To manage your grant financial summary, please visit http://webapps.umsystem.edu/

• Click on 'Web Applications' Login
• Click on FIN Financial Reports
• Click on Budget Variance 2: Project to Date Funds
• Enter Project Number
• Click on run report

A: The Grant Award Summary, (GAS) is a document issued to the PI at award set up time indicating award amount, award begin and end dates, budget, cost sharing (if applicable), project number, project title, sponsor name, name of grants and contracts administrator in OSP who will be responsible for award management and the project’s MoCode.

A:  Hiring actions are initiated by the PI in conjunction with the personnel administrator/HR in their unit.  Individuals hired on a sponsored project are subject to all S&T policy and procedures as well as the terms of the grant agreement. Personnel hired may be graduate students, undergraduate students, postdoctoral associates, staff, or consultants. Each category may require different paperwork; please contact HR for details.           

A: You may request a departmental guarantee using a “departmental guarantee” request form. The department chair will be required to approve.

A:  Discuss the grant with your department chair and ask for their approval to begin transfer discussions with your former institution. Once you have received this approval, contact your assigned OSP administrator to arrange transfer logistics. OSP staff will need to work closely with the staff at your previous institution, so be prepared with their names and contact information. Once all details have been agreed upon between the two institutions, the proposal, budget, and letters agreeing to accept the transferred grant will go through the university proposal routing approval process.         

A: You can expect that your grants and contracts administrator will:

• Review the award
• Set up the budget in PeopleSoft and issue the MoCode for spending
• Issue request for payment to sponsors
• Assist PIs with the monitor expenditures and cost share
• Advise PI and departmental staff on the allowability of expenses
• Assist in the correction of expenses
• Submit financial reports to sponsors
• Submit requests for budget revisions to sponsors
• Submit requests for no-cost time extensions to sponsors
• Put forward any necessary internal forms for review and approval to VCR
• Review subcontract invoices for appropriateness, route to PI for approval, and then route for payment
• Work with auditors on all sponsored activity review
• Submit all close out documents to sponsors

Maintain the complete official project file until closed

A: Summer salary paperwork is a personnel action and is initiated by your department.  The paperwork for other costs is also initiated by your unit.

A:  Grant fund expenditures should be made according to the approved budget that is part of the grant agreement. If you need to spend funds differently from the way it appears in the approved budget, you may need to request a rebudget of your grant funds. Please contact your award grant and contracts administrator.

A:  The Principal Investigator must request such action from OSP in writing. If sponsor approval is required, OSP will work with you to obtain such approval before the re-budget is authorized.

A: Cost share is part of the proposal budget and appears in either a separate column or a separate column listed as "Other" for third party cost-share on the ePSRS. Once an award is made, it is the responsibility of the PI and university to track the cost-share.

A:  The situation should be discussed with your post-award OSP administrator as soon as it becomes a problem. The agreements with contractors are typically written so that there are clear performance and payment milestones. The longer you wait to formally bring it to the contractor's attention, the less time we have to rectify the situation and the more difficult the situation becomes. OSP can work with you and any other offices in the university necessary to resolve the issue.

A: The PI on the project is responsible for the approval of expenditures on grants and contracts.  The fiscal approver of each department is then responsible for the approval in the accounting system.  OSP staff are available as a resource if those approving expenditures have questions about grant account expenses.

A: OSP is responsible for invoicing to sponsors and preparing all financial reports.  In some instances, the contract may have special reporting or invoicing requirements. Invoices and reports can only be completed after university and/or sponsor requirements have been met. These special cases will be coordinated in advance between the Principal Investigator and the grants and contracts administrator managing the award.

A: Most sponsored projects require technical reports detailing progress. These reports are part of the contractual agreement between the sponsor and the university.The PI is responsible for preparing the technical reports.

Failure to submit reports on a timely basis may not only adversely affect the Principal Investigator's (and the university's) ability to receive further support from the sponsor, but may also result in a loss of payment for costs already incurred.

A: OSP sends a copy of the award document outlining the reporting requirements to the PI.   It is the responsibility of the PI to review and note report due dates.

A: Discuss this with your OSP post-award administrator as soon as it becomes an issue. Research shifts that create a redirection of the statement of work described in the original proposal must be negotiated with the sponsor.  The PI may request changes in scope or period of performance to your post-award administrator.  The post-award administrator OSP will review and seek sponsor approval of such changes.  

A: Occasionally, the completion of grant or contract work may require more time than originally specified.  Discuss this with your OSP grants and contracts administrator.  It may be possible to request a no-cost extension from the sponsor.  A no-cost extension will extend your project's end date without adding funds.  A sponsor may not agree to such an extension.

The Principal Investigator must notify the OSP post-award administrator in writing of the need for a no–cost extension at least 60 days prior to the project expiration date so that OSP can obtain the sponsor's approval. 

A: An Effort Verification Report, (EVR) is a certification of the effort spent working on sponsored research projects.

The OMB Uniform Guidance recognizes that faculty research, teaching, consulting, advising of students and administration activities are inextricably intermingled in an academic setting and is too burdensome to attempt to account each separately. Therefore, Federal standards require that faculty certify their effort on research twice a year.

Please note:  Failure to certify effort will result in a disallowed salary cost and will be required to be transferred from the project.

A:  The university is subject to audit by sponsors for specific programs and is also audited for its administration of sponsored programs in accordance with the OMB Circular A-133. Auditors representing sponsors will periodically examine the university's records for the purposes of:

• determining whether contract or grant funds were used in accordance with applicable laws, regulations, and procedures
• making objective appraisals of the financial accounting system and administrative controls to ensure that programs are being charged with appropriate amounts
• determining the accuracy of the financial reports and records

A: This issue is addressed during the grant close-out period. Grant funds are to be used only for the purpose of the grant. If the work is complete, in most cases the funds must be returned to the sponsor, unless the sponsor contract contains specific provisions otherwise. Please check with your OSP post-award administrator about your specific grant or contract.