Office of Research

March 7, 2025

 

TO:  Vice Presidents, Deans, Department Heads, and Directors

FROM:  Christopher King, Interim Vice President for Research

RE: Potential Federal Government Shutdown and UGA Sponsored Projects

 

Given the possibility of a federal government shutdown on March 14, 2025, 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 their work unless the project requires significant involvement from federal employees.  Most federal employees are not allowed to email or access other forms of external communication during a shutdown. Investigators may receive project-specific instructions from contracting or program officers before March 14th; 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 the submission of new or competing proposals, please continue to prepare applications or progress reports for on-time submissions. Guidance communications from federal agencies generally begin a few days before a shutdown, and overarching updates may occur throughout the shutdown. Please monitor updates from sponsors for relevant guidance.

A team from the Office of Research and Finance & Administration is developing a phased action plan to safeguard sponsored project activities during a shutdown. The plan encompasses contingency strategies to manage the inability to draw down awarded funds should this situation arise.

We will keep monitoring agency-specific communications and will provide updates and guidance via email and this web page. We remain optimistic that, as with past federal government shutdowns, we will successfully navigate this situation with your assistance and collaboration with our research community.

I appreciate your patience and perseverance. Please direct any questions or concerns to Chris King, Interim Vice President for Research (vpr@uga.edu), or Jill Tincher, 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, subrecipient agreements, and other funding mechanisms. PIs should continue preparing and submitting all interim and final technical reporting requirements and deliverable timelines.

• 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 along with 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 – e.g., second no-cost extensions, significant re-budgeting, addition of a foreign component, etc. – will be considered or approved.
• No new awards or incremental awards will be issued by federal sponsors.