The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has issued a revised NIH Grants Policy Statement effective for all NIH Grants and Cooperative Agreements with budget periods beginning on or after 3/1/2001. This policy supersedes, in its entirety, the NIH Grants Policy Statement issued 10/98 as a standard term and condition of awards. The policy statement issued 10/98 still remains the standard term and condition for all grants and cooperative agreements with budget periods that began between 10/1/98 and 2/28/2001. Both of these policies can be found at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/policy.htm. A summary of changes incorporated into the new policy can be found at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-01-015.html.

Post award changes include a section dedicated to Modular Grants which was not a part of the previous Grants Policy Statement. Also as part of the new Grants Policy, the definition of Change in Scope has been altered to include Significant Rebudgeting. Significant Rebudgeting occurs when expenditures in a single direct cost budget category deviate (increase or decrease) from the categorical commitment level established for the budget period by more than 25 percent of the total costs awarded. For example, if the award budget for total costs is $200,000, any rebudgeting that would result in an increase or decrease of more than $50,000 in a budget category is be considered "significant rebudgeting." The base used for determining significant rebudgeting excludes the effects of prior year carryover balances but includes competing and noncompeting supplements. Spending patterns and budgets should be closely monitored by RU departments. Prior approval must be requested from NIH for any significant rebudgeting. All requests for budget revisions should be processed as outlined in the DGCA Procedure for Approvals for No Cost Extensions and Budget Revisions ( http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~ilc/ncebr1.html ).