Revision Date: September 13, 2019
Responsible Office: URA
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Sponsors have recently highlighted the need for transparency around the change in a principal investigator's or other named senior key personnel's status in relation to his or her role on a sponsored award, where that change will impact his/her ability to carry out the approved research at the location of, and on behalf of, the University.
Applicability
This guidance applies to Principal Investigators (including Multiple PIs) and other named Senior/Key Personnel who plan to take a leave for a continuous period of 3 months, or when there is a reduction in the time devoted to the project of 25 percent or more from the level that was approved, or a leave that will last more than 90 days. This process is not for use by Collegiate Assistant Professors represented by the Service Employees International Union.
Process
The Request for Academic Leave form must be completed to request the approvals needed before Principal Investigators (including Multiple PIs) and other named Senior/Key Personnel take a research, outside agency, or entrepreneurial leave, which are described here: Leave Policies. If the academic unit has additional leave policies, those policies must also be followed. Once the form is completed and submitted to the department chair or dean, the academic unit is responsible for its continued movement through the system.
Principal Investigators (including Multiple PIs) and other named Senior/Key Personnel who have been approved for a leave by the appropriate divisional authority of their unit and are planning significant periods of time away from campus may be required to provide sponsoring agencies with advance notices of absences and/or request prior approval from sponsors. Similar considerations apply if academic or administrative personnel become aware that the faculty or staff member has been physically absent, even if not institutionally approved.
With respect to federal awards, most agencies require prior approval for any absence for a continuous period of 3 months or more or when there is a reduction in the time devoted to the project of 25 percent or more from the level that was approved. Sponsor rules may vary, but the NIH has clarified that working from a location different from that approved in the award may constitute an absence. Federal agencies typically require submission of prior approval requests at least 30 days in advance of the proposed change. In all cases, PIs and department administrators with financial or operational oversight of sponsored awards should work with University Research Administration to clarify sponsor rules on leaves or absences from campus.
Even though some units have few or no federal grants, we are obliged to use the form in all academic units for any leave that will last more than 90 days. In advance of any approved leave where the PI will be away from campus, the PI should contact their department chair, department administrator and URA to develop a proposed plan to manage the award during the time of leave of absence (e.g. naming an interim PI, proposing and documenting a plan for providing ongoing oversight on‐campus and/or plans for supervising graduate students or other members of the research team). While a plan can be proposed to address absences from campus, PIs should be cognizant of sponsor requirements that PIs are able to carry out and oversee the research on campus. Once a plan is developed, the PI and URA will propose the plan to the sponsor, as needed, in accordance with sponsor guidelines or policies. PIs should also work with the appropriate compliance office (e.g., Institutional Review Board, Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee) to address issues related to absences or leaves and oversight of research. Department Chairs, Deans or other officers are encouraged to notify URA and collaborate on disseminating and implementing this process.
References
Clarification of NIH's Policy Regarding a Change in Program Director's/Principal Investigator's Status Notice Number: NOT‐OD‐18‐172, May 1, 2018
https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice‐files/NOT‐OD‐18‐172.html
Summary: The NIH announcement described notification and prior approval requirements related to a very broad range of changes including "change in Status, Including Absence of PD/PI and Other Senior/Key Personnel Named in the Notice of Award, outlines several scenarios in which prior approval is required, including the PD/PI's withdrawal from the project, an absence for a continuous period of 3 months or more, and the reduction in time devoted to the project by 25 percent or more from the level that was approved at the time of initial competing award. These examples are not meant to be all inclusive nor an exhaustive list of changes in status that require NIH's prior approval."
NIH Grants Policy Statement, section 8.1.2.6 Change in Status, Including Absence of PD/PI and Other Senior/Key Personnel Named in the Notice of Award.
NSF Proposal and Award Procedures, Chapter VII ‐ Grant Administration, Long‐Term Disengagement of PI/PD or co‐PI/co‐PD
https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/policydocs/pappg18_1/pappg_7.jsp#VIIB2
NSF: Next steps against harassment https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=296671 Summary: "next steps in its agency‐wide effort to ensure the research and learning environments it supports are free from harassment, publishing a term and condition that requires awardee organizations to report findings and determinations of sexual harassment, as well as establishing a secure online portal for submitting harassment notifications." Awardee institutions are required to notify NSF with 30 days: Any findings or determinations that an NSF‐funded principal investigator or co‐principal investigator committed harassment, including sexual harassment or sexual assault. The placement of the principal investigator or co‐principal investigator on administrative leave, or of the imposition of any administrative action relating to a harassment or sexual assault finding or investigation.