Frequently Asked Questions During a Lapse in Appropriations (White House)
UConn Sponsored Program Services is closely monitoring developments in Washington, D.C., and evaluating the likelihood of a federal government shutdown and its potential impact on UConn research activity. The U.S. Government is currently operating under a Continuing Resolution, which extends the deadline for passage of spending bills through midnight March 28, 2025.
In the event of a federal government shutdown (as in previous instances), researchers with active federally sponsored grants and contracts will generally be instructed to continue work unless the project requires significant involvement of federal employees. Investigators may receive instructions from their contracting or program officers; if you receive such information, please notify your SPS award management contact immediately (links below).
Based on past shutdown experience, SPS anticipates the following potential impacts on sponsored programs operations:
Proposals and Application Systems
We expect that some agencies will not be available to process proposals and that others will retain submitted proposals for processing when normal operations resume. If you are preparing an application or progress report for an upcoming submission deadline, please continue to prepare those documents for an on-time submission; however, we encourage you to monitor further updates for specific guidance and the potential for those deadlines to be extended.
- Proposal preparation systems are expected to remain online during a shutdown, though proposals may not be processed by agencies until normal operations resume. Watch for announcements from agencies for extensions of deadline dates. There is a possibility that the Grants.gov Contact Center will remain available; however, it is unclear if all Help Desk systems will remain functional.
- Peer reviews and study sections are not expected to occur, which may impact faculty who serve as reviewers, and may result in potential delays in start dates for those whose proposals are awaiting review if the shutdown is prolonged.
- Agencies will likely not issue new notices, awards, or other actions during the shutdown.
Award Management
In general, researchers with active federally sponsored grants and contracts will be instructed to continue work, but the following exceptions are noted:
- Personnel working in federal labs/facilities, and possibly on cooperative agreements and joint awards may receive notification that they are not permitted to work on associated awards during the shutdown.
- Faculty working at a federal agency on an interagency personnel agreement (IPA) should immediately contact the agency to determine next steps.
- “Stop Work” orders may be implemented for federal contracts, in which case employees can no longer be paid with federal funds allocated to that contract.
- Final reports should be submitted on time if sponsor systems are operational.
Federal personnel WILL NOT be available, though each agency may articulate emergency contact procedures. Federal personnel will not be available for scheduled campus visits or project status meetings.
Agency Contingency Plans are available, though no sponsor-specific guidance on how a potential federal government shutdown may impact submission of new or competing proposal submissions has yet been provided.
SPS will continue to monitor agency-specific communications regarding a potential shutdown and provide detailed updates and specific guidance via this page and email.