appleby-Mosher versus other accounts.
Certification Period | Certification Window | Effort Period of Performance |
Fall 2020 | February 22, 2021 – March 12, 2021 | Faculty: August 24 – December 31 Staff: August 16 – December 31 |
Additionally, Jacquie shared a document to the Maxwell Admins listserv with navigation instructions to accompany Kelly Moshier's email of 2/22/21.
Per an email from Holly Johnson on 2/19/21, the Maxwell Research Policies are updated as follows: For the 2021-22 academic year (AY), rates for a full AY (fall and spring) 20-hour graduate assistant (GA) are $22,000 for PhD students and $17,000 for MA students, with 24 credit hours of tuition. For a 10-hour GA for the full academic year or a 20-hour GA for one semester, calculate rates and credit hours by half. For a 10-hour GA for one semester, calculate rates and credit hours by one-fourth. To budget for out-years, increase rates by 3%.
In attendance: Peg Austin (CPR), Karen Cimilluca (ASI), Jill Ferguson (Dean’s Office), Katrina Fiacchi (CPR), Kathy Forrest (ASI), Juanita Horan (Moynihan), Heather Macknik (PAIA), Jacquie Meyer (Political Science), Jackie Nocevski (Campbell), Debbie Toole (Geography), Roxanne Tupper (PARCC)
cc: Alexandra Punch (Lerner), Amy Schmidt (CCE), Anthony Terrinoni (ASPI)
Full listing here and registration links here. In particular, please consider attending and encouraging faculty to attend the following sessions:
From August 2020 meeting:
Per Maxwell Research Policies, budgets that include voluntary cost share require discussion and approval early in project planning and budget development—that is, well before the IRR routes for signatures. Examples include:
In such cases, please send an initial draft of the internal budget to Jill Ferguson for review; as needed, Jill with consult with Andrew for pre-approval of the budget.
In general, voluntary cost share should be a rare exception. As such, in most cases, budgets will not require pre-approval ahead of the IRR.
Please including supporting documentation and/or a note in the IRR routing email for situations such as the following:
In attendance: Peg Austin (CPR), Karen Cimilluca (ASI), Jill Ferguson (Dean’s Office), Katrina Fiacchi (CPR), Kathy Forrest (ASI), Juanita Horan (Moynihan), Heather Macknik (PAIA), Jacquie Meyer (Political Science), Anthony Terrinoni (ASPI)
cc: Jackie Nocevski (Campbell), Alexandra Punch (Lerner), Debbie Toole (Geography), Amy Schmidt (CCE), Roxanne Tupper (PARCC)
Currently, most destinations worldwide are considered high-risk (CDC Level 3) due to Covid-19.
Researchers may petition the University’s International High-Risk Travel Oversight Committee (IHTOC) for approval to travel to a high-risk destination. In the Maxwell School, start by contacting Andrew London, Associate Dean for Administration and Research.
In attendance: Peg Austin (CPR), Karen Cimilluca (ASI), Jill Ferguson (Dean’s Office), Katrina Fiacchi (CPR), Kathy Forrest (ASI), Heather Macknik (PAIA), Jacquie Meyer (Political Science), Jackie Nocevski (Campbell)
cc: Juanita Horan (Moynihan), Alexandra Punch (Lerner), Debbie Toole (Geography), Amy Schmidt (CCE), Roxanne Tupper (PARCC), Anthony Terrinoni (ASPI)
University-sponsored travel must be approved by the relevant chair, associate dean for research and the interim vice president for research.
Syracuse University has eased existing restrictions on travel deemed essential to an academic or business purpose of the University. For faculty, researchers, postdoctoral scholars and graduate students, essential travel is defined as travel required to (1) preserve the safety of a research subject and cannot be postponed; or (2) preserve the continuity and results of a research activity and cannot be postponed.
In order to travel:
The Office of Research will post its FY 2020 Annual Report here in the coming weeks.
Call for Proposals for Appleby-Mosher funding for faculty research and Roscoe Martin funding for graduate-student research went out on October 2. Proposals are due November 16.
No changes from last year, with one exception noted in the cover email: Under the current circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic, affected research activities, including those that involve travel and/or face-to-face contact with human participants, must adhere to restrictions and modifications as described in the University’s Return to Campus Research plan.
Requests for extensions to spend funds are reviewed and approved on a case-by-case basis.
See here.
In attendance: Karen Cimilluca (ASI), Jill Ferguson (Dean’s Office), Kathy Forrest (ASI), Juanita Horan (Moynihan), Heather Macknik (PAIA), Jacquie Meyer (Political Science), Anthony Terrinoni (ASPI)
cc: Peg Austin (CPR), Katrina Fiacchi (CPR), Jackie Nocevski (Campbell), Alexandra Punch (Lerner), Debbie Toole (Geography), Amy Schmidt (CCE), Roxanne Tupper (PARCC)
There really aren’t any guidelines for when to hire since so much depends on the particular needs of the faculty. Part of what also plays into the timing, especially on the full GAs is who they are looking for. Do they want a newly recruited student (if so, they should be working with their home department in that case) or do they need an ABD student who won’t need tuition? For the latter, it probably makes more sense to start looking after April 15th when most incoming students/GAs will be solidified and departments should have a good idea what their needs for the department will be for the fall. If they want a new student, then they should be working with their home department earlier in the spring/late winter depending on the admissions cycle. All that said, I think April 1st is a little early for having fall GA letters out, at least for returning students. I don’t usually even start sending letters for returning students until after April 15th. I think May 1st for fall assistantships sounds reasonable. For summer, I actually think May is a little late, especially if they are going to be working right after classes end in early May.
Also, it’s more typical for faculty to hire RAs for a full academic year. We get some that are fall/spring, but they are less common. Especially for students who would still be funded by their home department otherwise, it makes things a lot easier to do full academic years and not splitting whenever possible. I think it’s easier for the faculty as well, although of course it depends on their funding situation. In the case where they are splitting and need a spring-only GA, they probably are going to want to get this nailed down at the same time as the fall assistantships. It’s really going to depend on what students are available and meet their needs.
Award acceptance and project startup (7)
Award management, e.g., monitoring award expenditures, monthly financial reports (6)
Award close-out (6)
Maxwell internal funding programs (6)
Reviewing sponsor guidelines (6)
Budget development (5)
Cost share (5)
Identifying potential funding sources (4)
Effort (4)
Financial Conflict of Interest Policy: what and why (4)
Maxwell research resources, e.g., ICT (4)
IRR Form: how and why (3)
In attendance: Peg Austin (CPR), Katrina Fiacchi (CPR), Jill Ferguson (Dean’s Office), Kathy Forrest (ASI), Heather Macknik (PAIA), Jackie Nocevski (Campbell), Jacquie Meyer (Political Science)
cc: Karen Cimilluca (ASI), Juanita Horan (Moynihan), Alexandra Punch (Lerner), Debbie Toole (Geography), Amy Schmidt (CCE), Anthony Terrinoni (ASPI), Roxanne Tupper (PARCC)
A. Reminder: Dean Van Slyke does not review Internal Routing and Review (IRR) forms; rather, the Dean has delegated authority to Andrew London, in his capacity as associate dean for research, to review and approve.
B. Clarification/New Process: Per Maxwell Research Policies, budgets that include voluntary cost share require discussion and approval early in project planning and budget development—that is, well before the IRR routes for signatures. Examples include:
In such cases, please send an initial draft of the internal budget to Jill Ferguson for review; as needed, Jill with consult with Andrew for pre-approval of the budget.
In general, voluntary cost share should be a rare exception. As such, in most cases, budgets will not require pre-approval ahead of the IRR.
C. Reminder: Please including supporting documentation and/or a note in the IRR routing email for situations such as the following:
In attendance: Peg Austin (CPR), Karen Cimilluca (ASI), Jill Ferguson (Dean’s Office), Kathy Forrest (ASI), Heather Macknik (PAIA), Jackie Nocevski (Campbell), Roxanne Tupper (PARCC)
cc: Katrina Fiacchi (CPR), Juanita Horan (Moynihan), Jacquie Meyer (Political Science), Alexandra Punch (Lerner), Debbie Toole (Geography), Amy Schmidt (CCE), Anthony Terrinoni (ASPI)
Faculty and Staff Resources
Finding Funding
Proposal Development Resources
Proposal Library (Open Grants)
Grants Administration
Administrator New Award Checklist
Maxwell Research Administrators Monthly Meeting Notes
Professional Development Opportunities in Research Administration
Research
About
New! Maxwell Research Policies
Maxwell Internal Grant Programs
New! Tenth Decade Project
In attendance: Peg Austin (CPR), Karen Cimilluca (ASI), Jill Ferguson (Dean’s Office), Katrina Fiacchi (CPR), Kathy Forrest (ASI), Juanita Horan (Moynihan), Heather Macknik (PAIA), Jacquie Meyer (Political Science), Jackie Nocevski (Campbell), Roxanne Tupper (PARCC)
cc: Alexandra Punch (Lerner), Debbie Toole (Geography), Amy Schmidt (CCE), Anthony Terrinoni (ASPI)
Per the following email from OSA, a prior issue with Chartstring Changes crossing fiscal years has been resolved. You can now enter chartstrings that cross fiscal years.
From: Cathleen P Hayduke <cphayduk@syr.edu>
Sent: Thursday, June 4, 2020 1:16 PM
To: Kelly A O'Connor <kaocon02@syr.edu>; Melissa A Wike <mawike@syr.edu>; Liz Bull <ewbull@syr.edu>; Lynn Roundy <leroundy@syr.edu>
Cc: Toni M Besaw <tbesaw@syr.edu>; Cathleen P Hayduke <cphayduk@syr.edu>
Subject: Chartstring ChangesHello All,
I want to share an update with all of you regarding Chartstring changes crossing fiscal years. The prior communication from Brian has now been amended.
Prior:
Brian gave us the following instructions:
This fiscal year end dates would be as follows:
Semi-monthly employees- on sponsored funds please input an end date of 6/30/20 for the sponsored chartstring and an effective date of 7/1/20 for the non-sponsored chartstring.
Weekly employees- on sponsored funds please input an end date of 6/24/20 for the sponsored chartstring and an effective date of 6/25/20 for the non-sponsored chartstring
After discussions with Brian, Jim / HR, Mike, and myself, it was decided that since the Chartstring Changes inability to cross fiscal years last year has been resolved, we can now allow the crossing of fiscal years. If you recall, there was an issue with the effective dated rows and the processing of items using sponsored chartstrings that crossed fiscal years. This issue has been resolved.
What this means, is that departments can now enter chartstrings that will cross fiscal years. The current limitation is: chartstrings can be entered that will either end one year after the current fiscal year (6/30/21), or the project end date, whichever occurs first.
This change is effective immediately. This changes should allow for improved workflow and management of sponsored awards.
Please feel free to share this with your department administrators.
If anyone has any questions, or concerns, or wishes additional information, please let me know.
Thank you,
Cathy Hayduke
Director, Office of Sponsored Accounting
Effective immediately, we will ease existing restrictions on travel deemed essential to an academic or business purpose of the University. For faculty, researchers, postdoctoral scholars and graduate students: Essential travel is defined as travel require to (1) preserve the safety of a research subject and cannot be postponed; or (2) preserve the continuity and results of a research activity and cannot be postponed.
For faculty, researchers, postdoctoral scholars and graduate students, travel to attend professional or educational conferences is defined as non-essential. Faculty, researchers, postdoctoral scholars and graduate students with questions about whether specific proposed travel is essential, or those seeking approval to engage in essential travel, should confer first with their department chairs. Deans (or department chairs, if designated by the dean) will make a recommendation as to the essential nature of the travel request and forward that recommendation to the interim vice president for research. The VPR will make the final determination and notify both the traveler and the dean or department chair making the request. Any faculty member, researcher, postdoctoral scholar or graduate student whose essential travel is approved is required to register that travel on the University travel registry system.
As of today, later sections are still under construction; however, sections through "Current and Pending Support” should prove useful now.
In attendance: Peg Austin (CPR), Jill Ferguson (Dean’s Office), Katrina Fiacchi (CPR), Kathy Forrest (ASI), Heather Macknik (PAIA), Jacquie Meyer (Political Science), Roxanne Tupper (PARCC)
cc: Juanita Horan (Moynihan), Alexandra Punch (Lerner), Debbie Toole (Geography), Amy Schmidt (CCE), Anthony Terrinoni (ASPI), Karen Cimilluca (ASI), Jackie Nocevski (Campbell)
Refer to May 19 email from Sponsored Accounting and May 15 memo from the Comptroller’s Office, which includes important information regarding requirements and deadlines to support the University’s fiscal 2020 year-end closing. Note that Sponsored Award deadlines differ from non-Sponsored deadlines.
Certification Period | Certification Window | Effort Period of Performance |
Spring 2020 | June 1, 2020 – June 19, 2020 | Faculty: January 1 – May 7 Staff: January 1 – May 15 |
Watch for a "Return to Campus Research" email from Interim Vice President for Research Ramesh Raina, which all Maxwell faculty received on 5/26/20 (via the Dean's Office).
All associate deans for research have been tasked with providing to the Office of Research a 1-page summary of anticipated research priorities post-COVID. Maxwell's response will suggest that research will largely look the same, although some research agendas will have expanded to take COVID-related issues into account. The summary will also acknowledge the investments we have made based on our strategic plan, our momentum (e.g., significantly increased research expenditures, new multi-year center and network grants, investment in postdocs), and our commitment to clusters.
Jill demoed this new internal resource, including how to:
Access compiled Maxwell RAN meeting notes
Export pages to Word and PDF (useful for Admin New Award Checklist for instance)
“Watch” the pages and receive notifications of updates
Please send comments, questions, and suggestions to improve on and expand the pages.
In attendance: Peg Austin (CPR), Karen Cimilluca (ASI), Jill Ferguson (Dean’s Office), Katrina Fiacchi (CPR), Kathy Forrest (ASI), Heather Macknik (PAIA), Jacquie Meyer (Political Science), Jackie Nocevski (Campbell), Roxanne Tupper (PARCC)
cc: Juanita Horan (Moynihan), Alexandra Punch (Lerner), Debbie Toole (Geography), Amy Schmidt (CCE), Anthony Terrinoni (ASPI)
Welcome new member Karen Cimilluca, Assistant Director for the Aging Studies Institute
Introductions (including quick summary of grants-related job responsibilities) for new members
In each of your units, which active projects have been affected by the shutdown and how? (e.g., requesting no-cost extension, delayed fieldwork, other requests/inquiries to sponsors)
Related reminder: Guidance for Researchers and follow-up 4/24/20 email from ADR Andrew London
One example from CPR of how active projects are affected: X Lab projects involving randomized controlled trials (human subjects research) have had to pause actions and activities.
Several new no-cost extensions in both ASI and CPR.
Travel reimbursements: Many instances where faculty and GAs booked airfare for conferences, now cancelled, related to grant-funded projects. In cases where faculty have been issued airfare credits (versus refunds), questions include the following:
If charged to the grant, does the credit also have to benefit the project?
Waiting for further guidance from sponsors and OSP, but presumably yes.
What if the project is ending and there are no other anticipated costs (travel or otherwise)?
Waiting for further guidance from sponsors and OSP, but presumably the reimbursement should not come from the grant but rather another internal source such as the PI's faculty research account. The airfare credit could then be used at a later date for any research project, and grant funds could be re-budgeted to faculty summer salary, additional GA hours, etc., if appropriate for remaining effort/tasks on the project. However, this could raise concerns from faculty about having to pay from faculty research funds expenses that would otherwise be covered by a grant (current or future).
All: Please email Jill with information about the kinds of grants administration PD you have participated in and would recommend. Discussed initial leads, including OSP Awareness Sessions, Excel Training and Certification Program, LinkedIn Learning, SRAI, and NCURA. See Professional Development Opportunities in Research Administration Answers page for details.
In attendance: Peg Austin (CPR), Jill Ferguson (Dean’s Office), Katrina Fiacchi (CPR), Kathy Forrest (ASI), Juanita Horan (Moynihan), Heather Macknik (PAIA), Jacquie Meyer (Political Science), Jackie Nocevski (Campbell), Roxanne Tupper (PARCC), Anthony Terrinoni (ASPI)
cc: Alexandra Punch (Lerner), Debbie Toole (Geography), Amy Schmidt (CCE)
Welcome new member Jackie Nocevski, Administrative Assistant (budget, grants, major events) in the Campbell Institute
Guidance for Researchers and follow-up Maxwell email of 3/24/20 (appended below). Important takeaways:
Guidance applies to both faculty and graduate students conducting research.
Researchers should consider all ongoing research projects, both externally and internally funded.
Jill can help to comb through the University and sponsor guidance as questions arise.
Subject: RE: Guidance on Research / Please Circulate to All Faculty, Graduate Students
From: Andrew S London <anlondon@maxwell.syr.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, March 24, 2020 4:59 PM
To: Andrew S London <anlondon@maxwell.syr.edu>; Douglas V Armstrong <dvarmstr@maxwell.syr.edu>; Stuart S Rosenthal <ssrosent@maxwell.syr.edu>; Thomas A Perreault <taperrea@maxwell.syr.edu>; Norman Alan Kutcher <nakutche@maxwell.syr.edu>; William D Coplin <wdcoplin@maxwell.syr.edu>; Matthew Cleary <macleary@maxwell.syr.edu>; Prema Ann Kurien <pkurien@maxwell.syr.edu>; Renee de Nevers <denevers@maxwell.syr.edu>; Brian D Taylor <bdtaylor@maxwell.syr.edu>; Robert Bifulco Jr <rbifulco@maxwell.syr.edu>
Cc: Jill S Ferguson <jsfergus@maxwell.syr.edu>Maxwell Research Community,
In accordance with the recent Guidance for Researchers from the Syracuse University Office of Research, the following is intended to provide additional information to assist with next steps for all ongoing research in Maxwell:
For the purposes of assessing and managing impacts due to COVID-19, ongoing research falls into one of four categories, listed below. Principal investigators (PIs) should be certain about which categories their research activities fall into and thus the appropriate course of action for all project personnel, including faculty, staff, graduate students, and undergraduate students. For any project or activity where the determination is unclear, please contact Jill Ferguson or Andrew London in the Dean’s Office.
1. Essential campus-based research
Effective immediately, PIs must scale back research activities to a minimum and report the essential research activities for approval to remain operational.
2. Non-essential campus-based research
Effective immediately, PIs must pause all research activities conducted by all project personnel (faculty, staff, and students) until further notice.
3. Non-essential human subjects research involving in-person data collection activities
Effective immediately, PIs must pause all research activities conducted by all project personnel (faculty, staff, and students) until further notice.
4. Research that can be conducted remotely (including human subjects research that limits participant interactions to online or remote communication, telephone contact, remote monitoring, remote data collection or secondary data analysis)
May continue as before
For any other questions about the impact of COVID-19 on research (e.g., late applications, salaries and stipends, travel, conference grants, no-cost extensions), please email your department/center research administrator, OSP research administrator (if externally funded), and Jill Ferguson in the Dean’s Office.
Continued best of luck with your research, and take care,
Andrew
Applications due April 17
Final version (dated 3/24/2020) posted in Word and PDF versions to MS Teams under “Files” and to the shared Dropbox folder.
Is there a better (i.e., more easily and regularly accessible) way to share documents and other resources? Current options include: Dropbox, MS Teams, and the Collab (Maxwell shared) drive
In attendance: Jacquie Meyer (Political Science), Katrina Fiacchi (CPR), Kathy Forrest (ASI), Jill Ferguson (Dean’s Office), Roxanne Tupper (PARCC), Anthony Terrinoni (ASPI), Peg Austin (CPR)
cc: Alexandra Punch (Lerner), Heather Macknik (PAIA), Debbie Toole (Geography), Amy Schmidt (CCE), Juanita Horan (Moynihan)
From ERS FAQs: ERS is an administrative function within MySlice that can only be accessed from on campus or via a secure Syracuse network. If off campus, a VPN or similar secure remote connection must be obtained to access the system. If additional assistance is needed, please on contact your DSP (technical support personal) within your home department.
Select Maxwell units including the Center for Policy Research (CPR), the Aging Studies Institute (ASI), and the Dean’s Office offer assistantships for summer projects. Faculty members apply for this internal funding to support a graduate student to work with the faculty member to develop a research proposal that the faculty member will submit to an external funder.
Requests for proposals will go out over the next few weeks, with decisions in April. Faculty affiliated with units that have a SPA program should submit their proposals to that unit; all other faculty should submit proposals to the Dean’s Office program.
The funding amount per assistantship for summer 2020 is $2,000. The graduate student is hired through payroll at an hourly rate; assume a fringe benefit rate of 8.5% (FICA only), though it may not be charged. In that case, you can add a few additional hours to spend the full amount of the assistantship.
NSF PAPPG (NSF 20-1): NSF announced the issuance of the revised Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (NSF 20-1). The new PAPPG will be effective for proposals submitted on or due, and awards made, on or after June 1, 2020. Significant changes include a new NSF approved format for preparation of biosketches and current and pending support documents.
(not discussed, but FYI): NIH FY2020 Salary Cap: NIH Notice NOT-OD-20-065 increases the Executive Level II salary cap to $197,300.
The current draft is here, including the following revisions based on meeting discussion:
Deleted sections on debarment and suspension as this process is an OSP/HR function.
Deleted sections on intellectual property agreements (IPAs) as this is now an annual process versus by project. As with financial conflict of interest (FCOI) disclosures, OSP monitors IPAs and alerts the faculty/staff and department administrator if lapsed.
Jill will continue to circulate and revise, aiming for a final version to approve at the March meeting.
Graduate research assistantship stipend levels seem to be the only Maxwell-specific rate that research administrators and faculty need to know in addition to OSP’s Syracuse University Identifiers and Financial Information.
Holly Johnson sent the AY2020-2021 rates to the Maxwell Admin Assistants distribution list on 2/25/20.
All: Please share with your research faculty for use in proposal budgets.
In attendance: Jacquie Meyer (Political Science), Katrina Fiacchi (CPR), Kathy Forrest (ASI), Jill Ferguson (Dean’s Office), Roxanne Tupper (PARCC), Anthony Terrinoni (ASPI), Juanita Horan (Moynihan), Peg Austin (CPR)
cc: Alexandra Punch (Lerner), Heather Macknik (PAIA), Debbie Toole (Geography), Amy Schmidt (CCE)
La’retta Castro’s last day with the Aging Studies Institute (ASI) was December 21. The job listing for the Assistant Director position can be found here: https://www.sujobopps.com/postings/83463
Sunju Raybeck’s last day with the Campbell Institute of Global Affairs was January 28. The job listing for the Administrative Assistant (S4) position can be found here: https://www.sujobopps.com/postings/83525
There are two fringe benefit rates for Graduate Assistants.
1) The federal rate must be used on all federal awards and on non-federal awards where tuition is a direct charge. The federal rate may be charged on some non-federal awards provided that the student hasn’t previously received tuition support using the non-profit/foundation fringe benefit rate. In cases where the non-profit/foundation rate is waived, no tuition may be provided to the student.
2) The non-profit/ foundation rate may be used for graduate assistants proposed on non-federal awards for which tuition is not direct charged, but is an allowable cost. The higher fringe benefit rate may not be used for sponsors that disallow tuition as a direct cost.
https://bfas.syr.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/University-Fringe-Benefit-Rates-for-Fiscal-2020.pdf
Jill is detailing clarification on this topic to disseminate soon and discuss again at the February meeting.
All: Please review (marking edits, comments and questions with Track Changes) the current draft of a proposed Administrator New Award Checklist, saved here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1eknn2ky5mbcklu/AAD8jusLG2NDx1o6UTZd1YRda?dl=0
In attendance: Peg Austin (CPR), Alexandra Punch (Lerner), Heather Macknik (PAIA), Sunju Raybeck (Campbell), Jacquie Meyer (Political Science), Katrina Fiacchi (CPR), Kathy Forrest (ASI), Jill Ferguson (Dean’s Office)
cc: Juanita Horan (Moynihan), Debbie Toole (Geography), La’retta Castro (ASI), Amy Schmidt (CCE), Roxanne Tupper (PARCC), Anthony Terrinoni (ASPI)
Award Acceptance and Project Startup
The action item from the November meeting was to work toward a shared resource for initiating a new award at the department level. During the December meeting, we discussed the process of award review, negotiation, and acceptance/execution in OSP. We identified key differences in the SU process compared to that represented in the VCU checklist example.
We noted that compliance considerations (e.g., IRB-approval for human subjects research, financial conflict of interest [FCOI] disclosure, responsible conduct of research [RCR] certification) should be incorporated into the Maxwell checklist.
Next step: Jill will make next-round revisions and redistribute to the group for comment. The following documents (saved to the Maxwell RAN shared folder) remain the basis developing this internal resource document; other examples are welcome and encouraged.
OSP’s Award Management Aids for PIs and Support Staff
VCU’s Administrator New Award Set-Up Checklist
For the 2019 cycle, 23 faculty members received Appleby-Mosher funding, and 43 graduate students received Roscoe Martin funding.
Jill is working with the Maxwell Communications Team on a formal announcement/news article. If you would like a list of your unit’s awardees in the meantime, email Jill.
FYI re: SU Office of Foundation Relations: https://corporationsandfoundations.syr.edu/about/office-of-foundation-relations/services/
FYI re: Institutional Review Board approval for human subjects research: https://researchintegrity.syr.edu/human-research/
In attendance: Amy Schmidt (CCE), Jacquie Meyer (Political Science), Roxanne Tupper (PARCC), Katrina Fiacchi (CPR), Kathy Forrest (ASI), Jill Ferguson (Dean’s Office)
cc: Peg Austin (CPR), Alexandra Punch (Lerner), Heather Macknik (PAIA), Sunju Raybeck (Campbell), Juanita Horan (Moynihan), Debbie Toole (Geography), La’retta Castro (ASI)
Presentation slides and webcasts available here.
A new version of the Proposal and Award Policy and Procedure Guide (PAPPG) is typically posted in October with an implementation date of January. However, this year NSF received a significant number of comments in response to the draft PAPPG, one-third of which related to the Current and Pending Support form and instructions. While NSF works through those comments and makes additional clarifications to the draft PAPPG, posting and implementation dates for the new version have not been set. So, for now, continue to follow the PAPPG (NSF 19-1).
In the draft PAPPG, NSF announced that it will only accept PDFs for Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending Support components that are generated through use of an NSF-approved format. NSF has selected SCiENcv as an approved format and encourages faculty to begin using the NSF template in SciENcv. SciENcv (Science Experts Network Curriculum Vitae) is an online tool developed by a federal interagency working group that helps researchers create a research profile.
For the Biographical Sketch, NSF policy (PAPPG, Chapter II.C.2.f(i)(d)) allows for up to five distinct examples of synergistic activities. Each item must be one activity and must not be followed by a listing of additional sub-activities. As an example, you may summarize that you served on ten review panels, however, you should not list the specific panels for that distinct example. You may also be in contact with the cognizant Program Officer listed in the solicitation to which you are submitting your proposal for additional guidance on this subject.
For the Budget Justification, NSF guidance for proposed travel is that the justification should be “itemized, specified, and justified." Q: Should the justification be as specific as rates for airfare, hotel, per diem, etc.? A: Reviewers pay attention to the budget, so being specific is important; however, consider timing—i.e., it is reasonable to estimate next-year travel (and so itemize) but probably not travel planned for three years from now (and so generalize).
Voluntary uncommitted cost sharing (e.g., release time) should be described in the Facilities, Equipment and Other Resources attachment, not in the Budget Justification or Project Description. Voluntary committed cost sharing is prohibited. See PAPPG, Chapter II.C2.i.
Letters of Collaboration should use the template language provided in the PAPPG and must not recommend or endorse the PI or project. All relevant collaborative activities should be described in the Project Description, or in the Facilities statement. A Letter of Support is endorsement and is not allowed. The spirit of the guidance is that the letter use the template language only, with the level and nature of collaboration described elsewhere.
In the Results from Prior NSF Support section, you can list awards more than 5 years past, but only those within 5 years are required. For large, collaborative proposals, NSF acknowledges that it can be a challenge to include all required information within the 15-page Project Description when there are numerous projects that must be summarized (with intellectual merit and broader impacts).
There are real and potentially severe consequences of overdue reports. An overdue report prevents NSF approval of all actions (funded and administrative) for the subject award and any associated awards for both the PI and any co-PIs. Delayed submission can impact other PIs' awards—especially critical during the 4th quarter of the fiscal year. NSF has started to send emails to VPs of Research listing the overdue reports, essentially asking: What are you going to do about these, and what are you going to do to prevent this from happening in the future?
For all reports, submit early: The program officer must review and approve the report by the due date. There is a 30-day grace window, but don't take it.
Submitting a final report means that you have completed the project. If you haven't completed the project, don't submit the final report. Ask for a no-cost extension; talk to your program officer to see what your options are.
A no-cost extension is always about the scope, not about the money. While it is okay to mention funds remaining in the request, the fact that funds remain should not be the driving reason for the request to extend. Be mindful of the original scope of the project or the scope that was approved. A project with $0 will not be extended: The project is over.
Review and comment on OSP resource:
Award Management Aids for PIs and Support Staff
Can/should we further develop this as a Maxwell shared resource? Are there other models?
Agreed that collectively we will work on developing a checklist. Jill will circulate a starting point.
Additional OSP guidance to consider and possibly incorporate:
Discussion for clarification from last meeting
FYI/Reminder: For payroll, positions no longer automatically terminate as of the end date of a grant account (or other fund account). Be sure to manually terminate to avoid having charges continue to post past the end date.
In attendance: Sunju Raybeck (Campbell), Amy Schmidt (CCE), Jacquie Meyer (Political Science), Juanita Horan (Moynihan), Peg Austin (CPR), Katrina Fiacchi (CPR)
cc: Debbie Toole (Geography), La’retta Castro (ASI), Kathy Forrest (ASI), Alexandra Punch (Lerner), Heather Macknik (PAIA)
Grant accounts (like other fund accounts) no longer automatically terminate as of the end date. Be sure to manually terminate to avoid having charges continue to post past the end date.
Forward funding on a sponsored project enables the PI to begin spending prior to having a fully-executed award in place or to incur expenses before the start date of an expected award.
In the event the anticipated award is not received or costs incurred are subsequently determined to be unallowable by the sponsor or University, forward-funded costs will be transferred to the departmental or unit chartstring provided at the time of request.
[update 11/12/19:] Peggy confirmed with Caroline McMullin that OSP RAs receive a weekly report of projects in forward-funded status.
[update 11/12/19:] For a list of forward-funded projects, go to MySlice -> SAMTool -> Award Summary Report; “FF” in the second column (Forward Funded Indicator) denotes forward-funding status.
To our knowledge, there is no systematic monitoring in OSP/OSA of forward-funded projects. As a best practice, schedule regular reminders to follow up with the PI and OSP for a status of the award document.
Appleby-Mosher and Roscoe Martin applications are due November 18. The Calls for Proposals are attached.
Going forward, Dean’s Office funding opportunities (and others) will be shared via the Maxevents listserv in addition to chairs and directors distribution lists.
Tenth Decade Project: Four new projects were recently funded. The current round of this internal funding opportunity has a rolling deadline. The Call for Proposals, initially distributed in March 2019, is attached.
Tracking: We discussed the various ways units track (or do not track) research funds awarded to faculty from the Dean’s Office and other internal funding programs. At minimum, it is helpful for RAs to be notified when faculty in their units receive internal funding.
Cuse Grant Program: Per Stu Taub (OSP), we should expect the 2020 Request for Proposals in mid-November, with proposals due in in mid-January.
Syracuse University Cluster Hire Initiative: Round 2 cluster hire proposals are due November 1, 2019. The guidelines and existing cluster information are posted on Answers (requires NetID and password to view): https://answers.syr.edu/x/dQ6bBQ. (Slides from Cluster Hires Open Information Session – September 30) will give you a quick overview.)
We tabled this topic for the next meeting, both given the productive conversation noted above and to hopefully include additional group members in this discussion in November.