ORSP/DGCA Advisory Team Meeting

November 4, 2015

Meeting Notes

1. New eCOI Process – Judy Neubauer, Office of Research Regulatory Affairs()

  • Sometimes bias/objectivity or external pressures/outside interests can influence research results, even if unintentionally. There needs to be full transparency so as to avoid even the perception of a conflict of interest and research bias. Hence the need for disclosure of outside interests to the administration. All disclosures of outside interests must be made by the RU employee to whom they pertain. Disclosures are confidential and only reviewed by ORRA as needed.
  • Having outside interests does not mean that a PI is unethical or doing anything wrong. In fact, one might think of these situations as a “Confluence of Interest” and in many cases signify potentially high-impact research endeavors. Rutgers does not discourage these relationships, but it must have in place a system whereby these situations can be monitored and managed to help avoid biasing research results.
  • An initial Disclosure Certification should be completed by PIs in the new eCOI system. Subsequently, disclosures only need to be updated with significant life events (within 30 days) or confirmed with no changes annually.Before submitting the electronic certification, the “I Agree This Information is Correct” button must be clicked; otherwise, it gets stuck in the system as a draft and does not get submitted.
  • The Research Certification process in the eCOI system ensures that a specific award is linked to the disclosures of the appropriate investigators. Research Certifications should be completed only at time of award, either by someone on the research team or a department administrator. The eCOI system will prompt all investigators to attest that their disclosures are up to date. Note, eCOI does not automatically add the person completing the research certification as a project investigator, because department administrators frequently complete these on behalf of the PI. If a PI is completing it, they will need to add themselves as an investigator on the project.
  • If subcontractors are involved in the project, the eCOI system will not progress through Research Certification without specific documentation for the subcontracts, which may or may not be available at the time the Research Certification is being completed. Those completing the Research Certification can upload the Letter of Intent to Create Consortium form for the subcontracts rather than an agreement. Continuing awards do not need new Research Certifications.
  • Department administrators responsible for grants management in their departments can get administrative access to the eCOI system to see who has disclosed and when. They won’t see confidential disclosure information for any investigator but will be able to see the status of disclosure and research certifications. To get set up, email Diane Ambrose with your name, NetID, email address, and the school/departmentto which you need access.

2. ERA Wave 2 Changes – Allison Shah, Huron Consulting

  • Wave 2 November implementation included the new eCOI system, ORSP Award Set-up Team, new Compliance policies, and a new Subrecipient Commitment Form. Also, emails are sent from ORSP Grant Specialists or the Award Set-up Team to PIs and department administrators (indicated on the Endorsement Form) at time of award notification stating what is still needed (compliance, budget reduction, subaward forms, etc). Automatic emails are also sent to the research team 60 days prior to award closeout to alert them to begin that process. DGCA will work with the PI and department to reconcile account balances, initiate invention statements, etc. to ensure final reports are submitted to the sponsor on time.

3. Clarification of 5 day/2day Deadlines for Proposal Submission – Diane Ambrose, ORSP

  • The first point of contact for further information or to discuss the need for a deadline exception is your grants specialist. Grants specialists should be consulted or involved throughout the proposal submission process. However, Grant Specialists are not able to grant an exception.
  • Deadlines are NOON on the 5 day or 2 day deadline day, not 5pm. For example, if something is due to the Sponsor on Tuesday, Nov 10, the two day deadline to ORSP is Friday, Nov 6 at NOON. Similarly, the 5 day deadline is Tuesday, Nov 3 at NOON.
  • Only an exception request for the 2 day scientific material is necessary. PIs do not need to request an extension for the 5 day administrative material. When requesting a deadline exception, PIs should include the sponsor deadline and a justification in their email. Send all requests to , not to Dr. Molloy, Dr. Kinzy, or Dr. Ambrose directly.
  • When an exception request comes in, ORED/ORSP personnel will do some research about the submission. Was the 5 day deadline met for administrative materials? Has the PI/Research Team been working with their ORSP grant specialist in good faith to get their proposal in on time? Is the PI someone who usually makes deadlines or constantly requires extensions? Also to note, for certain situations, we will reach out to the Dean/Center Director and/or Dept Chair to discuss the request.
  • One issue that arose: In a recent trend since the deadline policy inception, PIs are submitting forms prior to the ORSP deadlines but then completely changing it closer to the sponsor deadline. This ensures they get in on time to avoid asking for an exception, but puts an undue burden on the grants specialists, who then need to re-review all of that new paperwork. Discussion ensued about how to manage this situation.

4. Clarification and Reminder for Closeout Timeline

  • End dates are strict for State and Federal Sponsors. Awards should be monitored monthly to ensure a smoother closeout.
  • Approximately 30 days prior to the final report being due, DGCA Accountants will complete and send the reconciliation worksheet for review.
  • Business Managers should not wait until receiving the worksheet to begin reviewing, cleaning and closing out their awards. DGCA accountants have a large volume of closeouts they are processing at all times, if you wait until the worksheet is received, it could lead to delays and potential late filings of financial reports.
  • This is the time to finish gathering ALL final expenses. See what has not posted. Review total salary for the period of the award. Sweep commitments. Get final vendor invoices. Get back up documentation for items that will post after the end date to the DGCA Accountant
  • Use the closeout checklist to assist with all closeout tasks
  • Once final numbers have been agreed upon, DGCA accountants must submit the full file for final review to Management. All this must be done prior to the reporting deadline from the agency.

5. Policy Changes for NSF

  • ORSP has slides and notes from recent NSF Conference (Nov 2-3) about proposal submissions, award management and general policy changes. Should anyone want these items, please contact Diane Ambrose at .
  • Continued implementation of the Duncan Hunter National Defense Authorization Act requires federal agencies to input data regarding integrity and performance of entities awarded federal grants and contracts into the Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS) and to check this database prior to making an award.
  • The Guidance involving grants and cooperative agreements becomes effective January 01, 2016
  • See for more info.

Upcoming Meetings:

  1. ORSP/DGCA Advisory Team Meeting: December 2, 2015 at 2pm in CoRE Room 701
  2. RAIN Meeting, NB: December 10, 2015 at 10am in CoRE Auditorium
  3. Focus will be on Subaward Processes
  4. RAIN Meeting, NWK: December 10, 2015 at 2pm in Paul Robeson Campus Center
  5. Focus will be on Subaward Processes