January 7, 2010
Official Notices
Board of Regents
The Board of Regents will hold a regular meeting on Thursday, Jan. 21, at UW Tower.
New NSF requirement: Training in the Responsible Conduct of Research
Effective Jan. 4, all undergraduate and graduate students as well as postdoctoral fellows participating in National Science Foundation (NSF)-sponsored projects are required to complete training in the responsible conduct of research (RCR). This requirement applies to all funded proposals submitted on or after Jan. 4, including supplemental applications for existing awards; however, it does not apply to proposals submitted prior to this date. RCR training plans are not required to be included in individual proposals submitted to NSF; instead, recipient institutions will need to provide evidence of such training programs when requested.
Institutional and Investigator Responsibilities:
For proposals submitted on or after Jan. 4:
- Recipient institutions must have a plan in place to provide appropriate RCR training to undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers working on NSF supported research. For the UW, institutional certification to this effect will be provided for each proposal by the Office of Sponsored Programs, and verification of the training program will be provided by the Office of Research upon request from NSF.
- Institutions are responsible for verifying that undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers working on NSF supported research have received RCR training.
- Principal Investigators and Project Directors or Program Administrators (for NSF Fellows) will be responsible for ensuring that any students and/or postdoctoral researchers who are working or volunteering on their NSF supported research project take the required RCR training program described below.
UW’s compliance with the new NSF training requirement
Section 2009 of the America Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education, and Science (COMPETES) Act, enacted in 2007, directed NSF to require that all students and postdocs working on NSF funded projects undergo RCR training. In order to ensure UW compliance with this new NSF policy, the Office of Research in conjunction with the offices of Undergraduate Academic Affairs, the Graduate School and the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs, conducted an assessment of RCR training programs currently available to the University community. While the development and implementation of a comprehensive RCR training program is a goal for the future, the UW’s immediate response is to utilize two Web-based programs that appropriately meet NSF’s requirement and are currently available for use by UW students and postdocs.
The UW RCR Web site describes how to access and complete these online training modules and provides additional information for trainees, advisers, administrators, and investigators.
- Undergraduate students must take RCR online training offered through Center on Materials and Devices for Information Technology Research (CMDITR).
- Graduate students and postdoctoral researchers must take online RCR training offered through Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI).
Students and postdoctoral researchers must take RCR training either within the first year of their working on an NSF supported project or before they complete their commitment to the NSF supported project and training must be completed within three months of registration. All who take online RCR training will be able to verify their compliance with the RCR training requirement upon completion of the course. In addition, the UW RCR website will contain a link to a posting of all students (undergraduates and graduate students) and postdoctoral researchers who have completed the online RCR training modules. This list will be updated on a weekly basis and can serve as a resource to those faculty and administrators at UW who may need to verify completion of RCR training by UW students and postdocs.
These online training courses may not be utilized to comply with the RCR training requirements of the National Institutes for Health (NIH); instead, students and postdoc trainees working on NIH training grants should contact the School of Medicine’s Biomedical Research Integrity program. This NSF-mandated training also does not replace or supersede any existing UW courses that students are required to take by their schools, colleges or departments.
UW implementation of RCR training program and listing of contacts
To facilitate registration and training completion, in December 2009 the Office of Research, Undergraduate Academic Affairs, and the Graduate School conducted a series of sessions to train undergraduate research advisors, graduate program assistants and departmental administrators on the use of the CMDITR and CITI web modules. Additional sessions may be scheduled upon request. This new training requirement will also be broadly communicated directly to all current NSF-funded Principal Investigators by email notification this month.
Undergraduate Students: For questions related to whether you are required to take RCR training, consult your faculty supervisor. For questions related to CMDITR RCR material or orientation to the modules, please contact the undergraduate research program urp@u.washington.edu.
Graduate Students: Contact your graduate program adviser.
Postdoctoral researcher: Contact your departmental administrator
For questions or additional information regarding this new NSF requirement or the online RCR training, please contact Jeff Cheek, Associate Vice Provost for Research Compliance and Operations (jcheek@uw.edu).
Year-end tax form distribution
W-2s, 1099Rs and UW Stipend letters for active employees will be distributed with paychecks on Monday, Jan. 25. The 1042-S form will be distributed with paychecks on Wednesday, March 10. For separated, partial leave, or inactive employees, these forms will be mailed to the provided local address. For more information click here or 206-543-9202.
Employees: exempt status and the W-4
If you claimed exempt status on your federal income tax withholding during 2009 and believe you are eligible to renew your claim for 2010, you MUST update your Form W-4 information in Employee Self Service before Feb. 16. If the information is not updated on time, the University is required by law to withhold federal income taxes from your wages (at the maximum tax table rate of single, with zero withholding allowances). The University of Washington will not refund federal withholding taxes due to either late or incomplete Form W-4 information. For more information visit online or 206-543-9202.
Tax exempt status for foreign national employees
If you are a foreign national employee who claimed exempt status on federal income tax withholding for 2009 and are eligible to renew your claim for 2010, you must resubmit a new Form 8233, “Exemption from Withholding on Compensation…” and a US income tax treaty article to the Payroll Office by Feb. 16. For more information go here or 206-543-9202.
Annual attendance incentive program
Each January, UW faculty and staff who accrue sick leave and who have a year-end balance exceeding 480 hours may request to be paid for a portion of their unused sick leave that was accrued but not used in the previous calendar year. Payment is made at the rate of 25 percent of the hourly equivalent of the employee’s pay rate and all hours compensated are deducted from the employee’s sick leave balance.
Program information and the necessary form are on the Human Resources Web site under Attendance Incentive Program (Sick Leave Buy-Back).
The Payroll Office must have all attendance incentive payment forms by Friday, Jan. 29, at 5 p.m. Participants should allow adequate time for the form to be completed within their deptartment and them submitted to the UW Payroll Office. Payment will be no later than the second paycheck in February. For questions, contact your human resources operations office.
Blood Drives
Thursday, Jan.7, 10:30 a.m. — 4:30 p.m., Bus by George Washington statue.
