NSF Implements Proposal Compliance Checks in FastLane Effective April 24, 2015

On April 24, 2015, the National Science Foundation (NSF) released updates to FastLane that may impact the way you work. Proposals submitted in response to program solicitations in FastLane will now undergo a series of automated proposal compliance validation checks to ensure they comply with requirements outlined in the PAPPG (Chapter II.C.2 of the Grants Proposal Guide).

These checks automatically validate a proposal for compliance against proposal sections per type of funding mechanism. For example, an error message will appear if a project description or budget are not provided in proposals submitted in response to a program solicitation. Checks are triggered when proposers select the “Check Proposal,” “Forward to SPO,” or “Submit Proposal” functions. Depending on the rule being checked, a warning or error message will display when a proposal is found to be noncompliant. If an error message appears, the proposal cannot be submitted until it is compliant.

To view a detailed list of all compliance checks, click here.

If you have any questions, please contact the NSF Help Desk at 1-800-673-6188, or ithelpcentral@nsf.gov.

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New NCES Blog Contains Short Entries on a Variety of Topics

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) has announced the debut of its new blog site. Through this new blog, NCES looks forward to spreading the word about the important and interesting data that it collects and analyzes. The blog will provide a forum for news about the latest developments in NCES surveys, exciting new research opportunities, commonly misunderstood education measures, important new findings, and innovative data tools. In addition to including a wide range of topics, the blogs will cover the full range of NCES survey areas such as

  • Early childhood education
  • Elementary and secondary education
  • Student performance on assessments
  • Postsecondary education
  • Adult education and literacy
  • International education comparisons

This blog will allow NCES to share information in an informal and engaging way and contribute to an even stronger communication network.

To read the new blog, please visit http://nces.ed.gov/blogs/nces/

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New REL Guide Offers Assistance with Monitoring the Implementation of Educator Evaluation Systems

The implementation of new educator evaluation systems is an important issue for states and districts. The IES Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Central has developed a new guide providing a three-step process for state departments of education to monitor district implementation of state- or district-developed educator evaluation systems:

1. Develop state guidelines for educator evaluation systems.
2. Develop data-collection methods for both policy and practice data.
3. Determine adherence criteria and review data against the criteria.

For each step of the process, the guide provides sample tools developed by REL Central and the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Districts can use the process and tools to self-monitor implementation and guide further development of their educator evaluation systems.

For more information, see the IES Regional Educational Laboratory Program webpage or download the guide here: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs/regions/central/pdf/REL_2015069.pdf

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Submitted Projects for April 2015

College of Education
Submitted Projects
April 2015
Principal Investigator: Richard Lind, Jr. (Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering)
Co-PI: Pavlo “Pasha” Antonenko (STL)
Funding Agency: National Science Foundation
Proposal Title: EI: Enhancing Elementary Education by Infusing Integrated Engineering-Biology Concepts into Classrooms through a Computing-Oriented Approach
Requested Amount: $183,902
Principal Investigator: Michael Bowie (Dean’s Area)
Co-PI: Nancy Waldron (Dean’s Area)
Funding Agency: Florida Department of Education
Proposal Title: College Reach-Out Program (CROP)
Requested Amount: $113,951.12
Principal Investigator: Christy Gabbard (P.K. Yonge)
Co-PI: N/A
Funding Agency: Florida Department of Education
Proposal Title: Digital Learning Support
Requested Amount: $229,106
Principal Investigator: Joseph Gagnon (SESPECS)
Co-PI: N/A
Funding Agency: William T. Grant Foundation
Proposal Title: Linking Education/Special Education and Juvenile Justice Research and Policy: Supporting Youth At-Risk and Involved with Juvenile Corrections
Requested Amount: $159,975
Principal Investigator: Dennis Kramer (SHDOSE)
Co-PI: Christopher Loschiavo (Student Affairs), Jen Shaw (Student Affairs), Darren Baxley (University Police Department)
Funding Agency: U.S. Department of Justice
Proposal Title: Evaluating Mobile App Reporting and Victim-Centered, Trauma Informed Training on Sexual Assault Reporting, Investigation, and Adjudication at the University of Florida
Requested Amount: $330,285
Principal Investigator: John Kranzler (SESPECS)
Co-PI: N/A
Funding Agency: Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers
Proposal Title: APPIC Competency Assessment Project: University of Florida School Psychology Program
Requested Amount: $5,000
Principal Investigator: Philip Poekert (Lastinger Center for Learning)
Co-PI: N/A
Funding Agency: National Math and Science Initiative
Proposal Title: STEM Professional Learning System (STEM PLuS) Project
Requested Amount: $5,082,643
Principal Investigator: Albert Ritzhaupt (STL)
Co-PI: N/A
Funding Agency: National Science Foundation
Proposal Title: Track 2: CS10K: Math Science Teachers Enact Technological-Pedagogical-Content Knowledge in the Design and Development of Educational Software
Requested Amount: $879,688

 

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COE Shows Growth in Funded Research

The Division of Sponsored Programs (DSP) notified the college that the COE increased its total awarded research funding 102% over the previous year—from $8,111,495 in FY2014 to $16,366,828 in FY2015.

We are encouraged and excited about the efforts of COE faculty to develop new collaborations and pursue new sources of funding. Among the new collaborations are the Department of Health Outcomes and Policy, College of Medicine; Florida Museum of Natural History; Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, College of Engineering; and Rinker School of Construction Management, College of Design, Construction, and Planning. Some of the new sources of funding include the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Procter & Gamble, and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Congratulations to COE faculty members in all schools and centers for their diligence and productivity in making this another successful fiscal year for the COE.

The OER continues to provide strategic support to COE faculty in their pursuit of funding opportunities, and together we can continue to build COE’s impressive track record for obtaining competitive grants.

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UFIRST Proposal System Is Now Live

The University of Florida Integrated Research Support Tool (UFIRST) is now live!  You can log into the new system directly at https://grants.research.ufl.edu or through the link in myUFL under Grants>Proposals. All proposals and agreements related to sponsored programs at the university must now be submitted through UFIRST.

Here are a few key reminders:

  • Complete training if you have not already done so.  If you require administrator-level access to the new system, please be sure you have completed the new RSH280 course as well as RSH220 Effort Fundamentals, RSH230 Effort Management, and RSH260 Cost Principles.
  • Open labs are available for hands-on assistance.  Click here for times and locations.
  • Instruction guides to support you are available here.  If you hit a roadblock in entering or routing your proposal, check these first.  If they don’t answer your questions, call or email the Division of Sponsored Programs (DSP) at 352-392-9267 or ufirst@research.ufl.edu.
  • Included in these guides are one to assist PI’s with certifying/signing their records and one to assist department, division, and college approvers with approving in UFIRST.

As always, if you have questions, concerns, or thoughts throughout this process, please email DSP at ufirst@research.ufl.edu.

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DSP Issues New Form: Award Administration Request Form (AARF)

With the launch of UFIRST the DSP-1 form has been retired from service, effective Monday, March 23rd. The DSP-1 form allowed for paper routing of approvals and was also used to collect internal UF approvals on several award administration actions. Replacing the DSP-1 form will be the Award Administration Request Form (AARF).

The AARF is used to collect the UF internal approvals on several award related actions, noted below:

  • Change of PI
  • Change in key personnel
  • Establishment of an internal subproject
  • PI changing departments and moving awards

The AARF form is available for use and can be found at DSP’s Forms webpage.

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UF Office of Research Updates Funding Opportunities Database

The UF Division of Research Program Development in the Office of Research is pleased to announce the release of a new funding opportunities database (OppMan) for the UF community. This database will continue to serve as the central UF information source on limited submission opportunities and other key research-related announcements.  The database update occurred on March 11, 2015.

Links to the old page will redirect to the new page. You may need to login with your Gatorlink credentials (using the login link at the top right of the screen) to see the funding opportunities on the new page. Once you have done so, you can search or update your subscription. Please also update any bookmarks you may have to the Funding Opportunities page.

The changes introduced will allow

  • new funding opportunities to be published more promptly, and made available throughout the week.
  • subscribers to manage their individual subscriptions by the following:
    • Selecting the categories that are specific to their research interests.
    • Customizing the frequency of email alerts.
  • advanced searching and sorting functions.

All current subscribers to the Friday Funding Opportunities emails have been migrated to the new email notification system.  All current subscribers will, by default, continue to receive a once-weekly Friday email summary of new funding opportunities posted to the database that week.  Emails will be sent to the subscriber’s email address on file in the UF directory.

If the Office of Research was unable to locate your email address or UFID, you will receive an email in the coming weeks requesting that you sign in with your Gatorlink credentials and re-subscribe.

Beginning Friday, March 20, subscribers should log in to the new database, using their Gatorlink credentials, and manage their own subscriptions. A link to the subscriptions page will be included in the weekly email you receive.  At that time, subscribers can choose specific categories of funding opportunities to be included in their email notifications, as well as change the desired frequency of their email alerts.

To see a basic guide for using the new database and managing your subscription, please click here.

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IES What Works Clearinghouse Webinar Is Still Available

The March 2015 What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) webinar “Designing Quasi-Experiments: Meeting What Works Clearinghouse Standards Without Random Assignment” will be available for viewing until March 2016. For a presentation on designing strong quasi-experimental studies to test the effectiveness of education interventions in schools and classrooms, go to the event registration webpage and enter your name, email, and affiliation. Then click Launch Presentation. Click on the Resources List icon at the bottom of the webinar screen to download the following pdf attachments:

  • Glossary of Terms
  • Links to WWC Resources
  • Quasi-Experimental Design Case Studies
  • Presentation Slides

The presentation slides (without audio) and the pdf attachments are also available on the OER Faculty Development webpage.

Both randomized controlled trials and quasi-experimental designs have the potential to meet WWC standards. While randomized controlled trials provide the strongest evidence and can meet standards without reservations, random assignment is not always possible. However, there are other ways to evaluate interventions and provide reliable evidence.

This webinar will explain how to design and execute high-quality quasi-experimental designs (QEDs) with the intent of meeting WWC standards with reservations. The presentation will include guidance on key features to keep in mind while designing the study, information the WWC looks for in order to assess the study, pitfalls and strengths of studies reviewed by the WWC, and common misconceptions about different types of QEDs.

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Reminder: 2015 Workshop on Quasi-Experimental Design and Analysis

Northwestern University, with a grant from the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), is hosting the 2015 Workshop on Quasi-Experimental Design and Analysis from Monday, August 3 to Friday, August 14. Applications to attend the workshop should be submitted by April 20, 2015 and decisions will be made by May 1. The workshop is for faculty from all disciplines who have an interest in causal research in education though advanced graduate students working with quasi-experimental data are also welcome.

The application process will include a vita and a letter describing past, present, or future involvements with the conduct of quasi-experimental studies in education. The application form and more information can be found at the workshop website http://www.ipr.northwestern.edu/workshops/annual-summer-workshops/quasi-experimental-design-and-analysis/. Workshop instruction and accommodations will take place at the Orrington Hotel (http://www.hotelorrington.com/) in Evanston, Illinois.

The workshop is funded by IES (Grant R305D140029), and thanks to this grant, all instructional and lodging costs will be met, but not travel or food costs. However, there are travel scholarships available for five persons from institutions that cannot pay for the travel costs. Applicants who need a travel scholarship should request one. The Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern University has agreed to defray the costs of breakfast snacks. In addition, Evanston has a large number of easily available, inexpensive, and good restaurants where workshop attendees may eat.

This two-week workshop will expose attendees to the best current quasi-experimental practice for education and will help them analyze the data that the better designs produce. The format will be some lectures with active involvement from attendees. These lectures will describe better practice with the rationale based on both statistical theory and the results of studies directly comparing non-experimental and experimental causal results. The rest of the workshop will be spent hands on the analysis of data from the designs covered in the lectures.

The hands-on instructional component having to do with analysis will use two programs: R and STATA. Attendees should have a copy of one or both of these on their laptop they bring to the training. There may be some people who do not know either program. For those who are adept at learning computer languages and are confident of their skills, we advise them to apply for the workshop. For those who know they are not adept and do not know either language, it would probably not be a good idea to apply. We anticipate that most attendees will be familiar with one or both of these programs.

Each day will involve about three hours of lecture time with breaks, then lunch, then three to four hours of hands-on instruction in analysis that takes place in smaller groups. This breakout time will be organized around modules that we prepared to illustrate analytic practice with either R or STATA. Lunch can be local, including inexpensive sandwiches or ethnic restaurants. During the evenings, we envisage that most dinners will be taken communally in local, inexpensive restaurants. The town of Evanston is beautiful in the summer and nearby Chicago offers plenty of leisure options for the weekend.

The instructors will be Thomas Cook of Northwestern University, Will Shadish of the University of California at Merced, Peter Steiner from the University of Wisconsin- Madison, Coady Wing from Indiana University at Bloomington, and Vivian Wong from the University of Virginia. Taken together they have had considerable experience in the design and analysis of randomized experiments, regression discontinuity designs, interrupted time series, and many other forms of non-experimental practice. All have backgrounds in education research, with three teaching graduate students and postdocs in education. Together they know the literature, not just in education, but also in statistics, psychology, economics, and public policy.

For further information, please contact Ms. Rebecca Morris at rebecca.morris@northwestern.edu

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Revised NIH Grants Policy Statement Is Now Available

If you received a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant, cooperative agreement, or supplement with a budget period that started anytime on or after December 26, 2014, the revised NIH Grants Policy Statement that was released on March 31, 2015 now serves as a term and condition of your award. The revised NIH Grants Policy Statement includes changes in statutes, regulations, and policies that have been implemented since the previous version, including the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for HHS Awards.

The October 2013 NIH Grants Policy Statement continues to be the standard term and condition for all NIH grants and cooperative agreements with budget periods that began between October 1, 2013 and December 25, 2014.

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NIH Offers Videos to Explain New Uniform Guidance

If you are still trying to understand what the new cost principles in the Uniform Guidance mean to you, NIH has added a video overview as well as a recorded Q & A to the NIH Grants YouTube page that can help you understand NIH’s implementation of the guidance. A PowerPoint slide set of the presentation and transcripts for both videos are also available for download on grants.nih.gov.

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Awarded Projects for March 2015

College of Education
Awarded Projects
March 2015
Principal Investigator: Carole Beal (STL)
Co-PI: N/A
Funding Agency: University of Arizona (Subcontract – IES Flow Through)
Project Title: Animal Watch VI Suite: A Comprehensive Program to Increase Access to Mathematics for Students with Visual Impairments
Project Period: 8/18/2014 – 2/28/2015
Award Amount: $21,068.00
Principal Investigator: Sylvia Boynton (Lastinger Center for Learning)
Co-PI: N/A
Funding Agency: Alachua County School Board
Project Title: Reaching All Readers: A K-5 Series of Reading Modules, Part 2 – Spring 2-015
Project Period: 1/6/2015 – 3/20/2015
Award Amount: $12,000.00
Principal Investigator: Philip Poekert (Lastinger Center for Learning)
Co-PI: N/A
Funding Agency: Early Learning Coalition of Miami-Dade/Monroe, Inc.
Project Title: Early Learning Agreement # PSA 14-117
Project Period: 2/23/2015 – 6/30/2015
Award Amount: $32,685.72

 

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Submitted Projects for March 2015

College of Education
Submitted Projects
March 2015
Principal Investigator: Pavlo “Pasha” Antonenko (STL)
Co-PI: N/A
Funding Agency: National Science Foundation
Proposal Title: SL-CN: Project LENS: Leveraging Expertise in Neurotechnologies to Study Individual Differences in Multimedia Learning
Requested Amount: $750,000.00
Principal Investigator: Emily Sessa (Biology)
Co-PI: Pavlo “Pasha” Antonenko (STL)
Funding Agency: National Science Foundation
Proposal Title: Collaborative Research: Building a Comprehensive Evolutionary History of Flagellate Plants
Requested Amount: $217,558.00
Principal Investigator: Catherine Emihovich (SHDOSE)
Co-PI: Rose Pringle (STL), David Julian (Biology), Janice Krieger (Advertising), Lauren Solberg (Community Health and Family Medicine)
Funding Agency: National Science Foundation
Proposal Title: Standard: Engaging Ethics in STEM Online and Campus Courses
Requested Amount: $399,523.00
Principal Investigator: Christy Gabbard (P. K. Yonge)
Co-PI: N/A
Funding Agency: Florida Department of Education
Proposal Title: Digital Learning Support
Requested Amount: $229,106.00
Principal Investigator: Dennis Kramer (SHDOSE)
Co-PI: N/A
Funding Agency: Association for Institutional Research
Proposal Title: Loan Aversion and Student Matriculation: Impact of Loan Refusal on Postsecondary Completion
Requested Amount: $34,828.00
Principal Investigator: Philip Poekert (Lastinger Center for Learning)
Co-PI: N/A
Funding Agency: Early Learning Coalition of Miami-Dade/Monroe, Inc.
Proposal Title: Early Learning Agreement # PSA 14-117
Requested Amount: $32,685.72
Principal Investigator: Joni Williams Splett (SESPECS)
Co-PI: N/A
Funding Agency: Society for the Study of School Psychology
Proposal Title: Examination of the Usability of a Naturally Implemented Behavior Screening Measure and the Influence of Classroom Behavior
Requested Amount: $17,163.00

 

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UFIRST Grants Proposal System Goes Live This Month

This month, UF will launch the first phase of UFIRST—the University of Florida Integrated Research Support Tool—with the implementation of a new proposal routing system. Beginning March 23, all proposals for sponsored funding will be required to be routed through UFIRST.

Designed to significantly improve the way the Office of Research administers research, from proposals through awards, UFIRST will streamline workflow processes and improve transparency, tracking and reporting. Subsequent phases of UFIRST’s implementation will occur in the fall of 2015, when UFIRST submission to grants.gov will replace the use of Cayuse, and the spring of 2016, when a new awards system will be introduced.

Departments that currently use myUFL Proposal Express and anticipate submitting proposals between Friday, March 13, and Friday, March 20, should have all electronic routing completed by March 12. Any proposals initiated between March 13 and March 20 must use the paper DSP-1. The DSP-1 can be found on the Office of Research Forms and Templates webpage under Sponsored Projects Approval Forms. All proposals routed after March 20 will be required to use UFIRST.

For more information about UFIRST—including frequently asked questions, training information, and a project timeline—please visit http://research.ufl.edu/faculty-and-staff/initiatives/ufirst.html.

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