Chapter 5: Project Start-Up Award Setup Upon official receipt of an award, ORSP will send the primary investigator/project director (PI/PD) an award packet that includes the award letter, a copy of the budget account set up in the University Financial Records System (FRS), and any other necessary documentation the PI/PD will need to be aware of in reference to his/her award. At the same time, ORSP submits to Grant Accounting an FRS budget setup packet requesting an FRS account be created. Upon receipt and review of the FRS budget setup packet, Grant Accounting will e-mail the PI/PD an FRS account number for the grant, at which point the PI/PD can begin to incur expenses on the project. Some sponsors fund multiple year awards incrementally: that is, they provide for one year of funding at a time rather than providing all the funding “up front.” In such circumstances, ORSP will send Grant Accounting an FRS budget setup only for the specified year and amount. When subsequent funding is received, at that point ORSP will prepare and send Grant Accounting the according FRS budget account setup. In order to effectively manage a grant project, it is essential for the PI/PD to carefully review the policies, terms, conditions, and procedural requirements of the funding agency. “Award kick-off” meetings with ORSP Post-Award staff and the Office of Grant Accounting are strongly encouraged, particularly for new PIs/PDs. This meeting might also include members of the IRB office and other impacted academic/administrative units and/or faculty and staff participating on the newly sponsored project. Institutional Prior Approval System Many federal sponsors allow universities to unilaterally authorize approval to incur pre-award costs up to ninety days in advance of the anticipated start date, provided there is sufficient programmatic 42
Sponsored Programs Handbook