If you receive an NIH Correspondence control form and your organization is listed as ACTION OFFICE, look at the ACTION REQUIRED entry for instructions and be sure to note the DUE DATE indicated in the upper right corner of the form. ACTION REQUIRED entries and their meanings are as follows:

DIR SIG
Director's signature

Prepare a reply for signature by the Director, NIH, and send it to your correspondence contact to be forwarded to ES.

D/R
Direct reply

Prepare a reply for signature by the Director of your IC or OD Staff office (or an approved designee). Most often, you need only send copies of the signed, dated reply to your correspondence contact to be forwarded to ES. Sometimes, the control form will instruct you to send a signed but undated response to ES (through your correspondence contact) for clearance in the Office of the Director. Always read the entire control form and follow the instructions on it.

ASH SIG
Assistant Secretary for Health signature

Prepare a reply for signature by the Assistant Secretary for Health and send it to your correspondence contact to be forwarded to ES.

SEC SIG
Secretary's signature

Prepare a reply for signature by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (which must be accompanied by a summary statement) and send it to your correspondence contact to be forwarded to ES.

NEC ACTION
Necessary action

The document does not necessarily require a written reply, but requires that some action be taken. Determine the appropriate action and, if the control form shows a due date, send your correspondence contact a record of the action taken; if a letter or memorandum was prepared and sent, send a copy of the signed document to your correspondence contact, to be forwarded to ES.

CLEARANCE

Review a document prepared by another organization to ensure it is factually correct and in accord with NIH policy. After noting any changes you believe need to be made and signing the official file box copy, send your written comments or changes, in a wordprocessing file, along with the signed box copy back to your correspondence contact, who will forward them to ES.

REWRITE

Rewrite a previously prepared document according to corrections or comments sent with the control form.

RETYPE

Retype a previously prepared document according to corrections sent with the control form.

OTHER

Follow instructions in the remarks section of the control form. One example is ANY NEC ACTION, which means your office must decide if any action is necessary and take any action you believe is appropriate. If you do respond or take an action in response, you should send a copy of your response or record of the action to your correspondence contact, who will forward it to ES.

REVIEW

Review a document. If there is a due date, return it to ES via your correspondence contact with your comments, contained in a wordprocessing document.

FYI
For your information

No action or response is required. Please note, though, that the information contained in an FYI document may be both important and urgent.

After preparing any response required, return the incoming document and the response, through your controlled correspondence contact, to ES by the due date shown on the form. An ES contact person is listed on the form; if you have any questions that cannot be resolved within your organization, your correspondence contact should call the ES contact person for clarification.

When responding to a controlled correspondence assignment, always return the pink control form with the completed assignment, whether it is a direct reply, a document for signature outside your organization, or a clearance. Attach the control form as the top piece of the package.

When your organization has a primary interest in the subject matter of an FYI document, you will receive the original document and a pink ES control form. No response from your office is required. Other offices listed at "Information Copies To" on the control form will also receive copies of the document and the control form.

If your office is listed at "Information Copies To" on a control form, no matter what the ACTION REQUIRED may be, do not respond. The document is being sent to your office for your information only.

You must make every effort to meet due dates assigned on the control forms. When planning your work, be sure to allow time for any necessary reviews within your organization. If you believe you cannot meet a due date, your correspondence contact may call the ES contact listed on the control form to see if the due date can be changed. This negotiation must take place very soon after the document reaches your organization, not when the due date has almost arrived.

Some controlled correspondence is received at the NIH from the Office of the Secretary (OS) or the Office of Public Health and Science (OPHS) with a due date assigned by OS or OPHS; the NIH cannot extend these due dates. There may be times, however, when ES can request due-date extensions on your behalf if there is a strong, justifiable reason. In the case of letters that require careful research before a detailed, substantive reply can be prepared, you must write an interim reply. You must send an interim reply promptly—within 5 working days of the referral.