The National Science Foundation (NSF) issued a Dear Colleague Letter outlining its Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) program, established in January 2021 in accordance with federal mandates such as Executive Order 13556 and 32 CFR Part 2002. The CUI initiative aims to standardize the protection, marking, and dissemination of sensitive but unclassified information across federal agencies to address historical inconsistencies. CUI encompasses information created or held by the government that must be safeguarded under law, regulation, or policy, including internal personnel files, grant proposals, and protected statistical data.
Under these requirements, NSF and its external partners—such as reviewers, grantees, and contractors—are obligated to properly mark, protect, and control access to CUI, limit its sharing to those with a lawful government purpose, and ensure its proper destruction when no longer needed. The letter provides practical scenarios to clarify these obligations, such as the treatment of grant proposals by merit review panelists and the handling of communications with principal investigators. Additionally, the letter references relevant policies and resources for further guidance, emphasizing that while the document is informational and not legal advice, compliance with CUI requirements is essential for anyone authorized to access or process such information on behalf of NSF. The communication encourages stakeholders to consult official NSF and federal resources for more detailed information and directs inquiries to designated NSF contacts.
