OCG

Changes Made to Foreign Currency Procedures

Anonymous — Fri, 24 Jun 2022 15:11:23 +0000

Changes Made to Foreign Currency Procedures Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 06/24/2022 - 09:11

A working group comprised of members from the Office of Contracts and Grants (OCG), Research Financial Services (RFS), and the College of Engineering have updated the Foreign Currency procedures. Due to inconsistent application of the Foreign Currency Risk Reserve, there was a need to evaluate the procedure and make changes to better protect the financials of CU and researchers, and to ensure consistent application of the Foreign Currency Risk Reserve on all sponsored research agreements that include payment in a foreign currency.

The following identifies the changes that have occurred:

Anytime a proposal is submitted to a foreign sponsor, CU will request for the inclusion of the Foreign Currency Risk Reserve.
If the sponsor does not allow or accept the Foreign Currency Risk Reserve, the Proposal Analyst will work with the PI and DRA to revise the budget, remove the Foreign Currency Risk Reserve on the Sponsor approved budget, and document an internal budget that sets aside the Foreign Currency Risk Reserve in case of foreign currency rate fluctuations.
The Foreign Currency Risk Acceptance Form is required prior to proposal submission. OCG will not submit the proposal without the completed Foreign Currency Risk Acceptance form.
The department signature on the form demonstrates acceptance of the risk on the campus unit’s behalf for the life of the award, and the agreement of the unit stands even if the individual who signed the form leaves the position they held at the time of signing.

The updated procedure is effective immediately, with additional information located at the following web pages:

If there are any questions, please contact David Scarbeary-Simmons in RFS (david.simmons-1@colorado.edu) or Joan Eaton in OCG (joan.eaton@colorado.edu)

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Important to Contact OCG Proposal Analysts for LOIs, Step 1 Proposals

Anonymous — Fri, 18 Mar 2022 20:46:05 +0000

Important to Contact OCG Proposal Analysts for LOIs, Step 1 Proposals Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 03/18/2022 - 14:46

Your OCG Proposal Analyst is your partner throughout the proposal process, including pre-proposal activities such as Letters of Intent, white papers, Step 1 proposals, etc. OCG has recently experienced issues meeting submission deadlines with PIs not contacting OCG during the pre-proposal process and systems requiring an Authorized Organizational Representative (AOR, such as OCG Proposal Analysts) to complete submission. While some systems notify all of OCG’s AORs about pending submissions, we cannot rely on these notifications for Proposal Analysts to complete a submission.

To ensure that all steps are done and completed to the Sponsor’s system requirements in time for deadlines, PIs should always reach out to their department's assigned Proposal Analyst. Your Proposal Analyst can ensure timely attention to all types of submissions. Having your Proposal Analyst involved in these early activities also creates awareness of potential upcoming projects that may be related to or result from your initial submission.

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Changes to Principal Investigator Eligibility

Anonymous — Tue, 19 Nov 2019 15:16:57 +0000

Changes to Principal Investigator Eligibility Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 11/19/2019 - 08:16

Revisions to CU Boulder's Principal Investigator (PI) Eligibility Requirements took effect on November 19, 2019. The primary changes made include:

The requirement for a .50 FTE appointment has been replaced with a requirement of confirmation of an active appointment with CU Boulder (with limited exceptions).
Some titles require approval by Dean/Chair/Institute Director, as in the past.
A new Research Affiliate position (1315) has been added to the document. This position allows individuals from other entities to be affiliated with the university as collaborators. They are sponsored by a university unit and are required to enter into an affiliation agreement. This position is eligible to be a senior key person on a sponsored project proposal with approval from the sponsoring unit. For more information about the Research Affiliate position review the Human Resources Research Faculty Positions resource.

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Updated proposal budget templates available, includes new tool for NSF

Anonymous — Fri, 07 Jun 2019 14:39:07 +0000

Updated proposal budget templates available, includes new tool for NSF Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 06/07/2019 - 08:39

OCG has updated the following budget templates, now available on the OCG forms webpage:

Cost Estimation Tool
Simple Cost Estimation Tool
NIH Modular Budget Cost Estimation Tool
NIH F Series Cost Estimation Tools

Changes include updated inflation rates, addition of the IDC Addendum to certain templates, changes to the IDC Addendum (no longer have to calculate IDC dollar amount lost), and additional built in calculations and formatting changes.

Of special note: OCG has added a new tab to the Cost Estimation Tool, which will assist PIs in preparing detailed travel tables for their budget justification (required for NSF and some other sponsors). Once the budget is complete, all the PI needs to do is go the Travel Table tab, hide any unused rows and columns, and then copy and paste the table to their budget justification. The formatting should be appropriate for NSF requirements.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding template changes, please reach out to your Proposal Analyst.

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Award volume increasing as fiscal year end approaches

Anonymous — Tue, 04 Jun 2019 15:22:53 +0000

Award volume increasing as fiscal year end approaches Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 06/04/2019 - 09:22

Historically, June and September sees a large increase in volume of awards. With the Federal shutdown this past January, we are seeing a large increase in awards coming in from our highest volume sponsors. OCG staff is working diligently to move these awards through as quickly as possible and respond to emails and requests.

If you have any exigencies during this time, please send them to your appropriate OCG contact with ‘URGENT’ in the subject line. We will make every effort to handle these as quickly as possible.

All sponsored awards must be processed, reviewed and negotiated through the Office of Contracts and Grants (OCG), before the Campus Controller's Office can set these awards up in the financial system. Your patience and understanding is appreciated during this busy time for everyone.

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New Procedural Statement for Sponsored Project Report Submissions

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Feb 2019 15:28:15 +0000

New Procedural Statement for Sponsored Project Report Submissions Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 02/14/2019 - 08:28

Sponsors expect timely submission of progress and/or technical reports as outlined in the award. In fact, many sponsors have improved their report submission systems, created automated tracking of report submissions, and forewarn of consequences to the university much more often than in the past.

Vice Chancellor for Research & Innovation, Terri Fiez, approved a new procedural statement that details CU Boulder’s report submission responsibilities and consequences for late reports or disregarding notification deadlines. The procedural statement outlines responsibilities and steps taken when reports are late.

What are PI and OCG responsibilities?

PIs are expected to timely submit reports to the sponsor and to provide a copy of the report to OCG. Providing a copy of your report to OCG is critical. OCG does not have access to most sponsor databases.

OCG tracks reporting dates in InfoEd and is responsible for uploading into InfoEd all reports received from PIs. InfoEd is the official repository for all CU Boulder award-related documents to substantiate CU’s award management practices as required by Federal regulations.

What happens if a report is late?

OCG will notify PIs a maximum of 3 times if a report is late. Each OCG notification has a 3-day response time before the next notification is sent. At the 3^rd notification, a hold is placed on all of a PI’s active awards.

For chronically late reports and disregarding notification deadlines, a hold will be placed on all active awards AND proposals until reports are submitted.

Colleges and/or Schools may impose further sanctions in accordance with the Faculty Affairs Policy on Professional Rights & Duties of Faculty Members & Roles & Responsibilities of Department Chairs, up to and including denying merit increases in the next merit cycle.

Bottom line: Submit reports on time every time. Doing so keeps PIs, their research and the University in good standing with CU Boulder’s sponsors.

OCG Resources

The Office of Contracts and Grants (OCG) has developed an interactive Guide to Sponsor Reporting Requirements and an overview handout regarding report submission procedures. OCG is available to help answer report submission questions at ocgreports@colorado.edu.

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Boettcher Foundation Webb-Waring Biomedical Research Awards for 2019

Anonymous — Wed, 09 Jan 2019 14:57:19 +0000

Boettcher Foundation Webb-Waring Biomedical Research Awards for 2019 Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 01/09/2019 - 07:57

The University of Colorado and the Boettcher Foundation are pleased to announce the 2019 Boettcher Foundation Webb-Waring Biomedical Research Awards program. See video.

The Boettcher Foundation will provide up to five grants of $235,000 each covering up to three years of research activity for promising and talented early-career investigators at CU.
Awardees will carry the prestigious title of “Boettcher Investigator”.
Eligible faculty researchers from all four CU campuses are encouraged to apply.

PURPOSE

The program is designed to support research that has a direct impact on human health.

The biomedical research supported pursuant to this grant program will be designed to find ways to prevent disease and improve human health through basic and applied biomedical research.
The intent of the program is to fund meritorious research that has the potential for new discoveries or advances a discovery to the proof of its potential value as an application to improve human health.
This research will help improve the understanding, treatment and prevention of human disease.

ELIGIBILITY

For purposes of this program, an eligible early-career investigator (ECI):

Is within four years of appointment to his/her career-track academic position (i.e., whose career-track appointments began no earlier than January 1, 2014);
Has not previously received a major independent research award;
Has received a terminal degree or completed his/her medical residency within the 10 years preceding the application (i.e., on or after January 1, 2008); and
Is either a U.S. Citizen or a Permanent Resident.

For more details, go to: http://www.cu.edu/bfww/eligibility

PRE-SUBMISSION WEBINAR

A pre-submission webinar was held on December 13, 2018. Potential applicants can view the recorded webinar at: https://www.cu.edu/bfww/pre-submission_webinar to get more information about the award program, the application and selection process and view a summary of the questions and answers during a Q&A with the chair and vice chair of the 2019 selection panel.

TIMELINES

Completed applications must be submitted to the CU Boulder Office of Contracts and Grants (OCG) no later than 5:00 p.m. on February 21, 2019.

Awards will be announced in May 2019.
Awards will support work beginning June 1, 2019.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

https://www.cu.edu/doc/bfww-applicantinstructions-cu-boulder.pdf

Please do not contact the Boettcher Foundation directly.

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New Interactive Tool for Sponsor Reporting Requirements

Anonymous — Mon, 08 Oct 2018 14:49:26 +0000

New Interactive Tool for Sponsor Reporting Requirements Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 10/08/2018 - 08:49

The Office of Contracts and Grants (OCG) has created an interactive Guide to Sponsor Reporting Requirements that summarizes typical reporting requirements for the most common federal sponsors such as NSF, NIH, NASA grants and others. Specific information for each of these sponsors includes reporting schedules, submission instructions, and report templates. In addition to the new tool, a “How To” Guide for Reporting Requirements is available that features the reporting requirements for other sponsors.

All required reports, including technical and final reports, should be retained in infoED. infoED is the official repository for all CU Boulder award-related documents to substantiate CU’s award management practices. OCG will be responsible for uploading all reports to infoED that they receive.

Reports that are stored in infoED transition responsibility from the PI to OCG to produce a copy of the report in the event the sponsor questions CU’s fulfillment of the award. If OCG does not receive a copy of a report, the PI and that PI’s department assume this responsibility, and will need to retain the document(s) for six years past the inactivation date of all financial accounts of that award, in accordance with CU Boulder’s Records Retention and Management policies.

Direct reporting questions and copies of submitted reports to ocgreports@colorado.edu.

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New policy statements for Institutional Base Salary and Summer Salary Limits effective September 2018

Anonymous — Wed, 26 Sep 2018 14:21:42 +0000

New policy statements for Institutional Base Salary and Summer Salary Limits effective September 2018 Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 09/26/2018 - 08:21

Effective September 1, 2018, CU Boulder adopted policy statements addressing Institutional Base Salary and Summer Salary Limits. Federal requirements, through the Uniform Guidance, require the University to clearly define what is included in Institutional Base Salary (IBS) and apply it consistently for all tenured and tenure-track faculty. IBS is used to calculate maximum permissible summer salary and prior to the new policies, was defined in a single, lengthy guidance and procedure statement.

These policies change how the IBS is calculated and specifically affect faculty with regular academic year salary plus academic year administrative and/or endowed position salary, involving fewer than 10% of the tenured and tenure-track faculty. There is no change or impact to faculty on 12-month appointments or to faculty who have only academic year salary. The Summer Salary Limits policy clearly outlines responsibilities for those faculty earning summer salary and articulates restrictions imposed on the salary that is earned.

A working group from the Research & Innovation Office, Human Resources, Office of Faculty Affairs, the Provost’s Office, and the Office of Contracts and Grants collaborated on the development of these policies. The following outcomes resulted from their work in creating them:

Two clear policies separate responsibilities from procedure
Earning potential is the same for those affected by the new calculations
The updated IBS calculations have been tested against numerous real scenarios
Effort and earning remain congruent
New tools have been created to allow easy determination of IBS

Policy and Resource Links:

Institutional Base Salary

Institutional Base Salary Quick Guide

Summer Salary Limits for Tenured and Tenure-Track Faculty

Summer Salary Procedures

CU After Lunch (March 2019) Slide Deck

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NIH and others place emphasis on compliance disclosures

Anonymous — Thu, 13 Sep 2018 14:03:21 +0000

NIH and others place emphasis on compliance disclosures Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 09/13/2018 - 08:03

CU Boulder is committed to protecting the intellectual property and work of our robust research community, and we closely monitor the guidance, directives and information coming from our federal sponsors. NIH recently issued a letter to grantees about the importance of ensuring all support and financial interests are properly disclosed. The letter noted a particular concern about financial support from foreign entities that might compromise national security as well as intellectual property rights of the government and of the university. As a reminder, all external sources of income or support—including from foreign universities and research institutions—should be included in your DEPA conflict of interest disclosures.

The compliance units within the Office of Research Integrity and the Office of Contracts and Grants are here to support CU Boulder PIs and their departments through strategic guidance on the risks associated with any conflicts of interest, conflicts of commitment, sponsor affiliations, terms and conditions, intellectual property, sensitive data or other risk concerns.

The start of a new academic year is a great time to make sure that all of your sponsored projects are up-to-date with disclosure of financial interests and affiliations and all forms of other support. There are numerous resources available to help you throughout all stages of a sponsored award.

Resources:

Office of Research Integrity (ORI)

CU Boulder is committed to scientific and ethical integrity as well as academic excellence in all research activities with which our students, faculty and staff are associated. ORI supports those needs as follows:

Office of Contracts and Grants (OCG)

OCG partners to provide sponsored project award compliance support from start to finish. This support includes:

Proposal review and submission
Certifications & Representations
Restricted Research Guidance
Property and Equipment (including fabrications and borrowing or lending)
Navigating Rules & Regulations
Terms and Conditions Review and Acceptance
Travel
Reporting (Deliverables)
Administrative Closeout

Campus Controller’s Office (CCO)

CCO oversees the post-award financial administration and compliance of sponsored projects in CU Boulder Funds 30/31/33. CCO ensures the final financial closeout of all awards and serves as the primary point of contact for any audits.

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