Department Administrator Session #20

1. Department Administrator Session #20 December 6, 2016

2. Agenda • Research Finance Staffing • Project Updates • Automate Indirect Costs • FRS Header Information • Clean up of Older Accounts • Delegation of Authority • Tri-Agency Updates • Summary of changes from new guidelines • Compliance Issues • Honorariums • Order Forms • Expense Justifications • Accounting for Conferences • Next Session

3. Research Financial Services Org Chart

4. Research Finance Staffing • Hope to do interviews for the Administrative Support position in the upcoming weeks: • Looking for 2 volunteers to join us on the search • Please let me know if you would be willing to join us with our search committee • Research Financial Services is proud to announce that Esra Mohammed has accepted a short term contract until July 2017 to fulfill this role.

5. Project Updates – Automate Indirect Costs • We are finishing some testing and will be moving this into production by the end of the month • The promotion to production has been delayed and will happen during the month of January 2017. • The grant header display will look different to accommodate some of the new attributes required for this process • This job will allow indirect costs to be charged to ‘most’ research accounts automatically. If the Indirect Type is ‘Automatic’ then this job will apply the Indirect Rate to the amount of direct costs charged to the account • A question was asked about … ‘why don’t the full value of the indirect costs be charged to the account up front?’. • Charging the full value of the indirect costs does not correlate to the sponsors reporting expectations • Charging the full value of indirect costs does create potential issues with the annual distribution back to the colleges for the indirect costs charged to a research account

6. Project Updates – Automate Indirect Costs • FRS header information will change • Research Accounts will have new attributes: • Indirect Type • Manual or Automatic • Direct – RSSA Fees • Direct – Non-RSSA Fees • Indirect Total • Indirect Rate

7. Project Updates – Automate Indirect Costs

8. Project Updates – FRS Header Information • Amount Awarded • Should this represent the total awarded over the full span of the grant life or just the current period (extension/renewal) e.g. CRC, NSERC Discovery? • The award amount should be the cumulative award amount and the comments should remain as they currently are to reflect the annual installments of the current period of the award. RFS will work with Office of Research to make this change by: • Making this effective for all account renewals going forward • Update existing open accounts with the corrected award amount value • Start Date • Should this always remain the award start date or be changed to extension/renewal start date? • Start date will be the start date of the original award.

9. Project Updates – Clean up of OLD accounts • There has been a push to review accounts that currently reside in Fund 300/Fund 301 and ensure that these accounts are: • Research vs. operational • Appropriately restricted • Appropriate End Date and Award Amount values

10. Project Updates – Clean up of OLD accounts • As part of Year End process, our auditors review the research accounts to determine an appropriate value to recognize as an ‘Accounts Receivable’ or recognize as ‘Deferred Revenue’ • Historically this has been done by looking at: • Externally restricted • Balance as of April 30th • Debit balance – Accounts Receivable • Assumption – Money still to be received • Credit balance – Deferred Revenue • Assumption – Expenses still to be incurred

11. Project Updates – Clean up of OLD accounts • Our auditors have pulled files and have seen: • accounts long past their end dates • accounts with no current agreement • transactions past their end dates • revenue greater than award amount • Going forward, we are taking a closer look at the header information to ensure it reflects documentation that we have from the sponsor (award amount, end date, etc).

12. Project Updates – Clean up of OLD accounts • We are also looking at some accounts and questioning whether they are truly ‘research activities’ or are they more ‘operational’ • The Controller’s office has been helping with this project and may have done some outreach to you and/or your college administrators to look at these accounts

13. Project Updates – Delegation of Authority • We have made recent changes to the setup of CRC accounts so they are now compliant with Tri-Agencies regarding the delegation of authority. • CRC awards are made to the University so delegation must be made by the President/VP Research to the Canada Research Chair holder • We are currently reviewing the Central Animal Facility Purchases and Lab Services to ensure they are compliant. • We will be following up with other internal stores/charge areas to ensure that they are compliant as well.

14. Project Updates – Delegation of Authority • How has the new Delegation of Authority database been working? • https://apps.admin.uoguelph.ca/ • This will be a topic at the next session as a number of attendees did not recognize it. Please go to this url and review prior to our next session.

15. Tri-Agency UpdatesSummary of Changes From New Guidelines Use of Grant Funds - Compensation • An exception for Postdoctoral researchers was added to the Non-eligible expenses for salary and consulting fees paid to grantees or persons whose status would make them eligible to apply for grants

16. Tri-Agency UpdatesSummary of Changes From New Guidelines • Eligibility Criteria for Applicants and Co-Applicants • Certain programs may have specific requirements or restrictions in addition to these criteria: • University faculty: You must hold or have a firm offer of an academic appointment at an eligible Canadian university at the time of application. For the duration of the award, you must hold such a position. The appointment can be:  • a tenured, tenure-track or lifetime professor emeritus position; or • a term or contract position of no less than three years. • The position must require you to engage in research that is not under the direction of another individual and must authorize you to supervise or co-supervise the research of students registered in an undergraduate or graduate degree program, or postdoctoral fellows(e.g., thesis supervision and not supervision of regular course or laboratory assignments). Note on Adjunct professors: Adjunct professors who meet NSERC’s eligibility criteria and whose primary place of employment is at an eligible Canadian university may apply to NSERC grants programs. Those whose primary place of employment is outside the university sector (e.g., government, industry or colleges) are eligible to apply for a Discovery Grant as principal applicant, as well as to other NSERC grants as co-applicants. NSERC awards funds to adjunct professors working outside the university sector only for the direct support of students (salaries or stipends and student travel costs); all other costs must be covered through other sources of funding.

17. Tri-Agency UpdatesSummary of Changes From New Guidelines Use of Funds – Travel & Subsistence Costs • New Eligible Expense: Collaborators’ travel and subsistence expenses related to research planning and exchange of information with the grantee or for the dissemination of research results; unless this is not permitted according to their formal participation in certain programs (NSERC Only) • Definition of Collaborator: A research scientist or engineer from any sector, e.g., government scientist, academic researcher, company staff member, can be  formally associated with a research team that is applying for a team grant, but will not have access to grant funds. A collaborator must be qualified to undertake research independently and will be expected to contribute to the overall intellectual direction of the research project, or program of research, and bring his/her own resources to the collaboration. • Child Care Expenses – CIHR removed its limits now consistent with NSERC & SSHRC • Child care expenses while a nursing mother or single parent is travelling: The eligible cost for a single parent is limited to overnight child care costs incurred while the grantee is travelling. • The eligible cost for a nursing mother who is travelling with a child is limited to the customary cost of child care and airfare if applicable. If travelling with a caregiver, travel and accommodation cost can be claimed in lieu of and up to the equivalent of child care costs. 

18. Tri-Agency UpdatesSummary of Changes From New Guidelines Use of Funds – Sabbatical/Research Leaves • Eligible costs for travel between the home institution and the sabbatical location, limited to one return trip ticket, except in unusual circumstances – now applicable to all 3 agencies • Clarification added to non-eligible living expenses: ‘(subsistence and accommodation costs)’ • Travel and subsistence expenses describe the cost of spending on business travel, meals, hotels, sundry items such as laundry and similar ad hoc expenditures.

19. Tri-Agency UpdatesSummary of Changes From New Guidelines Use of Funds - Computer & Electronic Communications • Added specification on adequate justification to include ‘establishing the need in relation to the funded research’ • Home Internet now considered non-eligible expenses (effective October 1, 2016)

20. Tri-Agency UpdatesSummary of Changes From New Guidelines Supporting Documentation Changes: • Grantees must be able to provide supporting documentation for all expenditures charged to their grant accounts. Where the link to the research is not evident from the supporting documentation, additional information or explanation should be documented which demonstrates that the expenditure is a direct cost of the funded research. • Travel claim must include: • Purpose of trip including the link to the funded research • original receipts, such as hotel invoices and car rental agreements (credit cards slips or confirmation of reservation are not valid receipts)

21. Tri-Agency UpdatesCompliance Issues Honorariums • Individuals that are eligible to hold a Tri-Agency award cannot receive an honorarium

22. Tri-Agency UpdatesCompliance Issues Honorariums (cont’d) • Example from recent monitoring Review visit: A grant leader paid an honorarium to a guest lecturer ($150) which was deemed to be eligible by an institution.  The Tri-Agency googled the name of the guest – a PI at other university who holds his own NSERC award.  They concluded that this payment was ineligible because the recipient was eligible to hold a Tri-Agency award. • Does anyone do a check to confirm the individual is eligible to receive an honorarium before paying them? • RFS will be monitoring this and interact with other institutions to finds ways to demonstrate to the Tri-Agencies that UofG has appropriate controls in place regarding this issue.

23. Tri-Agency UpdatesCompliance Issues Post-Transaction Review Findings from Tri-Agencies (UofG Review): • Packing slips missing, not signed, or signed by someone other than grant leader or delegate • Grant Leader approves estimate of costs but not actual costs when different from estimate • Missing documentation for initiation of purchase or account to charge to • When Purchase order requests are received by email from the grant leader the email should still include the information required on the purchase order form including items to purchase, total cost of purchase, and grant to charge to.

24. Tri-Agency UpdatesCompliance Issues • Purchase Order Forms should include a statement about incidentals & email confirmation to grant leader or delegate of order being placed should include the final costs including shipping & Incidentals. • Example: ‘I hereby authorize the (College/Department) staff to place this order as presented, along with any unquoted incidentals (eg freight, duty, taxes), pay the associated invoice (with the approved packing slip) and process all financial transaction requests. If the base prices varies within $100 of the quote, the order can be processed’ • The Tri-Agencies continue to flag that changes in price or quantity need re-authorization by the grant leader or delegate • Internal Stores – Request Forms • When prices for services are located on a website the website should be noted on the order forms • Need updated approvals when the original order or service period continues beyond the original order form end date RFS will do a full review of forms to ensure they have the necessary information for Tri-Agency guidelines.

25. Tri-Agency UpdatesAdequate Justifications When is a justification needed? Supplies & Equipment Purchases: • Computer and related hardware purchases • Cellular phones, smartphone or other electronic devices only when they are necessary for research purposes and /or for personal safety • Specialized software • When link to the funded research is not evident • Specialized office supplies Travel: • Must define the purpose of the trip and the link to the funded research. Hospitality and Gifts: • Must define the purpose or circumstances for the hospitality or the gift and the link to the funded research

26. Tri-Agency UpdatesAdequate Justifications An adequate justification must demonstrate that the purchase is: • directly related to and necessary for the advancement of funded research • not normally provided by the Institution • an economical use of funds • a need that is not met by equipment currently available or in the grant holder’s possession (From Tri-Agency Webinar Nov 2016)

27. Tri-Agency UpdatesAdequate Justifications - Examples Provided by researcher: • The printer I purchased was necessary for printing copies of my research results on the effect of chemical spills for dissemination at the conference in Berlin (explains printing not the printer) Ideal justification: • The printer purchased is required for the research because it is permanently connected to the equipment and prints results at a set timeframe • The printer purchased is required for the research because it is more economical to print our surveys then to have them printed at the Print shop

28. Tri-Agency UpdatesAdequate Justifications - Examples Provided by researcher: • The apple watch (or ipad or cell phone etc) is necessary for my research work on collecting data about bees and their habitat and also for safety reasons in the field • I require the video camera for my research as I will be filming a documentary on aboriginal life in the Arctic • This book on genetics is necessary for my research on genetic diseases and is not available at the library. Ideal justification: • The above samples are reasonable but could be more complete by providing a bit more information on the direct link to the funded research and not just the professor’s general research field.

29. Tri-Agency UpdatesAdequate Justifications - Examples Travel Related Justifications: Sample provided by Researcher-incomplete: • The conference in Victoria, B.C. is related to my research on molecular biology Ideal purpose: • Attended conference in Victoria which discussed molecular biology which is related to my grant because I am hoping to apply the theory presented to my lab experiments. Other examples of purpose: • Fieldwork in Maine; collected water samples to be used in my (describe the research) where I am analyzing the impact of local mining projects on sediment quantity. • Archival work at the Institute of Archaeology; reviewed bone specimens for evidence of decay directly related to my research grant. • Collaboration at the University of Wisconsin with Prof. Brown on comparison of research finds to date related to XXX theory which is directly related to my research grant.

30. Accounting for Conferences • How are expenses being tracked for hosting Research Conference at UofG: • Part of Research Grant ? • Part of Department Accounts? • Based on a raise of hands around the room, the majority of departments responsible for hosting a conference are tracking them by using a Department Project however, this is not ideal for the departments that are hosting large conferences that may cover multiple fiscal years. • I have spoken with the Controller’s office about the use of Fund 310 and there is some hesitation to use this. • A proposed solution is the use of the ‘Matrix report’ found in FRS under ‘Actual -> Summary -> Matrix’ • Once there, please enter your project number, your time period parameter and change column header to ‘Fiscal Year’ • Please look at the screen shot on the next page

31. Accounting for Conferences Please try this report and advise if it will work to resolve the issue for accounting of conferences that cover multiple fiscal years.

32. Next Session • Suggested Topics • OCE Talent Edge • Grad. Studies • Post Doc process • Human Resources • Compliance with National Joint Council Travel Directive • FRS Training • Please send me questions you may have about FRS (for eg. How do I …) • Use of GPR accounts • What to do when a researcher leaves the University • Bad Debts … how are these treated? • Object Code Hierarchy by sponsor • Research Administration – Roles and Responsibilities document • Next Session Date • February 2017 • May/June 2017 • General Discussion • Improvements to FRS • Including OMAFRA Projects in My Grants Tracker format • Identifying how much of Award Amount is left to spend • Money to be received from sponsor • Exchange rates • This is noted and I will look into these in the future.