Colorado State University

This email is being sent to PIs with open federal awards, deans, research associate deans, and unit heads whose units have federal sponsored projects.

Dear Colleagues: 

As has happened many times since the start of the Trump Administration, Friday brought a number of announcements from the Administration and science agencies.  

The National Science Foundation announced a 15% F&A cap. As with the other F&A caps, we expect legal action. While we wait for these processes to play out, you may continue to spend on existing NSF awards. For proposals that need to be submitted immediately, please use our federally negotiated indirect cost rate. Please delay the submission of any proposals that do not have immediate deadlines. Temporarily, the OVPR will not approve any pre-award spending on anticipated NSF awards. If we receive new awards with a 15% F&A rate, the award will be held until senior leadership can determine whether we will accept this rate. 

NSF sent us additional termination notices on Friday. We also received termination notices from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Environmental Protection Agency this week. Impacted investigators have been notified.  If you received notifications directly, please be sure to forward them to [email protected]. 

For these and other terminations, we are evaluating whether to appeal on a case-by-case basis. We are in the process of contacting individual investigators to determine if they are interested in participating in an appeal and requesting necessary information. Appeals must be submitted on a prescribed timeline, typically within 30 days of termination, so your prompt response to requests for information is appreciated. CSU can only submit an appeal on federal awards where we are the prime; where we are a subrecipient on a terminated award, we will collaborate with the prime organization if they elect to appeal. Only the Office of Sponsored Programs can submit appeals; investigators cannot submit appeals directly. 

The Trump Administration released its skinny budget proposal for federal fiscal year 26 on Friday as well. As you may have seen in the public reporting, the administration recommends that Congress make very significant cuts to the science agencies, including those most important to CSU. It is called a skinny budget because it provides limited information; more detailed agency specific proposals are forthcoming. While worrying, it is important to remember that the president’s budget recommendation is only the first step in the annual appropriations process. Congress holds the power of the purse and must pass an appropriations bill each year. We are working actively to advocate for our science priorities along with the national higher education associations and our peers. I was in Washington D.C. just this week speaking with our members of the Colorado delegation, who remain highly supportive of CSU. 

In closing, I wanted to flag a new web resource highlighting the impact of CSU’s research. Please consider sharing this resource via your social media channels to spread the word about the important research you all are doing at CSU. 

I am so thankful for our CSU community – the many people who are keeping our research enterprise going in the face of significant uncertainty. This week, I have also been thinking a lot about our federal partners, who are also under enormous pressure. Their service to our country and to scientific discovery is extraordinary.  

As always, please feel free to reach out with questions or recommendations. 

Best,

Cass

Cassandra Moseley, Ph.D. (she/hers)
Vice President for Research

Professor, Department of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship
Office of the Vice President for Research