Happy Holidays from Your OER Team!

Happy Holidays from Your OER Team!

Happy Holidays 2

IES Low-Cost Evaluation Grant Programs

The National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER) and the National Center for Education Research (NCER) within the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) have announced two new grant programs with a January 12, 2016 application deadline.

The IES Low-Cost Evaluation grant programs are designed to support rigorous evaluations of education and special education interventions (i.e., practices, programs, and policies) from which states or local education agencies expect significant improvements in student outcomes within a short period (e.g., within a single semester or academic year).

IES staff recently conducted a webinar providing an overview of the two new grant competitions. The webinar covered the general requirements related to student outcomes, education settings, interventions that can be studied, evaluation designs, partnerships between researchers and education agencies, and products to be disseminated.

View the Webinar PowerPoint slides html version:
http://ies.ed.gov/funding/webinars/slides.asp?ppt=LCSD_FY2016

Download the PowerPoint file:
http://ies.ed.gov/funding/webinars/ppt/LCSD_FY2016.pptx

For more information about the grant competitions, view the program announcements:
Low-Cost, Short Duration Evaluation of Education Interventions: CFDA 84.305L

Low-Cost, Short-Duration Evaluation of Special Education Interventions: CFDA Number 84.324L

Recent UF Settlement Agreement with Federal Government

On November 20, 2015, the federal government announced a settlement with the University of Florida for issues related to research accounting systems from 2005-2010. The university agreed to pay $19,875,000 to resolve the matter. The settlement closes an investigation of the university by Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Justice primarily dealing with deficiencies first discovered nearly nine years ago that have since been remedied with significant upgrades in systems and procedures.

This incident serves as a reminder to faculty and staff regarding the importance of compliance with federal, state, and local regulations, policies, and procedures. The COE OER is committed to promoting compliance and facilitating research. We also are fortunate to have the Coordinated Services–Post Award Office led by Rosabel Ruiz and her team of fiscal support staff to assist with this effort.

For more information on the settlement, see the UF news story Federal Settlement Comes Long After UF Overhauls Its Research Accounting System.

New Public Access Policy Requirements

As a result of an Executive Directive from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, all federal agencies will begin to require the results of federally funded research be made freely available to the general public. The National Institutes of Health has for some time required published research articles from NIH-funded research to be deposited in the NIH PubMed Central repositories.

For all new research grants and contracts received on or after January 1, 2016 from the National Science Foundation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Department of Agriculture, Department of Defense, and Department of Energy, recipients will be required to deposit research articles generated as a result of federal funding in agency-specific repositories.

It is the responsibility of the award recipient to be aware of the agency-specific requirements and ensure that research articles generated as a result of federal funding are deposited in agency-specific repositories in a timely manner. Please see http://cms.uflib.ufl.edu/scholcomm/publicaccess.aspx for a list of the agency-specific requirements and repositories.

Feel free to contact Irene Cooke, UF Office of Research or Christine Fruin, Scholarly Communications Library for additional information.

Irene Cooke irenecooke@ufl.edu, (352) 294-1632 or Christine Fruin christine.ross@ufl.edu, (352) 273-2710

RAFT Sponsored Programs Training for 2016

UF’s Division of Sponsored Programs and Contracts and Grants are pleased to announce a full line-up of Research Administration and Financials Training (RAFT) opportunities for 2016. RAFT is a professional development series providing UF research administrators with “a lifeline” to the research community.

RAFT Level One Cohort

Applications are now being accepted for the spring 2016 RAFT Level One Cohort, a program designed for research administrators with 18 months or fewer of grants management experience. The cohort is a thirteen-session classroom series that will provide a thorough introduction to all aspects of sponsored programs management at UF. Program participants will also be paired with senior research administrators who can provide guidance and assistance throughout the program. Participants who successfully complete the series will be awarded a certificate of completion. The cohort series will begin in January with sessions continuing through April.

Interested applicants should email a completed program application form to Steve Slater, grants training manager for UF Training and Organizational Development, by December 14th. Applicants from previous semesters can simply email to request their application remain active. If you have questions about the RAFT Level One Cohort, please contact Stephanie Gray, assistant vice president for the Division of Sponsored Programs, at (352) 392-3516; or Tiffany Schmidt, associate director for Contracts and Grants, at (352) 273-3101.

RAFT Level Two Training Series

The RAFT Level Two Training Series is designed for research administrators and others who support sponsored research and extension at UF. Sessions will run on a monthly basis and cover a range of topics across sponsored programs management. Offerings will be a la cart so you can choose specific topics that interest you.  Enrollment will be available in the myTraining system.

RAFT Forums

The RAFT forums will be held on a quarterly basis and cover special topics of interest to the grants community. No registration is required. The first forum will be held on January 14th. More details to follow.

RAFT Core Office Workshop

This special half-day workshop is designed specifically for the core offices and individuals that provide peripheral support to sponsored programs. Attend this workshop to gain a high level understanding of the sponsored project lifecycle.  The time and date will be announced in early 2016.

Awarded Projects for November 2015

College of Education
Awarded Projects
November 2015
Principal Investigator: Catherine Atria (P.K. Yonge)
Co-PI: N/A
Funding Agency: Florida Department of Education
Project Title: District Instructional Leadership and Faculty Professional Development
Project Period: 7/1/2015 – 6/30/2016
Award Amount: $7,835
Principal Investigator: Diana Joyce Beaulieu (SSESPECS)
Co-PI: N/A
Funding Agency: Neuronet Learning, LLC
Project Title: NeuroNet: Multi-Year Longitudinal Study of Interactive Learning Curricula Effects on Student Academic Outcomes
Project Period: 9/1/2015 – 6/30/2016
Award Amount: $2,000
Principal Investigator: Christy Gabbard (P.K. Yonge)
Co-PI: N/A
Funding Agency: Florida Department of Education
Project Title: Title II, Part A, Teacher and Principal Training and Recruiting Fund
Project Period: 7/1/2015 – 6/30/2016
Award Amount: $24,998
Principal Investigator: Donald Pemberton (Lastinger Center for Learning)
Co-PI: Walter Leite (SHDOSE)
Funding Agency: Florida’s Office of Early Learning
Project Title: Pay for Performance
Project Period: 11/13/2015 – 9/15/2016
Award Amount: $1,795,843
Principal Investigator: Philip Poekert (Lastinger Center for Learning)
Co-PI: N/A
Funding Agency: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Project Title: Florida Teacher Leader Fellowship (Teacher Engagement)
Project Period: 11/13/2015 – 9/15/2017
Award Amount: $764,553
Principal Investigator: Andrew Thomas (SHDOSE)
Co-PI: N/A
Funding Agency: Minnesota Sports and Entertainment
Project Title: Modern Statistical Methods for Professional Ice Hockey
Project Period: 9/1/2015 – 12/31/2015
Award Amount: $5,000

 

Submitted Projects for November 2015

College of Education
Submitted Projects
November 2015
Principal Investigator: Pavlo “Pasha” Antonenko (STL)
Co-PI: N/A
Funding Agency: National Science Foundation
Proposal Title: Collaborative Research: i-Tracker: Enhancing Engineering Design Skills in Construction Engineering and Management Education Through Deep Context Immersion
Requested Amount: $56,040
Principal Investigator: Donald Pemberton (Lastinger Center for Learning)
Co-PI: Walter Leite (SHDOSE)
Funding Agency: Florida’s Office of Early Learning
Proposal Title: Pay for Performance
Requested Amount: $1,795,843
Principal Investigator: Donald Pemberton (Lastinger Center for Learning)
Co-PI: N/A
Funding Agency: Lauren’s Kids
Proposal Title: Lauren’s Kids New Teacher Courses
Requested Amount: $375,000
Principal Investigator: Philip Poekert (Lastinger Center for Learning)
Co-PI: N/A
Funding Agency: Promethean
Proposal Title: Buffalo Turnaround School Leaders Program
Requested Amount: $124,571