The SSSP provides a dedicated space for readily available resources for members and non-members. If you have information to share, please email ssspgra@utk.edu.

Higher Education Action Letters (3/27/25)

At this moment, university leaders must stand up to ensure higher education's continued safety and success and core principles of academic freedom. This letter addresses leadership of the 60 universities and colleges targeted by the Trump administration for anti-discrimination investigations. 

Currently, more than 1500 faculty at the targeted institutions, and more than 725 faculty at allying institutions, have signed the letter, and we ask that you consider signing as well, and sending this message to colleagues in all disciplines around the country including the targeted institutions. Ideally, we will have substantial support from all fifty states. We are stronger together. 

If you are interested in signing the letter, please enter your information in this Google Form. (If you don’t have a gmail account, you can email your name, title, and institution to lundq@umass.edu.)  Please only use faculty titles (no administrative titles). All are welcome to sign, but faculty with tenure and those not on a visa will be the least vulnerable. We expect that the letter will receive press coverage, and will appear on the AAUP blog. 

Several other letters are circulating that we encourage you to consider, including Speaking Out for Democracy in Higher Education, 2025 Emergency National Statement, Not In Our Name and another aimed at signatures from Jewish faculty. There will also be an AAUP-sponsored Day of Action on April 17, which you can sign up for.  

Things are moving fast, with Columbia having already agreed to the terms imposed upon them and efforts underway at University of Pennsylvania. Please fill out the form as soon as you can, but know that we will be continuing to collect signatures as long as we can. Thank you so much for considering this request and any help you can offer.

A Nonprofit Checklist: What to do when your federal grant or contract is terminated (3/26/25)

The National Council of Nonprofits recognizes these are uncertain times and that many nonprofits rely on federal funding for their programs. We will be providing additional information as we learn more about the impact of the Administration’s actions on federal grants and contracts.

Click to download PDF

Below are some initial steps that nonprofits should engage in when they learn that their federal grant or contract is terminated by a federal agency. While the full steps that should be taken, and the rules that apply, will be specific to your grant or contract and the specific federal agency that provided the funding, this checklist will provide a strong basis for next steps and understanding your rights.

Review the terms and conditions of your grants and contracts.

Make sure your organization has an inventory of all of your federal grants and contracts and review the terms and conditions, including the grounds and circumstances under which termination is allowable. The termination provisions should be referenced or included in your grant or contract provisions, specifically in the terms and conditions section, and may have also been laid out in the Notices Inviting Applications or Notices of Funding Opportunities.

Understand what federal regulations govern the termination.

The Uniform Guidance– 2 C.F.R. Part 200 – generally governs grants awarded across federal agencies. The Federal Acquisition Regulation generally governs federal government contracts. For grants, it is also important to know which version of Part 200 governs your grant. The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) published an Updated OMB Uniform Guidance, effective October 1, 2024. Agencies had the option of applying it to grants issued as early as June 21, 2024, so the start date will vary by agency. In addition, each agency will have their own rules that will impact termination and closeout procedures. See NCN’s OMB Uniform Guidance Final Rule.

Make sure you know what closeout costs you are entitled to. 

Regulations lay out specific closeout and termination costs allowable for a grantee or contractee. For example, for grants, you are generally allowed to recover allowable costs that were properly incurred before the termination date (200.343) and costs that would not have occurred if the grant was not terminated (200.472). However, different agencies define what costs were incurred or obligated before the end of the performance period, so you need to make sure you understand those and communicate with your program officer, or the contact provided for the program in your termination letter, to learn more.

Check to see if any conditions have been imposed that impact how you can access funds.

First, you should understand the disbursement rules for your obligated funds, and make sure you are disbursing in the way you are allowed to based on your approved allowable, reasonable, and allocable expenses as timely as possible given the current uncertainties.  Once your grant or contract is terminated, make sure you check to see if you are still allowed to access funds in the same way or, if you have a grant, if the agency has put any conditions on your grant that require prior approval or cost reimbursement. It is important to note that for grants, according to 2 C.F.R. 200.208, imposing a grant condition is required to be an individualized decision based on risk factors of the grantee. In addition, notice is required to be provided, including why the additional requirement is being imposed; what is needed to remove the additional requirement; and the method for requesting reconsideration.

You should also be aware that, on February 26, 2025, President Trump issued an Executive Order directing each agency to build a centralized technological system to record and justify each payment approved for grants and contracts and to allow the Secretary to pause and review any approved payments. We will need to wait to see what agencies do, but this may mean that more grants and contracts will require prior approval for each expenditure before organizations can receive the funds.

Make sure you understand the agency’s appeals process and pay attention to – and follow – the timelines and outlined required steps.

The Uniform Guidance for grants across federal agencies defers to an individual agency’s written procedures for objections and appeals, as long as they follow any statutes or regulations specific to that agency or specific programs (200.342). It is important to note these vary widely by agency. For contracts, the processes in the Federal Acquisition Regulation will generally apply.

The content provided in this Checklist is provided in good faith for informational purposes only and is neither intended to be nor should be construed as legal or tax advice. Please consult an attorney for the latest and most accurate information. The National Council of Nonprofits makes no representations or warranties as to the accuracy or timeliness of the information contained herein.

A nonprofit checklist: What to do when your federal grant or contract is terminated | National Council of Nonprofits

A Message from the SSSP Anti-Harassment Committee (2/19/25)

The SSSP Anti-Harassment Committee opposes and condemns the current administration’s assault on our immigrant and refugee communities and would like to send our support to our members, colleagues, students, family members and friends by sharing some resources related to immigrant rights. Please share these with others as we know that many campuses and organizations are not offering this type of support. 

Rapid Response Toolkit - Legal Aid Justice Center

General Resources:

National Education Association Resources:

Related to ICE threats, Chicago-Specific:

The committee also encourages folks to seek out and share resources focused on self-care, mutual aid, and building community in your area. 

The faculty governance at Lehman College in the City University of New York recommended this syllabus statement with campus-specific resources:

“On classroom norms/community: Undocumented students have every right to safety as their documented counterparts. For attendance: Excused absences include court hearings and immigration appointments. No documentation is needed to receive an excused absence.”

Finally, we know that many of our members rely on federal data for teaching and research, some of which has been removed by the current administration. We would like to share this resource for those of you seeking access:

Purged Federal Agency Data Available on PolicyMap

On Friday, numerous essential datasets were purged from federal agency websites, including data from CDC PLACES (Population Level Analysis and Community Estimates), the Social Vulnerability Index (SVI), and the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool (CEJST)—to name just a few. While we don’t know when or if this data will return, we want to assure you that they are still accessible on PolicyMap.