Office of the Vice President for Research AAUP/OVPR Faculty Travel FY19 Review & FY20 Look-Ahead Provost Department Heads Meeting April 24, 2019

Relevant AAUP Contract/Program Changes Increase in total amount of Faculty Travel funding AAUP PD fund $760K in FY18, increase by $50K per year, unspent funds roll over to next FY OVPR fund $525K annually, pending funding availability, unspent funds do not roll over Annual award limit remains $2000 regardless of award type Faculty can request up to $2000 from AAUP PD fund Up from $1250 OVPR Awards (for active participation only) up to $2000 Up from $750 30% of funding reserved for faculty < 7 years of degree Replaces funding % restrictions on senior faculty travel requests AAUP Funds drawn from first; unused funds roll over research.uconn.edu

FY19 Faculty Travel by the numbers Total Funding Available for Awards: $1.31M Average award size: $1353.44 Within 7 years: $1239.87 Greater than 7 years: $1350.03 # of awards made: 1002 Less than 7 years from degree: 301 Greater than 7 years from degree: 701 # of awards made in June/July August: 521 FY18 awards made in same period: 327 FY17: 404 FY16: 261 # of awards made for Professional Development (AAUP Funds only): 164 FY18: 246 FY17: 279 FY16: 350 research.uconn.edu

FY19 AAUP Faculty Travel Observations High demand + Higher avg. award = rapid depletion Impacts: Professional Development travel negatively impacted Heavy emphasis on Fall travel vs Spring travel research.uconn.edu

FY20 Proposed Adjustments Divide faculty travel funds into two equal portions Fall travel 7/1-12/31 Spring travel 1/1-6/30 Implement separate “start dates” for each portion, after which applications will be accepted until funds are depleted for that funding period Fall – 6/1 Spring – 11/1 Continued focus on getting reimbursements settled quickly After 60 days, funds will be returned to the pool for new awards OVPR will send reminder emails to awardees New guideline: Faculty must notify OVPR within 30 days of a canceled trip Reminder: Travel Awards are not transferable to other trips research.uconn.edu

Office of the Vice President for Research NSF Audit Overview Provost Department Heads Meeting April 24, 2019

NSF Audit Overview The Audit involves: Review of university policy and audit transactions against those policies. Transaction data for the past three years (February 2016 - January 2019) Initial phase will be ongoing over the next 4-5 months. In the past, these audits have lasted a few years from start to finish. We are not alone in being audited. SPS, Finance and ITS have been working to provide requested data Policy, system descriptions and three months of data, 4/1/19. Three years of reconciled data, 5/6/19. This is a lot of work and crosses multiple systems and system changes. Will impact SPS turnaround time and other priorities.

NSF Audit Estimated UCONN Timeline March April May June July Additional requests from SPS to Departments Entrance Conference and Data Request Sample Analysis Fieldwork Post-fieldwork Follow-up Draft Audit Report Final Audit Report/ Audit Resolution Today

NSF Audit UCONN Process and Approach SPS will be responsible for communicating directly with the auditors. Following the initial data request, SPS may require additional backup data from individual PIs, departments and centers. Daniela Parciasepe will be the SPS central contact for audit requests. To best prepare for requests: Points-of-contact have been designated for SPS to reach out to directly at CLAS and Engineering Allison Goldsneider, CLAS Kerrie Alberts, Engineering Understand additional data requests may require quick response times back to SPS. Note: If you do not hear from SPS regarding your projects, then your items did not warrant additional information for the auditors.

Office of the Vice President for Research International Relationships, Foreign Components, & Sponsored Programs Provost Department Heads Meeting April 24, 2019

Office of the Vice President for Research The Federal Government is actively examining foreign influences on federally funded research & foreign threats to research at U.S. universities. Concerns include: Diversion of intellectual property Failure to disclose financial support and resources Duplication of research programs and funding Foreign talent recruitment programs Breaches in scientific integrity, and Threats to national security and economic competitiveness

Office of the Vice President for Research All faculty and research staff with sponsored funding must be aware of and comply with all sponsor rules and regulations and should be mindful of disclosure and approval requirements. These expectations and requirements regarding transparency and disclosure are not new and have been in place for a number of years.

Office of the Vice President for Research Transparency in Disclosure – Active & Pending Support Be thorough and complete in disclosing all forms of research support whether or not it passes through UConn Includes financial support/resources from all funding agencies, other institutions, foreign & domestic entities

Office of the Vice President for Research Transparency in Disclosure – Foreign Components Must be disclosed and approved in advance Includes involvement of human subjects or animals; extensive foreign travel by recipient project staff for the purpose of data collection, surveying, sampling, and similar activities; or any activity of the recipient that may have an impact on U.S. foreign policy through involvement in the affairs or environment of a foreign country May include “collaborations with investigators at a foreign site anticipated to result in co-authorship;” use of facilities or instrumentation at a foreign site; or receipt of financial support or resources from a foreign entity

Office of the Vice President for Research Transparency in Disclosure—Other Disclosures Significant financial interests must be disclosed annually and may require prior approval Includes equity in publicly traded entity, salary support outside UConn, income from consulting, honoraria, or paid authorships Outside professional activities whether compensated or not should be disclosed to determine potential conflicts of interest and/or commitment

Office of the Vice President for Research What should faculty do if they have concerns/questions? Contact the OVPR Laura Kozma, Executive Director SPS (laura.Kozma@uconn.edu) Paul Hudobenko, Director SPS—UCH (hudobenko@uchc.edu) OVPR will.. work with you to determine if there is a foreign component Assist with prior approval Or assist with notification and any corrective actions as necessary