Grant Award Management
On-campus resources can assist with grant award management. Topics below offer direction to the appropriate office.
Principal Investigator (PI)
- Responsible for operating the newly-funded program in accordance with sponsor and college rules.
- Budget management includes: managing and monitoring the budget, spending award funds appropriately and in conformance with college and sponsor regulations, and contacting support offices with questions or concerns.
- Project management includes responsibility for program operation and oversight, ensuring that project activities and timelines are carried out as proposed, and that all technical and programmatic reports are submitted per sponsor requirements.
- Confirms with OSP that the PI and any NSF or NIH-funded student researchers have completed CITI training in the Responsible Conduct of Research, in conformance with agency requirements.
- Become knowledgeable of, and use, all college support offices.
- When a grant is not awarded: secures reviewer's comments and shares them with OSP; informs OSP if the proposal will be resubmitted or other funding sought.
Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP)
- Establishes the account from which the PI spends award funds.
- Announces receipt of the grant award and creation of the award account to Grant Accounting and other support offices so all systems are in place for spending funds.
- Provides PI with specific information to be used with the grant budget guide (located on the Forms & Templates page).
- Assists PIs with formal sponsor requests such as budget modifications and extensions - please see the budget modifications page for more information.
- Maintains copies of project reports and other relevant documents.
- When a grant is not awarded: archives reviewer's comments, works with PI (and others as appropriate) to facilitate proposal resubmission and/or identify alternative funding sources.
Grant Accounting
- Provides information on all post-award questions.
- Approves award expenditures and distributes payroll charges to grant accounts.
- Maintains all financial records of the project, in conformance with college and sponsor regulations.
- Conducts financial reporting and invoicing to the sponsor in conformance with sponsor and college regulations and policies.
- Oversees annual indirect cost redistribution.
Grant award budgets and expenses are maintained in the PeopleSoft Financials system and can be viewed by PIs at any time from an on-campus computer. A grant budget guide is in the "Forms & Templates" sections of this site and describes standard types of budgets as well as how to access PeopleSoft Financials. You will be supplied with specific financial information on your grant from OSP when your grant account is established. Grant balance requests can be made to the Grant Accounting Office.
Contact Human Resources when the grant award includes funds to hire new full-time personnel. Hiring part-time and student personnel should be cleared with the Accounting Office and Career Development Center respectively to receive guidance on use of proper payroll forms.
The Grant Accounting Office distributes payroll expenses to grant awards. Contact Grant Accounting to confirm that new hires and release time are being distributed properly against the grant award, or to complete the effort certification process.
Purchasing is managed and supported by the Purchasing Office and the PeopleSoft online requisition system. Contact Purchasing for assistance in accessing the system and training.
Subawards must be established through OSP. The process is initiated by submitting a subaward request form. OSP prepares the subawardee contract based upon information provided by the PI. When the contract has been fully executed, OSP forwards a copy to the Purchasing Office to establish a Purchase Order against which invoices may be charged.
Invoices are sent to the PI for processing per the standard subaward contract document terms and conditions. Contact the Purchasing Office for information on how to submit a subawardee invoice for processing or for balance information.
Travel on grant awards should be coordinated with the Accounting Office before travel occurs. PIs are obligated to follow sponsor rules and regulations regarding travel, as well as college and state rules and reimbursement rates. Rules and reimbursement procedures are available on the Accounting Office website. Contact that office directly for specific assistance.
PIs who need to modify their award budget or extend the project's period of performance should contact OSP and submit a Budget Modification Request form prior to contacting the sponsor. OSP must be aware of such requests to track modifications and amend budgets in the PeopleSoft Financials system and notify relevant support departments.
