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40.05 Grants and Other Sponsored Agreements

40.05 Grants and Other Sponsored Agreements, Chancellor's Office Business Policies & Procedures

Purpose:

To establish policies and procedures associated with grant and contract management. As with all OUS universities, the Chancellor's Office is required to comply with the following rules, regulations, policies, and procedures:

  • OMB Circular A-21 Cost Principles for Educational Institutions. This circular establishes principles for determining costs incurred and applicable/allowable costs for federal grants, contracts and agreements with educational institutions.
  • OMB Circular A-110 Uniform Administrative Requirements for Grants and Agreements with Institutions of Higher Education, Hospital and other Non-Profit Organizations. This circular provides the standards in the administration of grants and other agreements applied by federal agencies to recipients. Recipients apply the provisions of this circular to subrecipients performing work under grants and agreements that are passed through or awarded by the primary recipient.
  • OMB Circular A-133 Audits of States, Local Governments, and Non-Profit Organization. This circular sets forth standards for obtaining consistency and uniformity for the auditing of states, local governments, and non-profit organizations expending federal awards.
  • Policies of the Sponsoring Agency

It is imperative that the Chancellor's Office comply with the numerous rules, regulations, and guidelines covered in these circulars for all of our federal grants, including any work passed on to subgrantees. Working through the appropriate review and approval process (as described in the Procedures section below) will ensure that the Chancellor's Office interests are protected.

If external proposals are submitted without proper review and approval prior to submission, any resulting award acceptance is dependent upon completion of the standard internal approval process.

Policy:

The following procedures will be used for grants and other sponsored agreements.

Contacts:

The Controller's Division will provide technical support in pre- and post-award review of all grants. Throughout these Policies and Procedures, references are made to Controller's Division (to make notifications, send information, etc.). To prevent repetition of the pertinent contact information throughout the procedures, it is displayed here. To make contact with Controller's Division, you may e-mail, phone, or fax information to:

Jackie Thorsness, Director of Budget & Business Services
Controller's Division
e-mail: jackie_thorsness@ous.edu
phone: (541) 737-0822
fax (541) 737-0552
or

Diana Barkelew, Director of Accounting and Reporting
Controller's Division
e-mail: diana_barkelew@ous.edu
phone: (541) 737-4361
fax (541) 737-0552

Procedures:

PRE-AWARD PROCEDURES
  Responsible Party Procedure/Task
1. Principal Investigator (PI) Notifies the Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration and the Controller’s Division regarding the potential submission of a proposal (prior to submitting the proposal for review).
2. PI Is trained and familiar with the applicability of OMB Circular A-110 and A-21 to the grant.
3. PI Receives training to understand the basic conditions and definitions of the proposal such that all system financial and other commitments are clear and can be achieved if the proposal is accepted.
4. PI

Consults with department head supervisor regarding projected staffing contributions and other cost-sharing commitments of the Chancellor’s Office. 

NOTE:  In the proposal budget, all direct costs, F&A rates, and cost sharing in the proposal must meet the criteria outlined by OMB Circular A-110 and other applicable rules for that grant.
5. PI Sends draft of proposal to Controller’s Division and contract office, allowing sufficient time prior to grant submission for central office review.
6. Controller's Division Reviews and comments on all aspects of the grants and agreements for which Finance & Administration is responsible.
7. Contract Office Reviews the grant proposal to assure all terms and conditions are understood.
8. Vice Chancellor for Finance & Administration (or designee)

Reviews and signs the proposal (if this signature is required). 

NOTE:  Proposals submitted electronically by departments should have Vice Chancellor for Finance & Administration (or designee) and Controller’s Division review and comment prior to submission.
9. PI Mails signed proposal to sponsoring agency.
10. PI and Department Retains a copy of proposal for 18 months or until award is made, whichever is earlier.  Copy becomes part of the complete official agreement packet.

 

POST-AWARD PROCEDURES - DURING THE AWARD PERIOD
  Responsible Party Procedure/Task
SET-UP
1. Department Informs Controller's Division and contract office of grants and other sponsored contracts/agreements awarded to the Chancellor's Office by sending a copy of 1) the award notification, 2) the approved budget, and 3) the submitted proposal.
2. Controller's Division Reviews the award for proper classification and establishes in FIS necessary grant, fund, and index codes for the award and for any cost share commitments.
BUDGET
3. Department Provides Controller's Division with budget breakdown. Requests budget adjustments as needed. Subsequent line-item budget changes must be in expense categories within the same fund and must be in balance. The documentation must include a clear description of the requested change and approval from the PI.
4. Controller's Division Inputs original approved grant budget and subsequent adjustments based on the PI's request.
5. Controller's Division Inputs the original and subsequent adjustments for required cost-sharing funds committed to the grants.
PROCUREMENT AND CONTRACTS
6. PI Works with contract office on a time-table for procurements and contracts.
7. PI

Drafts scopes of work and deliverables for awards, contracts, and RFPs.
OPERATIONAL ACTIVITIES
8. Contract Office

Completes the RFP process, including but not limited to:

  • Prepares RFP document
  • Posts/Advertised RFP
  • Responds to questions
  • Notifies vendors of results
9. PI Ensures that all expenditures are approved activities under the grant.
10. PI Obtains written clarification from sponsoring agency as needed (e.g., allowable expenses) and provides a copy of these clarifications to the Controller's Division and contract office.
11. PI Gains approval from Controller's Division and contract office for grant amendments submitted to the agency for changes that materially affect the scope of work or budget.
12. Contract Office Generates and executes subawards and contracts.
13. PI and Grant Staff Upon receipt of award or amendment, reviews the agreement for all special restrictions, start date and end date, cost sharing agreements, and non-financial reporting requirements.  Follows all award conditions.
14. Controller's Division Works with PI to develop an annual risk assessment of subrecipients.
15. PI and Grant Staff Be trained and familiar with the applicability of OMB Circular A-110 and A-21 to the grant.
16. PI Initiates labor distribution forms.  See section 45.30 “Pay Distribution Changes” for procedures for processing labor distribution changes.
17. PI and Grant Staff Requests purchase orders from Controller's Division.
18. PI and Delegates Reviews and approves payment documents and sends to Controller's Division for processing.
19. PI Supervisor Approves all payments over $25,000.
20. PI Ensures that recording of actual costs are consistent with the proposal budget.
21. PI Reviews subaward invoices for cost reasonableness as compared to progress towards work accomplished.
22. PI Monitors fiscal activity, including monthly review/reconciliation of grant activity. Compares actual costs with proposal budget for consistency.  Initiates needed corrections within 90 days of the original transaction date.
23. PI Supervisor Monitors fiscal activity including monthly review of grant activity.
24. PI Supervises project staff and ensures they do not exceed 1.0 FTE for all activities combined.
25. PI and Grant Staff Completes monthly Effort Certification forms.
26. PI Reviews and approves all payment documents for cost sharing expenses on individual cost sharing fund(s).
27. PI Completes all reports or other deliverables (in coordination with Controller’s Division) to ensure the Chancellor's Office receives funds to recover project expenditures.
28. Controller's Division Reviews all fiscal reports (in coordination with PI, grant staff, and PI supervisor) to ensure accuracy with accounting records.
29. Controller's Division Processes on a monthly basis draw-down requests for cost reimbursable grants to obtain funds from the sponsor for expense reimbursements and notifies grant staff by e-mail.
30. Controller's Division Processes actual transfers of General Fund quarterly on a journal voucher from the home department index or from other Chancellor's Office organization, depending on the agreements, to the cost-sharing fund to pay for the expenditures recorded.
31. PI Seeks sponsoring agency’s agreement in writing, when necessary, on no-cost extension prior to the end of the grant period.  A copy of any approved extensions should be mailed to the Controller’s Division.
32. Controller's Division Prepares and mails required invoices to sponsors.
33. Controller's Division Receives and deposits sponsor payments.
34. Controller's Division Maintains accounts receivable.  Initiates past-due notices and collection procedures.
35. Controller's Division

Performs post-transaction reviews to ensure that:

  • expenses are posted to appropriate grant and grant year;
  • grant budget, cost-sharing budget and subsequent adjustments are recorded accurately;
  • grant expenses and revenues are accrued at fiscal year-end accurately;
  • indirect cost recovery is recorded in the General Fund and accurately accrued at year-end; and
  • actual costs recorded are consistent with the proposed budget and in compliance with A-21 and grant requirements.
36. Controller's Division Includes Chancellor’s Office grants/contracts revenues and expenditures with other OUS universities’ data in the annual system-wide A-133 Federal Compliance Report.

 

POST-AWARD PROCEDURES - CLOSING THE AWARD
  Responsible Party Procedure/Task
1. PI Submits all expenditures for sponsored fund and cost-sharing fund in a timely manner. Generally, all expenses must be for services or goods received on or before the end date of the award. All invoices should be processed quickly after end date to meet the financial reporting deadline.
2. PI Reviews and approves final billings/invoices and ensures that cost transfers for closely related work are processed.
3. PI Completes all project deliverables.
4. PI Ensures all subcontractors have completed deliverables, all required reports are received, and that the scope of work has been completed.
5. PI Verifies that all costs incurred have been posted.
6. PI Ensures that any and all cost share from outside entities has been reported and accounted for.
7. Controller's Division Reviews final adjusted budget for grant fund and cost-sharing fund for accuracy and appropriateness.
8. Controller's Division Ensures that departments record grant and contract receivable.
9. Controller's Division Notifies PI and PI supervisor of cost overruns (if any) and their dispositions.
10. PI Prepares and submits final report (in conjunction with PI supervisor and the Controller’s Division) at or before required deadline.
11. Controller's Division Reviews final fiscal report (in coordination with PI, grant staff, and PI supervisor) to ensure accuracy with accounting records.
12. Controller's Division

Closes the fund from future activities in FIS.  Prior to closing the fund, verifies that:

  •  
    • all invoices submitted have been posted,
    • all revenues have been received,
    • all adjustments have been made, and
    • cash balance of the fund is zero.
13. PI Retain all technical reports for three years following the closing of the award.
14. Controller's Division Retains all accounts payable and receivable records per record retention requirements.

Banner Query Forms:

FGIENCD Detail Encumbrance Activity Form
FRIGITD Grant Inception To Date Form
Shows grant inception to date revenues and expenditures by account code.
FWIEMPL Payroll Employee Form
Shows the Fund, Org, Account, and Program for an employee for a specified period.
FWIFOAN Employee within FOAP
Shows all employees and amounts paid on a particular Fund, Org, Account, and Program for a specified period.

Banner Reports:

FRRGITD Grant Inception to Date Report
FWRFOAP Payroll Report by ACCI or ORGN
FWRVNDA Vendor Payment History By Acct
Prints list of payments made during a time period specified for an index or a fund.
NWRECRT Effort Certification Report

Last Updated: 10/09/09

Posted Tue, 01/18/2011 - 2:59pm