The following message from Beth Israel was sent to all Principal Investigators on 9/30/09:

Dear Principal Investigators,

In light of some recent misunderstandings, I want to clarify the procedures for institutional commitment for proposals.  The “Blue Sheet” (ORSPA form 300), the Proposal Routing and Approval Form) is a required component of all complete proposal packages. The completed ORSPA 300 form, along with the completed Cost Sharing Requirements Approval form (ORSPA form 305) where appropriate, documents the University’s institutional commitment to the proposed effort.  We need your help to ensure this form is filed before or together with your proposal.

Effective November 1, 2009, a fully completed (with all signatures) 300 form (Blue Sheet) must be received in ORSPA prior to your proposal being submitted to the sponsor.  This also applies to ORSPA form 305 (Cost Share or Green Sheet) where applicable.

 As the Blue Sheets actually provide the official commitment by ASU for this proposal, we will not be able to submit your proposal without these fully completed forms.

I present, below, a guide to assist in completion of both forms; you will note that virtually all required information can be completed by administrative staff (Research Advancement professionals) as your proposal is prepared.

To ease the process of approvals, electronic routing and approvals can be accomplished using the Proposal Routing Sharepoint site. This process allows you to review and approve the final proposal online; all required signatories can also access the site remotely to approve as needed. The “system fix” to enable IMAP email users (mostly Apple and Linux users) to also get the email notifications is expected to be in-place within the next month. The process also allows you to authorize a delegate to approve on your behalf.  This can be very handy in meeting deadlines or if you are not available to approve on your own behalf.  To request training and/or find out more about using the online proposal routing process please contact Frank Johnson at Frank [dot] Johnson [at] asu [dot] edu.

If there are extenuating circumstances that prevent the submission of timely routing forms in your unit, please contact Debbie Shaver, Director of ORSPA (480-965-4841) or Heather Anderson of OVPREA (480-727-0898). 

Thank you for your assistance. 

Beth H. Israel

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Beth H. Israel
Assoc. Vice President Research Administration
Office of the Vice President for Research & Economic Affairs

***GUIDE TO COMPLETION OF FORMS:

Summary Sheet on ORSPA 300E (Blue Sheet)

Page 1 –
A: based on PI information (Mandatory)
B – H:  Derived from RFP/opportunity information (Mandatory - can be filled out at beginning of proposal writing)

Page 2 –
I: Budget summary data (Mandatory)
J: Special reviews (As required) ** IP questions must be answered, existing case or license number can be listed as “Unknown” for proposal submission; if conflict exists then proposal may have to be withdrawn.  If you are unsure which categories apply please contact your RA or SPO for assistance.
L – N: Signatures (Mandatory)

Page 3 –
B: Investigators and Allocations (Mandatory)

Page 4 -
C-D: Signatures (All Mandatory)

Page 5 -
B: Financial Disclosure (Mandatory Lead PI and Co-Is)

Page 6 -
B: External Collaborators (Mandatory) All Collaborators listed in the proposal must be listed in this section

Page 7 -
B-I: As Required from Page 2 – Note in “E -Laboratory Registration” Registration number and date can be listed as unknown but anticipated Building and Room are required at time of proposal.

Summary Sheet on ORSPA 305 (Green Sheet)

Page 1 –
Title/PI:  Mandatory
Cost Share Type:  Mandatory (known at beginning of Proposal)
PI Signature: Mandatory
Block #1 – Funding Agency/Org number can be listed as “Unknown” at time of proposal but the signatories are agreeing to the commitment by signing. All other fields are required for proposal submission.
Block # 2: As required - Same as Block #1

Page 2 –
Block #3: As required – Same as Block #1
Block #4: As required – Same as Block#1
Sponsored approved use of F&A for Cost Share: Mandatory if any portion of requested cost share comes from reduced F&A.
Total: Mandatory
Non-ASU resources/3rd Party Cost share: Mandatory if any portion of requested cost share comes from Non-ASU resources.

This RA/BOM session occurred on 9/14/09 and covered the latest policies and procedures affecting sponsored projects.  Access the PowerPoint presentation.

The following message from Rick Shangraw was sent to all faculty on 8/27/09:

As we move into the Fall Term I wanted to take a moment to bring you up to speed on process improvements I am making within the Office of Research and Sponsored Projects Administration (ORSPA) to better support the needs of the research enterprise as well as to ensure compliance with applicable regulations.

• Our ability to begin work on research has been hampered by slow activation of accounts. I apologize for these delays. Later this month, we will begin a new process to better support the verification and activation of awards. Beth Israel will be sending out specific instruction on the new process but it will enable Principal Investigators (PIs) to email their notification to a dedicated team who will work with unit staff to assemble all the needed information to ensure a timely (and smooth) activation of an account. This new process will also allow you to track your request in the system. 
• I am concerned about the lag between proposals being submitted and the submission of “Blue Sheets” which allow ORSPA to institutionalize your proposal. Our first objective is to get proposals submitted but we also need the Proposal Routing and Approval Forms (aka ORSPA 300s or blue sheets). I am currently evaluating options on how to best improve that process. We expect to have an improved process in place in the coming weeks.
• Another effort is underway to reduce the time and labor associated with invoicing. The more automated process should begin its pilot phase in the late September timeframe. The new process is designed to improve the timeliness of invoicing and frees up staff to focus on other accounting actions. As part of this improvement we are also finishing the development of an account reconciliation form which should aid you and your staff.

As we have all seen in the news, the Federal Government has become increasingly stringent in enforcing the requirements regarding charging of expenses on federally sponsored projects, often imposing large fines on other research universities. As a researcher and a taxpayer I do not always believe this is the best use of Government money, but it appears we will have to learn to deal with the increased oversight.  By accepting federal research support, the University is responsible for enforcing the regulations. Our ability to get and keep sponsored research will suffer should we fail to maintain compliance with federal regulations. Recent audits indicate ASU has a number of areas in need of improvement. We are working on ways to ensure compliance in these areas while minimizing the burden on the research efforts. Areas requiring changes include: 

• Ensuring faculty do not charge non-allowable time (e.g. advising students, attending administrative meetings, writing proposals, personal leave time) to sponsored projects. The government now requires better documentation in this area so we (like many of our sister universities) are developing a new “summer salary” policy which requires the PI to request approval prior to increasing their salary support from sponsored projects. The additional documentation is needed only when a faculty member will be nearly or fully dedicating their time to their research as this requires them to forgo normal faculty activities for the period in question. ASU is currently planning to require the additional documentation in the following situations:
  • For faculty on nine-month academic appointments:
    • Documentation is needed before increasing their sponsored salary support above 95% anytime during the academic year.
    • Documentation is needed before the beginning of summer term if you plan to charge more than two months of salary support from sponsored projects in the three month summer term.
  • For faculty on 12 month appointments: Documentation is needed before increasing sponsored salary support above 95% anytime during the year.

• Minimizing effort reporting recertification through improved training and better payroll reconciliations. Minimizing effort recertification is important because every recertification is considered an error during an audit and undermines the credibility and reliability of our entire billing system. Recertified effort is also subject to review and rejection by the auditors. The proposed changes below are designed to address the errors seen in previous periods. The changes include:
  • Mandatory training for effort reporting and annual PI refresher training for research administration. Both training modules will be rolled out online this fall and will be required beginning January 1, 2010.
  • Changes after the effort reporting window has closed will need to be approved at a higher level, generally by the Dean and/or myself.

• Changing the accounting process to prevent deficit spending on sponsored accounts. I have a team working on how to best prevent deficit spending without significantly disrupting research operations. I will ensure any planned change is communicated widely before any change is implemented.  

Where these changes require modification to existing policy, revised drafts are currently in process to address areas of concern. These proposed changes will be processed through normal channels for review and approval this fall. You will be hearing more on these individual areas from Beth Israel in the coming weeks.  In the interim, if you have questions, constructive comments, or recommendations please contact me or Beth Israel, Associate Vice President for Research Administration, beth [dot] israel [at] asu [dot] edu.

Best wishes for the new academic year.

A new tip sheet is available regarding pay option 2 (A12). The A12 option is intended for the purpose of paying a 9 month academic contract over a period of 12 months.

The tip sheet can be found on ORSPA's Tip Sheets page.

The Grant Training Center is sponsoring a grant writing working at ASU called "Proposal Writing I" May 4 - 6. 

See the Grant Training Center website for more information.