Office of Sponsored Programs - 500.02 - Departmental Award Management Responsibilities

Title

Office of Sponsored Programs - 500.02 - Departmental Award Management Responsibilities

Purpose

Providing such general responsibilities clarifies expectations and specific tasks of award management that are ascribed to Principal Investigators (PIs) and Departmental Administrators (DAs).

Policy Statement

The department receiving the sponsored research agreement is responsible for the daily management and administration of the related accounts. This requires closely monitoring expenditures to assure that the terms and conditions of the award are being followed and that funds are being expended in accordance with 2 CFR §200 Subpart E requirements for allowability, allocability, and reasonableness, as well as in accordance with University policies.

It is the dual responsibility of the PI and the DA to monitor and approve all expenditures related to the sponsored project. Any unallowable expenditures or deficit balances become the responsibility of the administering department to pay from other departmental funds and not from a sponsored research account.

The department receiving the sponsored research agreement is responsible for ensuring that costs invoiced by the vendor or service provider are consistent with the costs outlined in the vendor/service agreement. Departmental approvers should verify that costs charged to sponsored projects agree with the cost terms included in applicable vendor/service agreements.

The department receiving the sponsored research agreement is responsible for ensuring that any publication costs charged to the project are allowable. This includes verifying that the publication specifically recognizes funding from all applicable sources, including, but not limited to, Federal sponsors.

The original records and supporting documents of expenditures should be maintained by the department for three (3) years or more depending on sponsor retention requirements.

Once the award is established in RAMSeS, DAs are responsible for reviewing the award document, reconciling it with the information in ConnectCarolina, and communicating any corrections or inconsistencies to the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) Research Administration division.

Transactions must adhere to the attributes, structure, and accounting methods established by University Accounting Services, and display Project ID numbers accordingly on forms for routing, approval, and electronic data processing.

Department Administrators:

I. Conduct Review of Award Documents

  • Identify restrictions, including any specific terms and conditions that affect allowability of expenditures
  • Note reporting requirements
  • Check for purchasing/spending authorizations under the award terms and conditions
  • Initiate and maintain current financial information in ConnectCarolina

II. Setup Post-Award Monitoring Process

  • Prepare personnel transactions upon assignment of a Project ID. Include personnel information that affects salary, such as salary caps, cost-sharing, rate of pay compensatory to amount of full-time effort (FTE), etc.
  • Create tracking for direct costs, indirect costs, subrecipient costs, and consultant expenditures.
  • Establish deadlines for financial, progress, and technical reports.
  • Monitor spending, IPAS, and prior approval requirements in light of the award funding.
  • Communicate regularly with those responsible for project activity to prepare requirements in a timely fashion.
  • Handle transactions and reconciliations by anticipating end-of-budget periods and other changes.

III. Use Post-Award Monitoring to Review Financial & Programmatic Transactions

  • Perform cost transfers
  • Perform budget revisions
  • Compare and balance award expenditures using ConnectCarolina
  • Circumvent unallowable expenditures and overdrafts

Exclusions

Sponsored research often generates program income, such as fees for laboratory services, conference fees, third-party patient reimbursements, etc. Treatment of program income varies by agency. In order to establish the proper accounting method in accordance with Federal regulations, the appropriate OSP Sponsored Projects Specialist (SPS) should be notified in cases where program income is foreseeable or accumulates.

Related Requirements

Unit Policies, Standards, & Procedures

Contact Information

For questions regarding this operating standard and its related procedure, please contact SponsoredPrograms@unc.edu.

For questions regarding Pre-Award management or Post-Award administration, please contact the assigned SPS.

For invoicing, reporting and other financial matters, please contact the assigned Sponsored Projects Accountant. OSP Staff assignments are found in RAMSeS or on the OSP website.

History

History Table
Date Description
07/01/2022 Revised to reflect new office name.
12/04/2020 Revised to clarify vendor/service provider and publication costs must be consistent with agreement terms and conditions.
05/15/2018 Revised to coincide with the release of the new OSP Website.

The operating standards in the Office of Sponsored Programs Operating Standards & Procedures Manual supersede any OSP operating standards, procedures and appendices previously included in the University Business Manual, a publication of UNC-Chapel Hill’s Division of Finance.

100% helpful - 1 review
Print Article

Details

Article ID: 132306
Created
Thu 4/8/21 9:28 PM
Modified
Thu 6/27/24 11:11 AM
Responsible Unit
School, Department, or other organizational unit issuing this document.
Research-Office of Sponsored Programs
Issuing Officer
Name of the document Issuing Officer. This is the individual whose organizational authority covers the policy scope and who is primarily responsible for the policy.
Issuing Officer Title
Title of the person who is primarily responsible for issuing this policy.
Vice Chancellor
Policy Contact
Person who handles document management. Best person to contact for information about this policy. In many cases this is not the Issuing Officer. It may be the Policy Liaison, or another staff member.
Next Review
Date on which the next document review is due.
01/19/2025 12:00 AM
Last Review
Date on which the most recent document review was completed.
01/19/2024 12:00 AM
Last Revised
Date on which the most recent changes to this document were approved.
07/01/2022 12:00 AM
Effective Date
If the date on which this document became/becomes enforceable differs from the Origination or Last Revision, this attribute reflects the date on which it is/was enforcable.
07/01/2022 12:00 AM
Origination
Date on which the original version of this document was first made official.
03/20/2008 12:00 AM
Flesch-Kincaid Reading Level
17.3