Project Lifecycle

Managing Your Award

 

Overview

 

Award Management is a process that encompasses Sponsor and University policies and procedures pertinent to the project.  It is referred to as the “post award” phase of the life cycle of an award. Sound management of sponsored funds is critical in maintaining the public trust in research results and outcomes, its trust as research participants, and its trust in how public and private funds are spent.

Monitoring account transactions in Banner/Qmenu on a regular basis will help you to manage your projects to ensure that expenditures and revenues are within appropriate limits and guidelines. Regular monitoring of your sponsored accounts helps:

  • Ensure that costs are consistent with the budget and incurred during the period of performance.
  • Discover any errors in your budget, encumbrances, or expenditures.
  • Avoid overspending.
  • Ensure compliance with the sponsor's spending terms and conditions.
  • Verify that cost transfers and corrections are made in a timely manner.
  • Maintain a clear audit trail for the future.

If you identify a problem, do not wait until the project has terminated before addressing the issue. The longer an error remains uncorrected, the harder it is to fix and support corrective action in an audit.

The Research Terms and Conditions (RTCs) (also known as Expanded Authorities) either modify or provide clarification to the provisions of the Uniform Guidance (2 CFR 200) as it applies to research and research-related Awards issued by participating Federal awarding agencies.  The intent of the RTCs is to reduce the administrative burden for research institutions by either providing clarification to Federal requirements and/or waiving select Prior Approval requirements.

The RTCs are posted on the NSF website and can be found here.

Not all Federal agencies implement the RTCs.  A list of agencies that implement the RTCs can be found on the NSF website via the above link.  Some Federal agencies also have “Agency Specific Requirements” which can also be found on the website.

The effective date of the RTCs and the effective date for the agency implementing the RTCs differs by agency.  Review the individual Award to determine if the Federal agency includes the RTCs as part of the Award requirements, and the effective date of agency implementation.

The RTCs include a Prior Approval Matrix which provides a summary overview of the Prior Approval Waivers provided by participating Federal Agencies. 

As always, any provision in the RTCs can be superseded by the terms of the specific Federal agency Award; the Award MUST be reviewed to determine the applicable requirements.