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

2. 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

3. FY19 Faculty Travel by the numbers
Total Funding Available for Awards: $1.31M
Average award size: $
Within 7 years: $
Greater than 7 years: $
# 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

4. 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

5. 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 s 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

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

7. NSF Audit Overview The Audit involves:
Review of university policy and audit transactions against those policies.
Transaction data for the past three years (February 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.

8. 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

9. 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.

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

11. 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

12. 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.

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. Office of the Vice President for Research
What should faculty do if they have concerns/questions?
Contact the OVPR
Laura Kozma, Executive Director SPS
Paul Hudobenko, Director SPS—UCH
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