Notice Number: NOT-OD-17-057

Key Dates
Release Date: April 13, 2017

Issued by
National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Purpose

The purpose of this Notice is to provide additional guidance regarding the process recipients of Kirschstein-NRSA institutional training grants (T32, T35, T90, TL1) will need to follow in order to properly reflect adjustments to appointment records for trainees when the training grant received supplemental funding in response to NOT-OD-17-002.

This notice also alerts training grant awardees meeting the criteria established in NOT-OD-17-002 that they must submit applications by June 30th, 2017, in order to receive supplemental funding from NIH to accommodate stipend level increase.

Process for Institutional Training Grants:

As a general reminder, applicants may not increase the number of appointees under the current NRSA institutional training grant as a result of the supplemental funding notice. Applications for supplemental funding must reflect the current experience level of each postdoctoral appointee, which cannot be adjusted as a result of this notice.

Applicants must be careful to accurately identify the number of postdocs at each level and request an accurate, corresponding supplemental dollar amount. Applicants should only request funds to cover increases in stipends for postdoctoral trainees at experience levels 0, 1 and 2 from December 1, 2016 up to the end date of the period of appointment.

In order to accurately document the stipend level increase for currently appointed postdoctoral trainees, an amended appointment must be submitted through xTrain for each trainee as follows:

To amend a stipend within xTrain:

• On the Trainee Roster screen for the parent award (not the supplement award, which is listed above the parent award) select Amend 2271 from the Action Column for the desired Trainee.
• The system will open the 2271 form.
• Do not modify the Stipend Level or Salary drop-down value; instead enter the new stipend level into the Stipend/Salary/Other Compensation field. The amount entered should reflect the stipend that the trainee will have received for their period of appointment including the additional funds received from the supplement.
• You may route the form for Trainee verification, or submit the amendment to Agency for review.
• When submitting the 2271 to Agency, the system will prompt you for a comment, please indicate that this amendment is in reference to “Stipend increase per NOT-OD-17-002 and as reflected on 3T32IC00000S1”.

*Appointments, re-appointments, and amended appointments documenting the stipend level increase must be initiated on the parent award. Recipients should not submit these appointment forms for the supplemental award within xTrain.

No additional funds may be expended on behalf of trainees identified within supplemental request until an amended appointment has been submitted and accepted in xTrain. If a recipient fails to submit these forms, NIH may take one or more enforcement actions, such as a decision to disallow costs or withhold a non-competing continuation award, consistent with NIHGPS Chapter 8.5.2.

For trainees with start dates that do not require amending, namely appointments that start after 12/01/2016 but are for FY2016, FY2015 or FY2014. Recipients will need to create the appointment or reappointment, select the appropriate stipend level, and then modify the stipend amount to reflect the correct amount (see item #3 above). Recipients will not be required to submit amended appointments for FY2017 appointments made on or after December 1, 2016, or for appointments for FY2016 and earlier fiscal years, where appointments are active on December 1, 2016, but where stipends were supplemented from institutional funds, rather than NRSA supplemental funds.

It is important for NIH to note, that for a subset of supplements issued in response to NOT-OD-17-002, the Type 3 supplement will not be issued in the same account as the parent award (pooled account) based on NIH’s transition to P subaccounts in PMS. In these particular cases, recipients will be required to submit a separate FFR accounting for the supplemental funds awarded in the PMS subaccount no later than 90 days after the end of the calendar quarter in which the budget period ends.

Additional information on how to submit appointment forms in xTrain can be found using the xTrain Appointment, Re-Appointment, and Amendment Quick Reference Guide for Institution Users.

Inquiries

Please direct all inquiries to:

Division of Grants Policy
Office of Policy for Extramural Research Administration (OPERA)
Phone: 301-435-0938
Email: GrantsPolicy@od.nih.gov

For any specific financial or grants management questions regarding the administrative supplement notice (PA-16-287) please contact the Grants Management Specialist or Grants Management Officer listed on the NoA of the most recent parent award.