For Faculty and Staff

For Departmental Grant Administrators

Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) staff partner with Departmental Grant Administrators, or DGAs, and faculty members to assist with the administration of sponsored project agreements. As a team, we protect the University of Idaho by maintaining compliance with all applicable federal, state, university and sponsor regulations and policies. The information and links provided on this page have been compiled by OSP to assist DGAs by providing a central location for important resources. If you have suggestions for additional content, or have questions about the content on this page, please contact osp@uidaho.edu or call 208-885-6651.

OSP Responsibilities

Leadership

The Director of the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) reports to the Vice President of Research and Economic Development and serves as the University of Idaho’s Authorized Organizational Representative (AOR). The Director oversees all units of OSP and provides gift vs. grant determinations.

The Associate Director of the Office of Sponsored Programs oversees the Pre-award and Financial Units and serves as the IT liaison.

Pre-Award

Our Sponsored Programs Administrators review proposals for external funding. Questions on the following topics should be directed to the Pre-Award Unit:

Vandals Electronic Research Administration System (VERAS)
Proposal development
Proposal submissions
Grants.gov
Research.gov/Fastlane (not related to submitting a request for an extension, rebudget, or other prior approval)
Gift vs. grant determinations, with director final approval

Post Award

The Post Award Unit is responsible for the following:

Index, fund and grant code setup in Banner
Modifications and Awards
Sponsor Prior Approval requests (e.g. requests for extensions, rebudgets, change of Principal Investigator (PI), and others)
Moving funding between grant indexes
Early setups and advance funding
Questions about whether we have received an award, modification, and replies to prior approval (or other) requests or signed documents
Annual or progress reporting questions
Master Agreements and MOUs

Contract Review Unit

The Contract Review Unit ensures that research agreements comply with university, state and federal policy, law and regulations; and can assist you with questions related to the following:

Agreements related to research, including but not limited to research agreements, master research agreements, MOUs, and incoming service agreements (i.e. fee for services)
Negotiated changes to agreements
Issuing subaward or subcontract agreements
Issues or requirements related to research agreements
Supports the Director of OSP as assigned

Cost Accounting Unit

The Cost Accounting Unit is responsible for the following:

Allowability: Is an expense allowable on a particular project/type of project?
Expenditures: How do I get an expenditure on a particular budget (e.g. what e-code do I use or what is the best method to get this charge onto the budget?)
Budget transfers:
- Completion of budget transfers that involve the F&A budget category (60) or are moving between indexes (must be within the same budget categories.) Department starts the budget transfers, including text, and the Cost Accounting Unit completes.
- Approval of all budget transfers.
Fly America Act Compliance
Effort Reports (ERs)
Cost Share
Space Survey
F&A Rate proposal
Reporting of numbers to Colleges (e.g., quarterly activity reports, F&A distribution, annual activity reports)
Audit
Payroll cost transfers
Service Centers

Financial Unit

The Financial Unit is responsible for the following:

Invoicing or letter of credit drawdowns
Account close-outs at award end
Financial and other non-technical reporting

DGA Resources

This meeting is hosted by OSP and is open to university staff who assist with sponsored project administration. Meetings will be held in IRIC 305 at 1:30 p.m. on the first Monday each month except January and September – those meetings will be held on the second Monday. Zoom calendar invites are available upon request to Vicki Russell. Agenda items are sent to the DGA listserv each month, prior to the meeting. Please send agenda item suggestions to Vicki Russell or Ann-Marie Bilderback.

DGA Roundtable - 2019

2019 Meetings

DGA Roundtable - 2018

2018 Meetings

June Meeting Minutes and Agenda
July - No meeting
August Meeting Minutes and Agenda
- New budget categories quick reference
September Meeting Minutes and Agenda
October - No Meeting
November - No Meeting
December Meeting Minutes and Agenda
- Early Setup Form
- Index Request Form
- Payroll Cost Transfer
  - Payroll Cost Transfer Sample (PDF)
  - Payroll Cost Transfer Sample (Excel)

DGA Roundtable - 2017

Previous meeting minutes starting February 2017:

Documents & Resources

Acronyms

Acronyms List

Administrative Procedures Manual

APM Chapter 45: Research Office

Advance Funding

a. The advance funding procedure is to be initiated by the PI, college, or unit (department) when a modification to an existing agreement (project) has not yet been received to extend and/or add additional funding to an established grant code (and index or indexes), or a modification has been received but not yet executed, to allow for expenditures in support of the next phase of the project. An authorized designee of the unit, per APM 45.05, must provide authorization for advance funding, to OSP Post Award, to allow for work to proceed for the next phase of the project in advance of the end-date or deficit spending. This process reduces the number of cost transfers, prevents disruptions in on-going project work, and helps to ensure that expenses are attributed to the project that they support. Advance funding differs from an early (preliminary) setup. Advance funding is for existing agreements as opposed to a new agreement. If a new agreement requires a project budget before the new agreement is received and executed, please see the early (preliminary) setup procedure for the relevant process and policy information.

Process: The unit Dean or institute equivalent, or designee, should submit an Advance Funding authorization email, utilizing the template below, via email to the Post Award unit of OSP. By providing the advance funding authorization, the unit is agreeing to absorb any incurred expenditures should an amendment not be received and executed for the advance funding amount and/or timeframe. Any pending charges beyond the project end-date or in excess of the awarded funding amount will not be permitted until advance funding approval is received from the College Dean or Dean’s delegate. For direct federally funded grant projects, the Vice President for Research and Economic Development will provide the advance funding guarantee, as long as the unit/college provides certification, using the template made available by the Office of Sponsored Program (below), that confirms that the PI is compliant with all deliverables and protocols per Section D-2 of APM 45.05.
If the advance funding approval, or certification of compliance for VP guarantee of advance funding, is not received by OSP prior to the end-date or expenditure of the current funding amount, the department will need to cease work and incurrence of charges for the project until such time as an amendment is received and executed. Should an amendment not be received from the sponsor (barring extenuating circumstances) within the financial closeout period, the department must transfer any overages or charges that occurred after the end-date from the account(s) as voluntary uncommitted cost share and OSP will close the project by sending a final invoice to the sponsor, as required under the terms of the agreement.

Template for advance funding authorization:“For project(s) INSERT GRANT CODE AND INDEX NUMBER(S), OSP and the department (college) have been informed that the sponsor intends to continue this project. However, UI has not yet received an official amendment from the sponsor. As the Dean or Dean’s delegate (or institute equivalent), I provide approval for the advance funding of this project. I understand that the University’s advance funding procedure allows for project expenditures to be incurred for the next phase of the project for up to 90 days and up to 25% of a 12 month period of funding. I certify that any expenditures incurred in the advance funding period will be the responsibility of the department or college, unless this project is a direct federal grant, should the sponsor not provide an amendment. By providing advance funding approval or request for VP guarantee of advance funding, the College certifies that the PI is compliant with all project deliverables and will remain compliant during the advanced funding period.”

APM 45.05