May 2005

Proposals and Awards

Changes in Research and Sponsored Programs Staffing and Organizational Structure The two separate functions of Sponsored Program Administration and Corporate Contracts Administration, have been merged into one office responsible for all sponsored program administration. Sid Johnson is the Executive Director of the research office and reports to Steve Martin, Assistant Vice President for Research. Steve will have a joint reporting line to Vice Chancellor Mark Brenner and Vice President for Research Michael McRobbie. Pam McKeough is the Director of Research Policy and Analysis and reports to Steve Martin. This is a new university wide role that will ensure that internal research administration policies are well organized and current and have the additional responsibility of creating and maintaining a repository of data and analysis related to research from both internal and external sources. The office is currently working on a new mission statement that will place special emphasis on the service function of the office. The office has 2 Associate Directors. Maltie Maraj is the Assoc. Director responsible for all Agreement Services and Michelle Artmeier is the Assoc. Director in overseeing Proposal Services. We hope to soon align staff responsibilities in the office along either academic or sponsor lines to improve consistency and expertise. In addition, we will be exploring how to provide more cradle to grave services to faculty and departments and reduce being “handed off” from one staff member to another. The office will be hiring several additional staff to help with both contracting and proposal review. The office will soon be working with the School of Medicine to improve the process as it relates to Clinical Trials agreements and possibly co-locate some contract staff in a Clinical Trials Office. We are planning to improve staff development efforts by providing additional training opportunities that will result in improved assistance to the faculty. Staff will be encouraged to attain accreditation as a Certified Research Administrator (CRA), which is quickly becoming to the research administration world what a CPA is to the accounting world. PROCESS CHANGES We are currently assessing routing requirements with goal of eliminating ALL non-value added steps. As part of this assessment, we will be experimenting with the possibility of eliminating school approval on route sheets except for instances where a proposal includes cost share commitments on behalf of the school or requirements for new space. A few early adopter departments in the School of Medicine have agreed to begin this soon on a trial basis. The office will be working directly with other schools and departments to find a process that works best for their individual needs. We plan to delegate signature authority within the office as well as decision making authority so as to improve response times. Departmental management systems will be developed that will help decrease paper flow (and support imaging) and to help the office monitor its workload. Ultimately we hope to soon be able to provide real time information to departments on the status of their awards or proposals via the web, and improve the sharing of information between the research office at IUB and IUPUI. The office is actively working on eliminating all contract / subcontract backlog and to maintain much improved response times. We are placing special emphasis on being a service entity that helps faculty/departments in finding solutions where grants policy compliance may conflict with project objectives. Efforts will be made to have more faculty submit the “shell” of their proposals (budget, cover sheet, and routing form, etc.) in advance of deadlines so that they may be pre-approved for submission. We will look closely at allowing proposals to be submitted directly by faculty, if they prefer to do so, once reviewed and approved by the research office. The staff of the research office are committed to the goal of making the IUPUI research office one that is service oriented, engaged, streamlined, and value-added. There are no sacred cows in our approach to seeking this goal. Considerable efforts are underway now to make this happen but suggestions for improvement are encouraged and welcomed, both now and in the future. If you have specific recommendations, concerns, or questions, you are encouraged to contact Sid Johnson or Steve Martin. Reminder: Mandatory Use of New Instructions and Forms for PHS 398 and PHS 2590 (DHHS Public Health Service Grant Application and Progress Report) in Effect Now As previously announced in the April issue of the Communicator (http://www.iupui.edu/%7Erspcommu/2005/nl-april-05.htm), use of the revised instructions and forms for the PHS 398 and PHS 2590 are mandatory for receipt/submission on or after the following dates: May 10, 2005 for the PHS 398 May 1, 2005 for the PHS 2590 The new instructions and forms can be found at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/forms.htm. If you have any questions concerning the changes or need assistance in completing the forms, please contact R&SP at 317.274.8285. R&SP Now Accepting Partial Proposals Five Working Days Prior to the Agency Deadline Thus, if all portions of the proposal, except for the technical narrative, are submitted to R&SP five working days prior to the agency deadline, the narrative section may be brought to R&SP the working day before the deadline and inserted into the proposal. All copies required for submission to the agency plus two copies that will be retained by R&SP should be routed. The required sections would include, but are not limited to, the following: Routing Sheet with all required signatures and clearly marked that it is a partial proposal Any required agency specific forms (face page, check list, etc.) Abstract if required by the agency (this may be a draft but should be so marked) All assurances and certifications All budget pages Budget justification If applicable, all subcontractors’ documentation (budget, work plan, and the signature of an authorized institutional official) Documentation letters for any third-party cost-sharing (the dollar amount must be specified) R&SP will provide space for the investigator or their staff to insert the narrative section. The investigator is also responsible for delivering a copy of the narrative to the department and dean’s offices. Please note that no changes may be made to any other sections of the proposal at this time. Once assembled, R&SP will ship the completed proposal and bill the investigator’s dean’s office for the overnight shipping service (Federal Express or UPS). Proposal narratives must be received by noon of the working day prior to the deadline in order to be picked up by the daily courier. If the narrative is received later than noon of the working day prior to the deadline, it may become the investigator’s responsibility to ship the proposal. As R&SP will not have the narrative section for reference, it is therefore imperative that the contact person named on the Route Sheet be someone who is familiar with the proposal and can answer questions R&SP or dean’s office staff might have. Please be sure the contact person’s phone number is accurate. If no contact person is listed on the Route Sheet or the contact person is not available in a timely manner, the project director will be contacted. It is also critical that all sections of the Route Sheet be complete and accurate, particularly the lay description and the questions related to research risks. Investigators may still follow the normal procedure of routing proposals in their completed form. In this case, proposals must be received by R&SP three (3) full working days prior to the agency deadline. Remember to allow additional time for routing through the department and dean’s offices. Proposals that require electronic submission (i.e., through an agency’s web-based system or by e- mail) must also follow the above routing requirements. Investigators should be aware that some agencies’ electronic systems may be unstable or become overloaded due to heavy access as a deadline approaches. It is strongly recommended that an additional working day be allowed for processing of electronic proposals so that there is time to resolve any technical problems that may be encountered. Questions may be directed to Michelle Artmeier, Associate Director of Sponsored Program Administration, or any of the Grant Specialists in Research and Sponsored Programs at 317.274.8285. NIH Application Reminder: Program Announcement Required to Identify R03 and R21 Applications If there is an indication that the application is intended to be a R03 or R21 but no Program Announcement number is listed, the Principal Investigator may be contacted by NIH and given a few days to identify an appropriate Program Announcement before the assignment of the application is completed. The application must conform to the specific features (budget limit, length of Research Plan, eligibility requirements, etc.) of the Program Announcement identified. The scientific topic must fit the research interest of at least one of the sponsoring ICs. If no appropriate Program Announcement is identified, the application may be delayed in the review process or returned from NIH without review. The full announcement concerning NIH R03 and R21 applications can be found at http://grants2.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-05-010.html.

Human Subjects

Additional Human Subjects Research Seminars Scheduled for May When: Seminar 1 - Wednesday, May 11, 2005, 10:00 to 11:30 AM Topic: Initial approval changes Seminar 2 - Wednesday, May 18, 2005, 10:00 to 11:30 AM Topic: Ongoing management of studies Where: Methodist Campus, Wile Hall, WG 33 (Ground floor, across from Security) Leader: Shelley Bizila, Director, Research Compliance Administration Registration: Call Jan Braun, 317.962.8240 or e-mail at Jbraun@clarian.org (Registration is necessary so that an adequate supply of handouts will be available.) Please mark you calendars and plan to attend both sessions. Previously announced training dates and more information may be found under "Educational Seminars in Clinical Research 2005" on the Clinical Trials Program Web page: http://medicine.iupui.edu/ctp/pdf/2005%20Educate.rtf

ERA

Mark Your Calendars for ERA Budget Module Release and Testing! Testing Announcement from Bethany Davis, Manager, Contract and Grant Administration, ERA Functional Lead: BL: Monday, May 9th, from 1:30 – 3:30 PM in PO W183 (Training Room). IUPUI: Wednesday, May 11th, from 8:30 – 10:30 AM in UN544 (Training Room). Even if you are only able to come for part of the time, we'd appreciate having you as a tester. NOTE: This is not a training session but rather an opportunity for you to help us locate problems with the new functionality. We'll provide you with a list of items to be tested at the session; however, please feel free to bring sample budgets you’d like to use. There are a limited number of seats (12) available in each of the training rooms, but it is very important that we have every one of them filled. The more people we have testing the better, and this is your opportunity to help improve ERA. Please notify me (bedavis@indiana.edu) if you are planning on attending. Thanks for your help! Bethany Davis

Research Centers and Institutes

State Awards Gaming Research Contract to Center for Urban Policy and the Environment Under contract, the Center has completed an analysis of every application for a riverboat gaming license submitted to the Indiana Gaming Commission since its inception. In addition to applicant evaluations, the Center has provided the Indiana Gaming Commission with annual evaluations for each casino licensee in the state. Many of these evaluations are available on the Commission’s Web site http://www.in.gov/gaming. The Center maintains an unbiased approach and will not conduct research for any gaming corporation within the industry itself. Rather, it works with the Indiana Gaming Commission to evaluate license applications and annual renewals from the vantage point of a strictly non-partisan and non-ideological organization. Also known for its overall gambling research, the Center has produced numerous overall articles, reports, and presentations about gaming. It staffed the Governor’s Gambling Impact Study Commission, and one of its most important efforts was a 390-page report in 1999, entitled, Report to the Governor: The Social, Fiscal, and Economic Impacts of Legalized Gambling in Indiana. A more recent report, Riverboat Gambling in Indiana: Analysis of Impacts, published in 2004, can be accessed via the Center’s Web site http://www.urbancenter.iupui.edu/. This report compared riverboat gambling in Indiana with other states in terms of gaming revenue, employment, and taxes in order to determine the relative scope of casino gaming in Indiana. The analysts then compared the tourism, employment, fiscal, and economic impacts of nine Indiana riverboats. The Center for Urban Policy and the Environment is a nonpartisan applied research organization in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis. For more information, contact the Center at 317.261.3000, or visit the Center’s Web site http://www.urbancenter.iupui.edu/.

Submissions

Submit Your News to the R&SP Communicator Send us your news...... Deadline for R&SP Communicator news article submission: 5:00 PM on the last IU working day of each month Submission format: Email, fax, or mail information to Shannon Walden (contact information provided below). Please use Arial 10 point font and plain text format. Submit news articles to: Shannon Walden Coordinator of Educational Programs for Responsible Conduct in Research UN 618 620 Union Drive, Room 618 Indianapolis, IN 46202-5167 Phone - (317) 274-8285 Fax - (317) 274-8744 E-mail: sfwalden@iupui.edu

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Research and Sponsored Programs UN 618 General - 317 274-8285 Research Compliance - 317 274-8289 Sponsored Program Development - 317 278-0249