Copyright © *|2016|*   -   All rights reserved.
Our mailing address is:
PAVIR - PO Box V-38
Palo Alto, CA  94304
Core Office: (650) 858-3970
Fax: (650) 858-3907
info@pavir.org
Remember the Date

PAVIR follows the Federal Holiday schedule, so please mark your calendars with the following upcoming holiday.
• Monday, 5/30/16 – Memorial  Day
Eligible employees will only receive holiday pay if their regular schedule includes Mondays.  Please note, the PAVIR Administrative office will be closed on this date.
Planning Vacations

As summer approaches, please remember to request any vacation time off with your supervisor and/or timecard approver in advance.  All vacation, as well as other leave, must be requested and approved in ADP WorkforceNow prior to timecard approval for proper payroll processing.
Vacation Accrual Policy Update

Effective May 1, 2016, regular full time PAVIR executive and director level employees and  VA eligible PI’s employed by PAVIR who meet specific criteria will receive additional vacation accrual.  This was granted as recognition and reward of their leadership roles at PAVIR.

2016 Employee Handbook Release

The PAVIR Board of Directors has approved our updated Employee Handbook incorporating numerous improvements and updates, mostly relating to clarifications, some formatting changes, and reflection of changes in the underlying California labor law.  There are several important changes we would like to communicate below.  The revised version of the handbook will be released shortly and we will be asking employees to acknowledge receipt of the handbook via ADP WorkforceNow.
Sick Accrual Cap Policy Update

Effective May 1, 2016, all regular full time employees’ sick time accrual cap will be reduced to a maximum of 500 hours.  This change was made in order to provide financial balance between good employee benefits and our Principal Investigators’ need to have the funds to meet project goals even when the project experiences extended employee absences.

We don’t think that this new cap will be particularly impactful in the majority of cases because of PAVIR’s recently adopted short term disability insurance policy in addition to the long term disability coverage we have been providing and the California State Disability Insurance (SDI) paid by employees.  We have noticed that most employees do not apply for either disability coverage, perhaps because it is simply easier to use sick leave rather than completing paperwork to qualify for insurance coverage.  But it is important to understand that the combination of PAVIR sick leave with short and/or long term disability coverage (PAVIR's and the State’s) will continue to provide fully paid leave for well over 5 months.  In other words, while there is not much change in actual coverage for typical long term leaves of less than 6 months, the source of funding for extended leaves will be partially shifted from project funds toward insurance coverage by either our PAVIR short or long term disability policies, or the State of California funded disability insurance.

Employees whose current balance is above the cap will not accrue any additional paid sick leave hours until their balance falls below the 500 hour cap.  However, employees’ accrual balance at the end of April 30, 2016 will remain available for their use.  When the need arises for employees to use sick leave for extended leaves, please contact PAVIR HR as soon as practical so we can guide you on how to optimize the use of your paid leave.
Advance Notice: 
Change in Exempt Vacation/Sick Leave Reporting Requirements

Beginning January 1, 2017, employees classified as exempt who work more than 30 hours a week will be required to record sick and vacation hours when taking less than a full day off.  Currently exempt employees are not required to record sick or vacation unless they are absent for one full day.
Under the new policy, vacation hours will be recorded in 4 hour or full day increments.  With regard to sick leave hours, exempt employees will be required to record leave in one hour increments except that sick leave of less than two hours is not expected to be recorded.  There may be an exception for exempt employees who are on federal or state leaves of absences.  We adopted this measure to ensure compliance with timecard reporting as well as accurate charging of appropriate funding sources.  This change will be effective January 1, 2017.
Reminder:  Confidentiality

PAVIR’s values include upholding the highest standards of professional conduct and practice in research and research administration.  Consequently, all PAVIR employees need to respect the need for privacy, security, and confidentiality regarding VA-based research and education activities.  PAVIR employees are not authorized to communicate confidential or sensitive information, or trade secrets such as unpublished data, exhibits, work plans, laboratory discussions, etc.  We urge our employees to be mindful when posting or communicating using blogs or other internet based formats.

PAVIR is proud to participate in advancing Veteran and public health through innovative research, but all information sharing has to go through official channels and must be aligned with PAVIR policies and your PI’s preferences.  For more information, please consult with your PI or contact PAVIR at info@pavir.org
Introducing Lillie Ryans-Culclager, PAVIR’s Contract & Grant Manager
Please join us in welcoming Lillie Ryans-Culclager who joined PAVIR in March as our new Contract & Grant Manager.  Lillie reports to Elaine Staats, Director of Sponsored Research, overseeing the Contracts & Grants staff for both pre- and post-award functions.  She has extensive experience in contracts acquisition and management as well as experience in pre- and post-award management; most recently at SRI International where she served as the Director of Contracts.  Prior to SRI, she worked at Stanford University as the Director of Engineering Research Administration in the School of Engineering and as the Deputy Director and Co-Director at Stanford’s Office of Sponsored Research.  We are fortunate to have Lillie’s breadth of experience in high-level positions and in the environment of our University affiliate.  Please feel free to reach out to her at x61556 or LRyans-culclager@pavir.org.
Call for Summer Submissions

PAVIR already has a high volume of application submissions calendared for June.  Please reach out to Grants@pavir.org to get on our calendar if you are planning to submit a proposal this summer.  In particular, there are new updates from NIH that impact submissions for the upcoming cycle (see below).

NIH Updates

eRA Commons Status Screen for PIs Now Mobile Friendly
A new URL is now available to PIs for mobile access to their status information in eRA Commons. 
This new mobile access means it will be significantly easier for PIs to track and manage grant applications and awards.  Important information including Priority Score, Percentile, Summary Statements and more will be available.  For more information please visit the link below. 
The new URL is: https://m.era.nih.gov/cmb         

$20 Million in New Research Awards; New Funding Announcements

PCORI has posted upcoming funding opportunities for Cycle 3 which include funds for projects investigating the following and more:
• effectiveness of strategies to prevent unsafe opioid prescribing in primary care
• clinical effectiveness research studies on community-based palliative care delivery for adult patients with advanced illnesses and their caregivers
• management of sickle cell disease

Letters of Intent are due as early as June 30, 2016.  Please let us know if you plan to submit.   http://www.pcori.org/funding-opportunities




Changes to Policies, Instructions and Forms for 2016 Grant Applications

NIH has a two-part implementation plan to include changes for grant applications in 2016.  The first phase implemented for applications due on January 25, 2016 or later included new requirements for portions of the proposal to enhance reproducibility of research findings through scientific rigor and transparency such as:
• Research Strategy:  Must include section to address rigor and transparency.  Authentication of Key Biological and/or Chemical Resources attachment required.  See NOT-OD-16-011 and NOT-OD-16-012.
• Vertebrate Animals:  Updated guidance on criteria to be addressed, but eliminated description of veterinary care and justification for the number of animals.  Description and justification for euthanasia method required only if inconsistent with AVMA Guidelines.  See NOT-OD-16-006.
• Definition of Child:  Redefined age of a child to individuals under 18 years old.  See NOT-OD-16-010.
Phase 2 introduces new Forms-D for applications due on or after May 25, 2016.  A PAVIR Contract & Grant Administrator will be able to assist you navigate these changes.  Changes from Phase 1 are implemented in addition to the following selected changes:
• New font guidelines:  See NOT-OD-16-009.
• Biosketch clarifications:  URL for publication list is optional.  Publications and research products can now be cited in both the personal statement and the contributions to science sections.  Graphics, figures and tables are not allowed.
RPPR Change

In accordance with changes to address Rigor and Transparency, NIH now requires additional information within the Accomplishments section of the RPPR.  This is effective for reports due January 25, 2016 or later for all annual non-competing NIH & AHRQ awards supporting research activities.  Please refer to the Guide Notice below, or contact your Contracts & Grants Analyst for more information.
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-16-031.html
Expiring ADM Funds

Friendly reminder that ADM funds received in 2015 are due to expire on June 30, 2016.  Please work with your C&G Analyst to manage accordingly.


Delegation of Authority for PAVIR Accounts

We are pleased to announce that PAVIR will soon launch its online system for managing Delegation of Authority for PAVIR Accounts (DAPA).  The new process will replace our Delegation of Signature Authority (DOSA) paper form and will be integrated into RDIS.  A DAPA can be initiated by a PI, a PI Administrator, the delegate themselves or by PAVIR staff.  The system will send the necessary notifications such as to the PAVIR Contract & Grant Analyst and the PI of the need for approval, the delegate of the need to upload a sample signature (if applicable), and the PI of upcoming expirations.  PAVIR staff will enter the information from current DOSAs into RDIS with a copy of the completed and signed paper form in order to take advantage of the expiration/renewal functions as well as for ease of access for internal users.  DOSAs currently in place will remain effective until their expiration date.  We hope that you will find the new process, which will be accessed via the User Profile (of either the PI or delegate) to be useful and less cumbersome than routing paper forms.






This email was sent to *|EMAIL|*
why did I get this?    unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences
*|LIST:ADDRESSLINE|*