CoR NEWSJune 28, 2018
To: APLU Council on ResearchFrom: APLU CoR Staff
- 2018 CoR & CIMA Joint Summer Meeting Update
- Welcome to the Second Cohort of CoR Research Leader Fellows
- NSF Convergence Accelerators Update
- OMB Micro-Purchase Threshold Memorandum Released
- Common Rule General Compliance Date Delay
- Associations Comment in Support of Revisions to the Animal Welfare Act
- NIH Releases Strategic Plan for Data Science
- New NIH “Under the Poliscope” Blog About Effective Commenting on NIH Policies
We are so excited to see our 135 CoR Summer Meeting registrants + an additional 40 CIMA Summer Meeting registrants at Montana State University in just one month! Our current agenda is available here; it’s not too late to register if you are interested in joining us in Bozeman, Montana on July 29-31 for three days of informative programming and networking with colleagues. For those unable to attend, presentations will be posted on the 2018 CoR Summer Meeting website in near real-time. Please let Sarah Rovito (srovito@aplu.org) know of any questions you may have.
Alicia Knoedler (Executive Associate Vice President for Research, University of Oklahoma), Robert Nobles (Associate Vice Chancellor for Research, University of Tennessee, Knoxville), and the CoR Research Leader Fellows Review Committee are delighted to announce the second cohort of CoR Research Leader Fellows:
Randy Duran, Louisiana State University
Kimberly Littlefield, University of North Carolina at Greensboro (beginning August 1, 2018)
Eric Muth, Clemson University
Sherine Obare, Western Michigan University
Shashank Priya, Pennsylvania State University
James Reecy, Iowa State University
Karin Scarpinato, Florida Atlantic University
We thank our team of reviewers, including CoR VPRs/VCRs and Associates: Kevin Gardner (University of New Hampshire), Doug Delahanty (Kent State University), Don Engel (University of Maryland, Baltimore County), Jane Strasser (University of Cincinnati), Ralph Davis (University of Arkansas), Jason Carter (Michigan Technological University), Cassandra Moseley (University of Oregon), Chris Keane (Washington State University), Duane Dimos (University of Texas at Arlington), Mary Croughan (University of Nevada, Las Vegas), and Richard Galbraith (University of Vermont).
We look forward to introducing you to the new Fellows during the CoR & CIMA Joint Summer Meeting in Bozeman. We anticipate that many of you will play a role in the cohort’s growth and development as senior research officers and thank you in advance for your guidance and mentorship. In addition, we continue to think deeply and innovatively about opportunities that CoR can provide to assist those seeking enhanced leadership training and welcome your ideas.
NSF plans to initiate two Convergence Accelerators utilizing a new organizational structure intended to leverage external partnerships and to accelerate national challenges requiring interdisciplinary expertise in Fiscal Year 2019. The first two Convergence Accelerators, focusing on Harnessing the Data Revolution for 21st Century Science and Engineering, and the Future of Work at the Human-Technology Frontier, will seek to streamline operations and collaborations and focus on results and outcomes that can be quickly achieved. These two NSF Big Ideas were chosen on account of their readiness for convergent and translational research. NSF will host workshops in the coming months pertaining to both Convergence Accelerators and to solicit additional tracks recommended by the community.
On June 20, 2018, OMB Memorandum M-18-18, Implementing Statutory Changes to the Micro-Purchase and the Simplified Acquisition Thresholds for Financial Assistance, was released. The memorandum addresses implementation of the micro-purchase threshold and effectively implements the statutory changes set forth in the National Defense Authorization Acts (NDAA) for Fiscal Years 2017 and 2018.
The memorandum “raises the threshold for micro-purchases under Federal financial assistance awards to $10,000, and raises the threshold for simplified acquisitions to $250,000 for all recipients. Further, it implements an approval process for certain institutions that want to request micro-purchase thresholds higher than $10,000. Agencies are required to implement these changes in the terms and conditions of their awards, and recipients of existing Federal financial assistance awards may implement them in their internal controls.”
Please direct any questions or concerns regarding the memorandum to Mary Tutman (Mary.E.Tutman@omb.eop.gov) or Gil Tran (Hai_M._Tran@omb.eop.gov) at OMB.
On June 18, 2018, HHS issued a final rule to delay the general compliance date for the revised Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects (also known as the Common Rule) until January 21, 2019. The rule both delays the general compliance date and allows institutions to implement three “burden-reducing provisions” of the revised rule during the delay period: 1. The use of the revised definition of “research,” which deems certain activities not to be research; 2. The allowance for no annual continuing review of certain categories of research; and 3. The elimination of the requirement that IRBs review grant applications or other funding proposals related to the research. If institutions choose to implement these three burden-reducing provisions for particular studies, such studies will be subject to the 2018 Requirements beginning on January 21, 2019.
On June 21, 2018, APLU joined COGR, AAU, and AAMC in submitting a letter to the Ranking Member and Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry offering support for efforts to provide regulatory relief by allowing flexibility on the timing of research facilities inspections under the Animal Welfare Act (AWA). Such changes would reduce administrative burden on federally funded researchers while maintaining the protection of research animals in keeping with provisions of the 21st Century Cures Act.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently released its first ever Strategic Plan for Data Science to capitalize on the opportunities presented by advances in data science. The plan describes NIH’s overarching goals, strategic objectives, and implementation tactics for promoting the modernization of the NIH-funded biomedical data science ecosystem. NIH is grateful for the input from the community and the public received from the Request for Information, which was incorporated into the final plan.
Over the course of the next year, NIH will begin implementing its strategy, with some elements of the plan already underway. NIH will continue to seek community input during the implementation phase. We know that we share a common interest with you in maximizing the value of data generated through NIH-funded efforts to accelerate the pace of biomedical discoveries and medical breakthroughs for better health outcomes.
A new blog from “Under the Poliscope” is now available. This latest entry, “The Insider’s Guide to Effective Commenting on NIH Policies,” gives some insider tips on how to maximize the power of stakeholder-provided comments to NIH. As with all of our blogs, we invite you to add your voice to the conversation by providing your thoughts in the comment section of the blog. If you have any questions or require further information about the OSP blog or any of OSP’s activities, please contact us at SciencePolicy@od.nih.gov.
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