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As we communicated earlier this month, the United States Congress was unable to reach a bipartisan agreement on a new or stopgap government funding bill in order to keep federal agencies open beyond October 1, prompting a federal government shutdown. At this time, Congress appears to remain at an impasse, and current indicators suggest there may be potential for a prolonged federal shutdown.

As the federal shutdown enters its fourth week, 51���� leadership is continuing to monitor this evolving situation, including its current and future impacts on the University’s federally funded research efforts.

Updates and Guidance for Supporting Federally Funded Research

Since the beginning of the federal shutdown earlier this month, the University has not lost its ability to draw down the federal funding that supports its federally funded research activities. However, given the ongoing fluidity of the shutdown, it’s important to note that the University's ability to draw down such federal funds and receive federal reimbursement could potentially cease at any time. Additionally, the University's direct access to the support of federal employees during instances in which an error or correction is generated through the federal government’s automated payment management systems remains unavailable as the shutdown continues.

As a result of these uncertainties, it is essential that we continue to collaborate and take proactive steps to conserve resources, thereby enabling us to further support our federally funded research activities as the shutdown persists. These proactive steps include:

1. A request that all units promptly process their federal expenditures and keep their accounting processes up to date, in as near real-time as possible, to help avoid any unnecessary departmental or institutional liability.
2. The suspension of requests for new Department Guarantee Memorandums (DGM) until the end of the shutdown (Active DGMs are currently not impacted). Although federal agencies are continuing to accept proposals, they are not reviewing them or issuing new awards. Given this delay in proposal, award and post-award change processing (e.g. - no cost extensions), combined with the uncertainty surrounding the timing of any potential future awards and extensions at the federal level, OHIO is unable to assume the added risk that would be created by expending internal funds.
3. Beginning in November (beginning with the October RI Distribution), the distribution of all research incentive funds will be held in a central funding account until the federal shutdown has ended. This approach will enable us to create a temporary emergency funding pool that can be utilized as bridge funding to cover essential direct research expenditures (e.g.- personnel costs) in the event the Research Division’s ability to seek federal reimbursement is lost at any point during the shutdown. Ideally, the need to utilize this emergency funding pool will never materialize;  however, in the event we are forced to utilize these funds, we would intend that such funds would be fully replenished and returned to their original units according to normal procedure, with no long-term financial losses incurred by any unit, soon after the federal government reopens and federal reimbursements have been reinstated. 

Moving Forward as the Shutdown Continues

The University will continue to monitor this evolving situation in the coming weeks and will provide additional updates as needed. In the meantime, we encourage work on federally funded projects to continue as usual unless the funding agency issues a stop-work order that has been confirmed with the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP).

Additionally, all published submission deadlines remain in effect, and it’s important to note that agency portals are still accepting proposal submissions. If you are currently working on a proposal, it is vital that you engage with OSP, as there is no support on the federal side for submissions. Hence, submitting proposals well in advance of the deadline is encouraged to ensure that a compliant proposal is submitted and time-stamped before the submission deadline.  As long as agencies remain open, there will be an opportunity for us to win awards, and we strongly advocate for continued proposal submissions.

In the event the federal shutdown continues into December, or if the University were to lose its ability to access federal drawdown systems, additional updates and/or action may be necessary. In the meantime, faculty and staff with specific questions regarding federally funded research or upcoming externally sponsored travel are encouraged to contact their Sponsored Programs Manager or orsp@ohio.edu.