Operating Policies and Procedures Manual

Effective Date:  07/01/97
Policy Number:  05-14
Section:  Finance and Administration
Subject:  Grants
 

POLICY
  1. All grant requests involving the university or its resources, public or private, internal or external, must be processed through the Office of Research and Technology Transfer.
     
    1. All privately funded grant proposal requests must be approved by the Office of University Advancement, at the discretion of the Office of Research and Technology Transfer.

    2. All grant proposal requests involving technology changes to the university infrastructure must be approved by Information and Technology Services at the discretion of the Office of Research and Technology Transfer.

    3. Projects that involve human or vertebrate research must be reviewed by the Institutional Review Board or the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, respectively, before being submitted to the Office of Research and Technology Transfer.

  2. All grants, contracts and cooperative agreements must be awarded in the name of Arkansas State University.

  3. The only authorized officials to obligate the university by signing a grant award, contract, cooperative agreement, etc., are the university president, the university vice president for finance and administration or the associate vice chancellor of research and technology transfer.

  4. When a sponsored project is awarded, notice is forwarded to the Office of Research and Technology Transfer.  The Office of Research and Technology Transfer forwards the original copy of the grant award notice to the Office of Sponsored Programs Accounting.  The recipient must forward all monies directly to the Treasurer's Office.

    Note:  Grant requests for the Arkansas State University Foundation must be reviewed by the Office of University Advancement, but are not subject to the above policy.

REGULATIONS

  1. Expenditure of funds received from a grant must be made in accordance with university policies governing the expenditure of funds or donor requirements, whichever being the most restrictive.

  2. Purchase commitments or expenditures may not be made before a grant is officially accepted or after it has been terminated, unless specifically allowed by the sponsoring agency. In extreme circumstances, the departmental chair or dean may approve the requests for an advance account, with a written guarantee that in the case the award is not received, the expenditures are the sole responsibility of the department.

  3. The recipient of the notice that a proposal will not be funded must contact the Office of Research and Technology Transfer.

  4. The project director of each grant is responsible for the following:
     
    1. Being informed of the specific limitations and restrictions of the granting agency or donor of the grant or contract document.

    2. Knowing and adhering to all technical reporting requirements.

    3. Making all necessary technical reports and project evaluations to the awarding agency.

    4. Reconciling the account on a monthly basis and informing the Office of Sponsored Programs Accounting of any found discrepancies in a timely fashion.

    5. Providing purchase documentation for all grant and cost-sharing activity, when deemed necessary by the funding agency.

    6. Obtaining prior sponsor approval for any budget revisions or purchases requiring such by the funding agency.

    7. Providing the Office of Sponsored Programs Accounting with a log and copies of receipts for all p-card purchases.

  5. The Office of Sponsored Programs Accounting is responsible for the following:
     
    1. Establishment of separate university accounts for each grant, contract, or cooperative agreement, along with applicable cost-share accounts.

    2. Assuring all invoices are receipted in a timely fashion, with funding agency follow-up of all invoices over 90 days outstanding.

    3. The timely preparation of all required financial reports and requests for funds.

    4. Current knowledge and adherence to university, state, federal, and funding agency guidelines.

  6. Prior to disposition of any non-expendable government property, the Office of Sponsored Programs Accounting Office must be contacted for instructions.

PROCEDURES

External Fund Proposals

  1. Contact the Office of Research and Technology Transfer for budgeting assistance and proper forms.

  2. Return the original copy of the proposal, with department chair and dean's signature, to the Office of Research and Technology Transfer.

  3. The Office of Research and Technology Transfer secures the administrator's signatures and notifies the prospective project director to pick up a copy of the proposal.

  4. The Office of Research and Technology Transfer sends the required number of copies of the proposal to the prospective funding agency.

Internal Fund Proposals

  1. The faculty member submits the proposal to the department chair and dean for signature approval.

  2. The proposal is submitted to the Office of Research and Technology Transfer for review and budgeting approval.

  3. The Office of Research and Technology Transfer submits the required copies of the research proposal to the Chairman of the Faculty Research Committee. The committee will then study the proposal and return the funding recommendations to the Office of Research and Technology Transfer.

  4. The Office of Research and Technology Transfer notifies the faculty members of the funding and assures the funds are properly budgeted.

This page is maintained by Cassey Tune
Last updated on 01/17/2005