ORSP Newsletter - May 2026

Maria Nakamura Announces Her Retirement

ORSP extends its warmest congratulations and heartfelt appreciation to Maria Nakamura, Associate Director of Research and Sponsored Programs, who retired on April 30, 2026. Maria’s remarkable 42 years of service to SUNY Oswego and the Research Foundation have left a lasting impact on our office and the many faculty and staff she has supported throughout her career.

Maria has played an important role in helping campus colleagues navigate sponsored programs and bring creative, meaningful projects to life. Her knowledge, dedication, and steady commitment to service have been deeply valued across campus.

Please join us in thanking Maria for her extraordinary service and wishing her the very best in retirement.

New Faculty & Staff Incentive Plan for Sponsored Program Activity

SUNY Oswego has launched a new Faculty and Staff Incentive Plan for Sponsored Program Activity designed to recognize and support externally funded research, scholarship, and creative activity. The plan reinvests a portion of recovered Facilities & Administrative (F&A) costs back into faculty investigators, academic departments, and strategic research initiatives after essential institutional obligations are met.

The incentive model includes:

• Research support incentives for Principal Investigators (PIs) and Co-PIs
• Department and school/college reinvestment to strengthen research infrastructure and student engagement
• Strategic research investments administered through the Provost’s Office

The plan also incorporates a tiered structure that recognizes varying levels of F&A recovery across different sponsors and award types, while promoting transparency through annual reporting of F&A collections and distributions.

This initiative reflects SUNY Oswego’s continued commitment to advancing research and sponsored programs in alignment with our strategic priorities to Grow, Connect, and Thrive.

Visit the Faculty and Staff Incentive Plan for Sponsored Program Activity website to learn more about the incentive plan and view the full policy documentation.
 

Recently Funded Grants

The Scholarly and Creative Activity Committee (SCAC) and the Committee on Learning and Teaching had a busy Spring 2026 reviewing nearly 50 internal grant applications, while a significant number of external grants were awarded recently. Tap the accordions below to see who received funds to support their research, scholarly, and creative activities this spring. 

New Federal Sponsor Requirements

NIH

Commons forms:

The use of the Common Forms for Biographical Sketch and  Current and Pending (Other) Support  (prepared in SciENcv) must be used for all NIH grant application, Just-in-Time (JIT), Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR), and Prior Approval submissions to NIH with due dates on or after January 25, 2026, grace period for implementation ends May 2026.

Research Security Training (RST):

RST is required for all Senior/key personnel effective for submissions on or after May 26, 2026. The certification is included in the Biosketch in SciENcv for proposal submissions, and the Other support form for JIT, and RPPR submissions. Compliant training is CITI Research Security Training - Combined (1 hour), or NSF SECURE Center Consolidated Training Module (4 hours). 

NSF

Clarification of the New NSF Training Requirement – No Cost Extensions

All senior/key personnel identified in a proposal must have completed compliant training in Research Security within 12 months prior to proposal and No Cost Extension (NCE) requests (see Important Notice Item 2). A training certificate must be shared with ORSP prior to submission of both proposals and NCE requests. Compliant training is CITI Research Security Training - Combined (1 hour), or NSF SECURE Center Consolidated Training Module (4 hours). 

Data Management and Sharing Plan (DMSP)

Proposals must include a DMSP created using the DMSP Tool implemented on Research.gov. (This replaces a pdf document of no more than two pages uploaded under “Data Management and Sharing Plan” in the supplementary documentation section of Research.gov). Recipients are required to share all data supporting NSF funded publications at the time of publication. Exceptions to this sharing requirement must be described and justified within the DMSP.

Updated Responsible Conduct in Research Policy Now in Effect

SUNY Oswego has adopted an updated Responsible Conduct in Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity policy in response to evolving federal research misconduct regulations and oversight requirements. The revised policy was approved on April 29, 2026 and reflects updated expectations from federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Research Integrity (ORI), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and other federal sponsors. 

The policy reaffirms SUNY Oswego’s commitment to research integrity, ethical scholarship, transparency, and accountability across all research and creative activities conducted under the auspices of the university. It also clarifies institutional procedures for reviewing allegations of research misconduct, outlines protections for complainants and respondents, and incorporates updated federal procedural and reporting requirements. 

Importantly, the updated policy applies broadly to all covered individuals involved in research activities at SUNY Oswego — including faculty, staff, students, trainees, collaborators, and affiliated researchers — regardless of whether projects are externally funded. 

The revised policy also includes updated definitions and guidance related to fabrication, falsification, and plagiarism, including emerging federal language regarding the use of artificial intelligence (AI)-based tools in federally funded research environments. 

Faculty and staff are encouraged to review the updated policy and familiarize themselves with the revised procedures and expectations. Questions regarding research integrity, responsible conduct of research training, or the updated policy may be directed to the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP) at [email protected] or 315-312-2888.

SUNY-RF News

A new RF Child Protection Policy has been published. It builds on the SUNY Child Protection Policy.

This policy applies to all grant supported sponsored projects administered by the RF that include activities where individuals covered under this policy are responsible for the custody, control, or supervision of Children participating in Covered RF Activities, or are otherwise responsible for such programs. (The RF policy defines children as under 18 years of age, whereas SUNY's policy defines children as under 17).

In coordination with ORSP staff, Principal Investigators must ensure that Covered RF Employees (and volunteers supporting Covered RF Activities) do not take part in a Covered RF Activity until background checks required by this policy are obtained prior to interaction with children. The cost of the Covered RF Employees (students, administrative support, volunteers, etc.) background checks need to be paid for by grant dollars. It is recommended to budget $200 per person into the budget request for programs that include custody, control and supervision of Children. In addition to this policy, PIs must ensure that all other Campus and SUNY policies are followed.