January 23, 2024

Starting today, individuals who use federal proposal submission systems for research grants and contracts may see error messages or be precluded from submitting documents. This is related to the University of Iowa’s registration in SAM.gov, which is pending renewal from the federal government. This year, there is increased scrutiny on the congruence between our legal name (State University of Iowa), and The University of Iowa, the name that has historically been recognized in SAM.

The Office of the Vice President for Research is monitoring the situation closely and determining the short-term impacts on the institution’s ability to submit proposals, receive awards and draw down funds from federal agencies.

Our teams are working hard through every available channel to resolve the issues as soon as possible. Please reach out to dsp@uiowa.edu if you have questions about how this will impact your sponsored projects.

We will share updates with campus via email and our website as they become available. 

-Marty

Marty Scholtz
Vice President for Research

Updates

January 26, 2024

I am reaching out to provide an update regarding the ongoing situation with the federal government that has impacted our institution’s registration with the System for Award Management (SAM.gov). I understand that the uncertainty of the situation is concerning and can assure you that we are dedicated to resolving the issue as quickly as possible.

Our teams (Office of Federal Relations, General Counsel, Board of Regents) continue to work through every available channel to resolve this issue. Our congressional delegation and COGR have also directly engaged with the General Services Administration (GSA), which oversees SAM.

In addition to our engagement with the GSA I am directly contacting federal funding agencies to make them aware of the issue with our renewal and will request accommodations with respect to any potential missed deadlines or rejected submissions.

We ask that PIs and administrators continue to route submissions to the Division of Sponsored Programs (DSP) as they normally would. DSP will document on-time submissions and work with PIs to resubmit if necessary once we have reached a resolution. Please reach out to dsp@uiowa.edu if you have questions about how this will impact your sponsored projects.

I will share updates with campus via email and our website as they become available.

 -Marty

Marty Scholtz
Vice President for Research

January 27, 2024

I received notification late yesterday that we passed the first step in the SAM.gov renewal process and that the University of Iowa is now recognized as a valid entity.

While this is positive news, the Internal Revenue Service and a component of the Department of Defense must also approve our validation as part of the process. We have requested expedited reviews with both entities, and I will provide an update as soon as we are notified that our SAM registration is active.

As I noted Friday, I have also reached out to several federal agencies that provide funding to us to apprise them of the situation. We will work to resolve any issues with respect to potential missed deadlines or rejected submissions.

My office, in partnership with our Office of Federal Relations and COGR, have begun a review of the registration process to ensure that this does not happen again.

We will continue to update our website and provide email notifications as they become available.

-Marty

Marty Scholtz
Vice President for Research

January 30, 2024

I just received notification that the University of Iowa now has a complete and active registration with SAM.gov. All transactions with the federal government that rely on a SAM.gov verification should be fully functional, including the federal proposal submission systems for research grants and contracts.

My office, in partnership with the Office of the General Counsel, the Office of Federal Relations, COGR and others, has initiated a post-incident review of this process and will develop an action plan to prevent this from happening again.

The Division of Sponsored Programs (DSP) will continue to work with PIs whose submissions were affected by the disruption. Please reach out to dsp@uiowa.edu if you have any questions or need assistance with an impacted project or submission.

-Marty

Marty Scholtz
Vice President for Research