PAD SeminarFebruary 2009

Top Ten Reasons to Befriend Your Sponsored Program Administration

Office • SPA is the institutional office responsible for

administrative oversight of WSU’s externally sponsored research

• SPA combines the administrative and accounting functions in a single office

• SPA can assist you through some of pitfalls that occur in the conduct of externally sponsored research

• Or, ……

Is this just a David Letterman bit to wrap up the week?

But, what we really want to do ……

Today’s ObjectivesDiscuss some of the critical, tricky, complex

aspects of sponsored program workPlace a face with the name of a couple of SPA

personnel. Our panelists:Karen Watkins-Hollowell Tim Foley

Patty Yuhas-Kieleszewski Jim BarbretHave you tell/ask us about issues which you

have encounteredOpen a very necessary dialogue if we are to be

successful in our initiatives!

The Sponsored Program LifecycleThe Lifecycle:

The idea/hypothesisFind someone who will “pay for it”Develop a proposalSubmit the proposalGet selected – YEAH!Execute an awardExecute the projectClose-out and wrap-up

Problem areas can arise in any of these “phases”

Today’s Selected “Problem Zones” Budget Development: What costs do I include?Developing a Proposal: What does it look like?Submitting a Proposal: Who does what?Award Execution: The Award DocumentsAccount Set-up: When do I get my account?Financial Management: Who and how do we

manage the finances?SubcontractorsCost Sharing

Budget Development: What costs do I include?

Salaries and Wages – time and effort of people who will be working on the grant, normally expressed in a percentage of their time

Fringe Benefits – varying rates for the individuals named above

Materials and Supplies – necessary to conduct the project

Travel – related to conduct and disseminate the research

Equipment – necessary to conduct the projectFacilities & Administrative Costs – indirect costs,

overhead, etc.

Developing a Proposal: What does it look like?

Sponsor will define, in most cases, what the proposal must cover

Federal agencies are pretty standard, RR424 State agencies have their own formatFoundations and associations are unique,

Proposal Central Industry is … whatever they like

KEY CONCEPT – read and follow the instructions

Submitting a Proposal: Who does what?

The final “packet” is developed by the PI and their staffSpecific approvals must be obtained prior to submission

“Internal” approvals – Chairs, Deans, IRB’s“Proposal” approvals – Business official, Institutional

OfficialSPA, as institutional official, is last in the approval

process Who presses the button? Drops it in the mailbox?

Hands off to FedEx? – Differs based sponsor requirements

KEY CONCEPT – Timing, timing, timing

Award Execution: The Award Documents

Varied award vehicles:Grant – unilateral vs. acceptedContract – legal document requiring review, formal

executionMemorandum of Understanding – looks a lot like a

contract

The Vice President of Research, delegated to SPA, has signature authority

SPA is the official University repository

KEY CONCEPT - SPA needs to receive and process the award

Account Set-up: When do I get my account?

When award is processed, SPA will establish an account with budget

PI’s are notified via e-mail of their index/fund number – GFA

Indexes are open for the period of the authorization

Multiple indexes may be requested to indentify separate budget components, ie phases or tasks

KEY CONCEPT – Indexes can be requested prior to receipt of award if work is going to begin

Financial Management: Who and how do we manage the finances?

Most awards have some level of budget restriction – this is not a gift

A budget will be established that defines a baseline planChanges and deviations are allowableDepending on the level of change, sponsor approval may be

required – coordinate with SPADepartment and PI are primarily responsible for processing

if all expense documentsSPA handles the revenue side

KEY CONCEPT – Financial management begins Day One, not at closeout

Cost SharingWhenever there is a cost that the sponsor does

not pay for, there is cost sharing Cost sharing may be mandated by

sponsor/program guidelinesWhen cost sharing is required, you should be

careful to meet, not exceed, the requirement Common Forms of Costs– Personnel, equipment“In-Kind – comes from a third party, a non-WSU

sourceWatch out for the terminology, “leverage”,

“matching” etc.

During Proposal Development, identify cost sharing items

Think about how the cost can be documented Determine how these will be funded, and get

approvalWhen awarded, a second account gets established

to capture cost share transactionsCost share costs are real

KEY CONCEPT - Construct a full budget, then determine what should be cost shared

Cost Sharing

SubcontractorsNot all collaborators are subcontractorsA sub-contractor (an entity WSU will pay) needs top

treat us as their sponsorThey should submit to WSU just as they would

submit to an agency Components – budget, statement of work,

institutional authorizationUpon award to WSU, SPA will generate an

agreement with subcontractorInvoices should go to SPA, who processes paymentsSPA coordinates with PI/staff

Questions & AnswersAbout the topics we covered …

Any topics …

Thank you