OSP Continuity and Planning for COVID-19 

Like all of you, the Office of Sponsored Projects is working to address and respond to the evolving nature and implications of COVID-19.

We want to reassure the University community that the Office of Sponsored Projects is open for business.

We are also taking actions to limit exposure and the spread of the virus. OSP has adopted best practices to protect the safety of staff and has the telecommuting protocols and infrastructure necessary to remain operational in the case of a community-wide spread of the virus. As of March 16th, OSP staff will be working remotely.

While working remotely, OSP staff will be able to receive voicemail messages, return calls, and respond to email. Understandably, face-to-face meetings may be limited.

At this time, all OSP services are currently unaffected, including proposal review, submission, and post-award processing.  In the event OSP experiences staffing shortages, OSP will prioritize proposal review and submission.  If staffing shortages continue, OSP may not be able to provide a full review of proposals but will instead perform limited compliance reviews for University institutional standards.  It is very important that you communicate with your assigned Sponsored Projects Officer as soon as you know you will be applying for a grant and throughout to ensure the successful submission of an application. OSP will not be able to review proposal drafts during this period. Please provide OSP with your proposal applications in final form (ready to send to the sponsor) at least 5 business days prior to the submission deadline. 

In order to keep everyone up to date, we have launched a COVID-19 site that will include the latest guidance and information, answers to frequent concerns, and ongoing updates. We will also publish agency specific guidelines as they are released. The Vice President for Research (VPR) Office has published a Central Research Operations Guidance for Research Planning and Continuity website consolidating information from each research support department.

OSP will continue to closely monitor the outbreak and plan for its potential impact on our operations. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Director of OSP at brent.brown@osp.utah.edu or 801-581-3003.

 

3/26/2020 Update: COVID-19 Related Proposals

Starting immediately, the University is requiring that all COVID related proposals and awards be flagged. We are defining “COVID related” broadly as any COVID specific solicitation or project activities directed to COVID.  

To support this effort, OSP is requesting that you add the term “COVID:” to the beginning of both the short and long titles in the Document Summary Sheet (DSS) prepared in eProposal. This naming convention would then carry forward into eAward and Peoplesoft automatically.

For tracking purposes, please also create a new DSS for COVID related pre-proposals (including white papers) and supplements.  OSP's procedure on DSS Creation has been updated to reflect this change.