RAP October 3, 2012

 What does “Best Practices of Grants Management” mean? ◦ It is the daily oversight of the grant/contract/agreement in accordance with institutional, federal and sponsor rules and regulations that govern the project.  For example:  OMB Circulars A-21 and A-110  Cost Accounting Standards  State Purchasing laws  Equal Opportunity Act

 Federal and sponsor rules & regulations are found in the Terms and Conditions section of the award document. ◦ What information is found in the Terms & Conditions?  Grantee and Sponsor responsibilities such as: maintaining integrity and professionalism in conducting the project  Recordkeeping  Technical reporting and any closeout requirements  Limitations on budget revisions

 Budget revisions are the most widely used function in grants management. ◦ Why?  Because the budget is a “best guestimate” based on past experiences by the principal investigator. No budget is truly “accurate”. ◦ When?  Revisions are requested when reallocation of the budget is necessary to ensure completion of the project.

 What kinds of budget revisions do PIs request? ◦ Some of these requests need to be reviewed against the Terms & Conditions of the grant to see if the changes can be made internally or require Sponsor approval.  For example:  Reduction of PI time and effort  Foreign travel not originally requested in the proposal  Equipment purchases not originally requested  Rebudgeting of Participant Support Costs  Adding a subaward to the project

 Prior approval from the sponsor may be required if there is a limit to rebudgeting. (i.e. 10% adjustment per line item)  When the original PI leaves the institution and the project is replaced with a new investigator because the project cannot be transferred with the original PI.  In very rare instances, when the Scope of Work has changed. This always requires approval from the Sponsor.  When are budget revisions not acceptable?  If the request is in the last 90 days of the project and it requests the purchase of equipment or material & supplies that are not necessary to complete the project.

QUESTIONS??

Reminder:  Budget revisions follow the same principles of charging to the Cost Center Number.  The principles are: ◦ Reasonable ◦ Allocable ◦ Allowable ◦ Consistenty treated