Dear Colleagues,

 Effective October 10, 2025 the National Science Foundation requires research security training certifications for all proposers and senior/key personnel. This training must cover cybersecurity, international collaboration, foreign interference, proper use of funds, disclosure, and conflicts of interest/commitment.

Specifically:

• Senior/key personnel must complete their required research security training within 12 months prior to proposal submission.  NJIT must certify that all senior/key personnel have completed this training.  Accordingly, it is even more important to initiate pre-award approvals as early as possible.
• NJIT must also certify that the institution has a plan for Responsible and Ethical Conduct of Research training for all relevant personnel (students, faculty, etc.). This training must include mentor training, awareness of research security threats, and federal export control/disclosure requirements.

More details related to these federal requirements may be found here.

Going forward, in post-award phase, all personnel, including students, postdocs, etc., working on the project will be required to take the research security training as a part of the federal or institutional policy.

Through CITI Program, NJIT has the required courses available.  Our use of CITI Program for training integrates into our existing compliance training and allows for documentation and certification.  NJIT has single sign-on access with CITI Program to facilitate accessibility (choose to log-in through my organization).

For those that have not yet have an account with CITI Program, some basic instructions to get research security classes active are: 

• Navigate to the CITI Program webpage.
• The Login button is located near the upper right, click it.
• You will then want to choose "Log in through my organization" and in the search use New Jersey Institute of Technology in full.
• Continue to SSO/Login Instructions, and sign in as normal.
• You will be prompted to associate your account, if you do not already have an account, this is the time to create your account.
• You will be asked to update your profile, please do so.
• For NJIT compliance purposes, the licensed professional question will have no impact.
• You will then find yourself presented with a set of questions; these questions help determine which training is required.
• For the purposes of research security training, you only need to answer Question 10, and please choose "Research Security Advanced Refresher."  This class contains all the required modules in one. 

Continued Institutional Guidelines on Impact of Changes in Federal Policies on Research Grants and Contracts

If you receive any notification including any specific stop order, termination, budget change on indirect costs rate on your award/proposal, or request to sign any attestation from any funding agency, please forward the notification with any attachment to me immediately at dhawan@njit.edu and copy Eric Hetherington at erich@njit.edu. 

Please do not sign any document sent to you regarding any attestation on the federal research grants. 

We will continue to carefully review at the institutional level with the provost and general counsel offices to advise and follow up. The Office for Research and the Office of General Counsel will review the request and respond with instructions for you to follow.

Please visit our website periodically for updates on this situation.

Sincerely,
Atam Dhawan
Senior Vice Provost for Research

Dear Colleagues,

As we have shared over the past few months, federal policies regarding research funding are evolving rapidly. We are seeing new certification requirements and conditions being included in grant awards and applications from federal agencies, and we need your assistance in identifying any new certifications or conditions on funding. This is essential to preserve NJIT’s eligibility to receive federal grants.

Please immediately bring to our attention any new certifications or conditions you find in a grant application, Notice of Award, or other communication with the funding agency, which may include language specifically related to:

• Presidential Executive Orders
•  Indirect cost caps (e.g., a 15% cap) that fall outside our standard negotiated rates
• DEI/DEIA or equity initiatives
•  "Gender ideology" or definitions of sex
• Any other atypical language or requirements

Please forward any such language to Eric Hetherington, Associate Vice Provost for Sponsored Research Administration, at eric.d.hetherington@njit.edu. If you find this language in a grant application, a grant renewal, or during discussions with an agency (before a Notice of Award), please pause and wait for guidance from Eric before taking any further action.

We appreciate your partnership as we work to protect our research enterprise. Thank you for your cooperation.

Sincerely,

John A. Pelesko
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs

Dear Colleagues,

I am writing to share with you new guidance, entitled Recognizing the Impact of External Events on the Tenure, Promotion, and Evaluation of NJIT Faculty. This document was prepared by the Provost’s Ad Hoc Task Force on Federal Developments, endorsed by that group, and reviewed and supported by the University Promotion and Tenure Committee.

As you know, recent federal actions have disrupted traditional patterns of research funding, altered agency priorities, and placed new constraints on scholarly work. These developments have the potential to affect faculty productivity in ways that are outside an individual’s control. This guidance offers recommendations on how Promotion and Tenure committees may take such factors into account when evaluating cases.

I want to emphasize that this guidance does not change NJIT’s Promotion and Tenure policy. Instead, it provides a framework for committees to fairly assess faculty achievements in light of these external realities. The goal is to ensure that our processes remain both rigorous and equitable, recognizing the resilience and adaptability of our colleagues in navigating a shifting environment.

I am grateful to the Task Force and the University Promotion and Tenure Committee for their thoughtful work. I trust that both tenure-track faculty and promotion and tenure committees will find this guidance helpful throughout the promotion and tenure process.

Sincerely,
John A. Pelesko
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs

Dear NJIT Faculty and Staff,

I would like to start by thanking the faculty, staff, and students who attended the open forum hosted by the Provost's Ad Hoc Task Force on Federal Developments on April 28, 2025. The participation and thoughtful input from attendees greatly contributed to our understanding of these complex and evolving issues. In the months ahead, I encourage each of you to continue to engage with the Task Force as we work to navigate federal developments.

As shared at the open forum, I am pleased to report that all 21 visas previously revoked for NJIT students have been fully restored. Our Office of Global Initiatives (OGI) continues to monitor these situations closely and will provide guidance to any community member impacted by visa-related matters. To contact OGI, please call 973-596-2451 or email global@njit.edu.  

Additionally, I want to bring to your attention recent actions by the National Science Foundation (NSF). Effective May 5, 2025, the NSF has implemented a standard indirect cost rate of 15% for all new grants and cooperative agreements awarded to institutions of higher education. This new policy, Policy Notice: Implementation of Standard 15% Indirect Cost Rate | NSF - National Science Foundation, has significant implications for NJIT and our research community. Further, over the past several weeks, the NSF has terminated more than 1000 awards and has halted all funding actions until further notice.

As we’ve shared previously, if you receive any specific stop-work order, grant termination, notice of indirect cost rate change on your award/proposal, or request to sign any attestation from any funding agency, please forward the notification with any attachment to the Research Office immediately to Senior Vice Provost Atam Dhawan at dhawan@njit.edu and copy Associate Vice Provost Eric Hetherington at erich@njit.edu. 

Please do not sign any document sent to you regarding any attestation, certification, or substantially similar document on any federal research grants. 

We recognize the potential difficulties these actions and proposed cuts pose to our research community. In response, NJIT has established a Stop-Gap funding policy designed to support researchers affected by these federal developments, ensuring continuity and mitigating disruptions to ongoing research activities. The full text of this policy has been distributed to Deans and Department Chairs and any faculty or lecturers impacted by grant terminations should discuss the application process with their Department Chair.

Furthermore, to acknowledge the extraordinary circumstances impacting research and academic activities, faculty seeking promotion are now encouraged to include an impact statement in their promotion dossiers detailing how these federal developments have influenced their professional work. Detailed guidance about preparing this impact statement can be found on the Provost’s webpage.

I also want to note that the President’s recently proposed federal budget for FY 2026 indicates substantial funding reductions for many agencies crucial to our research enterprise, including:

• NSF: 55.8% reduction
• U.S. Department of Energy: 9.4% reduction
• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: 26.2% reduction
• NASA: 24.3% reduction

While the development of the FY26 federal budget is in its early stages, we will continue to monitor these proposed changes and share additional information as it becomes available.

Thank you once again for your dedication, resilience, and commitment during these challenging times. We remain committed to supporting our entire community and will continue to keep you updated as further developments occur.

Best,

John A. Pelesko
Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs