45.04 - Sponsored Project Awards and Establishment of Financial Setup

Owner:

Last updated: February 13, 2024

A. Purpose. This policy clarifies the process by which an award from an external sponsor is accepted and subsequently set up and budgeted for spending in the University’s financial system.

B. Scope. This policy is applicable to all external funding classified as a “sponsored project.”

C. Definitions

C-1. Notice of award. Any of various funding vehicles used by external sponsors to indicate that the sponsor is making a commitment to fund a proposed scope of work. It may take the form of a grant notice requiring no additional signatures; a formal contract or agreement requiring signatures of one or more parties; an award letter which may or may not include a check payment in advance; a purchase order; or any other agreement mechanism which may require the acceptance of a specific set of terms and conditions.

C-2. Fully executed. A fully executed award is one in which all parties have indicated their acceptance of the terms and conditions via the signature of the appropriate authorized representative, when such signature is required.

D. Policy. If a unit receives a notice of award, they should verify whether the award notice includes communication to the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP), and if not, share the notice to OSP as quickly as possible. The Director of OSP, or their designated representative, is the only person authorized to sign on behalf of the University. Principal Investigators (PIs), unit administrators, college deans, and other University staff are not authorized to sign accepting external funding for sponsored projects on the University’s behalf.

E. Procedure

E-1. Request for review and approval of award documents. PIs, and as appropriate unit administrators or college deans, must review and approve award documents prior to OSP signing the award (if signatures are required). Any requested changes to the agreement(s) must be submitted to OSP. Negotiation of any changes requested are the responsibility of the OSP Contract Review Unit (CRU). Note: Establishment of a budget and spending authority will be delayed until an approved and fully executed agreement is received by OSP. (See APM 45.05 when an Early Setup is requested).

E-2. Compliance protocols. If a sponsored project has indicated that compliance oversight is required, authorization from the relevant compliance oversight committee must be received, when applicable, prior to financial set up. Examples of areas of compliance oversight include but are not limited to the use of human subjects, animals, or biohazards.

E-3. Financial set-up. After the award is fully executed and any required compliance approvals are in place the following steps will be completed:

  • OSP will establish a grant code, and one or more funds and indexes. These items will constitute financial spending authority for the PI to charge the applicable direct expenses to the project for up to the amount currently funded by the sponsor and within the rebudgeting limitations (if any) set by the sponsor.
  • Once financial set up is complete, notification will be sent to the PI(s) and the Departmental Grant Administrator (DGA) with the relevant information and a copy of the award document. Both of these documents should be reviewed carefully when received, and the budget verified for accuracy.

F. Contact information. Any questions regarding notices of sponsored projects should be addressed to the Office of Sponsored Programs at 208-885-6651 or osp@uidaho.edu.

Version History

Updated Feb. 13, 2024