After the Award Letter

1. After the Award Letter Or How to Administer Your Project Kathy Dupree, Assistant Director Office of Sponsored Programs December 2005

2. Office Staff • Dr. Paul Meyers, Executive Director • Lee Folk, Assistant Director • Roberta Hohmann, Administrative Secretary • Loretta Derrick, Grants Development Specialist • Laura Moseley, Research Accountant University of Houston-Clear Lake

3. Topics for Discussion • Approved budget • Account Setup • Expending funds through PeopleSoft • Forms • Financial and Technical Reporting • Extensions and/or Closeout University of Houston-Clear Lake

4. Some Acronyms • OSP = Office of Sponsored Programs • NOA = Notice of Award • PI = Principal Investigator • PD = Project Director University of Houston-Clear Lake

5. The Research Accountant • Protector of the institution • Faculty advocate • Information broker • Policy interpreter / implementor University of Houston-Clear Lake

6. The Research Accountant • Facilitator • Negotiator • Coordinator of ancillary services • Monitor of grant funds • Guarantor of compliance University of Houston-Clear Lake

7. Plan Ahead • Do as much as you can to plan for post-award during the pre-award stage • Plan hiring • Plan subawards (if any) • Get bids for major items to be purchased • Identify problematic issues • justify and document • define activities within institutional capabilities University of Houston-Clear Lake

8. After You’ve Got the Award Letter • Award negotiation • If budget is same • If budget is cut • Be positive • OSP negotiates in coordination with you • Read the fine print University of Houston-Clear Lake

9. Approved Budget to Notice of Award • OSP will transfer award budget to grant cost center • All items (expenditures) will be itemized by account code • Subgrants are a separate line • Either <$25,000 or >$25,000 • PI/PD must supply information for subgrants • Contact Assistant Director to generate sub agreements University of Houston-Clear Lake

10. Approved Budget Setup • OSP sends account setup form to PI/PD for routing • Principal Investigator / Project Director approves and signs • Department Head and/or Dean approves and signs • Business Coordinator approves and signs University of Houston-Clear Lake

11. Approved Budget • OSP setups new cost center • PI receives via e-mail Notice of Award • Lists cost center (Ledger 5) • Lists period of performance • Budget awarded • Cost Sharing/Matching information • Reporting information • Meet with Principal Investigator to discuss spending guidelines • Sample NOA (see next slide) University of Houston-Clear Lake

13. It’s a bird…it’s a plane? • No, it’s Office of Sponsored Programs to the rescue because we love to help you with those rules and regulations. University of Houston-Clear Lake

14. Know the Rules • Federal Regulations • State Regulations • University Policies • Sponsor Guidelines & Policies University of Houston-Clear Lake

15. Federal Circulars and Regulations • A-21 - cost principles for institutions of higher education • Allowability and allocability of costs including indirect costs • Reasonableness of costs • consistent treatment • conform to any limitations or exclusions University of Houston-Clear Lake

16. Federal Circulars and Regulations • A-110 - grants and agreements with institutions of higher education… • Pre-award requirements • Post-award requirements • cash management • reporting • Close-out procedures University of Houston-Clear Lake

17. Federal Circulars and Regulations • A-133 - audits of institutions of higher education and other non-profit institutions • Single audit requirements • Audit of pass-through funds • Subrecipient requirements for auditing • Compliance auditing University of Houston-Clear Lake

18. Federal Circulars and Regulations • Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) for federal contracts • Education Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) • NASA Grant and Cooperative Agreement Handbook University of Houston-Clear Lake

19. From Notice of Award to PeopleSoft • Research Accountant will send you a monthly excel spreadsheet with your budget and balance available. • You will be responsible for watching balances and reviewing individual charges for accuracy. University of Houston-Clear Lake

20. Expending Funds through PeopleSoft • All Expenditures require signature approval of PI and Business Coordinator. • All Ledger 5 expenditures must be routed to OSP for approval. University of Houston-Clear Lake

21. Paying People • Payroll and HR work together but separately University of Houston-Clear Lake

22. Contractor or Employee? • Type of Work performed determines how to pay • as an employee • PAR/PRF (approved by OSP) • Paid via Payroll • OR • as an independent contractor • Contract (via Purchasing, approved by OSP & Provost) • Paid on a Voucher • Need to decide this at the proposal stage University of Houston-Clear Lake

23. Potential Employee • If the person performing the work has worked for UHS within the past year and a day, then he or she must be paid via the University payroll • University of Houston-System Administrative Memorandum 02.A.24.3 University of Houston-Clear Lake

24. Contractor • If the person performing the work is performing a one time service (not a deliverable), and is not affiliated with the University, then he or she may be paid as a contractor. University of Houston-Clear Lake

25. Forms -- about time • Time & Effort • not just a paper function • must be regular and timely • faculty members work 100% time • faculty members and some staff DO NOT get paid by the hour, they get paid to do a particular job • some staff are compensated hourly University of Houston-Clear Lake

26. Time and Effort • Effort Certification Report generated and distributed to PI and staff by OSP • Full time professional staff and faculty can only work 100% FTE • can’t over obligate • there’s only one of you • don’t confuse hours worked with % time University of Houston-Clear Lake

27. Forms: Other Direct Costs • Purchase Vouchers • Important to audit costs and keep receipts • keep receipts • keep receipts • keep receipts University of Houston-Clear Lake

28. Do’s and Don’ts of Procuring • Do buy consistently • Don’t buy lots of supplies during the last month of the project • Do process invoices you receive ASAP • Do keep receipts for all purchases • DO spend money before the end date of your project University of Houston-Clear Lake

29. Make Sure You Spend Grant Money Properly Properly document in-kind contributions • May be a letter from entity providing the in-kind contributions • May be on-campus or off-campus • Must match proposal budget • Be specific -- itemize University of Houston-Clear Lake

30. Make Sure You Spend Grant Money Properly Part 2 • Process expenditure requests in TIMELY manner • Travel, requisitions, invoices received, payment authorizations, et cetera • ANYTHING you get from sponsor needs to be forwarded to OSP to distribute appropriately • Subaward issuance and administration • Space survey, property management • Inventory control tags University of Houston-Clear Lake

31. Transfer or Reallocation? • Transfer • Relates to budget (not actual $ spent) • Reallocation of an Expense • Relates to money already spent • Should be done rarely University of Houston-Clear Lake

32. Modifying the Project Budget After the Award • Contact OSP for budget transfer • Must document and receive sponsor approval in many cases • May do expedited modification if within sponsor’s guidelines -- OSP will let you know • OSP prepares a budget transfer to modify your budget University of Houston-Clear Lake

33. Oops! How can I reallocate this expense? • If you need to move an expense, contact OSP. • Need documentation of expense. • Date, vendor, amount (or partial amount). • Example: charge should have been posted between to cost centers. University of Houston-Clear Lake

34. When is it okay to reallocate an expense? • To correct an error • To distribute cost to more than one cost center • NOTto reduce overruns • NOT for convenience • NOT to use unspent money • Should be done in accordance with institutional policies and in a timely manner University of Houston-Clear Lake

35. Mandatory Cost Sharing • Must be met by project end date for reporting purposes • Is a condition of the award -- a promise • Failure to meet cost sharing promises can jeopardize our eligibility to obtain future federal grants University of Houston-Clear Lake

36. Voluntary Cost Sharing • Even if you volunteer cost sharing, it becomes a condition of the award • Also known as “voluntary, committed cost sharing” • If you promise it, you must certify in writing to OSP University of Houston-Clear Lake

37. Voluntary Cost Sharing • What if you don’t promise any cost sharing in the proposal, but you end up volunteering your time? • No need for OSP to certify this • Also known as “voluntary, uncommitted cost sharing” University of Houston-Clear Lake

38. Technical Project Reports • Work with OSP on financial information • May have several intermediate reports or just one end project report • The sponsor’s award guidelines will tell you and OSP will note report due dates on the Notice of Award University of Houston-Clear Lake

39. Technical Project Reporting • PI is responsible for keeping good logs throughout the project • Financial report & receipt of money is dependent on your getting technical reports to sponsor • Do not fill out financial forms yourself • OSP’s responsibility University of Houston-Clear Lake

40. The End (of your project) Is Near!! • Financial - you will be alerted by OSP approximately 1 to 2 months before project ends • reminder to do PAR/PRF to continue grant funded employees • expedite last requisitions or expenditures • do you need an extension? University of Houston-Clear Lake

41. Continuation of Grant -funded Staff • There is a procedure to carry over staff paid by a multi-year award for which application for a new cycle has been submitted, but award has not been received • Staff members are appointed only for the grant period. If you get an extension, a new PAR/PRF is required to extend their employment University of Houston-Clear Lake

42. What Happens to the Final Balance? • What if you spent too much? • Can balance (if any) be transferred? • Can it be carried forward? • Will the project end or continue? • Do you have to give back balance if you don’t spend it all? • Who gets to decide all this? University of Houston-Clear Lake

43. The End (of your project) Is Near!! • Technical - OSP will ask you if you want a no cost extension or if you need to make other reports to the sponsor, such as • inventions • equipment purchases • Be timely! University of Houston-Clear Lake

44. Project Extension • Request extension through OSP • Do not go directly to sponsor to request an extension • OSP must request extension from the Sponsor on your behalf University of Houston-Clear Lake

45. Final Technical Report • Make sure to let OSP know when final technical report has been sent to Sponsor • often, final invoice may not be sent until after final technical report is submitted • send copy of report to OSP University of Houston-Clear Lake

46. Post-award Activities • Management of intellectual property • Compliance monitoring • Human subjects, misconduct in science, biohazards, animal care, conflict of interest, radiation safety University of Houston-Clear Lake

47. Post-award Activities • Monitoring of technical reporting • Monitoring of subrecipients • Auditing project close-out • Archiving records • Must keep all records until three years after the final financial closeout University of Houston-Clear Lake

48. To Summarize • This is only a synopsis, but we hope this gives you a start on • How to get set up • How to spend money on your project • How to keep track of what you have spent • Whom to call, if you have questions University of Houston-Clear Lake

49. Finally • We want this to be a good experience that you will want to continue!!!! University of Houston-Clear Lake

50. Where are we? Office of Sponsored Programs located in Bayou 2-531 Phone number: 281-283-3015 Fax number: 281-283-2143 Mail Code: Box 44 http://www.uhcl.edu/research/ University of Houston-Clear Lake