Office of Research

September 28, 2023

 

TO:  UGA Principal Investigators

FROM:  Karen J.L. Burg, Vice President for Research

SUBJECT: Federal Government Shutdown and UGA Sponsored Projects

Given the likelihood of a federal government shutdown on October 1, 2023, we are closely monitoring developments in Washington, D.C., and evaluating the potential impact on University of Georgia sponsored project activity.

As with previous federal government shutdowns, researchers with federally funded research and other sponsored project grants and contracts should continue work unless the project requires significant involvement of federal employees. Note that most federal employees will not be allowed to email or access other forms of external communication during a shutdown. Investigators may receive project-specific instructions from contracting or program officers ahead of October 1; if you receive such information, please immediately forward it to Jill Tincher (jill.tincher@uga.edu), Executive Director of Sponsored Projects Administration, and Cathy Cuppett (cathya15@uga.edu), Director of Sponsored Projects Administration, Pre-award.

Although we have not received sponsor-specific guidance on how a federal shutdown may impact submission of new or competing proposals, please continue to prepare applications or progress reports for on-time submissions. Guidance communications from the federal agencies generally start a few days before a shutdown, and overarching updates may occur throughout the shutdown. Please monitor updates from sponsors for pertinent guidance.

A team from the Office of Research and Finance & Administration is preparing a phased action plan to protect sponsored project activities to the extent possible during a shutdown, including contingency plans to address the inability to draw down awarded sponsored dollars should this occur.

We will continue to monitor agency-specific communications and provide detailed updates and specific guidance by email and this web page. We are confident that, as with previous federal government shutdowns, we will successfully navigate such a scenario with the assistance and coordination of you, our research community. Thank you for your patience; please direct questions or concerns to Karen Burg, Vice President for Research (vpr@uga.edu), or Jill Tincher (jill.tincher@uga.edu), Executive Director of Sponsored Projects Administration.

 

Summary guidance

Proposal submission: Please continue work on all proposals and submit them by their current due dates.

• It is anticipated that the grants.gov system will be available to accept applications during a shutdown; however, if you have trouble accessing grants.gov during a shutdown, please contact Jill Tincher (jill.tincher@uga.edu), Executive Director of Sponsored Projects Administration, and Cathy Cuppett (cathya15@uga.edu), Director of Sponsored Projects Administration, Pre-award.
• Federal help desks will not be staffed during a shutdown.

Active projects: Work should continue under all existing grants, contracts, cooperative agreements, and subrecipient mechanisms.

• In the unlikely event that any federal sponsor issues a stop-work order, the University will receive a project-specific notice, and the principal investigator and the PI’s UGA department will be informed.
• If you receive these communications, please immediately forward them to Jill Tincher (jill.tincher@uga.edu), Executive Director of Sponsored Projects Administration, and Cathy Cuppett (cathya15@uga.edu), Director of Sponsored Projects Administration, Pre-award.

For any federal agency closed by the shutdown:

• No agency-required prior approvals will be considered or approved, e.g., second no cost extensions, significant re-budgeting, addition of a foreign component, etc.
• No new awards will be issued by federal sponsors.