The Redesigned OSR Website is Here!
The Office of Sponsored Research (OSR) is excited to announce the release of a redesigned website! Internal and campus feedback was used to implement the redesign to provide an improved experience finding information to accomplish research administration at UNC. Please see the list of highlights below on new features and functionality available on the OSR website along with other important updates made as a part of this release.
A complete list of updates and enhancements may be found on the FAQs page.
Navigating the Website
The most prominent new feature that increases ease of use across the site is the navigation bar located at the top of each page that allows intuitive browsing and navigation from page to page. Using the CTL+F key to open the search function is also a recommended method to navigate and find the information you need across the website.
OSR Home
The redesigned home page highlights commonly used data found on the Information Sheet, lists the most recent news and announcements, and offers quick links to other sections of the website.
About OSR
We are pleased to debut an updated Mission Statement that better defines the goals of OSR and all staff listings are also current in Business Units.
Award Lifecycle
Award Lifecycle introduces new content and features to the OSR website. The award lifecycle is an interactive image where each section tile represents a stage in the award lifecycle and clicking on any stage displays the content for that section. Using the CTL+F key to open the search function is also a recommended method to navigate and find the information you need in any or all sections.
Forms and Tools
Forms and Tools is organized by the various types of requests that can be made pertaining to sponsored research. To navigate this page, each blue bar may be expanded to show the forms and tools within that section and provides a description of the form, the Office responsible for updating the form and the related Operating Standards and Procedures.
Operating Standards and Procedures
Operating Standards and Procedures has replaced our Policies and Procedures page. All OSR policies are now termed Operating Standards. As part of the website redesign release, we have updated all operating standards and procedures to reflect the appropriate units in OSR, defined current process and terminology, removed operating standards no longer relevant, and updated all referenced web links both internal and external to OSR. Below is a list of changes specific to re-numbered or new operating standards now in effect.
- Operating Standard 500.3 Expanded Authority under the Federal Demonstration Partnership (FDP) has been removed and is now Prior Approval Requests.
- Operating Standard 500.4 Mandatory Prior Approvals has been removed and is now Pre-Audit Approval of Transactions. Any content on mandatory prior approvals is now a part of Operating Standard 500.3 Prior Approval Requests.
- Operating Standard 500.5 Pre-Audit Approval of Transactions is now Personnel Expenditures.
- Operating Standard 500.6 Personnel Expenditures is a NEW operating standard on Institutional Base Salary for Sponsored Projects. This operating standard provides defines Institutional Base Salary for sponsored research projects and effort reporting purposes.
- Operating Standard 500.14 Cash Advances allows a NEW requirement where “All advances for foreign use must be reconciled within 90 days after receipt of the advance unless required sooner for reporting purposes”.
- Operating Standard 500.23 Award Transfers has been removed, and any content associated with this topic is now incorporated into Operating Standard 500.3 Prior Approval Requests.
Resources
Resources provides numerous new resources for department administrators, PIs, and research professionals at UNC. A new Roles and Responsibilities matrix outlines the various actions and roles of individuals and offices engaged in sponsored research. The Information Sheet has been redesigned to better organize the information most required for proposal preparation and a new printable version uploaded. FAQs have been updated to reflect current process and assist with navigating the redesigned website. Communication Resources is a new page that provides networking resources both internal and external to UNC.
Training
Training provides access to training for Research Administration from multiple sources. The OSR Training Library is the repository for all available OSR Training that has been provided to campus and Training for Researchers and Research Administrators provides training links and resources available at UNC and training resources outside of UNC are identified in External Training Resources.
Contact Us
Contact Us provides a breakdown of the various inboxes monitored by OSR as well as an alphabetical listing of the entire Staff Directory in OSR. Feedback on website corrections and enhancements may also be submitted using the OSR Website Feedback Form, and we encourage and welcome suggestions!
Please email OSRCommunications@unc.edu with any questions regarding this announcement.