REPORTING REQUIREMENTS FOR UNIVERSITY TRANSPORTATION CENTERS (UTCs)

U.S. Department of Transportation
Research and Innovative Technology Administration

March 2006

For a summary of the reporting requirements described below, refer to Exhibit B at the end of this document.

1. Directory of Key Center Personnel: The Center Director shall prepare a “Directory of Key Center Personnel” that includes the names, phone/fax numbers, mailing addresses, and e-mail addresses of key Center personnel, including the Director’s primary administrative staff person and at least one contact person at each university in a consortium, if any. This information must be placed on the Center’s website no later than six weeks after DOT approves the Center’s strategic plan at the beginning of the grant, and the Center Director shall ensure that the information remains posted and is continually updated as necessary through the life of the grant.

2. Research Project Descriptions: Within one month after project selection, the Center Director shall do the following:
   • Submit to the Transportation Research Board’s Research in Progress (RiP) database a project description for each project. The project information can be entered into the RiP database directly or the information can be submitted by e-mail to Barbara Post, TRB’s Manager of Information Services, bpost@nas.edu . The Center Director is responsible for updating and maintaining project information in RiP.
   • Publish on the Center’s website information similar to that in RiP for each new research project selected. This information must remain on the Center’s website at least until the project’s Final Research Report has been posted there.

3. Center Newsletter: The Center Director shall issue at least two issues per year of an informational newsletter about activities taking place at the Center. The minimum-of-two issues must be completed during the first nine months of the grant year in order to provide RITA with sufficient documentation to justify award of the next year’s increment of funding under the grant. The newsletter should focus on particular activities of interest or success stories at the Center that demonstrate the value of the UTC grant. Each newsletter must include at least one example each of research, education, and technology transfer activities. All issues of the newsletters shall be posted for the life of the grant on the Center’s web site in a format suitable for printing out in hard copy if desired, and each new issue shall be distributed to interested parties identified by the Center in hard copy or electronically or both. One printed copy of each newsletter shall be submitted to the RITA Grant Administrator upon publication.

4. Financial Status Reports: The Center Director or designated university official shall submit to the RITA Grant Administrator one hard copy of the standard Federal financial status report form SF269A (short form) twice during each grant year established in the Center’s approved strategic plan. The first report of each year shall cover the first six months of the grant year and is due seven months from the start date of the grant year. The second report shall cover the full, 12-month grant year and is due one month after the end date of the grant year.

5. Final Research Reports: The Center Director shall submit a final report for each research project conducted with Center funding. Final research reports shall give a complete description of the problem, approach, methodology, findings, conclusions, recommendations, etc., developed in the project and shall completely document all data gathered, analyses performed, and results achieved. The inside of the front cover shall show a disclaimer including the following: DISCLAIMER The contents of this report reflect the views of the authors, who are responsible for the facts and the accuracy of the information presented herein. This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the Department of Transportation University Transportation Centers Program, in the interest of information exchange. The U.S. Government assumes no liability for the contents or use thereof.

   Within two months after the completion of each project, the Center Director shall:

   1. Publish on the Center’s website the full text of each report.

   2. Notify the Transportation Research Board (TRB) of the URL of the full text report so that the report may be indexed and abstracted in TRB’s Transportation Research Information System (TRIS). Notification should be made by e-mail to Barbara Post, TRB’s Manager of Information Services, bpost@nas.edu .

   3. Transmit each report electronically to the National Transportation Library at librarian@bts.gov .

   4. Distribute a total of five printed copies of each report to the addresses shown in Exhibit B at the end of this document.

6. Annual Report: The Center Director shall submit an Annual Report prepared in three parts, each prepared as a separate document: A. Corporate Style Annual Report, B. Research Project Status List, and C. Performance Indicators. The Annual Report shall be submitted in hard copy to the RITA Grant Administrator two months after the end date of each grant year, at which time the Part A Corporate Style portion shall also be posted on the Center’s website.
   1. Corporate Style Report: The first part shall be a Corporate-Style Annual Report suitable for general distribution. It shall be posted on the Center’s web site and five hard copies submitted to the RITA Grant Administrator. The report shall include at a minimum the following elements:
      • Description of Center Theme

      • Description of Management Structure and Identification of Principal Center Staff

      • Overview of Education, Research, and Technology Transfer Programs

      • Examples of Specific Accomplishments, noting especially activities undertaken that support the national strategy for surface transportation research and/or respond to DOT priorities.

      • Illustrations (for example, pie charts) of Funding Sources [report as percentages using these categories as applicable: Federal grant; state DOT; private; university; other (specify)] and Expenditures [report as percentages using each of these categories: research; education; technology transfer; administration; other (specify)]

   2. Research Project Status Report: The second part of the Annual Report shall be a list of all Center research projects funded during the life of the grant to date. Two paper copies of the list shall be submitted to the RITA Grant Administrator (at a future date, Centers will be required to submit this information to an on-line system being developed by RITA to replace hard-copy submission). No project once reported on the Research Project Status list shall ever be deleted from the list. Projects should be listed in groups according to whether they are:
      • New (not reported on the previous Research Project Status list)
      • Ongoing (reported on the previous list and not yet completed)
      • Completed (reported on the previous list and completed)
      • Discontinued (RITA expects a UTC to complete all research projects it selects for funding, thus this category should be rarely used, for example in the event of serious illness that prevents a researcher from finishing work on a project during the life of the grant).

   3. Performance Indicators Report: The third part of the Annual Report shall consist of the Performance Indicators shown in Exhibit A. Two paper copies shall be submitted to the RITA Grant Administrator (at a future date, Centers will be required to submit this information via an on-line system being developed by RITA to eliminate the need for submission of paper copies).

EXHIBIT A

PERFORMANCE INDICATORS FOR UNIVERSITY TRANSPORTATION CENTERS (UTCs)

Report for the completed grant year and for the institution(s) comprising your UTC (except where otherwise indicated).

Research Selection

1. Number of transportation research projects selected for funding using your UTC grant funding (Federal and/or match). _______________

   1a. Number of those projects that you consider to be: basic research ________, advanced research _________, and applied research __________. Projects may be included in more than one category if applicable.

2. Total budgeted costs for the projects reported in 1 above. $______________

   Research Performance

3. Number of reports issued that resulted from transportation research projects funded by the UTC grant. _______________

4. Number of transportation research papers presented at academic/professional meetings that resulted from projects funded by the UTC grant. _______________

   Education

5. Cumulative number of transportation-related courses that have been added since the beginning of the grant to the number of courses you reported in Baseline Measure 1 in your UTC Strategic Plan. Include courses added to the university course catalog whether or not they were conducted during a particular grant year.

   Undergraduate: ______________
   Graduate: ______________

6. Number of students participating in transportation research projects. Count individual students (one student participating in two research projects counts as one student).

   Undergraduate: _______________
   Graduate: _______________

   Human Resources

7. Cumulative number of transportation-related advanced degree programs that have been added since the beginning of the grant to the number of degree programs you reported in Baseline Measure 3 in your UTC Strategic Plan.

   Master’s Level: _______________
   Doctoral Level: _______________

8. Number of students enrolled in transportation-related advanced degree programs (the baseline programs and any added since the beginning of the grant.

   Master’s Level: _______________
   Doctoral Level: _______________

9. Number of students who received degrees through the baseline and any added transportation-related advanced degree programs.

   Master’s Level: _______________
   Doctoral Level: _______________

   Technology Transfer

10. Number of transportation seminars, symposia, distance learning classes, etc. conducted by your UTC for transportation professionals. ________________

11. Number of transportation professionals participating in those events. ________________

EXHIBIT B

SUMMARY OF REPORTING REQUIREMENTS AND DISTRIBUTION INSTRUCTIONS