Award Setup
Award setup is a process by which sponsored award profiles are generated in the PeopleSoft Finance (PSF) Grants Module based on the proposal budget or revised award budget. The generated PSF award number is utilized for spending sponsored funding, award management, expenditure review, invoicing, and payment. An associated sub-project(s) (projects under the main award) may be created in PSF when it is budgeted separately and needs to be accounted for independently. A sub-project will be set up under an award when any of the following conditions are met:
- A UND Principal Investigator (PI) with their own scope of work and from a department that is different from the awarding PI.
- Subawards.
- Different indirect cost rates apply to the project, e.g. off campus and on campus rates on the same project.
- The sponsor requires separate invoicing and/or tracking of expenses (must be in the terms and conditions of the award).
Under normal circumstances, an award setup takes 5-7 working days from the time the Award Budget Setup (ABS) form is received by the Grants Officer to fully set up and issue a Notice of Award Setup email to the PI and the department. The process is outlined below for transparency and accountability.
Before an award can be set up, Principal Investigators (PIs) must prepare and submit an internal proposal transmittal in Novelution that is electronically routed and approved by all appropriate UND officials. The transmittal record is used to set up the award profile in PSF. The chart below outlines the steps, the responsible office or person, and the approximate time it takes to complete each step.
Award Setup Process and Timeline
| Steps | Responsible Office or Person | Timing |
|---|---|---|
|
Receive Notice of Award (NOA) and Agreement documents |
Research & Sponsored Program Development (RSPD) Principle Investigator (PI) Department Business Administrator (DBA) |
NA |
|
Verify Conflict of Interest Disclosure Note: New awards cannot be set up until verification takes place. |
Principal Investigator (PI) |
As soon as PI learns of the award. |
|
Provide Human Subject or Animal Use Protocol approval as needed |
Principal Investigator (PI) Office of Research & Compliance Ethics |
If approvals are NOT in place, it may take up to one month, or longer, for full award setup. |
|
Review Terms and Conditions (T&C) of Award |
RSPD Pre-Award Officer Principal Investigator (PI) Office of Corporate Engagement & Commercialization (only when there are issues regarding Intellectual Property, or Rights to Inventions) |
Five (5) working days after receiving an award. Difficult negotiations may take up to a month or two to finalize. |
|
Initiate Award Setup in PeopleSoft Finance. Notify PI and DBA of receipt of Notice of Award (grant or contract) from sponsor. Request department complete Award Budget Setup (ABS) form and send to Grants & Contracts Accounting (GCA). |
Research & Sponsored Program Development (RSPD) |
Three (3) working days after reviewing awards with no compliance or negotiation issues. |
|
Link and log NOA/Agreement to proposal transmittal in Novelution and update status to "awarded" to mark the receipt date |
RSPD Proposal Intake Officer (PIO) |
Within 7-10 days of receiving the award, or up to 30 days or longer if legal review is required. |
|
Complete Award Setup and issue the official Notice of Award Setup email to PI and the department |
Grants & Contracts Accounting (GCA) Grants Officer |
5-7 working days after the completed Award Budget Setup form is received by GCA. |
Award Negotiation
When an award includes agreements that require negotiation, it is assigned to an RSPD Pre-award Officer (PAO). The PAO works with the PI and the sponsor and may include other offices as needed (for example, the Office of Corporate Engagement & Commercialization and/or General Counsel).
During negotiations, if there are issues that cannot be resolved, the matter will be escalated to the Vice President for Research for a final decision. Although the PAO takes ownership of negotiations with the sponsor, including follow-up, it is important for the PI to stay engaged and work with their counterpart from the sponsor to assist in the negotiations. This team effort approach speeds up the negotiation process.
Compliance Consideration
When an award includes Human Subject (HS), Animal Care Research or Biosafety concerns, additional approvals from the relevant institutional board and area are needed before the award can be set up. To ensure that awards can be set up without any delays when they are issued to UND, PIs are strongly encouraged to begin working on these approvals as soon as they learn that an award might be forthcoming. In some cases, involving HS research, the PI may request pre-human subject activity spending. If approved, a limited budget will be set up for this purpose.
Release of Internal Notice of Award (NOA)
Awards are set up under the primary department that is flagged on the proposal transmittal. PIs and department administrators are responsible for day-to-day management of the award. The internal NOA provides information needed to successfully manage the award. The proposal, budget, budget justification and award solicitation, also contain vital information for managing the award. These documents should be accessible online in the Novelution proposal tracking system.
Awards with Subrecipients
When an award has subrecipients, the necessary information and compliance documentation should have been collected from the subrecipient by the PI and/or department before the proposal was submitted to create and execute a subrecipient agreement associated with the award. In the event documentation is missing at the time of award setup, the department will be responsible for collecting it before a subaward can be issued.
Awards for Private For-Profit Sponsor
Awards from private for-profit sponsors are often fixed price payments. The sponsor may agree to pay at certain intervals based on deliverables. If deliverables are not met and/or the sponsor does not pay, expenses on the award will be moved to a department fund. Best practice for these kinds of awards dictates that the PI works with the Pre-Award Officer to secure a reasonable upfront payment to begin the project that is clearly stated in the agreement terms.