Jennifer Gagnon, Nick Brightman & Sudha Ramaswami September 12, 2012

1. SPTP Jennifer Gagnon, Nick Brightman & SudhaRamaswamiSeptember 12, 2012 Sponsored Project Training Program Introduction to Sponsored Projects

2. Introduction to Sponsored Projects • This session will provide an overview of the grant life cycle from searching for funding to grant closeout. • Participants will learn the roles and responsibilities for all individuals involved in the grant life cycle. Sponsored Project Training Program

3. Learning Objectives • Participants will: • Receive an overview of Sponsored Project Administration • Learn about the grant lifecycle • Understand the roles and responsibilities of investigators, chairs and deans, and central units, in addition to how they as business unit administrators fit in • Know where to go for help and become aware of future learning opportunities Sponsored Project Training Program

4. What is a sponsored project? • Externally-funded activities in which a formal written agreement, i.e., a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement, is entered into by recipient (UVM) and sponsor • Supports research, public service, or instructional efforts at the university Sponsored Project Training Program

5. Characteristics of sponsored projects • Statement of work • Clear period of performance • Reporting requirements • Programmatic & financial • External audits • Return of unspent funds • Special facilities/accommodations Sponsored Project Training Program

6. Common terms • Grant - assistance mechanism • Contract - procurement mechanism • Cooperative Agreement - similar to a grant but with more involvement from sponsor • OMB Circulars • A-21, cost principles • A-133, audit • Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) • Subrecipient • Cost share

7. Sponsored Project Administration • Integrated office supporting faculty and sponsors on activities within the grant life cycle • Collaborates with business unit administrators in providing this support • Focus on service, compliance, and capacity • Solely responsible for accepting awards on behalf of UVM Sponsored Project Training Program

8. Grant Life Cycle Sponsored Project Training Program

9. Find Funding • Alert services • InfoEd SMARTS • NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts • National Science Foundation Update • Grants.gov • Databases • InfoEd SPIN (Sponsored Programs Information Network) • Community of Science • PIVOT • Grant proposal writing resources Sponsored Project Training Program

10. Find Funding • SPA provides individualized services to UVM faculty, staff, and students in their search for funding opportunities • Contact Hilda Alajajian at 6-1322 to schedule an appointment • https://www.uvm.edu/spa/?Page=findfunding.html Sponsored Project Training Program

11. Proposal Development & Submission • Collaboration between PI, business unit administrator, and SPA • Determining PI eligibility • Faculty and professionally qualified staff with a .50 FTE or greater • Emeriti faculty, with dept & college approval • https://www.uvm.edu/spa/?Page=pieligibility.html Sponsored Project Training Program

12. Proposal Development & Submission • Contact SPA early and often • Intent to apply • Sponsor guidelines • Funding restrictions • Draft budget & scope of work • Budget development • Subawards • Interpretation of university federal & sponsor regulations • Completion of agency forms & certifications Sponsored Project Training Program

13. Proposal Development & Submission • PI responsibilities • Writing the proposal, scope of work • Responsible for the successful routing and approval of the proposal • Ultimately responsible for proposal submission • Coordinating with sub awardees • Get the approval of Dean/Chair on • Levels of effort • Staff on the project • Cost share • Space Sponsored Project Training Program

14. Proposal Development & Submission • Dept Chair reviews & approves proposal prior to submission • Quality • Consistency with unit mission • Effort • Cost share commitments • Space

15. Proposal Development & Submission • Business unit administrator responsibilities: • Assist PI with budget & other administrative tasks • Confirm chartstrings for cost share commitments • Assist, if applicable, with decisions on budget & space availability • Deptadmin toolkit -https://www.uvm.edu/spa/?Page=departmentadministratortoolkit.html • UVM Fact Sheet - https://www.uvm.edu/spa/?Page=uvmfactsheet.html Sponsored Project Training Program

16. Proposal Development & Submission • Regulatory research requirements (use of human subjects, animals, recombinant DNA, etc.) • Research Protections Office - http://www.uvm.edu/rpo/ • Financial conflicts of interest • https://www.uvm.edu/spa/?Page=coi_new_announcement.html • University policies & operating procedures Sponsored Project Training Program

17. InfoEd • Proposal Development is used by the PI to: • Upload proposal documents • Route proposals for internal approvals • System-to-system proposal submissions (NIH) • Proposal Tracking is used by the PI & business unit administrators to: • Track & report – current & pending support data • View proposal documents Sponsored Project Training Program

18. InfoEd – Training Resources • For questions/training, contact Cathy Ruley Condon at catherine.ruley@uvm.edu or 6-3360 or visit InfoEd website https://www.uvm.edu/~infoed/ • Training opportunity: Getting the most out of InfoEd Wednesday, October 31, 1:30 – 3:30 • InfoEd login - https://spogi.uvm.edu/ Sponsored Project Training Program

19. Award Acceptance & Set up • Award receipt & Acceptance • Final negotiations including budget revisions if any – Federal/Private or industry • Clarification of reporting & invoicing terms • Clarification of publication, data ownership & Intellectual Property rights • Clarification of indemnification and insurance requirements • Adhering to applicable university policies & procedures • PI responsibilities • Review and approve scope of work, technical reporting requirements, and other terms and conditions • Work with SPA to negotiate contract as needed Sponsored Project Training Program

20. Award Acceptance & Set up • Advance account (aka guaranteed funding) • https://www.uvm.edu/spa/?Page=advancedaccounts.html • Requested by PI with assistance from business unit administrator • Approved by department chair and/or dean • Unless AA is used, award document must be fully executed before: • Work begins • Chartstring can be set up Sponsored Project Training Program

21. Award Acceptance & Set up • Set up in Peoplesoft • Budget information & chartstrings – including cost share • Reporting & Invoicing terms & conditions • Additional terms & conditions • Set up in InfoEd • RPO approvals • Conflict of Interest information • Issues delaying the set up • Research protection approvals • Conflict of interest disclosures • Institutional procedures, such as cost policy justification forms

22. Award Acceptance & Set up • Notification sent to PI & business unit administrator once award is set up • Identifies unique terms & conditions Sponsored Project Training Program

23. Award Management • Critical component of the award life cycle • Continuous monitoring during this phase of • Expenses • Rebudgeting • Cost transfers • Cost sharing • Actions requiring prior approval from sponsor • PI responsibilities • Manage project personnel, including subrecipients • Ensures meeting of cost share commitments, including third party commitments • Periodical monitoring of expenses with the assistance of the business unit administrator • Seeks prior approvals from sponsor when necessary • Approves sub recipient invoices • Ensures timely & accurate effort reporting of personnel

24. Award Management • SPA’s role during this process • Financial analysts acts as the first point of contact for requests related to PeopleSoft • Rebudgeting • Journal Entry approval • Budget checking errors • Research Administrators will assist in the preparation & submission of prior approval requests, including extensions • Financial Analysts do an annual review of the various terms & conditions for federal awards and per award terms for private awards • Financial Analysts do interim financial reports as required by the sponsor • Financial Analysts receive the subrecipient invoices, analyze them for expense allowability & other terms & conditions and forward to the PI for approval

25. Award Management • Business unit administrator responsible for: • Reviewing and analyzing financial activity • Monitoring cost share and effort commitments • Should meet with PIs at least quarterly • Learning opportunity: Grant Financial Management: Tools & Best Practice Wednesday, November 7, 1:30 – 3:30 Sponsored Project Training Program

26. Award Management • Other units that help with the process • Procurement Services • Purchase orders, check requests & purcards • General Accounting • Travel advances & reimbursements • Cost Accounting Services • Effort reporting • Space & Equipment Inventory • Payroll Services Sponsored Project Training Program

27. Award Closeout • SPA prepares and circulates monthly reports of awards: • Ending within 90 days, or • Has ended within the last 30 days • An email from the Financial Analyst: • Confirming final expenses • Requesting clarification on expenses that are miscoded, unusual based on the scope of work of the project, or potentially unallowable • Listing any pending transactions that need to be processed • PI responsibilities • All expenses have been accounted for or have been forwarded to SPA, including the sub recipient expenses • Cost share commitments have been met • Final Technical/Progress reports have been sent • Final invention statement, if applicable, has been sent

28. Award Closeout • Business Unit Admin responsibilities • Assist the PI with meeting their responsibilities • Ensures that cost share is correctly and fully accounted for against the department chartstring • SPA responsibilities • Responsible for preparing & submitting financial reports • Closeout in PS & InfoEd • Facilitate invention and other closeout reporting with PIs and others, as needed Sponsored Project Training Program

29. PeopleSoft • System of record for financial & human resource data • Source of internal control • Budget limited to the awarded amount • Only approved categories set up • Exceptions highlighted • Used for • Accounting & tracking expenses based on chartstring • Reporting of these expenses using various tools Sponsored Project Training Program

30. PeopleSoft – Training & Resources • See UVM Learning Services website for training opportunities & online resources https://www.uvm.edu/hrs/?Page=skills/develop_skills.html • PeopleSoft login - https://www.uvm.edu/~erp/portal/ Sponsored Project Training Program

31. Grant Life Cycle Sponsored Project Training Program

32. Outside of Grant Life Cycle • Cash management & collections • Subrecipient monitoring • USDA federal formula funds • Audit coordination • Learning opportunity: What happens if your grant gets audited? Wednesday, October 10, 1:30 – 3:30 Sponsored Project Training Program

33. Roles & Responsibilities Overview • Clearly delineate roles and responsibilities • Eliminate duplication of effort • Address tasks that were falling through the cracks • Increase efficiency • Ensure those engaged in grant lifecycle understand their functions • Mitigate compliance risks & audit findings Sponsored Project Training Program

34. Roles • Principal Investigator (PI) • Business Unit Administrator • Sponsored Project Administration (SPA) • Department Head/Chair • Dean • VP for Research and Dean of Graduate College • VP for Finance and Administration Sponsored Project Training Program

35. Principal Investigator (PI) • Must participate to a significant intellectual degree in sponsored project • Bears primary responsibility for all essential aspects of work being carried out • May delegate tasks to business and support staff; but ultimately responsible for project Sponsored Project Training Program

36. PI Responsibilities • Programmatic • Completes progress reports • Monitors subrecipients • Compliance • Satisfies regulatory research requirements • Ensures accurate and timely effort reporting for project personnel • Discloses conflicts of interest when required • Administrative/fiscal • Monitors project’s financial status • Manages project within budget limits • Ensures that cost-share requirements are met

37. Business Unit Administrator • Provides financial, human resource, reporting and other administrative support services for Principal Investigators • Has a general understanding of: • Federal and other sponsor policies and regulations • University policies and procedures • College guidelines as they pertain to University grants and contracts Sponsored Project Training Program

38. Bus Unit Admin Responsibilities • Assists PI in proposal submission • Serves as resource to PI for any financial or human resource issue • Assists PI in meeting compliance requirements, such as effort reporting & subrecipient monitoring • Supports PI in monitoring a project’s financial status, including ensuring: • Expenses are allowable and allocable • Cost share commitments are met

39. Sponsored Project Administration (SPA) • Central university office involved in the university’s sponsored research enterprise and other sponsored activities • Use an integrated approach to partnering with business unit administrators in support of researchers and sponsors throughout the grant lifecycle Sponsored Project Training Program

40. SPA Responsibilities • Disseminates funding opportunity information • Reviews proposals for compliance with university policies and sponsor proposal guidelines • Approves and authorizes submission of proposals on behalf of the institution • Reviews, negotiates, and approves terms and conditions of award • Writes, negotiates, executes, and monitors subaward agreements Sponsored Project Training Program

41. SPA Responsibilities • Provides guidance and training to research community about federal, sponsor, and university regulations and policies • Prepares invoices and financial reports • Manages cash

42. Additional Resources • Dean’s Offices • Roles and Responsibilities: http://www.uvm.edu/spa/?Page=rolesandresponsibilities.html • Sponsored Project Training Program: https://www.uvm.edu/spa/?Page=sptp.html • Quick Compliance Guide for PIs: http://www.uvm.edu/spa/documents/quickcomplianceguide.pdf • UVM & Federal Policies: http://www.uvm.edu/spa/?Page=uvmandfederalpolicies.html Sponsored Project Training Program

43. Introduction to Sponsored Projects • Questions? Sponsored Project Training Program

44. Learning Objectives • Participants will: • Receive an overview of Sponsored Project Administration • Learn about the grant lifecycle • Understand the roles and responsibilities of investigators, chairs and deans, and central units, in addition to how they as business unit administrators fit in • Know where to go for help and become aware of future learning opportunities Sponsored Project Training Program