Award Management

Once OSP receives formal notification of an award and the project passes all compliance checks (e.g., IRB approval is secured for research involving human subjects), it will be sent to Grant Accounting for award set-up in Workday. OSP works closely with the PI/PD on ensuring that projects pass all compliance checks. OSP’s goal is to achieve a timely set-up of each award. Once an award is set up, a Grant Accountant will send the PI/PD Workday worktags to allow access to the grant budget. Then, spending can begin. In total, this can take anywhere from a few days to several weeks or longer, depending on the complexities of the award. For more information, see our Award Set-Up web page.

PI/PDs can request an advance fund, which allows PI/PDs to begin spending if an award is imminent. This usually occurs while an award is in a negotiation phase, where OSP has received notice that the award is incoming, but the final award documents have not yet been fully executed. Approved advance fund requests give PI/PDs a budget, typically covering 3 months, to begin the award scope of work. To learn how to submit an advance fund request, see our Advance Fund and Pre-Award Costs page.

Montclair’s signatory policy delegates signing authority on grants, contracts and cooperative agreements based on the award amount to the Director of Sponsored Programs, the Vice-Provost for Research, and the Provost. With the rare exception, Principal Investigators/Project Directors and department administrators are not authorized to sign official award documentation. Many agreements require the review of sponsored programs personnel and, in some cases, university counsel. Revisions to contracts, for example, might be requested prior to full execution.

Yes. As part of the compliance checks of a new award, OSP will not process an award until IRB approval has been secured. For some projects, the human subjects portion of the research comes later in the project. In these instances, please contact the Research Integrity and Compliance Office about securing IRB approval.

Depending on your research project and sponsor, PI/PDs may be required to take compliance trainings. At time of award set-up, OSP will send PI/PDs a “Supplementary Information” sheet with information about required trainings for applicable project team members, including students. For more information, please see the Research Training web page. Such trainings are a term and condition of the award. Failure to meet this requirement can lead to material non-compliance and may result in an internal pause in spending until the trainings have been completed.

Many colleges on Montclair’s campus provide local support personnel to assist PI/PDs with management of their awards. Please consult the award transmittal email from OSP for more details about this individual (if the college provides one). For questions about the financial management of an award (e.g., cost-transfers, financial reports, invoices), please contact the Office of Grant Accounting. The Office of Sponsored Programs has a non-financial post-award team, which handles setting up new awards, submitting prior approval requests, and drafting subaward agreements.

For instructions and resources on hiring and other transactions, please see our Day-to-Day Award Management web page.

Depending on the award terms and conditions, PI/PDs may be able to make small adjustments to their budgets without requesting prior approval from the sponsor. PI/PDs should consult their college’s local support, Grant Accountant, and/or OSP to determine whether they will need prior approval. Read more on our Day-to-Day Award Management page.

Many sponsors grant “no-cost extensions” to PI/PDs seeking more time to complete a project without any additional funding. There must be a programmatic justification for the no-cost extension request. These typically must be submitted well in advance of the end date. To request a no-cost extension, please contact the college’s local support or a member of the non-financial post-award team in OSP.

Changing key personnel is a common reason that PI/PDs must submit a prior approval request. Typically, key personnel are listed in the award notice. If named key personnel are changing, notify the college’s local support and/or OSP. OSP post-award staff will submit the prior approval request. The budget may also need to be adjusted, based on the new individual’s salary. See our Prior Approval & Other Requests web page to learn more.

Reporting requirements are very much sponsor-dependent. The terms and conditions of the award will contain all necessary information as to what reports are due, when they are due, and what to include in them. For some awards, the Authorized Organizational Representative in OSP may need to be involved. Financial reporting is handled by the Office of Grant Accounting.

OSP will initiate the subaward process at time of award (for example, drafting the subaward agreement). A fully executed subaward agreement contains the official terms and conditions the subawardee must adhere to for reporting, invoicing, and performance requirements. It is primarily the PI/PD’s responsibility to ensure that the subrecipient institution is fulfilling their performance obligations, including reporting. As the subrecipient spends down funds, it will be the PI/PD’s responsibility to review and approve invoices. For more information, see our Outgoing Subawards page.

Cost-sharing, also known as “match,” occurs when a portion of the total cost of a sponsored project is borne by the University rather than the sponsor. Whether cost-sharing is mandated by the sponsor or volunteered by the University, the cost-sharing becomes a University commitment and represents a legal, binding obligation of the University once the award has been granted. Regardless of the type, cost-share must be approved by leadership in CAYUSE SP during the proposal stage and again through the “Cost-Share Commitment Form” at award setup. Learn more about cost-share on our Cost-Sharing page.

Indirect costs are expenses that are incurred by the University as part of the general operations of the institution that support sponsored project activities. Indirect costs are typically not readily identifiable to any single project, but rather support overall sponsored project activities. In order to recoup indirect costs, Montclair has a negotiated indirect cost rate with the federal government.

Any recovered indirect costs on a grant are distributed across several parties at Montclair based on internal policies. All PI/PDs that have budgeted indirect costs on their grants will be assigned an individual IDC account. To learn more about indirect cost distribution and how the funds can be used, see our Indirect Costs web page and the MSU Policy on Indirect Cost Distribution and Expenditures.

OSP defines “supplemental funds” as new funding that was not originally budgeted or requested from the sponsor. Supplemental funding is different from incremental funding, which is budgeted for in the original proposal and listed as anticipated funding in the award notice. All supplemental funding actions require PIs/PDs to follow the same process as submitting a new proposal, including, but not limited to, creating a supplemental budget and completing an IPF in Cayuse SP.

The Office of Grant Accounting will work with the sponsor to ensure that funds are received. PI/PDs have access to all the funds in their Workday GR# financial account, and it is generally not necessary for PI/PDs to become involved in requesting funds from the sponsor. In rare instances, PI/PDs may be asked to become involved if necessary.