The acceptance of an award, once official notification has been received, represents a formal obligation by the University. Therefore, the PI and SPARC must review the provisions of each offer BEFORE acceptance. The PI should ascertain that the scope of work and budget are consistent with his/her proposal and review the schedule for reporting progress and receiving funds.

All grant contracts and agreements must be approved by the Drake University authorized signatory, Lori Byrd, MS.

The post-award administrators are:

Suzanne Stewart
Senior Grants Accountant
Suzanne.stewart@drake.edu
515-271-3907

Funding agencies typically require both periodic financial and programmatic reports. The schedule for completing and the format requested should be outlined in the sponsor's notice of award or contract.

Sponsored Programs Administration & Research Compliance (SPARC) is responsible for completing and submitting all financial reports, while the Principal Investigator (PI) is responsible for completing and submitting the programmatic/progress reports.

• Federally Negotiated F&A Agreement
• Drake Accounting Forms

 The post-award administrators are:

Suzanne Stewart
Senior Grants Accountant
Suzanne.stewart@drake.edu
515-271-3907

It is the responsibility of the Principal Investigator (PI) to submit interim program/progess reports to the sponsor within the specified time frame and in the format indicated by the sponsor in the award document or contract.

If the sponsor does not indicate a format, the PI is advised to use a standard format that addresses the following project management concerns:

• A review of the accomplishments to-date compared with the schedule and objectives as outlined in the original proposal;
• A review of the challenges faced by the award in attempting to meet the schedule and objectives as outlined in the original proposal.
• Supporting statistical data or documentation;
• Management activities, such as documentation or training materials produced, staffing issues, etc.

A copy of all program/progress reports must be sent to SPARC for the master file.

The post-award administrators are:

Suzanne Stewart
Senior Grants Accountant
Suzanne.stewart@drake.edu
515-271-3907

Modifications can be made to grants under certain circumstances.

• Budget Revisions
• No-Cost Time Extensions

Budget Revisions

Compliance

The federal government stipulates the conditions under which an institution may revise a budget without seeking agency approval (§200.308).

In general, institutions may shift up to 10% of the total budget to other categories without seeking agency approval. However, some funding agencies have more restrictive guidelines for budget revisions, which are usually outlined in the award document.

Please contact the Office of Sponsored Programs Administration & Research Compliance for assistance in revising budgets. The grant document and SPARC can assist in making a determination when permission to transfer funds between budget line items is to be pre-approved by the funding agency. Correspondence for all changes for budget revisions to the grant agency must go through SPARC.

Note: The awarding agency must be notified if: (§200.308(c)(1)) 

• There is a change of scope or the objective of the project (even if there is no associated budget change);
• There is a change in key personnel specified in the application or award document;
• The Principal Investigator (PI) or Project Director will be absent for more than 3 months, or their time devoted to the project is reduced by 25% or more;
• There is a transfer of budget dollars from F&A (indirect costs) to direct costs, or vice versa (if approval is required by the federal awarding agency).
• Certain items are to be purchased that require prior approval, such as capital expenditures for equipment with a unit cost of $5,000 or more.
• There is a transfer of funds allotted for training stipends (direct payments to trainees) to other categories of expense.

No-Cost Time Extension

A no-cost time extension is an extension of the grant ending date with no additional funding.

Carry-forward of funding in a continuation grant is the approved transfer of unobligated grant funds or cost match funds forward to subsequent funding periods.

Criteria

Federal regulations provide a set of criteria for approving a one-time extension of the expiration date of a federal award for up to twelve months (§200.308(e)(2)).

The extension may be issued unless one or more of the following conditions apply:

• The terms and conditions of the award prohibit the extension
• The extension requires additional federal funds
• The extension involves any change in the approved objectives or scope of the project

Note: This one-time extension may not be exercised merely for the purpose of using unobligated balances.

Procedure

Letter of Request

The Principal Investigator (PI) must prepare a letter describing the need for an additional period of time to complete the project objectives. The letter must address programmatic issues and may describe justifiable delays, such as the loss of a skilled technician. The fact that there may be money remaining in the project's account is not a sufficient reason for an extension. If the sponsor's approval must be sought, the letter should be addressed to the grants officer, but sent first to SPARC for an authorizing signature. Be sure to provide signature lines for the Project Director and SPARC Director.

Timing of Request

If sponsor approval must be sought, and if the sponsor is a federal agency, requests to extend a project period must be received by the agency at least 10 days before the expiration date of the grant, unless otherwise specified.

Contact Info

Prior to beginning closeout procedures, the appropriate regulations governing the respective award should be consulted to ensure that all reporting requirements will be met. SPARC will contact the Principal Investigator (PI) 30-60 days prior to the end of the grant period to discuss remaining fund availability and a possible request for a grant extension.

Final Reporting

All financial, performance, and other reports, as required by the terms and conditions of federal grant awards, must be submitted within 90 calendar days after the end of the stated budget period of the award.

On federal awards, invoices from vendors and consultants, wage payments to staff, and closeout of encumbrances and subawards should all be resolved before the 90-day deadline. Also, any transfer of costs appropriate to the award must be made within that same 90-day period.

All direct costs to be charged to a federal grant must be related to goods or services received or encumbered (based on a purchase order) before the end of the grant period. Note that costs can only be encumbered for goods or services that directly benefit your project/program. Please consult with your grants accountant at least 30 days prior to the end of the grant period in order to identify any direct costs that may be encumbered.

State and Private grantees should refer to the terms of agreement on the award to determine closeout requirements.

Programmatic Report

The Principal Investigator (PI) is responsible for filing the final programmatic report with the sponsoring agency. A copy of the final report must also be submitted to SPARC.

Financial Considerations

Financial closeout requirements vary according to the awarding agency. The closeout process will almost always include a final financial report. This report is the responsibility of SPARC. SPARC will work with the PI to ensure that all final expenses are posted, all revenues deposited, and encumbrances liquidated. A copy of the final report submitted to the sponsor is available to the PI upon request.

Equipment

Disposition of equipment purchased with grant funds is an important issue to address with regard to closeout requirements. Disposition of equipment acquired under the grant is subject to the specific regulations of the funding agency and begins with the determination of which party has title to the equipment (grantee vs. granter).

If any capital asset has fallen below $5,000 of fair market value, that asset may be retained without compensation to the government (§200.313 (e)(1)).

Equipment retained by Drake University must remain on the University's fixed asset inventory records. If equipment is no longer needed for the original project, Drake's disposition procedures should be followed.

Title to supplies and other expendable property shall vest in the grant recipient upon acquisition. However, if there is a residual inventory of unused supplies exceeding $5,000 in total aggregate value upon completion of the project and the supplies are not needed for any other federally-sponsored project, Drake shall retain the supplies for use on non-federal sponsored activities or sell them, but shall, in either case, reimburse the federal government (§200.314 (a)). 

Transfer of Project Investigator

In the event that a principal investigator chooses to leave an institution prior to the conclusion of a funded project and seeks to transfer that project to his/her new institution, the federal government may accommodate that request through a process of terminating the existing award at the original institution and making a new award to the new institution.

Most agencies have defined procedures for such a transfer. In addition, equipment purchased under the grant that is subject to transfer is also identified at this time.

If the timing of the transfer is close to the end of the grant or no-cost extension, a subaward may be issued to the new institution for the duration of the award period.