January 30, 2023

Other Support Reminders

FY 2024 Fringe Benefit and Vacation Fringe Rates

Pending federal approval, Harvard will consolidate 6 fringe benefit rates into 3 for FY2024. Note: The Academic category includes faculty and post-docs. 

• Federal proposals should continue to use FY2023 rates until we have approval for the consolidated rates.
• Non-federal proposals can use the consolidated rates starting immediately

GMAS Subagreement Module

The GMAS release, February 27, 2023, will feature a new subagreement process designed to increase efficiency, improve transparency, and reduce reliance on email and other systems. Enhancements will include improved communication features; a workflow that supports each role involved with subagreements; visibility into the steps of the new workflow (subagreement dashboard); and findability of subagreement documents in the GMAS repositories. Process changes are the result of ongoing Subagreement Committee meetings, design sessions, and feedback received in more than 20 outreach sessions with representatives from across the university. Questions? Contact the GMAS Subagreement Committee Members. Save the date and register in advance for the RMM: GMAS Subagreement Training for Departments on Thursday, February 16th at 2:00PM EST.

Note: There's a planned GMAS enhancement for participants in Operations roles to provide visibility to all action items related to a subagreement on the subrecipient homepage. This functionality has been developed and tested but, due to its complexity, it will not be included in the 2/27 release. 

Reminder: BCD Travel No Longer a Preferred Travel Agency, Effective February 18, 2023

Effective February 18, 2023, BCD travel will no longer be a preferred Travel Agency. BCD will continue to support travelers who have already purchased tickets with travel dates beyond that time. Any unused tickets/credits in the BCD travel bank need to be issued prior to February 18, 2023.

The Travel Office encourages everyone to begin using one of Harvard's other preferred agency partners to support future travel needs including guest and/or meetings travel. Travel booked through one of these preferred agencies provides access to the discounts and benefits negotiated with our Airline partners and Harvard travelers are automatically registered with International SOS.

Research Administration & Compliance Systems - January 2023 Update

This Harvard Administrative eNews article includes the latest updates for the following sub-set of Research Administration & Compliance Systems: GMAS, ESTR-IRB, Agreements-DUA, Data Safety, OAIR, and ECRT.

Revised: Harvard NIH DMSP Budgeting and Application Instructions Tip Sheet

The revised Harvard NIH DMSP Budgeting and Application Instructions Tip Sheet provides guidance focused on Principal Investigators (PIs) and Grants Managers (GMs) working together to complete a budget and application that include the newly required NIH Data Management and Sharing Plan (DMSP).

HSPH's Faculty Effort on Training Grants Policy (Revised) and Procedure (New)

Training grants require effort from the Program Directors (PD/PIs, Co-PD/PIs) to fulfill the training goals indicated in the program plan. While some sponsors may allow direct charging of faculty salary to the grant, many do not. Per the Harvard Chan School’s Faculty Effort on Training Grants Policy, the School has designated funds to provide 10% institutional support per grant to faculty PD/PIs who choose to lead training grant programs awarded to the School as but cannot directly budget salary to the grant due to sponsor policy. We recently transferred the procedural elements from the policy to a newly created procedure document.

• Revised Policy: Harvard Chan School’s Faculty Effort on Training Grants Policy
• New Procedure: Harvard Chan School’s Faculty Effort on Training Grants Procedure

Updates to General Data Protection Regulation

An update to the EU’s and UK’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) now requires certain standard contractual clauses be included in contracts that implicate data privacy issues. The Contract Management team is in the process of reaching out to clients and contacts across the university to work on amending certain contracts to bring them into compliance with GDPR.

Additionally, any new contracts that implicate the GDPR should include the current version of the Data Privacy Addendum for Non-US Data Privacy laws Rider (Updated October 2022) on the Office of General Counsel’s website. If you have question, reach out to contractmgt_procurement@harvard.edu.

2023 IRS Mileage Rates

Effective January 1, 2023, the IRS mileage rate for business use is 65.5 cents per mile, up 3 cents from the mid-year increase setting the rate for the second half of 2022. This update is reflected in Concur when requesting mileage rates.

Reminder: NIH Policy for Data Management and Sharing Effective on January 25, 2023.

NIH issued Notice #NOT-OD-23-053 to remind the community of the effective date of the NIH Policy for Data Management and Sharing (DMS Policy) and summarize available key resources.

As noted in the Final NIH Policy for Data Management and Sharing (NOT-OD-21-013), the effective date of the DMS Policy is January 25, 2023 for competing grant applications submitted to NIH for the January 25, 2023 and subsequent receipt dates; proposals for contracts submitted to NIH on or after January 25, 2023; NIH Intramural Research Projects conducted on or after January 25, 2023; and other funding agreements (e.g., Other Transactions) executed on or after January 25, 2023, unless otherwise stipulated by NIH.

NSF System Enhancements to Support the Revised PAPPG (NSF 23-1)

Effective today, the National Science Foundation (NSF) made a number of system updates in Research.gov, FastLane, and Grants.gov in accordance with the implementation of the revised Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) (NSF 23-1) for proposals submitted or due on or after January 30, 2023. Please see the Summary of Changes to the PAPPG (NSF 23-1) and view the Fall 2022 PAPPG (NSF 23-1) Revisions presentation.

Encouraging Use of the PHS Assignment Request Form in Applications

You have likely come across the Public Health Service (PHS) assignment request form when putting together your grant application. It’s optional, but we encourage applicants to fill it out. This form is available in nearly all competing NIH application form packages and allows you to provide specific application assignment and review information to referral and review staff. For more information, refer to the full NIH post.

New Overview Video for Status Screens for SOs and PIs  

The updated Status Screen Overview (SO & PD/PI) video demonstrates the differences between the status screens used by the Signing Official (SO) and the status screens used by the Principal Investigator (PI), along with its capabilities. For more information, refer to the full NIH post. 

GMAS Subagreement Module Overview for Central Office Research Admins 

Date: Ongoing

Register: Harvard Training Portal

Description: This is the first of two on-line courses that are pre-requisites for the Central Office hands-on training. This self-paced course provides an overview of the new GMAS subagreement workflow, the subagreement dashboard, subagreement document management, and new communication functions in GMAS. The overview course is approximately 40 minutes in length and is divided into short videos to enable you to take the course in small increments to fit your schedule. The second on-line course for Central Administrators, which is a step-by-step demonstration course will be released shortly. If you have any questions, please contact Jennifer Neira.

Auditing & Reporting Slip-ups When Conducting Human Research

Date: Tuesday, January 31, 2023, 11:00AM - 12:00PM

Register: Registration Link 

Description: Led by Alyssa Speier, QIP Director and Julie Chamberlin, ORARC IRB Reliance & QA/QI Specialist, join this discussion around Human Research investigator auditing and an RNI overview (Reportable New Information). Refer to the QIP Monthly Education Series for more information. 

Virtual 2023 NIH Grants Conference: Funding, Policies, & Processes

Date: Wednesday, February 1, 2023, 11:00AM - 5:45PM & Thursday, February 2, 2023, 11:00AM - 5:45PM

Register: Registration Link

Description: Are you new to NIH grants and looking to better understand the processes and policies behind NIH funding? Or are you experienced and want to brush up on the latest policies and information? Please join us at the 2023 NIH Grants Conference, a free and virtual event on February 1-2, 2023. During this 2-day live event, NIH and HHS experts will share policies, resources, guidance, and case studies in informative and engaging sessions.

General Contract Review Training 

Date: Tuesday, February 7, 2023, 1:00PM - 2:30PM

Register: Harvard Training Portal

Description: General training from Strategic Procurement’s Contracts Team on how to contract with vendors. Covers general legal concepts, Harvard-specific policies and concerns, and how to use Harvard contracts templates or work with vendor documents. Attendees who complete this course should be able to handle at least basic contracts on their own and know when and how to seek further assistance. This course is designed to be informative for all staff regardless of experience level with vendor contracting. 

Financial Award Management I 

Date: Tuesday, February 7, 2023, 1:00PM - 3:00PM

Register: Harvard Training Portal

Description: This course was developed to help research administrators effectively apply cost principles to manage sponsored awards. In this session participants will:

• Utilize internal financial systems (GMAS, HART) to confirm compliance to sponsor terms and internal policies
• Take appropriate steps to review, analyze, and, in cases of non-compliance, move costs. 
• Identify the differences between journals and cost transfers

Buy-to-Pay Contract Management Training 

Date: Wednesday, February 8, 2023, 10:00AM - 11:30AM

Register: Harvard Training Portal

Description: If you are interested in effectively managing your contracts, you’re encouraged to attend. This virtual instructor-led course will teach you about the Buy-to-Pay contract management tool’s many helpful features and how to use them.

NNLM: Creating Data Management Plans with DMPTool

Date: Wednesday, February 15, 2023, 1:00PM - 2:00PM

Register: Registration Link (Membership required)

Description: The DMPTool is a free tool that walks users through creating comprehensive data management plans. This webinar will guide attendees through data management plan basics, creating a DMPTool profile, and exploring available templates and planning resources.

Research Management Meeting (RMM)

Date: Thursday, February 16, 2023, 2:00PM - 3:30PM

Register: Registration Link (Registration required in advance)

Description: This training is designed to prepare department administrators, grant managers and others in departments who work with subagreements to use new GMAS subagreement functionality that will be available on February 27^th.  While we strongly recommend that all in these roles attend this session, other interested colleagues are welcome to attend. Separate trainings have been created for Central Administrators.
 
Led by Kevin Ritchie, Associate Director of Awards Management, HMS ORA (Office of Research Administration), this live webinar-style training will include an overview of new screens and features, a step-by-step demonstration, and time allotted for Q&A. The training will be recorded and posted to the Harvard Training Portal (HTP).

Job Openings in Research Administration

We would like to use this section to highlight current research administration job openings. We will keep this section up to date and all job postings can be found on Harvard Careers. 

Senior Grants and Contracts Manager
Sponsored Programs Administration - BIO
Description: The Senior Grants and Contracts Manager is an integral part of the research enterprise and works in close partnership with faculty members. They are a primary resource for providing guidance and oversight on issues related to fiscal, administrative and regulatory management of a portfolio of grants, contracts and sponsored programs from award receipt through closeout. These grants are from a wide-range of sponsors including the federal government (e.g. NIH), foundations, industry, and international contracts from foreign entities. 
Grade: 56
61270BR

Senior Grants and Contracts Manager
Sponsored Programs Administration - MET
Description: The Senior Grants and Contracts Manager is an integral part of the research enterprise and works in close partnership with faculty members. They are a primary resource for providing guidance and oversight on issues related to fiscal, administrative and regulatory management of a portfolio of grants, contracts and sponsored programs from award receipt through closeout. These grants are from a wide-range of sponsors including the federal government (e.g. NIH), foundations, industry, and international contracts from foreign entities. 
Grade: 56
61269BR

Senior Grants and Contracts Manager 
Sponsored Programs Administration - NUT
Description: The Senior Grants and Contracts Manager is an integral part of the research enterprise and works in close partnership with faculty members. They are a primary resource for providing guidance and oversight on issues related to fiscal, administrative and regulatory management of a portfolio of grants, contracts and sponsored programs from award receipt through closeout. These grants are from a wide-range of sponsors including the federal government (e.g. NIH), foundations, industry, and international contracts from foreign entities. 
Grade: 56
59960BR

Senior Grants and Contracts Manager
Sponsored Programs Administration - GHP
Description: The Senior Grants and Contracts Manager is an integral part of the research enterprise and works in close partnership with faculty members. They are a primary resource for providing guidance and oversight on issues related to fiscal, administrative and regulatory management of a portfolio of grants, contracts and sponsored programs from award receipt through closeout. These grants are from a wide-range of sponsors including the federal government (e.g. NIH), foundations, industry, and international contracts from foreign entities. 
Grade: 56
61131BR

Senior Grants and Contracts Manager
Sponsored Programs Administration - EPI
Description: The Senior Grants and Contracts Manager is an integral part of the research enterprise and works in close partnership with faculty members. They are a primary resource for providing guidance and oversight on issues related to fiscal, administrative and regulatory management of a portfolio of grants, contracts and sponsored programs from award receipt through closeout. These grants are from a wide-range of sponsors including the federal government (e.g. NIH), foundations, industry, and international contracts from foreign entities. 
Grade: 56
61145BR

Associate Director of Finance
Sponsored Programs Administration - EPI
Description: The Associate Director of Finance will support innovative research at the world's leading public health research institution, primarily in the Department of Epidemiology.  Reporting jointly to the Director of Administration for the Department of Epidemiology, the Chief Financial Officer in the Office of Financial Services and the Chief Research Administration Officer in the Research Administration Office, the Associate Director of Finance (ADF) is a key leadership position in the Department and is responsible for financial and grants management. They will oversee a team of financial staff including grant managers and accounts payable personnel.
Grade: 58
60590BR

Senior Grants and Contracts Manager 
Sponsored Programs Administration - EH 
Description: The Senior Grants and Contracts Manager is an integral part of the research enterprise and works in close partnership with faculty members. They are a primary resource for providing guidance and oversight on issues related to fiscal, administrative and regulatory management of a portfolio of grants, contracts and sponsored programs from award receipt through closeout. These grants are from a wide-range of sponsors including the federal government (e.g. NIH, EPA, DoD), foundations, industry, and international contracts from foreign entities.
Grade: 56
60460BR

Senior Grants Manager 
Center for Biostatistics in AIDS Research (CBAR)
Description: The SGM will work closely with researchers and other members of the Finance Team to design and prepare budgets, as well as assemble highly-confidential, final grant proposals. The SGM will analyze past data in preparing projections, completing required forms for new grant proposals, and completing competitive renewals and continuations for a number of different sponsors (NIH, subcontractors, and corporations). The SGM will also be responsible for monitoring all deadlines and contacting the School’s Office of Sponsored Programs Administration to resolve any problems or issues that arise. 
Grade: 56
58978BR