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• Sponsored Projects
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MOST COMMON FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Sponsored Projects

Pre-Award

1. Ensuring that all correspondence with sponsors follows the proper processes, that sponsored project proposals are accurate and properly approved before submission, and that all proposals carry the standard IDC rate or have an authorized waiver from the Office for the Vice President of Research.

2. Developing cost sharing policies for the department or college, which include strategies to minimize the amount of required and voluntary cost sharing.

3. Establishing procedures to analyze revenue characteristics for proper classification into the sponsored project, gift and external sales categories.

4. Ensuring that any expense for a sponsored project for which funding has not yet been received is charged to a pre-award account.

5. Ensuring employees involved in sponsored project research have received the appropriate training prior to the start of the project.

Effort & Salary

1. Monitoring committed effort levels to determine if they are in accordance with the terms of the grant/contract.

2. Reviewing the processing of salary adjustments to ensure adjustments are timely and are appropriately reflected and referenced on the effort cards.

3. Establishing a process to ensure all researchers certify effort on each project (quarterly if applicable, but annually at a minimum), effort cards are submitted timely, overload payments are not certified, statements are properly approved, and all corrections are dated and initialed.

4. Developing procedures to ensure salary for all faculty over the NIH salary cap is adjusted accurately.

Award Management

1. Ensuring that all required employees file REPA and ROC forms in accordance with University policy and established deadlines.

2. Reviewing expenditures on sponsored projects for allowability, allocability, appropriateness, authorization, proper justification or relation to the project and accurate coding.

3. Establishing procedures to ensure that all extensions, re-budgeting, and changes in principal investigators, key personnel, committed effort level, and workscope are approved by the agency when required.

4. Documenting all committed cost sharing and matching funds by tracking expenses made for the benefit of the project but not directly charged to the project.

5. Monitoring of technical report deadlines to ensure they are submitted in accordance with the terms of the grant/contract.

6. Ensuring that research labs are operating in a safe manner and in accordance with University and DEHS policies and procedures.

7. Monitoring fixed price contract accounts to ensure expenses are charged appropriately, deficits are taken care of, and accounts are closed on a timely basis.

8. Developing a procedure for coordinating the travel and payroll processes to ensure employees who travel on sponsored funds are reporting the corresponding effort appropriately.

9. Ensuring that research subject payment vouchers include only the necessary information, such as name, address, social security number and account string.

10. Implementing procedures to ensure program income accounts are properly established and utilized, and the program income is reported timely.

11. Developing procedures to ensure timely communication of completion of projects to SFR for the preparation of final reports.

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