Set Up Project

Roles & Responsibilities

The following is a general overview of the roles for those involved in the setup process:

USU Principal Investigator (PI)

• Provides SPO with a copy of the notification that the proposal has been selected for funding.
• Provides SPO with any communication that occurred after the proposal was submitted, but before the proposal was selected for funding (e.g. revised scope of work or budget documentation).
• Completes Conflict of Interest Disclosure.
• Completes Compliance Protocol Processes (e.g. IRB, IACUC).
• Reviews agreement and complete PI acceptance form in a timely manner.
• Signs/Routes forms as needed for the finalization of your award (e.g. Guarantee of Expenditures Form, Letter of Guarantee, Publication Restriction Form, etc.).

Sponsored Programs Office (SPO)

• Reviews award and compare to proposal submission to determine differences (e.g. dates of performance, budget changes, etc.).
• Reviews and negotiate changes to award agreement as needed.
• Reviews the contract to determine if the project involves Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI); see CUI Guide for PIs for more information.
• Coordinates with PI as needed for additional forms/steps (e.g. Guarantee of Expenditures, PI Acceptance, Compliance requirements, etc.).
• Signs award under delegated signature authority.
• Sets up award in Kuali.
• Notifies SPA of the new award so that it can be set up in Banner.

Sponsored Programs Accounting (SPA)

• Sets up award in Banner.
• Communicates with PI, SPO, and Business Services to provide notification of index(es) setup for the specific award.
• Sets up necessary cost share or effort tracking indexes.

Frequently Asked Questions

I received a notification that my proposal was selected for funding. What is the next step?

If you receive a notification that your proposal has been selected for funding, ensure that your SPO Post-Award Contact receives a copy of the notification so that it can be added to their queue for review, negotiation, and setup.

What does the review, negotiation, and setup process involve?

This process contains several different components/steps necessary to ensure compliance with federal and state regulations, university policies and procedures, and minimizing the risk for the University and its researchers. These include, but are not limited to:

• Review (or draft) an award agreement and its terms and conditions line by line
• Review the submitted Kuali proposal to ensure that the agreement matches what was proposed
• Noting non-standard terms and conditions, drafting alternative clauses, conferring with USU Legal Affairs, and other USU compliance offices as needed
• Negotiation changes to terms and conditions with sponsors and their legal counsel
• Creating the Award in Kuali and entering the awarded budget to match the final executed agreement
• Compiling an award packet that comprises USU’s formal record of the award
• Send the packet to Sponsored Programs Accounting for Banner index setup.

How long does it take to receive an index after the formal notification of award has been received?

Once a formal notification of award has been received, it will be added to SPO’s queue for review, negotiation, and setup. SPO strives to set up new awards within a three-week time frame. There are several steps within the process that may lead to longer setup times. These include, but are not limited to:

• Problematic terms and conditions requiring review by legal affairs and negotiation with the sponsor’s legal points of contact.
• Compliance protocols (e.g., IRB, IACUC) not submitted/approved at the time of award notification.
• PI/Co-I conflict of interest disclosures aren’t up to date
• Substantive changes between what was proposed and what was awarded that haven’t been documented.
• PI/Co-Is who have not completed the required RFAST training.
• A PI who has required reporting on existing awards that are more than 90 days overdue or required reporting to facilitate the closeout of projects that have ended.

Once SPO has completed its review, negotiation, and setup, a Kuali packet is sent to Sponsored Programs Accounting (SPA). SPA is the office that formally assigns and sets up the index in Banner.

What can a PI do to facilitate a smooth award setup process?

There are several things a PI can do to ensure the award setup process progresses smoothly. These include, but are not limited to:

• Complete RFAST training.
• Submit required compliance protocols (IRB & IACUC) and notify your SPO Post-Award Contact when the protocol has been approved.
• Review the agreement and complete the PI Acceptance Form in a timely manner once initiated in KualiBuild by SPO.
• Monitor emails and respond promptly to emails from SPO to facilitate the agreement review and negotiation process.
• Complete a Technology Control Plan in a timely manner if the project has export control components or a publication restriction.
• Have a current conflict of interest disclosure completed.

What is a Letter of Guarantee?

A Letter of Guarantee (LOG) is a form that allows a Banner index to be set up prior to the full review, negotiation, and execution of an agreement. This allows incurred expenses to be charged to the project index at the time it is incurred.

When should a Letter of Guarantee form be submitted to SPO?

If a PI chooses to begin work prior to full execution and setup of an agreement, a LOG must be submitted to SPO so that expenses can be charged to the appropriate index at the time the cost is incurred. It is inappropriate to temporarily charge expenses to other indexes as a holding place while waiting for a new sponsored programs index.

What is a Guarantee of Expenditures?

A Guarantee of Expenditures is a KualiBuild form that is required when receiving funds from a non-governmental/private sponsor that does not agree to provide full payment up front. This guarantee allows alternative payment terms to be put into place with a guarantee that the Principal Investigator or assigned Academic Department/Research Center will cover any costs not recovered from the sponsor in the event of default of payment by the sponsor at no fault of USU.

The PI can coordinate with Business Services and Sponsored Programs Accounting throughout the duration of the project to monitor the cash balance of the project to ensure that invoices are being paid in a timely manner. If invoices are not being paid and the negative cash balance exceeds an appropriate level (determined by the department/college), work on the project may need to be stopped until payment is received.

What is the process if there is a publication restriction associated with a project?

If the sponsor has a publication restriction related to the work completed, the project will no longer qualify for the fundamental research exclusion and now falls under export control components. Upon completion of the PI acceptance, a KualiBuild Publication Restriction form will be sent to the PI for acknowledgement of the publication restriction. Upon completion of this acknowledgement the Research Integrity & Compliance office will coordinate with the PI to get a Technology Control Plan in place for the project.

When might another Kuali Proposal be required to document a change from the originally submitted proposal?

At times another Kuali Proposal will be required for an existing award or a proposal that has been selected for funding. A Kuali Proposal will be required under the following circumstances:

• The funded proposal was not received on-time and did not receive a full review prior to submission to the sponsor. If a full review at the time of award reveals significant issues, a new Kuali Proposal will be required to address and correct them. The proposal type in Kuali for this type of proposal should be “Revision”.
• A sponsor has requested changes to a proposal still under consideration (e.g., a scope and/or budget change). A new Kuali proposal will be required if the scope is changing and/or the budget is being changed by +/- 5% of the originally proposed budget. The proposal type in Kuali for this type of proposal should be “Revision”.
• The proposal is funded at an amount that is +/- 10% of the originally proposed budget. A new Kuali proposal will be required to indicate how the proposal should be budgeted based on the amount awarded. The proposal type in Kuali for this type of proposal should be “Revision”.
• An existing award is receiving additional funding that was not previously included in the original Kuali proposal. A new Kuali proposal will be required to indicate how the new funding should be budgeted. The proposal type in Kuali for this type of proposal should be “Augmentation”.
• A sponsor requires an updated budget to release each increment of funding. If the budget for the next increment will be different than originally proposed, a new Kuali proposal will be required to indicate how the next increment will be budgeted. The proposal type in Kuali for this type of proposal should be “Continuation”.

What steps are necessary to set up an approved subaward on a project?

If the proposal included a subaward(s), the PI should complete the Subaward Initiation Form to formally request the setup of the subaward(s) once the main award has been setup and a Banner index has been assigned.