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IMPORTANT! ODU Research Foundation Timesheet Deadline Reminder! (11/5/2009)

Please be reminded that hourly employee time sheets for the 11/13/09 pay are due on Monday, 11/9/09.  Due to the bank holiday next Wednesday, late time sheets will NOT be accepted; therefore it is imperative that time sheets be received by the Research Foundation on time.

Also, please be reminded that time sheets placed in campus mail on Monday WILL NOT be received by the Research Foundation in time.  You may fax the time sheets to (757) 683-5290 or scan and e-mail them to lacuddin@odu.edu.

If you have any further questions please feel free to contact Linda Cuddington at (757) 683-4293, ext. 615.

New Purchase Requisition System (10/8/2009)
Good morning. ODU Research Foundation's new purchase requisition system is online and ready to use. The new system is available at http://www.odu.edu/forms_admin/forms/purchase.php, or through the Research Foundation web site. Click on "Forms" and then "Purchase Requisition" under "Accounting and Procurement." Please contact Kathy Ganas (kganas@odu.edu; 757-683-4293 ext. 621) for instructions on obtaining access.
Office of Research - Call for Proposals (9/29/2009)

Attached please find the call for proposals 2009-2010 Multidisciplinary Seed Funding Program, Summer Experience Enhancing Collaborative Research (SEECR), and Summer Research Fellowship Program (SRFP).

RFPSEECR2010_revised.pdf
SRFrfp2010_revised.pdf
MultidisciplinaryProgram2010_the announcement.pdf

The Office of Research Funding Opportunities Newsletter for September 2009 (09/10/2009)

The office of research funding opportunities newsletter for September 2009. The monthly Office of Research Newsletter provides funding opportunities for all colleges. All new and updated grant information added to the newsletter. If you have any suggestions, please let us know. Thank you.

http://www.researchfoundation.odu.edu/pdf/Office_of_Research_Newsletter_Sept09.pdf

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT NEW HIRE PAPERWORK (09/09/2009)
The requirement that the Research Foundation use the on-line federal E-verify program to check the eligibility of employees to work in the US began September 8, 2009. In addition to doing a paper I-9 Form to establish work authorization for every new employee, the Foundation now must go on-line to establish that the identification documents used were valid. (more)
Use of Sick Leave (09/08/2009)
As influenza seasons approaches, and in light of the expected prevalence of the H1N1 strain, the Research Foundation is modifying certain practices. It is important for investigators and supervisors to take action to prevent the spread of the H1N1 flu virus at work. This includes reminding your employees and student assistants to not come to work if they are experiencing flu-like symptoms.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) created a poster to help employers communicate to employees the importance of staying home and not spreading the virus.

Please use the following link to access the poster and post it throughout your departments:

http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/business/toolkit/pdf/StopDoYouFeelSick_18x24.pdf

If an employee reports to work with flu-like symptoms, send him or her home. Be flexible in requiring documentation from a health care provider to support the absence. The Research Foundation will not require medical notes for flu related illnesses.

Encourage staff to check the Campus Health Alerts site on the University's web page for up-to-date information on the H1N1 flu virus.
The Office of Research Funding Opportunities Newsletter for August 09 (09/04/2009)

Below is a link to the Office of Research Funding Opportunities Newsletter for August 2009. The monthly Office of Research Newsletter provides funding opportunities for all colleges. The newsletter contains new and updated grant information.

http://www.researchfoundation.odu.edu/pdf/OORNewsAug09.pdf

GRA 108s for Fall 2009 (7/23/2009)
This is a reminder that Fall 2009 Payroll Authorization Forms (108s) are due next Tuesday, July 28, 2009. To assist us in the quick expedition of the GRA 108s, please review the following before submitting the 108s to Research Foundation Human Resources.

--Please use the new 108 (revised July 1, 2009) which can be found on our website at http://www.researchfoundation.odu.edu/forms/forms.htm;

--Attach a copy of the GRA award letter;

--Make sure the student has enrolled in a minimum of 6 credit hours for the Fall semester (10 pay periods). If the student is PhD and all but dissertation (ABD), then only 1 credit hour is needed;

--The minimum a GRA can earn during the Fall semester is $3,200;

--A GRA must work no less than half of the semester (5 pay periods) and can work no more than 20 hours per week;
--If the GRA is receiving a tuition exemption, check the correct boxes in Part III of the 108. If the payment is through ODURF, a copy of the student Tuition E-bill must be attached;

--Make sure that all four (4) signatures are on the 108 - Student, PI, Dept. Chair and Dean. These signatures are needed regardless of tuition exemption.

Thank you for your cooperation.

New ODU fringe benefit rate (7/16/2009)
Based on actual cost to the University, a new ODU fringe benefit rate has been finalized by the federal government for fiscal year 2010. The new rate of 34.5% of salary will be applied beginning July 1, 2009. As with any increase in costs, ODU fringe benefits will be charged at 34.5% even if budgeted at a different rate.

The ODU fringe benefit rate applies to ODU faculty salaries charged as Purchased Release Time (PRT) during the academic year or changed under a 12-Month Conversion. Direct pay to faculty during their off-duty quarter, usually summer, is not affected. If the change in ODU fringe benefits cost affects your project accounts, a grant and contract administrator (GCA) will be in touch regarding budget adjustments.

If you have questions regarding implementation of this change, please contact Carole Blett, sponsored programs manager, at 683.4293, ext. 604 or your GCA.
ODURF Payroll Authorization Form (108) revised effective July 1, 2009 (7/9/2009)
The Payroll Authorization Form 108 has been revised for immediate use. The latest revision is dated July 1, 2009 and replaces the previous form version last revised January 1, 2007. Please discontinue use of all old versions of the 108 Payroll Authorization form. Changes to reporting categories for veteran status information and other minor clarification changes have been made. The basic required information remains the same. Formatting has been enhanced to allow for fill-in in the WORD format.

The form is available on line as a WORD or PDF file under Human Resources section at http://www.researchfoundation.odu.edu/forms/forms.htm.

FY 2009 Final Research Proposal Numbers (7/6/2009)
With your help and leadership and great efforts by our faculty researchers, grant-writers, and ODURF GCA Teams, we have submitted this fiscal year (ending on June 30, 2009) a record number of research proposals valued at $309M (up from $224M last year). Here are the final unit line-ups:

A&L: $8,939K (up from $2,603K)

CPBA: $1,051K (up from $1,032K)

Darden: $20,272K (up from $11,770K)

BCET: $78,096K (up from $73,760K)

Health Sc: $18,428K (up from $6,946K)

Sciences: $70,245K (up from $50,557K)

Others: $112,470K (up from $77,673K)

The list of "Others" include $68,248K for VMASC (up from $34,309K) and $24,317K for Bioelectrics (up from $4,796K).

Office of Research funding opportunities newsletter for July 2009 (6/30/2009)
The newsletter can be found here: http://www.researchfoundation.odu.edu/doc/OfficeofResearchNewsletterJuly2009.doc
New NSF Major Research Instrumentation Program, Internal Competition (05/18/2009)
The NSF Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) program just announced an additional MRI competition, funded through the stimulus program, with an August 10, 2009 due date. Proposal budgets may include requests from NSF in the range $100,000-$6 million from Ph.D.-granting institutions of higher education and non-degree granting organizations; up to $6 million(there is no minimum request) from non-Ph.D. granting institutions of higher education or the disciplines of mathematical sciences or social, behavioral, and economic sciences at any eligible organization.

NSF expects to fund about 400 awards.

ODU may submit up to 3 proposals, two for instrument acquisition and one for instrument development. For this MRI solicitation only (MRI-R2), ODU is in a category that does NOT require an institutional cost match.

We will have an internal competition, so if you would like to participate, email Kate Ferguson (kferguso@odu.edu) by May 25 and I will send you the materials.

LINKS TO FURTHER INFORMATION:
MRI-R2 May 11 press release: http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=114641
MRI Request for proposals: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2009/nsf09561/nsf09561.pdf
New NSF Major Research Instrumentation Program, Aug 10 Deadline (05/13/2009)
The NSF Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) program just announced an additional MRI competition, funded through the stimulus program, with an August 10, 2009 due date. Proposal budgets may include requests from NSF in the range $100,000-$6 million from Ph.D.-granting institutions of higher education and non-degree granting organizations; up to $6 million(there is no minimum request) from non-Ph.D. granting institutions of higher education or the disciplines of mathematical sciences or social, behavioral, and economic sciences at any eligible organization.

NSF expects to fund about 400 awards.

ODU may submit up to 3 proposals, two for instrument acquisition and one for instrument development. For this MRI solicitation only (MRI-R2), ODU is in a category that does NOT require an institutional cost match.

It is likely that an internal competition will be needed, so please let Kate Ferguson (kferguson@odu.edu) know by May 25 if you would like to submit an MRI proposal.

LINKS TO FURTHER INFORMATION:
MRI-R2 May 11 press release: http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=114641
MRI Request for proposals: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2009/nsf09561/nsf09561.pdf
2008-2009 Annual Research Report (05/08/2009)
The Office of Research plans to produce an Annual Research Report for 2008-2009 that will showcase ODU faculty's research, scholarly, and creative accomplishments. This Report will document our collective as well as individual achievements. We envision it to have some of its listings appear by Colleges/Departments as you must have noted in our just-out 2007-2008 Annual Research Report. (more)
Reminder notice about retirement contribution (04/9/2009)
Due to a change in our retirement plan, temporary (non-student) employees become eligible for 11% contribution into the retirement program if they:

--are initially hired on or after January 1, 2009, and

-- complete at least 1,000 hours of qualified employment during their first 12 months of employment or any 12-month period of July 1 through June 30 thereafter. Please note that 1,000 hours of qualified employment includes work performed for all principal investigators, not just work performed for you.

If you employ temporary (non-student) employees beginning January 1, budgeting for the retirement contribution for these employees will now be required. For this reason, ODURF staff will begin budgeting, on all proposal submissions, for the retirement contribution for any temporary (non-student) employees. This will impact any proposal submissions that have expenditures for temporary (non-student) employees on January 1, 2010 or beyond.

For existing grant and contract projects, principal investigators are encouraged to contact their grant and contract administrator to discuss any budget revisions needed for the retirement contribution.

If you have any questions, please direct them to your ODURF grant and contract administrator.

Reminder to ODU research community of the five-day proposal guarantee (4/2/2009)
Principal investigators are reminded of the Research Foundation's internal submission deadline, which encourages PI's to submit their completed proposals at least five (5) full working days before the funding agency's closing date.

Currently, the federal government's mandatory electronic proposal submission portal, grants.gov, is struggling to handle the increasing volume of proposal activity experienced in the past several months. This load has far exceeded the throughput originally anticipated by the system and has at times resulted in noticeably degraded performance and the prevention of timely submissions by the deadline date and time.

Additionally, it is anticipated there will be a high volume of proposal submissions for deadlines associated with Recovery Act grant announcements. This increase in activity will also have an impact on the time needed by Research Foundation staff to thoroughly prepare, review, and submit high quality proposals on behalf of principal investigators.

For more information on the directive referencing proposal submission deadlines, see http://researchfoundation.odu.edu/news/09-25-08.htm.

Thank you for your cooperation.
National Science Foundation Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG), NSF o9-29, April 2009 (3/27/2009)
The National Science Foundation has released a new Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG), effective for proposals submitted on or after April 6, 2009. Proposers responding to a funding opportunity with a due date on or after April 6th must comply with the new guidelines found in NSF 09-29 http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=nsf0929.

The most significant change to the grants proposal guide involves further guidance on complying with the mentoring requirement of the America COMPETES Act. Proposals that request funding for postdoctoral researchers must include a description of mentoring activities provided for postdoctoral researchers. The description must be no more than one page in length and be included in the supplemental documents section of the proposal. Proposals that do not comply with this requirement will be returned to the PI, by NSF, without review. Detailed information referencing the summary of significant changes can be found at http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/policydocs/pappguide/nsf09_29/gpg_sigchanges.jsp.

New Income Tax Rates (3/5/2009)
To all Research Foundation employees:

Due to the recently passed American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the federal income tax withholding tables have been adjusted by the IRS for calendar year 2009. The Research Foundation has implemented the new federal withholding rates effective with the payroll dated 3/6/2009.

Additional information concerning the changes in the income tax code may be found at the IRS website: www.irs.gov.

Update from the Council on Governmental Relations: Recovery Act information (3/5/2009)
Federal agencies have begun posting information on how they plan to allocate funding received under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), including in some cases how they will monitor and report their actual spending. (more)
Federal Stimulus (2/19/2009)
As you may already know, a good chunk of stimulus money will be spent through federal agencies. While the agencies are yet to figure out their own internal strategies, it is more likely be spent by some of the agencies to fund (a) previously approved unfunded projects; (b) additional projects above and beyond what they might fund typically from a current RFP; and (c) new projects through new RFP's. Thus, if a PI thought and knew if s/he had received high enough scores but was not funded because of lack of enough funds, it may be time for such PI's to be in touch with their respective Program Managers. I very much encourage such PI's to re-establish contacts with the program managers.

Mohammad Karim
New Mileage Reimbursement Rate (2/4/2009)
Old Dominion University Research Foundation will adjust its reimbursement rate for the use of one's personal automobile for business purposes to 55.0 cents for 2009. The new rate is effective February 1, 2009 and will apply to all official travel on or after that date. The new rate matches the rate approved by the General Services Administration.
E-Verify Program and Required Employee Paperwork (1/6/2009)
Beginning September 2009 the Research Foundation, because it is a federal contractor, will be required to participate in the federal E-Verify program to check documentation employees use to establish their eligibility to work in the United States. (more)
Indirect Cost and PRT Release Time Updates - Effective July 1, 2008 (12/18/2008)
This is to announce that new facilities and administration (F&A, known customarily as "indirect cost") rates have been just finalized by the federal government for fiscal year 2009. These newly negotiated rates will be included in proposals for NEW funding and competing continuations. (more)
Proposal document development, department/college review and application submission deadlines (9/25/2008)
After much thought and discussion, the Office of Research (ODUOR) and Research Foundation (ODURF) have concluded that we need an internal submission deadline for research and sponsored programs applications to external organizations. This conclusion is based on the need to support an increasing number of proposal submissions, provide the campus research community with proposal development assistance, allow both college and department officials sufficient review time, and accommodate funding agencies' processes and application submission complexities. Each of these merits additional discussion. (more)
Manual Payroll Check Fee (9/18/2008)
Beginning October 1, 2008, the Old Dominion University Research Foundation will start charging a fee for replacing payroll checks. The fee for this service is $25.00 per check. This fee will be charged for the following conditions:

1) Replacing a check lost in the mail.
2) Replacing a check due to the check being held longer than 90 days.
3) Replacing a check that was damaged.
4) Replacing a check that was lost by the payee.

The Old Dominion University Research Foundation offers all of its employees the option to have their checks direct deposited into a checking or savings account. By having your check direct deposited, it eliminates the chances of having a check lost or stolen. The funds are available to you on the payroll pay date. The form is available on our website: www.researchfoundation.edu.odu under the forms heading.

If you have any questions regarding this new fee, please contact Doreen Garrison, Accounting Manager at (757) 683-4293 ext. 601 or Julian Facenda, Director of Finance at (757) 683-4293 ext. 602.

ODU Research Foundation Signature Authorization/Delegation (8/28/2008)
Welcome back to a new academic year of purchasing. The Old Dominion University Research Foundation policies and procedures require that any financial transaction initiated be done so with appropriate levels of authorization. Signature authorization is the responsibility of the designated Principal Investigator on individual project accounts, cost centers, overhead accounts and discretionary accounts. Co-Principal Investigators have automatic signature authority for projects on which they are so designated. Signature authorization may be delegated to staff or research assistants only upon express written approval of the Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator. (more)
ODU Research Foundation Termination Procedures - Effective August 1, 2008 (8/4/2008)
Principal Investigators are required to notify the Research Foundation Human Resources Department of pending termination of all Regular Status employees and Postdoctoral Associates prior to the employees last day of service. (more)
National Institutes of Health Public Access Policy (2/4/2008)
The NIH recently announced its new Public Access Policy regarding peer-reviewed publications. The new NIH Public Access Policy will ensure published NIH-funded research is accessible to the public, health care providers, educators and scientists and will help advance science and improve human health. (more)
ODU Research Foundation Policy Updates (8/23/2007)
The Research Foundation Board of Trustees promulgated certain policies in accordance with the federal Cost Accounting Standards Disclosure Statement (DS-2) process. The policies provide documentation to formalize existing procedures but do not reflect change in practices. These policies and procedures relate to specific areas of compliance with OMB Circulars A-21 and A-110. (more)
Advanced Travel Authorization Reminder (2/8/2007)
The purpose of the Advance Travel Authorization procedure is to provide documentation for insurance purposes regarding travel at the Foundation as well as to verify the allowability, allocability, and reasonableness of proposed travel under a sponsored program. (more)
ODURF Guidelines and Approval (10/17/2005)
Do you ever use ODU classified employees to work on funded research projects? If so you need to be aware of the procedure on Secondary Employment of a University Classified Employee through the Research Foundation, effective November 1, 2005. (more)
Accident Reporting and Treatment (3/10/2005)

In case of an at-work accident, a list of hospitals and Urgent Care Centers can be found at http://www.researchfoundation.odu.edu/accidenttreatment.htm

Faculty Supplemental Compensation Procedure (5/26/04)

This serves to document the current Research Foundation procedure for processing faculty overload payments. (more)

 

© 2005 Old Dominion University Research Foundation