Dear Colleagues,

As you have likely heard, a federal government shutdown is possible starting Oct. 1. The staff in the Office of the Dean for Research, and specifically the Office of Research and Project Administration (ORPA), together with Sponsored Research Accounting in the Office of the Vice President for Finance and Treasurer, are closely monitoring the situation and will provide as much information as we can in the upcoming days given the uncertain circumstances. We are committed to assisting with any questions or concerns that you may have. Please see the information and resources below.

 

What agencies are affected?

With regard to the University’s research enterprise, the shutdown would affect a range of federal agencies with which University researchers and staff interact daily, including our biggest sponsors—the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Department of Energy (DOE), the Department of Defense (DOD) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). General contingency plans for these agencies (and others) may be found here: Agency Contingency Plans | OMB | The White House

 

Should there be a shutdown, all non-essential federal staff will be furloughed, as no appropriations bills have been signed. Non-essential staff would generally include those with whom the University works regarding research funding. Embassies, consulates, and law enforcement would continue to operate, though they may experience disruptions as well. If you anticipate needing to communicate with someone at a federal agency, you should expect them to be offline during the shutdown, and plan accordingly.

 

Based on previous institutional experience with shutdowns, this is what we currently expect:

 

• Existing research projects funded by federal agencies should continue without disruption, and may be spent to their full authority. The University will support such continued activity, though agencies will be unable to reimburse us for these expenditures until after the shutdown has ended.

 

• Affected agencies may continue to accept proposals with due dates published prior to the shutdown. We recommend that you review the above-referenced contingency plans for the relevant agency and reach out to ORPA staff with questions regarding specific programs/solicitations. Agency personnel will be unavailable to provide critical information to proposers seeking clarification and guidance during a shutdown. Agencies may vary in how they receive, review and score proposals that have been submitted without this benefit of agency engagement and support.

 

• New solicitations will not be issued. Presumably solicitations that would have been issued during the shutdown period will be issued when the shutdown concludes, although this may depend upon the length of the shutdown.

 

• The University will not receive new awards from federal agencies. This could significantly affect new research programs at Princeton that would have begun if not for the shutdown. This impact will become more apparent and significant as the shutdown continues.

 

• Researchers who work at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) or the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory are encouraged to review the agency-level contingency plans found here, and are welcome to contact ORPA with questions or concerns regarding the availability of government spaces/systems/resources that enable their research during a shutdown.

 

• Hiring staff members using H-1B visas will likely be impossible given required certification from the Department of Labor, which typically suspends these services during a shutdown. If previous actions are any indication, other fee-based immigration services (e.g., Optional Practical Training applications, green card renewals) should not be immediately impacted.

 

Where to go for more information and support:

The Office of the Dean for Research is carefully monitoring the impacts of the shutdown with Princeton’s offices of Government Affairs, Finance and Treasury, the Dean of the Faculty, the Dean of the Graduate School and other partners of the research enterprise on campus. We will continue to keep you updated. In the meantime, ORPA stands ready to assist you with any shutdown-related questions or project/proposal-specific concerns you may have. Please reach out to your ORPA representative or call (609.258.3091)/email ([email protected]).

 

Sincerely,

 

Peter Schiffer

Dean for Research

 

Jim Matteo

Vice President for Finance & Treasurer

 

Gene Jarrett

Dean of the Faculty