Contract and Grant Administration and the campus research offices are receiving much more correspondence from funding agencies, both Federal and non-federal, following up on delinquent technical reports. Either project directors are falling behind on getting these reports submitted or the funding agencies are becoming more aggressive in following up on them. Submitting these reports in accordance with the agency's guidelines is just as important as spending the funds in accordance with their guidelines. Failure to provide reports in a timely manner could jeopardize continued funding for project directors and their University colleagues.

If there are circumstances that prevent the submission of a report in compliance with agency guidelines, the project director is urged to talk with program personnel at the agency and explain the problem and advise when the report can be reasonably expected. Please follow up the phone call with a confirming letter.

In a number of circumstances, especially with Federal agencies, reports have been submitted to program offices but have not been passed on to the administrative offices. In other situations reports have been sent but are lost in the process and do not arrive at the proper place within the agency. Please be sure reports are sent to the proper address with a cover letter that identifies the project and the report. A copy of the cover letter should be sent to Contract and Grant Administration for the University's records.

It is also important for the project director to keep copies of the report and cover letter on file. When agencies request reports, it is not difficult to duplicate a report from the file but it would be very time consuming to have to rewrite the report.