Update: Partial Government Shutdown

January 07, 2019

Dear Colleagues:

As of this time, the partial government shutdown continues and it is uncertain when it will be resolved. This announcement serves to provide guidance on the management of sponsored projects funded by those federal agencies impacted by the shutdown.  This includes NASA, NSF, Commerce (including NIST and NOAA), FDA, EPA, the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities.

None of HHS (including NIH, CDC, CMS, HRSA, SAMHSA and AHRQ), DOD, VA, DOE and the DE is impacted by the shutdown.

Communications

Contact with federal agency staff by phone, email, fax, USPS mail, FedEx or UPS will not be possible during the funding lapse. Please do not contact furloughed federal employees, including program officers, until operations resume.

Proposals

Grants.gov will continue to operate during the shutdown. All federal agency proposal deadlines remain in effect. While proposals can be submitted, they will not be processed until normal agency operations resume. Help desk support for agency-specific proposal development systems, such as NSF FastLane, will not be available to provide technical assistance.

Peer Review/Panel Council Meetings 

All panels scheduled to take place during the shutdown will be cancelled.  Affected meetings will likely be rescheduled at a later date.

Awarded Grants 

Awardees may continue performance under their awards during a lapse in appropriations, to the extent funds are available, and if the period of performance of the grant or cooperative agreement has not expired. However, federal agencies are not obligated to reimburse expenditures for amounts in excess of total funds authorized per the terms of awarded grants or cooperative agreements.

Notices of Awards 

No new notices of awards (NoAs) or non-competing awards will be released during the funding lapse. Pending NoAs will be released once operations resume.

Progress Reports 

Please continue to submit progress reports per required deadlines. However, they will not be processed by federal agency staff until operations resume.

No Cost Extensions

A no cost extension (NCE) request for most federal awards can be processed through SPA if it is a first time request, and if the NoA does not indicate that it requires agency prior approval. Contact your SPA Project Officer for guidance. If the federal agency requires prior approval for the NCE, the request can be submitted to the agency via your SPA Project Officer; however, it cannot be reviewed or processed by agency staff until operations resume. Unused funds remaining beyond the award end date cannot be obligated for expenses until the federal agency approves the NCE request. 

Other Prior Approval Requests 

Requests can be submitted to a federal agency via your SPA Project Officer.  Such requests cannot be reviewed or processed by agency staff until operations resume.

Contracts 

Contractors will be notified if work on contracts can continue. No new contracts will be issued during the shutdown. SPA will contact the PI immediately if we receive notice of a Stop Work Order. Should you receive a Stop Work Order directly, or other communication regarding a federal contract, notify your SPA Project Officer immediately. 

SPA will continue to provide updates as we receive them. Please feel free to contact your SPA Project Officer should you have any questions.

For more specific information for specific agencies:

NSF: For Proposers and Grantees and For Panelists.

NASA: Furlough Notification to all Grants and Cooperative Agreement Recipients

Dept. of Commerce (includes NIST and NOAA): Shutdown Due to Lapse of Congressional Appropriations

Office of Management and Budget: Other Agency Contingency Plans

Sincerely,

Rudi Odeh-Ramadan, PharmD

Vice President for Research Administration

Columbia University