Sponsor Prior Approval Requirements

Changes that typically require sponsor preapproval are as follows. These requests must be reviewed and authorized by the Office of Sponsored Programs and approved by an authorized official of the sponsoring agency because they are typically in the form of a contractual amendment.

• A change to the period of performance (i.e., a request for an extension of time to complete the project)
• A change in status of any principal investigators, Co-PIs or named key personnel, including separation from the university, absence from the project of more than three months or a change in the proposed level of effort by more than 25 percent
• Changes to line-item budget amounts not falling within the authority prescribed by a sponsor (rebudgeting limits as per agreement or agency guidelines)
• A substantive change in scope of work
• Other items as noted in the specific agreement (e.g., some equipment purchases, sub-awards not initially proposed, carry-forward of prior budget period funding if limited by sponsor terms).

APM 45.14

Additional Guidance

We recommend that you work closely with your program manager to keep him or her apprised of your progress. However, any issues that will require contractual amendments (time extensions, rebudgeting, change in PI, etc.) must be requested through OSP via VERAS. We therefore request that you not contact the authorizing official directly so that they are not receiving information from multiple sources.

Prior approval requests are submitted in VERAS using the following process:

1. Log in to http://veras.uidaho.edu/
2. If you are listed as personnel on the proposal, you can select the Forms icon under the Project Assistant workspace’s All Proposals table Actions menu.
   1. Selecting the Forms icon will open a list of available forms to choose from, and you will select either Start a new Submission (for a new request) or Edit Incomplete Submissions (for a previously started request) to enter the form.
3. If you are not listed as personnel on the proposal, you will need to search for the proposal.
   1. Under Project Assistant Workspace, select Find a Proposal.
   2. Search for the applicable proposal number and select the pencil/paper icon to open.
   3. Select the Sponsor Prior Approval Request form.
4. Complete the applicable information in section one of the request form to the best of your ability. Make sure to leave question 1.12 “OSP Internal Use ONLY” blank. Select Save and Continue to Next Section, then select Signoff and Submit.
   1. This form will require the PI to sign off and approve the submission before it goes to the OSP submission queue.
   2. If someone besides the PI authors the form, they must select Notify PI to Signoff for the PI to receive a system notification at the end of the form.
5. When OSP receives the submission, the project status will change to Prior Approval - RUSH Processing.
   1. Note, you can find previously completed forms in the Project Submission Status summary under the Completed tab.

Additional instructions can be found under the upper right VERAS help button titled How to Create a Sponsor Prior Approval Request Form (.docx) under 3. Post Award Forms category. 

Travel plans, especially foreign travel, should be specified in your proposal. Foreign travel is generally subject to the provisions of the Fly America Act, which requires the use of U.S. carriers except under very specific circumstances. See additional information.