Once your award is received, there are still several pit stops and possible speed bumps that occur before an account is successfully set up. Proactive planning and communication can help to reduce many possible delays. Here are the TOP 8 most common delays on the road to account setup.
1. Negotiation and Signatures
If an agreement requires negotiations, the back-and-forth between the CSU Senior Research Administrator (SRA) and the Sponsor takes time. Complex terms and conditions may require additional support from our legal team or other review channels. For-profit companies may even use a lawyer to negotiate on their behalf, which adds another layer of communication. Additional factors on the CSU side can include (1) indemnification waivers that require PI input or (2) working with STRATA if there are licensing or Intellectual Property terms to review and negotiate. Once an agreement is reached, signature execution may be required. Only the Authorize Organization Representative at OSP is allowed to sign and negotiate on behalf of the University.
2. Missing Compliance Documentation or Information
One of the easiest checkpoints you can pass is having your annual Conflict of Interest submitted and approved! If it is out of date, the COI office needs timely responses regarding possible conflicts and management plans prior to account setup.
Other compliance-related approvals such as human subjects protocols from the IRB, animal subjects protocols from the IACUC, Biosafety approval from IBC, Export Control review from SGR, or Technology Control Plans that are not yet approved or sent to OSP need completion prior to setup. We must ensure that all accounts meet our compliance standards.
Finally, other required paperwork that must be submitted to OSP for setup, when applicable, includes (1) Cost-Share Account (CSA) Request Forms for 1% minimum effort or (2) PI initiated Indirect Cost (IDC) waivers ready at proposal or prior to account setup.
3. Budget Discrepancy
If an award arrives with different numbers than proposed, the OSP SRA and Department RAs work together to ensure we can accommodate the change without affecting the scope. If the cut is minimal and the sponsor outlines the reduced budget, this process can move faster, but a major cut requires more discussion.
4. Missing Record
Awards for proposals not submitted through the proper channels and without OSP oversight must play catch-up since we are missing pertinent information acquired when a Kuali Record has been created and properly routed. Maybe a PI didn’t know all sponsored funding requests route through OSP, maybe the sponsor sent an award as a supplement without a CSU request, or maybe the proposal was more informal – either way we need to have a complete and fully approved record before account setup. Avoid this major pitstop, but if it happens send the information you do have, such as the original Funding Announcement, Budget, Proposal, and related emails to your OSP Team ASAP!
5. KRPD Routing
If a proposal before the award is received, account setup cannot be initiated. If you have an approver role in Kuali Research Proposal Development (KRPD), please respond expeditiously to the approve action prompts as the proposal moves through routing. All approvals and a final OSP ‘create IP’ step must be complete before the award can move to the account setup stage.
6. Separate and Additional Accounts (Separate unit budgets, WIP, Cost-share)
The most common reason for multiple 53 accounts is for each key person to have an account for their part of the budget managed by their fiscal officer. There are also Sponsor-defined reasons for separate accounts, such as task or option management. When separate accounts are requested or required, OSP will need the specific budget for each separate account before the award is sent to the setup team.
There are several types of ‘additional’ accounts that may require request forms and OSP review. Some departments fill out the forms at the proposal stage and route as soon as they know the award is coming to save time.
- If a Work-In-Progress (WIP) form was not completed at the time of proposal, OSP reaches out to the unit Fiscal Officer/DRA for a completed form at award receipt. Technically, the 53 account can be set up without the completed WIP form, but when the equipment fabrication needs to start right away it’s best to have the WIP account set up at the same time the 53 is set up.
- Cost-share has an impact on ecrt, so the applicable CSA request form must be complete and submitted to OSP before a 53 account can be set up. Cost-share accounts need to be created and linked to the 53 account during the setup process.
- Program Income accounts are separate 53 accounts that are set up in the same KR Award hierarchy. For accurate account management, program income should be confirmed during initial award review, and the program income account should be set up at the same time as the project account.
One thing to note, if you route an award-stage form for signatures at proposal and changes occur affecting the form such as the Period of Performance (POP), we need to do a brief U-Turn to update and re-sign the form.
7. Availability
Certain periods affect workload such as cyclical award periods like high volume around Federal fiscal year-end (FYE), campus FYE, and increased volume before each semester starts. Availability is affected by various factors such as the unavailability of any member of the team, from the unit to OSP to the Sponsor, including being out of the country or located in remote areas without any means of communication. Therefore, it is imperative to balance patience and proactive communication with your team to ensure a smooth workflow.
8. Additional Sponsor Requests
Lastly, our sponsor may request additional information with the award notice including certifications and representations that were not addressed in the proposal – for example, Foreign Government Talent Programs (FGTP) Affidavits. Make sure the appropriate authorized representative at OSP gets the information to sign off and return the agreement to the sponsor.
If any of this information is missing or incomplete, it can delay the journey to account setup. To avoid delays, make sure you provide all necessary information and double-check that it is accurate. These obstacles affect new awards and possibly amendments throughout the life of the award. More information and resources are on the Account Setup webpage.
Blog post by Kathryn O’Hayre, Training & Information Coordinator, Office of Sponsored Programs