Sponsored Program Administration Basics

1. Sponsored Program Administration Basics Presented by: Shegay Cook & Corey Burger http://spo.usu.edu/

2. Sponsored Programs Office Funding Opportunities Proposals Award Administration Coordinate Closeout Sponsored Programs Accountants (Controller’s Office) Account Set-up Financial Reporting Invoicing Financial Closeout Sponsored Programs Administration

3. Sponsored Programs Office Mission • Provide quality service to faculty and staff • Provide assistance to support research • Assure compliance • Protect the University’s assets & keep the PI out of jail

4. 1. Funding Opportunities • The Foundation Directory • 10,000 Grant Issuing Foundations • Annual Register of Grant Support • 3500 Grant Support Programs • InfoEd International • Sponsored Program Information Network (SPINPlus) • GENIUS • SMARTS • Contact Corey Burger (Corey.Burger@usu.edu)

5. 2. ProposalDevelopment/ Review • Solicitation Guidance • University/Sponsor requirements • Sponsor Forms • Overhead (F&A) Rates • F&A rates stay the same year to year as originally proposed. • Limited Submission Proposals • Budget Development/Review • Benefits Rates • In compliance with Federal, State, & University requirements • Conflict of Interest • Subcontracts / Collaborations • Signature Authority for the University

6. Budget Development Resources for budget development: • Your Sponsored Programs Administrator and Accountant • MTDC vs. TDC for Indirect Costs Rate (F&A) • Sponsored Programs Budget Template http://spo.usu.edu/files/uploads/Proposal_Budget_Template.xls

7. Budget Justification Most sponsors require that a budget justification accompany the budget. This section of the proposal gives the rationale for the requests made in the budget. • Salary & Benefit Rates • (Multiple year increases - inflation) • Other Direct Costs • Lab equipment, computer time, fees, etc. • Travel (No. of trips, travelers, & destination) • Equipment (Over $5,000 or life expectancy of > 2 years)

8. Proposal Development Issues Indirect Cost (F&A) Rate What is it? - Actual costs incurred in a sponsored project that are not directly charged because to do so would be costly and cumbersome to determine. Examples – space, utilities, library, general administrative services, compliance, such as IRB, safety personnel, and compliance committees. When to use it? Always use negotiated rate unless sponsor does not allow full rate and provides a lesser rate or does not allow it at all.

9. Indirect Cost (F&A) Waiver • An indirect cost waiver is an institutional agreement that indirect costs will be charged at a rate lower than the sponsor’s published rate. • Verification stating sponsor’s IDC limitations must be attached to the waiver, or signature and approval from the Vice President for Research.

10. How does Sponsored Programs Review a proposal? • Review Request for Proposal (RFP) / Request for Application (RFA) and Announcements • Review Budget • Review Administrative Forms • Review SP-01

11. SP-01 (What is this?) • Internal Approval Form http://spo.usu.edu/files/uploads/SP01.pdf • SP-01 Proposal Information Form • Project Information • Document Indirect Cost (F&A) Waiver • Document Cost Share • Compliance Issue • Safety, Human Participants (IRB), Animal Use (IACUC), Radioactive Materials, rDNA, & Hazardous Chemicals. • Conflict of Interest • Institutional Approvals

12. 3. Award Negotiation and Acceptance Types of Awards • Grant: • Most Common Sponsored Agreement • Financial assistance for research or other program as specified in an approved proposal  • Sponsor anticipates no substantial programmatic involvement with the recipient • Terms and conditions are usually standard for particular sponsors • Cooperative Agreement: • Similar to a grant but substantial programmatic involvement by the sponsor is anticipated during the project • Contract: • Principal purpose of the agreement is to provide tangible results or other “deliverable” items or to carry out a prescribed service for the direct benefit or use of the sponsor • Usually terms and conditions are strict and fiscal management inflexible

13. Award Administration • Review and negotiate terms and conditions • Publication Restriction • Confidentiality (GRAMA) • Indemnification • Intellectual Property • Period of Performance • Budget • Reporting Requirements • Signature Authority for the University

14. 4. Project Administration • Cost Issues • Administrative Issues • No Cost Extensions • Project Revisions • Re-budgets • Sabbatical Leave/Leave of Absence • PI Leaving University/Award Transfer • Monitor submission of annual technical reports

15. Sponsored Programs Office Responsibilities Signature Authority for the University Sub Award Information Form Sponsor Approval A-133 Audit Sponsor Terms and Conditions Sponsored Programs Accountants Responsibilities Financial Monitoring Invoices (Payment & Monitoring) Subaward Administration

16. 5. Administrative Closeouts • Monitor Technical and Financial Reporting *Reports or deliverables are required of most awards • Intellectual Property & Patent Notifications • Equipment Reports • Document Retention

17. Financial Administration

18. Federal Regulations OMB Circulars: • A-21: Cost Principles for Educational Institutions • A-110: Administrative Standards • A-133: Audit Standards

19. OMB Circular A-21 Cost Principles for Educational Institutions • Purpose: Establishes principles for determining costs applicable to grants, contracts, and other agreements with educational institutions • A-21 addresses both direct and F&A (indirect) costs • Determines what costs can be included in the F&A calculation

20. A-21 Continued • Defines Allowablility of Costs • Reasonable • Allocable • Treated Consistently • Conform to limitations in A-21 or sponsored agreement

21. Lobbying General public relations & alumni activities Student Activities Commencement Social Memberships Advertising Alcoholic beverages Entertainment Fines & penalties Moving Costs if employee resigns within twelve months Certain recruitment costs Unallowable Costs – Section J(Cannot be charged against Federal agreement, used as cost sharing or placed in the F&A cost base)

22. Cost Sharing • Portion of university share of expenses related to total research projects • Do not include cost sharing amounts on the proposal budget if it is not required by RFP • Do not exceed the cost sharing level or amount specified in the solicitation

23. Project Closeout Sponsored Programs Office is responsible for the oversight of the closeout of awards. Required Reports: Technical: Principal Investigator Equipment: Central Property Control Office Patent/Invention: PI in collaboration with Technology Commercialization Office (TCO) Fiscal: Controllers Office Sub-awards: Sponsored Programs Office with PI and Controllers Office Reports from sub-recipients needed in advance in order to close USU’s award.

24. Reporting Requirements Established by the sponsor and communicated in the award instrument. Timely report submission is important: • Critical stewardship • Requirement (part of the terms and conditions) • Incremental funding or future funding may be dependent upon receipt of the report

25. Audits Question: When do you start preparing for an audit? Answer: The day the proposal is being prepared

26. Who Audits the University? • Federal Government – Office of Naval Research (ONR) is USU’s cognizant audit agency • A-133 Auditors – USU utilizes the services of Deloitte & Touche LLP • USU Internal Auditors • Sponsoring Agency

27. Key to a Successful Audit • Organized Files • Documentation for expenses • Appropriate Approvals • Audit Trails (i.e., documentation) • Knowledge of policies and regulations • If it’s not documented, it didn’t happen….

28. A Look at Settlements Associated with Noncompliance • Northwestern University (~$5M; mischarging Federal Grants, fraud, Time & Effort issues) • Yale University - Tenured Professor forced out for allegedly padding his business travel expenses by approximately $150,000. He has made full restitution and resigned. 1/21/05 article from the Chronicle of Higher Education.

29. A Look at Settlements Associated with Noncompliance • Florida International University - $11.5M for improperly billing the U.S. Dept. of Energy for scientists’ time, travel and administrative expenses. Article taken from the Chronicle of Higher Education, 2/15/05 • The Johns Hopkins University - $2.6M to settle claim that scientists had overstated the amount of time they were spending on projects financed by the federal government. Article taken from CHE, 3/1/04

30. Current Federal Hot Buttons • Final Reports • Cost Transfers • Cost Sharing • Effort Reporting • Departmental Administrative Costs • Subaward Monitoring • Program Income

31. Additional Resources • OMB Circulars • http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars/a021/a21_2004.html • http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars/a110/a110.html • http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars/a133/a133.html • Sponsored Programs Office • http://spo.usu.edu • Sponsored Programs Accountants • http://controller.usu.edu

32. Questions?