2025 Federal Administration Transition

The Ohio State University is committed to providing our faculty and staff the most up-to-date information to ensure alignment with current federal and state regulatory requirements. Working with our Office of Government Affairs and others, this webpage contains updates and resources related to Federal Executive Orders and other federal actions impacting federally-funded research. We will update regularly as new developments arise. If you have any specific questions please reach out to your sponsored program officer or email erik@osu.edu.

Posted Feb. 27, 2025:

To investigators with US. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) contracts: We learned on Wednesday, Feb. 26 that the VA has canceled its contract with Qualtrics. While users will continue to have access to the survey software and their study data until May 2025, they will be unable to access services for onboarding, troubleshooting, and education through the VA contract. Users are strongly recommended to back up data as soon as possible. Learn more.

Please note that this does not impact Qualtrics at Ohio State. 

Posted Feb. 26, 2025:

No new information is available at this time.

Posted Feb. 21, 2025:

The systems to submit new proposals remain open, and we are receiving notice of new awards.  Reimbursements are being processed, and eRA Commons is open for grant administration activities. Please continue to work with your SPO on these items.

Posted Feb. 20, 2025:

As the federal government looks at Facilities and Administrative (F&A) costs, COGR has compiled resources to explain what F&A costs are and how they help universities support groundbreaking research by helping offset the funding of critical research support staff, maintenance of research facilities, and federally required research compliance safeguards.

Posted Feb. 17, 2025:

University Libraries has developed a webpage for researchers, which includes potential alternative sources for federal data, including public repositories and resources licensed for use by Ohio State affiliates. Learn more.

Posted Feb. 14, 2025:

The institutional sign-in for the National Science Foundation (research.gov) is not functioning at this time for WMC researchers using their OSUMC email address.  For those experiencing problems, the workaround is to update the PI’s NSF primary email to the Ohio State name.# email address.  

Please contact the NSF IT Assistance help desk who can change it on the back end. NSF will send a security question to answer.  After the PI successfully answers the security question, the NSF IT admin will update the email to the Ohio State name.# address. That update will allow the PI to use the Ohio State credentials using Duo because the NSF email and the Ohio State email will match.  

PLEASE NOTE: This can take up to 36 hours to update once it is fixed, so please plan ahead for proposals if the PI currently uses their OSUMC email in their Research.gov profile. 

Posted Feb. 13, 2025:

The No-Cost Extensions option is live again in NIH’s eRA Commons platform. To submit a request or if you have any questions, please contact your SPO.   

Posted Feb. 12, 2025:

PIs should continue to view sponsor guidance regularly and work closely with their SPOs when submitting new grants to all federal agencies to ensure they are compliant with current guidance at the time of submission. 

Posted Feb. 11, 2025:

Earlier today, a federal court ordered a nationwide temporary pause on issuing changes to institutional F&A rates for NIH grants in response to a case filed by the American Association of Medical Colleges, American Association of Colleges Of Pharmacy, Association for Schools and Programs of Public Health, Conference of Boston Teaching Hospitals, Inc., and Greater New York Hospital Association.  

Posted Feb. 10, 2025:

Following up on the NIH guidance released on Friday, teams are working to review internal systems and create new processes to position the university to implement the new F&A rate. ERIK and its Sponsored Programs team will work with the Office of Academic Affairs and the Wexner Medical Center to share additional guidance with colleges and administrators. 

We have learned that some modules of CITI program courses, including RCR training, may not be available as CITI works to review its training in light of the recent presidential executive orders. If this impacts an Ohio State researcher’s ability to move a project forward, please email ERIK@osu.edu so we can address it internally. Learn more from CITI.

Posted on Feb. 8, 2025:

NIH released guidance yesterday that changes the Facilities and Administrative (F&A) rate that the university can charge to current and future grants effective Monday, Feb. 10.  We are reviewing now and will provide more information soon.

Posted Feb. 6, 2025:

The National Institutes of Health's (NIH) eRA Commons platform is currently experiencing intermittent connectivity problems, meaning users may face occasional difficulties accessing the system due to network issues. Please continue to access and know that it may take more than one attempt to connect. Additional information is available from NIH.   

Posted Feb. 5, 2025:

As we await sponsor guidance on existing awards, we continue to submit proposal responses to federal agency submission systems as they are available.  Please continue to work with your sponsored program officer on submissions.

Posted Feb. 4, 2025:

We continue to wait for additional sponsor guidance and will share updates as soon as we start receiving. If you hear from your grant sponsor, please share that guidance with your SPO as soon as possible.

Please continue to monitor obligated budget balances for your awards and submit all reimbursement requests and reports on a timely basis.  

Posted Feb. 3, 2025:

On Jan. 29, OMB rescinded OMB Memo M-25-13: Temporary Pause of Agency Grant, Loan, and Other Financial Assistance Programs. All other memos and executive orders remain in place, and agencies are continuing their work to ensure compliance with these executive orders.  

Important notes:

• Continuity of payments: Awards not affected by the executive orders will continue operating as usual.
• Review your award. Principal investigators are expected to review the alignment of their awards with executive orders. 
• PIs are requested to please be patient for federal agency and sponsor guidance.  Deans, department chairs, department administrators, and PIs should regularly check this site for updates. 
• Federal contracts may be paused by a stop work order.  In these cases, further expenditures are not allowable, including for work performed or expenses incurred while the stop work order is in place. Should this happen, principal investigators have the responsibility to immediately notify their department chair and department administrator as well as their SPO.  It is the responsibility of the PI and the department chair to work with college leadership and post-award support staff to identify and implement other sources of college funding, as appropriate and notify their SPO of any changes.

• OMB Memo: Rescission of M-25-13
  • OMB Memo M-25-13: Temporary Pause of Agency Grant, Loan, and Other Financial Assistance Programs
  • OMB: Instructions for Federal Financial Assistance Program Analysis
  • OMB Memo: Temporary Pause Q and A
• Presidential Actions (White House)

• Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Initial Guidance Regarding DEIA Executive Orders 
• U.S. Department of Education: Office for Civil Rights
• Department of Energy (DOE) Agency-wide Review of Program and Administrative Activities 
  • Office of Management & Budget M-25-11 "Guidance Regarding Section 7 of the Executive Order Unleashing American Energy"
  • DOE Executive Order update to PIER Plan requirement
  • DOE PF 2025-16 Rescission of DEI, CBP, and Justice40 Policy Flashes, Acquisition Letters, and Financial Assistance Letters
• Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Immediate Pause on Issuing Documents and Public Communications
  • Supplemental Guidance to the 2024 NIH Grants Policy Statement: Indirect Cost Rates
  • NIH Acting Director Matthew Memoli Memo (Text Only)
  • Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission (Executive Order)
• NASA Initial Guidance Regarding Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility (DEIA) Executive Orders
  • NASA Amendment 109: Removing DEIA Requirements from ROSES-2024
• National Institute of Justice: Cancellation of Posted Notices of Funding Opportunity
• National Science Foundation Implementation of Recent Executive Orders and FAQs
• U.S. Department of Education Takes Action to Eliminate DEI
• U.S. Department of Transportation: Implementation of Executive Orders Addressing Energy, Climate Change, Diversity, and Gender
• U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs: Qualtrics Contract
• National Security Presidential Memorandum/NSPM-2 (Executive Order)

• The Office of Sponsored Programs will continue to submit proposals as federal agencies’ submission systems are operational. 
• There may be changes to proposal deadlines so please continue to reconfirm. 
• Sponsor proposal review timelines may be extended. Please continue to review specific sponsor guidelines regularly to ensure you have the most up-to-date information. 
• Prior to submission, Principal Investigators should reconfirm that the funding announcement has not been revised or postponed. If available, consider signing up for alerts from the federal agency or sponsor. 
• As new versions of existing Notices of Funding Opportunities (NOFOs) are released, please read carefully. While NOFOs often make explicit the changes that occur with a reissue, not all changes in the wording may be highlighted. Please consult with the appropriate Program Officer if needed.

• The terms and conditions of your active grant remain enforceable for the current funding period as long as the award is in good standing. This includes the ability to invoice and receive reimbursement. Please continue with business as usual. If there is a change to your award, the Office of Sponsored Programs will notify the principal investigator. It is the responsibility of the PI to respond to any changes in a timely manner. 
• Federal contracts may be paused by a stop work order.  In these cases, further expenditures are not allowable, including for work performed or expenses incurred while the stop work order is in place. Should this happen, principal investigators have the responsibility to immediately notify their department chair and department administrator as well as their SPO.  It is the responsibility of the PI and the department chair to work with college leadership and post-award support staff to identify and implement other sources of college funding, as appropriate,  and notify their SPO of any changes.
• We anticipate updates to award Research Compliance requirements. These changes could either be implemented directly by a federal agency or sponsor or may require an amendment on a project-by-project basis. We will share any information we receive with you, though you may also receive instructions directly from your Program Officer. Any such notifications should be immediately forwarded to your SPO.
• We anticipate updates to award reporting requirements. These changes could either be implemented directly by a federal agency or sponsor or may require an amendment on a project-by-project basis. ERIK and the Sponsored Programs team will share any information we receive with you, though you may also receive instructions directly from your Program Officer. Any such notifications should be forwarded to your SPO.
• Review Your Grant or Contract Agreement: Ensure you understand the terms, especially clauses related to funding availability and reimbursement.
• Closely monitor obligated budget balances to avoid deficits while awaiting future obligations. Anticipated future funding remains subject to availability of funds and should not be considered guaranteed.
• Monitor Policy Updates: Look for announcements from the federal agency overseeing your award for any updates on funding or compliance requirements.

• COGR
• APLU: Overview of Federal Executive Orders