Dear colleagues,

Good morning. Another week in paradise (sarcasm).

Below, please find updates and guidance on this week’s federal actions. As always, please feel free to reach out to me directly with any questions.

  • Judge Kelly of the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts has written her final opinion on the administration’s attempt to cap payments for indirect costs, facility and administrative expenses associated with research. She decided that this move violated the Administrative Procedure Act, a federal law that dictates how agencies implement new regulations and was “arbitrary and capricious,” that it “failed to follow notice-and-comment procedures,” and that it was “impermissibly retroactive.” We now move on to the next appealing chapter of the legal battle between the administration and stakeholders in academic research.
  • This week, scientists and health groups sued NIH over the termination of grants and disruptions to grant review, and on Friday 16 state attorneys general filed a nearly identical lawsuit.
  • Federal cuts have cost Massachusetts over $1.5 billion in economic losses and 6,713 research jobs, according to Science & Community Impacts Mapping Project.
  • In February, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services removed sexual orientation and gender identity questionsfrom enrollment forms for Medicare beneficiaries, and gender identity from the records of Veterans Health Administration patients. On March 21, the Department of Health and Human Services announced it would not enforce requirements that electronic health records have fields to record and exchange patients’ sexual orientation and gender identity for privately insured The new standards were set to be enforced by January 1 next year.
  • To read an interesting article on just one effect of the decline in public health funding, see what’s happening in gonorrhea testing and treatment.
  • NIH has an Extramural Research website a useful page regarding implementation of the Administration’s initiatives, with updates on applications and reporting
  • HHS is regularly updating a list of terminated HHS grants on the Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS). The website is functional mostly, and a link to the list is here.
  • If you want to see for yourself which NIH study sections and advisory councils are being scheduled, you can view Federal Register updates from the NIH here:https://www.federalregister.gov/agencies/national-institutes-of-health 
  • An additional resource related to Federal data: Finding Federal Information and Data.

BU Resources and Updates:

  • The Office of Research has published a detailed set of guidelines for managing early grant termination; accessing the guidance document requires BU login. The link is also posted on the Office of Research 2025 Administration Transition Information & Resources.
  • The BU Federal Relations website has an explainer about the FY2025 Continuing Resolution. It details the NIH and Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDRMP) budgets for the remainder of FY25.
  • Guidance from the University Office of Sponsored Programs remains unchanged. Any concerns by PIs about non-renewal of federal grant funding, stop work orders, or notices of funding “pauses” should be directed to Dean McClean. PIs should not take personnel actions in response to anticipated federal funding disruptions without prior consultation with and approval from Sponsored Programs, which Dean McClean will help facilitate.
  • New Research Security Training Requirement for DOE-sponsored investigators to be completed by May 1, 2025 and for all other researchers to be completed by June 30, 2025. Boston University has adopted the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) Program’s Research Security Training (Combined) course to meet the DOE training requirement. The four-module training takes approximately one hour and covers an introduction to research security, the importance of disclosure, risk mitigation and management and international collaboration.

Updates on Fiscal Controls at BU

  • No merit raises in FY26 for faculty and non-union staff
  • Positions in the academic research job category will not be eligible for merit increases in FY26 due to budget constraints.  The only exceptions are researchers whose reappointments happen between now and June 30, 2025.
  • All labor requests, travel, and external consultants on unrestricted funds (school money) and discretionary fundscontinue to fall under the budget controls and a request for approval is required. Please direct any questions to the Associate Dean for Administration and Finance, Dean Lazic at iralazic@bu.edu.

Finally, here are some upcoming opportunities to engage:

Thank you for coming together with a new collaborative spirit and for your good work during these challenging times.

Michael Stein
Dean ad interim

 

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