IN THE SPOTLIGHT

1. Updates to OSR Information Sheet

• Mileage rate 50 cents/mile effective 1/1/2010
• NIH Salary Cap $199,700 effective 1/1/2010
• AAALAC approval date 11/6/2008

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2. SRA International North Carolina Chapter Meeting

March 8-10, 2010  Location: Concord NC Register Information

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3. Grants.gov Upgrade Scheduled 2/1/2010

In order to bring a major upgrade to the Grants.gov system (referred to as the “boost”) into production, it is necessary to bring Grants.gov off-line from 00:01 AM ET on February 6, 2010 until 11:59 PM on February 9, 2010.  The entire Grants.gov system will be unavailable during that time.

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4. NIH Alert:  Major Changes to NIH Application

NIH announces major changes to applications with due dates on or after January 25, 2010

• restructuring forms to align with review criteria
• significantly shorter page limits

The announcement outlines the changes as well as additional information available to applicants.

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5. FY 2011 Fringe Benefits Rates Guidance

The following basic fringe benefits budgeting guidance is effective immediately for sponsored agreement proposals submitted with anticipated award dates on or after July 1, 2010:

• The general guideline for basic benefits is to apply the FY2011 estimated combined rate of 20.75% plus the anticipated FY2011 annual hospitalization medical premium of $4,929. 

Note that proposal budgets for P&A Practice Plan members should include the sum of the basic and the P&A supplemental guideline of 26.25% (20.75% plus 5.5%) plus $6,635.16 for basic hospitalization and supplemental health insurance ($4,929 plus $1,706.16). 

When budgeting by individual (not combined) fringed benefits component, use the basic (http://research.unc.edu/osr/documents/AttachmentI.pdf)

and supplemental

(http://research.unc.edu/osr/documents/AttachmentII.pdf) rates schedules except be advised of the following guidance: 

• Basic medical insurance for SPA and EPA employees is anticipated to increase from $4,527 to $4,929 per year.
• State TSERS retirement rate is anticipated to increase from 8.75% to 12.29% per payroll dollar.
• The EPA Optional Retirement Plan (ORP) rate is anticipated to increase from 11.86% to 12.26 % per payroll dollar.

 Budgeting guidelines for the current fiscal year (FY2010) have not changed.  An update to communicate minor changes in certain FY2010 P&A Practice Plan benefits will be issued under separate cover in the next few weeks.

Please direct questions about which rate to apply to the sponsor-specific OSR grant and contract specialist (http://research.unc.edu/osr/contacts/prop_responsibility.php).

Please contact Kevin Maynor (962-4453) for general questions about these rates.

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For prior SPOTLIGHT announcements go to Announcements and Policy Updates.