Office of Research

To: UGA Faculty

From: Christopher King, Interim Vice President for Research
Jill Tincher, Executive Director, Sponsored Projects Administration

Re: Federal Shutdown Planning – Sponsored Projects

 

As the federal shutdown continues, we are providing the following information about the impacts on federally funded sponsored projects and the research enterprise.

It is noteworthy that the University does not receive payment up front for each project’s value. Instead, UGA uses its own funds to cover the immediate expenses of federally funded projects. Typically, on a monthly basis, the University electronically requests federal funds or submits invoices and awaits reimbursement payment to replace the institutional funds spent on federal projects during the previous period.

Each month, the University spends nearly $25 million to support work performed under federally funded sponsored projects, with payroll representing approximately 40% of these expenditures.

Due to the shutdown, the University will be unable to draw down or invoice to receive regular reimbursements. Still, the University is currently able to support all its federal projects and fulfill its regular fiscal obligations related to federally funded projects.

While UGA can maintain the status quo for now, should the shutdown extend beyond November, we may need to implement more specific process adjustments to support federally funded projects. Meeting this challenge will require us all to work together, and we will continue to share additional information about long-term plans if the shutdown continues.

In the meantime, for now Principal Investigators (PIs) and Project Directors (PDs) funded by the federal government should be aware of the following:

• Keep submitting proposals. Proposal deadlines remain unchanged. Proposal submission systems are operational. PIs and PDs should continue submitting proposals to all agencies without delay.
• Pause non-essential purchases and activities. We ask that PIs and PDs evaluate existing projects and postpone any non-essential purchases and expenditures until the federal government reopens.
• Give careful consideration to pre-award and pending award spending. Current policy permits pre-award spending up to 90 days before the expected project start date. It also allows for pending award spending of up to 50% of the total project budget, with management unit and college-level signoff and responsibility for any unreimbursed costs if the award does not materialize. This policy remains unchanged. However, we stress that the management unit and college will still be accountable for all unreimbursed charges on pre-award and pending awards, and they should exercise extra caution when approving these for awards funded by the federal government.
• No permanent staff furloughs or changes to graduate student support. At this point, absent a stop-work order or project termination, no permanent staff should be furloughed, and support for graduate students on funded sponsored projects remains unchanged. If you believe a project is subject to a stop-work order, please immediately send the sponsor’s notification to jill.tincher@uga.edu and cathya15@uga.edu. Once SPA confirms the stop work order, consult with your unit about options to reassign staff or students to other sponsored projects or funds. University Human Resources should also be consulted regarding staff.
• Submit no-cost extensions as usual. Even though the federal government is closed, federal systems remain operational. Many federally funded sponsored projects allow UGA to exercise a one-time, up to 12-month extension (i.e., No Cost Extension or “NCE”) at the end of a project period. Since federal systems remain open, SPA can submit NCE notifications where allowed. In cases where prior approval is needed for NCEs, UGA can submit the request but will not receive approval until the federal government reopens.
• Project changes that require prior approval. While requests for prior approval can be submitted to the federal government during the shutdown, these changes will not be approved until the federal government reopens.
• Understand that subcontractors may not be paid while UGA is unpaid. Because UGA will not receive reimbursements during the shutdown, UGA must reserve the right to withhold payments from UGA’s downstream subcontractors. For now, UGA will continue to issue subcontracts on awarded projects, but with the above stipulation.

Working together, we are confident we can weather this temporary storm and keep UGA’s research enterprise moving forward and well-positioned for “full steam ahead” when the shutdown ends. Your cooperation and assistance are greatly appreciated.

Please direct questions to:

Christopher King
Interim Vice President for Research
vpr@uga.edu

Jill Tincher
Executive Director, Sponsored Projects Admin.
jill.tincher@uga.edu