On November 7, 2018, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) issued a policy requiring applications for institutional training grants (T15, T32, T34, T35, T36, T37, T90/R90, TL1, TL4) must include a letter on institutional letterhead signed by a key institutional leader that describes the institutional commitment to ensuring that proper policies, procedures, and oversight are in place to prevent discriminatory harassment and other discriminatory practices.
On January 9, 2019, NIH issued an update to clarify that the information regarding an institutional commitment to ensuring that proper policies, procedures, and oversight are in place to prevent discriminatory harassment and other discriminatory practices is to be included in the same letter with the information about the applicant institutional commitment to the planned program. Separate letters are not required. The signed letter should be on institutional letterhead from a President, Provost, Dean, or other key institutional leader with institution-wide responsibilities.
The following language should be included in the Institutional Commitment letter:
To comply with National Institutes of Health NOT-OD-19-029 and NOT-OD-19-056, Washington University in St. Louis provides this institutional commitment regarding the NIH policy for Harassment and Discrimination Protections in NIH Training Applications:
- Washington University in St. Louis has implemented policies, procedures, and oversight designed to prevent and address discriminatory harassment and other discriminatory practices. Please visit our Discrimination & Harassment Policy for additional information.
- Washington University in St. Louis has implemented policies to respond to allegations of discriminatory practices, including any required notifications to Office for Civil Rights. For additional information please visit:
• Review Process for Complaints Against Staff
• Discrimination & Harassment Hearing Committee Procedures - If the Program Director/Principal Investigator or other key personnel (collectively, “PD/PI”) on an NIH funded award is removed as a result of disciplinary or administrative action, Washington University in St. Louis will communicate through its Authorized Organization Representative to request NIH approval for any changes in the PD/PI.
Washington University in St. Louis is committed to excellence in science, and recognizes that excellent science requires a training and research environment without harassment or discrimination.