New ORCA Communication on Power Outage/Water Damage Post

Office of the Vice President for Research & Creative Achievement
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
1000 Hilltop Circle
Baltimore, MD 21250
PHONE:       410-455-5636
FAX:            410-455-5550
WEB:           research.umbc.edu

This communication is to members of UMBC's Research and Creative Achievement (RCA) community that have been impacted by the power outages and water damage resulting from the December winter storm (the event). 

The Office of Research and Creative Achievement (ORCA) is providing the following information to assist the UMBC RCA community on steps to take with external sponsors. 

We realize that many, but certainly not all impacted departments and buildings are within the College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences (CNMS). The CNMS Dean's Office has already reached out to the departments in that College.

Whom do I contact? 

•  At this time, the CNMS Dean's Office is requesting that you communicate through your Department Chair if your RCA activities have been impacted.  The Department Chairs will report to the Dean, who will then inform ORCA. 
•  Other Colleges or UMBC units can reach out to their Chairs and Deans in a similar fashion, or they can email OSPA@umbc.edu.  If you reach out to the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) directly, please include your departmental or College business unit that supports your RCA activities. 
•  ORCA will follow up with those Principal Investigators (PIs) to potentially obtain additional information and discuss next steps. 
  
• ORCA will provide reports to all College Deans, Directors, unit business unit etc. regarding the impact on their respective RCA communities.  

What do we mean by impacted? 

•   Impact on Sponsor RCA activities could mean a total stoppage or delay to an active award, a needed revision to a submitted pending proposal, or a proposal submission delayed as result of the event. 

What information do we need? 

• Name of the PI, email, and phone number
• Sponsor name (i.e., NSF, NIH, DoD, NEA, NEH, Mellon Foundation, State of Maryland, etc.)
• Award or proposal information (Kuali or Sponsor Award #, project title)
• Brief (2-3 bullets) description of the actual impact on your project.  For example, "I am unable to continue working on my award", "My award will be delayed by 2 months", or "I will not be able to meet the proposal deadline." 
•   What been impacted (i.e., computers or scientific instruments have been damaged, laboratories are not accessible at the time, scientific data or research samples have been damaged or lost.) Please provide specifics.
• ORCA will follow up with those Principal Investigators (PIs) to potentially obtain any additional information and discuss next steps. 

What information is available from the Sponsors?

•  Currently, only limited information is available.  We expect to contact each sponsor independently to ascertain the steps needed depending on the extent of the impact. 
• NIH & NSF sites that lists some critical information for awards --see below.