• Before the award is made
• When work can begin
• Establishing preaward or advance accounts
• Site visits
• Education requirements
• The award process
• Electronic Grants Management System (EGMS)
• Review the NOGA
• Account establishment

Before the award is made
PIs may receive communication from the potential sponsor after the proposal has been submitted  and before any award is made.  Some of these communications may be informal budgetary or workscope discussions.  Others may be a formal part of the proposal review and award process.  In particular, Federal agencies have a "just in time" step for submitting proof of education and IRB approvals. Agencies, including NIH, that follow this practice do not require IRB approval at the time of submission or within sixty days of application receipt.  Instead, following peer review the investigator will be notified of the application's score and if the application is in the fundable range.  At that time, the investigator must obtain IRB approval and verification of education. 

When work can begin
Work can officially begin on a sponsored project:

• on or after the award's official starting date (indicated on the contract or award statement), and when an agreement has been fully executed by both parties, or
• when a binding commitment from a sponsor has been received (e.g., a unilateral award from NIH or NSF) and the terms and conditions accepted.

Charges that are made to a nonsponsored program and then transferred to the sponsored project when the award is established must be transferred before the cost transfer deadline.

STATE AWARDS:

PIs receiving awards from the State of Minnesota are often frustrated by the long time between an agency's first expression of interest to fund a project and the actual availability of the funds. This is largely due to a State law (M.S.16C.05 subd.2) that prohibits grants or contracts from starting before the date of final State signature. This means, regardless of the project period requested in the original proposal, funds cannot cover costs incurred before the date the award is fully executed. Since the overall award process (issuance by State administrator, SPA review and signature, and obtaining two to four State signatures) may take from several weeks to several months, this can wreak havoc with project planning. SPA encourages PIs to submit proposals as early as possible, and to raise this issue with their agency counterpart early in the cycle, to see what remedies exist or what revisions may be expected.

Once all parties sign the award, only if state personnel invoke a special waiver of the restrictive ordinance, will the award be retroactive to the specified project start date. Some program officers are unaware of this provision; others may refuse to cite it, as it has pejorative connotations in some agencies. Contact your grant administrator for assistance in negotiating such arrangements.

This State provision also affects advance account establishment, which PIs often request to get projects under way before the lengthy State award process is resolved. Unlike the federal government, the State does not recognize "pre-award" costs. In these situations, SPA is reticent to set up an account and promote PIs incurring costs for which their department will be accountable. The University needs assurance from the agency, i.e. the waiver, that the award, once executed, will be effective from the original project start date. If agency assurance remains uncertain, we may require explicit departmental acknowledgement of the risks involved before we will establish an account.

Common Problem:
The applicant has not provided enough budget detail to allow grant administrators to properly distribute the awarded funds into budget categories. The grant administrator must request this information from the PI, thus extending the time it takes to set up the award.
 
Establishing preaward or advance accounts
Occasionally, it is necessary to obtain a project number before the award process is completed. For example, a PI may wish to begin a lengthy hiring process before the project's start date.

• An advance project is used when the project start date occurs before the award process has been completed, for example a contract has not been signed by all parties.
• A preaward project is used when the PI needs to begin working on a project before the project start date.

Education requirements
The Regents' policy on Submitting and Accepting Sponsored Projects requires PIs to participate in an educational program on the Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR). The RCR curriculum is divided into a series of workshops:

1. RCR, part I, covers topics such as social responsibility, reporting misconduct, authorship, and management of research data.
2. RCR, part 2, covers fiscal responsibilities, conflict of interest, and intellectual property.
3. Additional topic-specific workshops include care and use of animals, protecting human subjects, and issues in environmental health and safety.

Continuing education is required a year after completing the RCR 1 and 2. PIs must review an update of information each year and once every three years, they must participate in “active learning” activities related to RCR topics.

Information about the program can be found at: http://www.research.umn.edu/training/.
 
The award process
The process of executing an agreement and authorizing work involves several steps:

• Negotiation.
• Notification of the award.
• Officially accepting the sponsored grant, contract, or agreement.

Negotiation
On many bilateral agreements (both parties must sign), the sponsor and SPA must come to an agreement regarding the budget, the scope of work, and other terms and conditions of the award. These negotiations can take weeks or months, particularly if the sponsor is slow to respond to questions or requests to revise clauses. See the section earlier in this chapter regarding advance accounts for information on establishing an account before the final contract is signed.

On unilateral agreements, usually grants which the University does not sign, the sponsor will sometimes contact the PI directly to discuss the budget. Generally, any changes must be reviewed by the PI or their representative and SPA.
 
Items that may be subject to negotiation include:

• scope of work,
• budget,
• the reporting requirements, both technical and financial,
• start and end dates,
• audit requirements that do not conform to Federal OMB Circular A-110,
• indemnity and liability,
• F&A (indirect) costs,
• ownership of technical developments,
• limitations for publication,
• requests for secrecy (see the Regents Openness in Research policy),
• intellectual property issues such as use of results in later projects and licenses,
• payment terms,
• adverse reaction,
• termination, and
• governing law.

Notification of the award  
The award document is considered an official agreement of the scope of work, the amount the sponsor will provide, and other terms and conditions that govern the project.
 
Sponsors usually send SPA official notification of an award. However, if award notification has been sent to the PI or to a department or college office, the award notice and any agreements or contract materials must be forwarded immediately to SPA. Remember that the award is made to the University and not to a PI.
 
PI notification:
• If it is a bilateral agreement (both parties must sign), SPA will send the PI a copy of the notice along with a memo requesting PI confirmation of technical terms, reporting requirements, and overall PI concurrence with the document. The agreement cannot move forward without PI input.
• If SPA receives an electronic award transmission, staff members will forward them to PIs.
• Final agreements which are fully executed must be copied to PI and their representatives (i.e. administrators and/or the RSO, as appropriate).

Award notices typically contain the following information:
• title or description of the award,
• award beginning and ending dates,
• dollar amount awarded,
• the terms of payment, e.g., letter of credit vs. invoicing,
• programmatic deliverables,
• financial invoicing/reporting requirements,
• cost sharing or matching commitments, and
• a budget if it has changed from the proposed budget.

Officially accepting the sponsored grant, contract, or agreement
Through their policy on Submitting and Accepting Sponsored Projects, the Regents have delegated signatory authority for accepting awards to designated individuals in SPA. Once an agreement has been reviewed by SPA and the PI, it can be accepted and executed on behalf of the University by SPA. Since awards are made to the University of Minnesota and not to faculty, staff, or others, these individuals cannot accept grants or sign contracts or agreements.

• prepare the Notice of Grant/Contract Award (NOGA),
• assign a project number, and
• activate budget lines for the project.

Notice of Grant/Contract Award (NOGA)/Notice of Program Income (NOPI)
SPA prepares a "Notice of Grant/Contract Award" (NOGA) to provide information regarding the award's important terms and conditions. It should be referred to by PIs and departments to provide guidance in managing the project. It usually contains the following information:
• the University account number
• award amount
• beginning and ending dates
• the F&A / indirect cost rate
• matching or cost-sharing requirements
• program income distribution requirements
• technical reporting requirements
• other terms and conditions

If program income occurs on a sponsored project and it is determined that the income can be used under the additional alternative and/or add/deduct alternative, SPA staff will assign a "child account" under the prime sponsor account to recognize the income. This assignment will occur upon receipt of the initial check/payment of program income. A NOPI will be prepared and distributed to the principal investigator, department, college, certified approver, Sponsored Financial Reporting (SFR) and External Sales. Any income received thereafter, for the identified activity, will not generate a NOPI and instead be setup directly by SFR staff.

Assigning a project number  
As soon as SPA receives the award notice or final agreement, a staff member will assign a project number to the project. This number identifies the project in the University's accounting system. When the project number is assigned, SPA will notify the PI and the department and collegiate offices through email.
 
Interest-bearing accounts: For an account of this type to be used, the award must require that an interest-bearing account be established. At the written request of a grant administrator, the Office of Budget and Finance will set up the account. The balance at the end of each trimester must be at least $15,000 for interest to be accrued. At the end of each trimester, the grant administrator will transfer the interest revenue into the project's operating budget. Consult SPA and the University financial policy Allocating Temporary Investment Pool Income for details.
 
Activating budget categories for the project
When SPA establishes the project, an allocation of the awarded amount will be made into the appropriate expense categories (expense budget lines, also known as Object codes). The grant administrator will set up these categories in accordance with the sponsor's approved budget. Some sponsor's categories, however, do not correspond with the University accounting system. Therefore, it may be necessary for the grant administrator, PI, and unit administrator to work together to establish the budget, and monitor compliance with sponsor financial terms and conditions.
 
The grant administrator will also create EB and RB (Revenue Budget) documents that refer to anticipated expenses and collection of income. Copies will be sent to the unit administrator and accountant, who should review them for accuracy and retain them for auditing purposes.