RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE OFFICE OF GRANTS AND CONTRACTS AND OTHER UNIVERSITY OFFICES

	RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE OFFICE OF GRANTS AND CONTRACTS AND OTHER UNIVERSITY OFFICES	No. 4-34	Rev.
		Date 8-17-77

OLD VERSION

I. PURPOSE

To detail the responsibilities and interactions between the Office of Grants and Contracts with other University offices so far as contacting sponsoring agencies and accepting funded projects are concerned.

II. DEFINITIONS

A. Sponsored Project

A sponsored project is a project awarded to a recipient at the University wherein the role and scope of work to be performed by the recipient requires a follow-up report, hardware development or other types of results such as research results. These type awards are normally defined as contracts, grants, fellowships or memorandums of agreement.

B. Gifts

Gifts are defined as all alumni and private source gifts which are unrestricted so far as follow-up reports, hardware developments, research results and other restrictions are concerned (the Internal Revenue Service definition of a gift for tax exempt purposes differentiates between "gifts" and "sponsored projects").

III. PROCEDURE

A. The Office of Grants and Contracts will have the responsibility for the establishment of procedures and the maintenance of any controls necessary to insure that the University complies with all regulations and stipulations pertaining to sponsored projects. In carrying out this responsibility, the Office of Grants and Contracts will follow the established administrative guidelines in order to eliminate duplication of functions. The Office of Grants and Contracts will maintain a complete file of all documentation and correspondence pertaining to each funded sponsored project and a prime file for future audit purposes. All contact with sponsoring agencies should be made by the Office of Grants and Contracts or the principal investigator and copies of correspondence between the sponsor and the principal investigator should be forwarded to the Office of Grants and Contracts for filing in the prime master file. (The only exception to this procedure is the submittal of routine financial reports to the sponsoring agency by the Accounting Department.)

B. Interoffice Relationships

The Office of Grants and Contracts will maintain the relationships described below with the offices indicated.

1. Office of University Advancement

Before they are placed in a University account, all unrestricted gifts should be sent to the Development Office with copies of any application and covering correspondence which accompanies the award. Should it be determined that there is a restriction attached to the award (if reports or other actions are required as part of the award document) the Office of University Advancement will forward the grant and accompanying documentation to the Office of Grants and Contracts.

2. Accounting Office

a. When an awarding document (contract, grant or cover letter) places restrictions on the use of the funds granted and requires specified action by the University, the Office of Grants and Contracts will supply Accounting Services with information for the establishment of a Restricted Account and the necessary guidelines for administering the account.

b. If authorization for travel, fund transfer, special equipment purchases, etc., not originally provided for in the awarding document are required, it will be the responsibility of the Office of Grants and Contracts to secure the necessary authorization from the granting agency and to notify Accounting Services when such approvals are received.

c. Restricted account payroll authorizations, purchase orders, fund transfers, travel requests, etc., will be processed routinely by Accounting Services except when documentation previously provided Accounting Services by the Office of Grants and Contracts is insufficient for approval. In such cases the document will be forwarded to the Office of Grants and Contracts for review and potential approval after contacting sponsor.

d. The Property Control Department will maintain adequate records of equipment purchased from restricted funds and will furnish the Office of Grants and Contracts with any information required for the compliance with regulations pertaining to such equipment.

e. Accounting Services will notify the Office of Grants and Contracts as required in the award documents if it becomes evident that an account may be overrun during the project period. They will also prepare and submit all financial reports required on restricted accounts to the granting agency, with copies being sent to the principal investigator and the Office of Grants and Contracts.

3. Financial Aids and Scholarships

All financial aid and scholarship awards will be administered by the Office of Financial Aids and Scholarships; for example, such grants and agreements involving work-study funds with the U.S. Office of Education. Copies of awards will be furnished by Financial Aids to the Office of Grants and Contracts for reporting purposes.

4. Deans, Department Chairs, Principal Investigators

a. The signature of the dean or director on the official document summary sheet will be taken as a certification that the document has been reviewed and that the following are true:

1) The principal investigator is technically competent and capable of carrying out the program outlined in the proposal

2) The proposal is technically sound

3) The time or effort of faculty and staff members allocated to the program is available and the dean or department chair approve of the allocation of time between this program and other activities

4) The salaries being requested are at the present or anticipated base salary rates and are in line with University policies

5) Sufficient space is available and designated for the successful administration of the project

6) Provisions have been made to provide any necessary additional technical or office equipment

7) Charges for any required computer time are included in the budget

b. Deans, department chairs and principal investigators will route all initiated correspondence pertaining to a sponsored project through the Office of Grants and Contracts for administrative approval and counter signature.

c. Copies of all correspondence from the sponsoring agency to the principal investigator, department chairs or deans will be forwarded to the Office of Grants and Contracts for filing in the master and prime account files.