COVID-19 FAQ

Effective May 19, 2021, masks are not required on campus therefore, masks may no longer be charged to sponsored funding unless the research protocol itself still requires masks.

For any mask orders made with purchase dates/deliver dates prior to May 19, 2021, those costs will be an allowable expense on the sponsored award.

Provide sponsors with a link to our Emergency Leave policy and the UT COVID page. Include documentation found in the Timekeeping section of the UT COVID page that shows Emergency Leave was allowed for idled staff from March 13 – May 31, 2020.

For graduate students and postdocs: Unless your funder explicitly states that these people cannot be paid when they are not working on-site, you should continue to provide salary support from your sponsored research accounts as you normally would. PIs should reassign these trainees (graduate students and postdocs) to remote research or training activities that benefit both the sponsored project and the trainee’s professional development. Examples of such activities could include data analysis, manuscript preparation, writing fellowship proposals, or acquiring new research skills through online courses or workshops in relevant research topics.

For professional staff (non-trainees): Any staff who can reasonably be reassigned to remote work or professional development activities that benefit the sponsored project should be reassigned in this way, with salary support continuing to be provided by the sponsored project. For staff who cannot be reassigned such duties, PIs should remove them from the 26- account and pay them from an alternative source if possible.

Yes, as long as there are not any sponsor restrictions to this situation. If you are unsure, contact your SPAA representative.

Yes, you can reassign personnel to different projects in order to keep them employed during the pandemic. However, you will need to move the employee’s salary support to the project that is benefiting from the work. You cannot pay employees from one grant to have them work on another project.

COGR’s information page compiles OMB and agency responses to COVID-19.

Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas created an Information Page for information, guidance, and frequently asked questions related to COVID-19’s impact on CPRIT grants.

No. The same IDC rate that was approved at the time your grant or contract was awarded will continue to be applied, even if you and your research staff/trainees are working 100% remotely. The reason the on-campus rate will still be applied is that the research operating costs incurred by your sponsored research activity continue to be incurred even when you are off campus - costs including building leases for your office and research space; permanent infrastructure depreciation; and salaries, health insurance and other benefits for your research administration staff, department finance support, and all the other UT employees who help you execute and administer your research without being directly billed to your grant/contract.

The legal status of vaccination mandates was examined by federal courts and based on the latest decision, we must cease all activities related to vaccine mandates. Additional information may be found in Dr. Jaffe's memo.

NSF Cooperative Agreement Financial and Administrative Terms and Conditions (CA-FATC) have been updated to implement Executive Order 14042, Ensuring Adequate COVID Safety Protocols for Federal Contractors.

The revised CA-FATC will apply to all new NSF cooperative agreements and funding amendments to existing cooperative agreements made on or after October 25, 2021.

• NIH Notice NOT-OD-22-046 provides clarification and guidance for applicants preparing proposals for the Spring 2022 due dates during the COVID pandemic.
• NIH Notice NOT-OD-22-047 extends the special exception to the NIH/AHRQ/NIOSH post-submission material policy during the COVID pandemic: August/October 2022 councils.