I. Pre-award phase
A. Proposal development (new proposals, competing renewals, non-competing renewals, backed-in proposals)
| Activity | Principal Investigator | Office of Sponsored Projects | Division/Department | Extramural Funds Accounting Office |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Identifying appropriate funding sources (new proposals only) | • Originates idea for research and determines possible source of funding. • Reviews and follows instructions for submission. • Completes OSP Start a Proposal form and provides funding opportunity information prior to internal deadlines. | • Assists PI in reviewing program announcements, proposal guidelines (RFPs, RFQs, etc.). • Performs initial review for compliance with the university’s and campus’ guidelines and policies. | ||
| Preparing application materials | • Plans and describes research program. • Prepares technical/project documents. | • Assists PI in formatting documents (Budget Justification, Current & Pending, etc) to ensure compliance with institutional, sponsor, and federal guidelines. • Completes organizational/administrative documents. | ||
| Preparing the budget | • Determines required personnel and percentage of effort. • Identifies travel destinations. • Provides cost estimates for travel, equipment, supplies and other expenses. | • Prepares detailed budget based on project needs identified by PI. • Ensures budget complies with institutional cost accounting standards and sponsor/program guidelines. • Determines and applies the appropriate indirect cost rate. | ||
| Subawards | • Determines collaborating entity, and requests contact info, scope of work, and budget. • Considers “sole-source” justification. | • Obtains Subrecipient Commitment Form, authorized budget and scope of work from institution or private agency. • Incorporates subrecipient proposal into UC Santa Cruz budget and proposal. • Assists PI in determining, based on federal OMB criteria, if the entity will be performing work as a vendor or subrecipient. | ||
| Non-competing continuation proposals | • Updates narrative and budget, if needed. | • Assists with budget. • Verifies that is not a new project or new competing cycle. • Reviews and submits continuation proposal or progress report. | ||
| Backed-in proposals (award received without institutional routing of proposal) | • Notifies OSP of award. • Routes award documents and relevant proposal materials (scope of work, budget, other sponsor-required materials) to OSP. | • Assists PI in gathering and reviewing required documents/forms for proposal/award intake. • Reviews terms and conditions to determine acceptability. • Routes Cayuse record to division for approval. | • Reviews proposal documents & award for reasonableness of the budget & identification of divisional / departmental commitments or liabilities. • Once all issues have been addressed, approval is indicated by signing and returning the Cayuse record to OSP. |
B. Proposal review and compliance considerations
| Activity | Principal Investigator | Office of Sponsored Projects | Division/Department | Extramural Funds Accounting Office |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indirect Cost Waiver | • May request an indirect cost waiver if sponsor does not allow full IDC recovery. Waivers are considered only if doing so is in the campus’ vital interest or sponsor policy. | • Considers and may process exception requests (indirect cost waivers) to the indirect cost rate. • Coordinates with VCR and/or UCOP for additional approvals if needed. • Determines which indirect cost rate should be applied (such as research, other, instruction, on or off campus). | ||
| PI waiver (ETP) | • Prepares and submits the PI Exception to Policy request. | • Reviews for eligibility, completeness, and compliance, and routes for approvals. | • Reviews and approves on behalf of the division/department. | |
| Compliance Issues | • Completes compliance-related forms (such as Conflict of Interest, Statement of Economic Interest) as needed, forwards them to OSP. | • Informs PI of any compliance requirements (e.g., human subjects, animal subjects, export controls, federal financial disclosures, etc.), collects applicable documentation, and forwards information to ORCA for review and approval as needed. | ||
| Terms and Conditions in solicitation/funding opportunity announcement | • Considers any non-standard terms and conditions that may require additional review, action, or monitoring, and determines whether proposal can move forward. | • Reviews if sponsor guidelines contain draft agreement terms & conditions; identifies and addresses any problematic conditions; may prepare alternative conditional language including budgeting to fund effort to fulfill exceptional expense tracking and billing conditions. • In cover letter, requests changes in award terms and conditions, if known. | ||
| Proposal routing and review | • Submits draft of entire proposal, plus signed forms to OSP for review. • Responsible for obtaining required approvals in Cayuse. | • Verifies that documentation is complete. • Routes proposal in Cayuse (along with related proposal materials) for divisional approval prior to submission. • Assists PI with administrative submission requirements. | • Prior to submission, when possible, reviews for reasonableness of the budget and identifies divisional/departmental commitments or liabilities. | |
| Proposal submission | • Submits completed proposal to OSP for review and approval prior to submission to the sponsor. | • Reviews and submits proposal on behalf of UC Santa Cruz. • In cover letter, requests changes in award terms and conditions, if known. |
C. Pending awards
| Activity | Principal Investigator | Office of Sponsored Projects | Division/Department | Extramural Funds Accounting Office |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Checking status | • May check with funding source on status. | • May check with the agency on the status of the proposal upon request from the division or PI. | • Check status of new awards/amendments via sponsor website or through OSP, as needed. | |
| Pre-award spending | • Initiates Firm Commitment Form detailing budget and budget justification. • Identifies unrestricted fund source to be used as back-up for expenses. | • Reviews Firm Commitment Form. • From the grants officer, obtains information on the status of the award: details as to its approval status, what office is currently processing it; estimate time of the award date. • Issues Firm Commitment Notification and budget to the appropriate campus units. | • Division reviews Firm Commitment Form, including budget and spending period. • Reviews information from OSP on the status of the award obtained from the grants officer. • Approval indicates the division agrees to cover any unfunded expenses (unless alternate back-up funding is identified). | • Using the Firm Commitment as the award document, establishes starting date in the financial information system (FIS) and assigns fund number. |
| Just in Time activities | • Updates proposal materials, budget, and disclosures, if applicable. • Initiates compliance reviews as applicable, including human subjects or animal subjects protocols, export control review, etc. | • Reviews and submits updated proposal materials. • Coordinates with ORCA to support completion of relevant compliance requirements. |
D. Award negotiation
| Activity | Principal Investigator | Office of Sponsored Projects | Division/Department | Extramural Funds Accounting Office |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Review of terms and conditions | • PI considers accepting, modifying or rejecting terms and conditions affecting scope of work. | • Reviews award document’s terms & conditions; proposes alternative language for terms conflicting with university’s policies and practices. • Informs PI of possible policy conflicts or changes affecting scope of work, funding, and/or period of performance. • May accept award, or negotiate changes in the award’s terms and conditions. • [Note: Awards with industry/for-profit sponsors are negotiated and accepted by the IBE Hub within the Office of Research.] | ||
| Budget review (awarded budget is different from proposed budget) | • PI reviews and provides revised budget details and justification, as well as any related revisions to the project’s scope due to the budget change. | • Reviews to determine if a formal rebudget is needed. • If so, works with the PI and divisional/departmental staff to prepare the revision, justification, and any related cost-sharing before submitting the request to the sponsor. | ||
| Intellectual property | • Identifies pre-existing IP when applicable/required. | • Identifies intellectual property issues, proposes alternative language into award documents for terms conflicting with university’s policies and practices. | ||
| Reporting and billing terms | • Identifies non-standard invoicing/payment terms in extramural awards, and negotiates terms where feasible. • Notifies division/department and EMF to determine feasibility and costs to fulfill special invoice requirements. • If a sponsor has excessive administrative requirements, may budget personnel to fulfill such requirements to the award. | • Determines feasibility and costs to fulfill special invoice requirements. | • Determines feasibility and costs to fulfill special invoice requirements. • EMF clarifies with OSP terms and conditions, and may contact agency to negotiate specific financial reporting documentation acceptance. |
II. Post-award phase
E. Award acceptance and appropriation
| Activity | Principal Investigator | Office of Sponsored Projects | Division/Department | Extramural Funds Accounting Office |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Award notification | • If award is received directly, forwards the official award notice and any relevant correspondence to OSP. | • Completes Cayuse award record, uploads final budget and award documents, and distributes notification to the PI and appropriate campus units. | • Reviews Award Notice, budget, and award documents. • Notes and identifies special requirements, such as cost sharing, and implements procedures to satisfy those requirements. | • Assigns fund number within three working days of receipt of Award Notification from OSP into OSP’s database, notifies division/ department. |
| Authorizing the agreement budget | • Query into OSP’s database to obtain fund number if needed before it is fully established in FIS. | • Reviews awards for budget period and budgetary accuracy, including indirect cost rate and calculation. • Notifies OSP of any discrepancies. • Authorizes the expenditure of the award funds by appropriating the budget associated with the award into the campus ledger system. Specifically, EMF assigns the fund number, budgetary period, award number, responsible principal investigator, associated indirect cost rate, and funding allocations into FIS. | ||
| Issuing Subawards | • Signs “Request to Issue Subaward” form. | • Reviews, prepares and issues subaward; confirms receipt of certified Subrecipient Commitment Form, works with the PI to complete and authorize the “Request to Issue Subaward” form. • OSP adds necessary documentation (scope, contract, budget) and routes to division or department for review and action. • Contacts, negotiates, and receives necessary signed documents from the subrecipient. • Conducts subrecipient risk assessment before issuing subaward; modifies the award terms as needed based on the monitoring results. • After receipt of the purchase order number and signed authorizations and approvals by the PI, OSP issues subaward. | • Reviews subaward documentation from OSP, submits subaward purchase order request to Purchasing. • Once a lien is set up and a “S” purchase order number is assigned, divisional/departmental accountant/analyst signs off and routes back to OSP. | |
| Issuing Subcontracts to vendors (purchasing goods/services) | • Initiates and authorizes requisition for the subcontract. | • Works with PI to initiate purchase order request to Procurement. |
F. Life of the Award Management
| Activity | Principal Investigator | Office of Sponsored Projects | Division/Department | Extramural Funds Accounting Office |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Financial management and reporting requirements (including cost sharing) | • Reviews monthly financial reports and expenditure detail for accuracy. | • Reviews award terms for financial requirements. • Works with EMF to ensure compliance with any special billing and/or reporting requirements. • Tracks any committed cost sharing identified on the award notice. Submits, no less than annually, a cost share report to EMF. • Reviews, manages, and reconciles all financial transactions and activity on each award. | • Identifies, interprets, and manages processing of award’s invoicing and financial reporting requirements. • Coordinates with campus units and implements processes to ensure compliance with financial requirements on extramural awards. | |
| Multi-Campus Awards (MCAs) | • PI requests any necessary budget revisions. • Reviews and signs the Request to Issue (RTI) form. | • OSP initiates MCA, sends Request to Issue form for PI and RA to sign. • Sends the completed MCA to other campus and copies EMF and RA. | • Reviews and signs the Request to Issue form. | • EMF adjusts the award budget to reflect the MCA awarded amount; reimburses the recipient campus through the systemwide financial control accounts. |
| General operational roles | • Manages the scientific integrity, programmatic activity, and oversight of financial activity for the sponsored project; adherence to all internal university and sponsor policies and compliance requirements. • Reviews monthly financial reports for accuracy. • Certifies effort reporting is accurate. | • Liaises between PI and funding agency regarding matters affecting the award’s terms and conditions. • Interprets award terms and conditions, allowability, and other relevant policies. • May contact sponsor for guidance and/or consult with EMF. | • Verifies that expenditures are allowable according to an award’s terms and conditions, other sponsor’s requirements and state or federal policies. • Provides the PI with regular financial reports. • Reviews and manages financial activity and regular reconciliation on each award. • Works with EMF to ensure compliance with any special billing and/or reporting requirements. • Tracks any committed cost sharing identified on the award notice. Submits, no less than annually, a cost share report to EMF. | • Ultimate authority for appropriating and recording extramural funds transactions as part of the university’s budget. • Certifies all expenses charged against extramural funds as necessary and appropriate on all invoices and financial reports. Has final authority on the allowability of an expense charged to an award. • Provides the required training on direct costing and transfers of expense policies and procedures to staff needing access to the XECG rule code. • Will coordinate any special invoicing, expense tracking and reporting with divisional RAs. EMF is the default coordinator and submitter of invoices and other required back-up documents such as progress reports and ledgers. • Provides the divisional RAs interpretations regarding financial and allowability issues. May contact sponsor for guidance and/or consult OSP. Has final authority on the allowability of an expense charged to an award. • Prepares invoices and certified financial reports for awards as per the award’s terms and conditions; performs and monitors collection efforts; maintains balance sheets associated with each fund. • Identifies and interprets award’s invoicing and financial reporting requirements. Notifies OSP of any issues. • Coordinates with campus units and implements processes to ensure compliance with financial requirements on extramural awards. |
| Changes to the award | • Negotiates any changes with sponsor. | |||
| Prior approval process | • Sponsor approval may be required prior to certain expenditures, depending on award terms. • If approval is required, PI will submit request and justification to OSP. | • OSP will submit request to sponsor once determination is made that sponsor approval is necessary. | • RA will determine if prior approval is necessary and inform PI and OSP. | |
| Rebudgeting | • PI reviews and provides revised budget details and justification, as well as any related revisions to the project’s scope or personnel due to the budget change. | • Submits revised budget for sponsor approval. • Updates Cayuse award record and notifies PI and appropriate campus units. | • Works with PI to draft a revised/updated budget details; routes to PI for justification. If the revised budget includes significant changes the original, the RA will ask PI if there has been a change in the scope of work. • Forwards revised cost estimates to OSP for submittal to agency. | • After review of OSP’s rebudgeting notification, the revised budget is entered in FIS. |
| No-Cost Time Extension (NCE) | • If there is ongoing work required on a project, PI submits request to OSP with a justification for the extension. If required, PI submits a budget for how the remaining funds will be expended. | • OSP receives request from the PI and financial information from the RA. • If sponsor approval is required, OSP submits the request to the sponsor. If approved, OSP issues extension. • If under expanded authority and no further sponsor approval is needed, OSP issues extension. | • RA queries PI 90 days prior to the end date of the award if an extension is to be requested. If so, the RA provides estimate of the unobligated balance at the end of the award to be carried forward into extension period. | • After review of OSP’s NCE notification, the end date is appropriately extended in FIS. |
| Other modifications | • If other changes are needed that need approval by the sponsor (such as changes in key personnel, early termination, etc.), PI prepares request and relevant justification. • Works with OSP to submit to sponsor. | • Reviews modification request and submits to sponsor. • Issues revised award notice if approved. | • Works with PI to draft justification for modification, as needed. | • After review of OSP’s revised award notice, updates FIS if applicable. |
| Subrecipient monitoring | • Ensures that subrecipient’s financial progress is aligned with technical progress. • Requests and reviews subrecipient technical reports for incorporation. • If technical progress is satisfactory, signs invoices and forwards for payment. • Ensures subrecipient is meeting cost-sharing commitment and providing reporting, as applicable. • Works with OSP to adjust terms if subrecipient is not performing. | • Reviews risk assessment and compliance requirements annually. • Issues funding increments. | • Reviews and processes invoices. • Ensuring cost-sharing is accurately reported and tracked. | |
| Transferring an award to another institution | • Works with sponsor contacts to ensure that transfer is feasible. • Authorizes final expenses and actions on the award, including any reporting requirements. | • Works with sponsor to fulfill necessary requirements to terminate the award with the campus so that the sponsor can issue the award to another institution. • Receives from EMF a final report determining the remaining balance on the award. | • Works with EMF to prepare a final financial report of the award’s remaining balance, and reconcile any final expenditures prior to transfer. | • EMF works with the divisional RA to prepare a final financial report of the award’s remaining balance. |
G. Closing out awards
| Activity | Principal Investigator | Office of Sponsored Projects | Division/Department | Extramural Funds Accounting Office |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Final financial reports | • 3-6 months prior to end date of the award the PI plans and works with the RA on final expenditures and eliminating obligations beyond the award period. • When an FSR is required, the divisional/departmental analyst/accountant may consult with PI regarding obligations for the next award period. | • RA cancels or transfers purchasing cards, copy cards, liens, etc. • Verifies that any outstanding orders are invoiced and that the final balance is correct. • RA works with the PI and other departments to review unliquidated obligations, eliminate encumbrances, and to ensure all expenses are captured and accurately reported. • Sends final report to PI and EMF. | • Submits any required financial reports, including cost sharing, to the agency. • Works in collaboration with the RA on agency final financial reports. • For NIH awards, after receiving the final report from the RA, EMF prepares the associated FSR and sends it to the RA for review. Once the RA has confirmed the FSR’s accuracy, EMF submits it to the agency and cc’s RA. In instances where there will be a carryforward from one NIH award to the renewal award with a different fund, EMF will notify OSP of this carryforward amount. • EMF closes fund in FIS. | |
| Final technical reports | • Submits final technical reports and any other deliverables on or before due dates, or informs agency (either directly or via OSP) that there will be a delay in the final reporting. | • Contacts PI if notified of late report; may work with the division if the PI continues to be delinquent after repeated notifications. | ||
| Other final reports | • Works with relevant offices to complete and submit any other final reporting requirements, including property, invention, and other reports if required by the sponsor. | • Follows up with PI and other relevant offices if notified by sponsor of any delinquent reports. | • Connects PI with campus partners as needed to support final reporting requirements. | |
| Subcontractor’s Release form | • In cases where the sponsor’s release form includes non-financial certifications, or is a formal amendment to the award, OSP will sign the form after receiving information and certification from EMF and other applicable units. | • For Contractor Release forms, EMF certifies that the campus has been fully paid on the contract. |