CSU Channel Islands accepts awards for funded sponsored projects on behalf of the Principal Investigator (PI). Research & Sponsored Programs (RSP) and Division of Business & Financial Affairs (BFA) work together to support and guide our PIs from award acceptance to project closeout. Award management is a shared responsibility to ensure that the work is conducted, to maintain compliance, and to ensure proper stewardship of funds in accordance with all sponsor and university policies.
Table of Contents
- Award Acceptance and Setup
- Award Management
- Award Closeout
- Subawards
- Project Revisions
- U.S. Department of Education
- National Science Foundation (NSF)
- National Institutes of Health (NIH)
- Internal Budget Revisions
- Award Extensions
Award Acceptance and Setup
RSP will review the terms and conditions of the award and ensure it is acceptable to the university. Once a sponsored project agreement is finalized, RSP will schedule a meeting with the PI and other project team members, if applicable, to review the terms and conditions of the award. The PI may invite grant support staff who will assist with expenditure processing and account reconciliation.
Award Management
BFA provides post-award financial support that includes award setup, sponsor invoicing, financial reporting, effort reporting and award closeout. The PI and grant support staff will comply with BFA and campus wide policies and procedures for processing award expenditures. This includes but is not limited to policies and procedures for:
- Faculty additional pay
- Faculty reassigned time
- Hiring student assistants
- Hiring staff
- Business Expense Reimbursement
- Check Request Form
- Honoraria & Speaker Fee
- Scholarship Requests
- Participant support costs
- Procurement purchase orders
- Hiring an Independent Contractor
- Sub-awards
- Computers
- Equipment over $5,000
- Travel – domestic and international
- Fly America Act (PDF, 114KB)
Award Closeout
Once the project period ends, the Grant Accountant in BFA will initiate award closeout. This includes following Closeout – Sponsored Projects Procedures (PDF, 22.5KB), and routing (1) Sponsored Projects Check List (PDF, 643KB) and (2) Property & Inventory Report (PDF, 569KB) forms. The PI/Project Director provides a copy of the final technical report as part of the closeout process. This may be in electronic format (such as a PDF copy) or an email acknowledgment from the sponsor that the final report was received.
Subawards
A subcontract/subaward is an award of financial assistance to an eligible subrecipient under a grant or cooperative agreement. If funds awarded to CSUCI are subcontracted to another institution or organization (subrecipient), please contact RSP. RSP will assist you in establishing a subcontract agreement with that institution or organization.
Project Revisions
Contact RSP for project revisions that require sponsor approval (such as changes in the scope of work, senior personnel, budget, and other modifications of award terms and conditions). The PI should initiate a letter describing the desired change, with justification, and forward it to RSP for review. For more information on prior approvals by sponsoring agency, please refer to NSF Prior Approval Matrix.
General information about budget revisions for the most common funding agencies is listed below. Please refer to your project’s specific terms and conditions to determine whether budget revision is allowable; contact RSP with any questions and to initiate the process.
U.S. Department of Education
Recipients must report and request prior approvals for changes and modifications to awarded budgets and project plans. For non-construction awards, prior approval is required for any of the following program or budget related reasons:
- Change in key personnel specified in the proposal or award documents.
- Change in the project’s scope of work (with or without budget revisions).
- Principal Investigator absence of more than three months or a 25% reduction in time devoted to the project.
- Need for additional Federal funding.
- Transfer of funds budgeted for indirect costs, or vice versa, if approval is required by the Secretary.
- The inclusion of costs that require prior approval in accordance with 2 CFR 200 – Subpart E – Cost Principles (unless waived).
- Transfer of funds allotted for training allowance (direct payment to trainees) to other categories.
- Unless described in the proposal and funded in the approved award, the sub-award, transfer, or contracting out of any work under an award; this provision does not apply to the purchase of supplies, material, equipment, or general support services.
National Science Foundation (NSF)
Unless otherwise specified in the award, prior written approval is required for the following significant project changes, and must be submitted electronically through NSF:
- Transfer of project effort
- Change in objective or scope
- Absence or change of PI
- Change in the amount of cost sharing reflected in the award budget
- Rearrangement/alteration aggregating $25,000 or over (Construction)
- Reallocation of funds provided for participant or trainee support.
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
NIH grantees are allowed some flexibility to re-budget within and between categories; some types of changes require prior written approval while others do not. Grantee-initiated changes that require prior approval from the designated NIH official include:
- Change in scope
- Change in key personnel
- Change of grantee organization
- Equipment purchases exceeding $25,000/unit, regardless of amount of NIH funds involved
- Alteration and renovation (A&R) (re-budgeting into A&R cost exceeding 25% of total approved budget for a budget period)
- Transferring amount from trainee costs
- Capital expenditures (construction, land, or building acquisition)
- Need for additional NIH funds
Internal Budget Revisions
PI should work with RSP on internal budget revisions. A final copy of the budget revisions should be shared with Grants Accountant and Analyst for post-award expenditure tracking.
Award Extensions
Most federal agencies require 10-90 days’ notice prior to the award end date for requesting a no-cost extension (NCE). Initial requests for NCE are typically approved for twelve months. If more time is needed a PI must submit another request and justification which will be reviewed and approved by the federal agency. The format for these requests varies according to the federal agency’s requirements; check with RSP to clarify the appropriate format for your NCE request.
National Science Foundation
The first NCE on a NSF award is considered a “notification”. If time is needed beyond the first extension a second NCE is considered a “request” that must be approved by NSF. “Notifications” and “requests” must be submitted by the PI via Fastlane or Research.gov and should include the information outlined in the bulleted section below.
National Institutes of Health
If NCEs are allowed on a NIH award, a link for “extension” is posted in the “status” area of the NIH Commons 90 days before the end date. Once the link is posted RSP can submit the request. To initiate this request the PI should submit a request to RSP Pre-Award Analyst with the information outlined in the bulleted section below.
All Other Awards
PIs must submit requests for NCEs to all other agencies in writing (by email or in a memo) to RSP Pre-Award Grants Analyst for review and submission
- Justification for the NCE, including progress to date. The following reasons are acceptable:
- Additional time beyond the initial end date is required to complete the project.
- The extension is necessary for an orderly phase-out of a project that will not receive continued support.
- Length of the requested NCE.
- An estimate of funds expected to remain unobligated on the scheduled end date.
- A plan for how any remaining funds will be used during the extension period.
Requesting more time to spend down remaining funds is not considered a reasonable justification.