The submission of proposals, execution and administration of awards and contracts, and the conduct of research at UT involve many people. It is truly a team effort. Here we outline some of the key players and their responsibilities.
Academic Roles
The lead principal investigator is the primary individual in charge of a research grant, cooperative agreement, training or public service project, contract, or other sponsored project. The lead principal investigator reports to a department head (or other designated official). Responsibilities include:
Proposals
- Write technical narrative
- Identify subcontractors (as needed)
- Create detailed statement of work
- Develop budget & budget justification
- Identify cost sharing funds (as needed)
- Complete Cayuse proposal and submit for routing
- Confirm that proposal meets sponsor requirements (text, margin, fonts)
Awards & Contracts
- Request advance account from SPA if necessary
- Review terms & conditions
- Create award budget
Research Project Management
- Initiate purchases on project
- Initiate prior approvals/contract changes (as needed)
- Initiate rebudget requests (as needed)
- Use financial reports to monitor expenditures
- Reconcile accounts on a monthly basis
- Ensure integrity of notebooks and data
- Complete invention disclosure forms
- Monitor program income (if applicable)
- Conduct subrecipient monitoring including approval of subcontractor invoices
- Submit technical reports and maintain copies of reports
- Ensure accuracy of effort certification reports
- Approve final invoices and final reports
Administrative staff at the departmental and dean’s office levels provide administrative support for one or more sponsored projects. With respect to financial management of sponsored accounts, department administrators complete and process financial, human resource, and other electronic and paper transaction documents. Responsibilities include:
Proposals
- Assist with the creation of budget proposal and budget justification
- Review cost share requirements
Awards & Contracts
- Monitor advance account
- Create modified award budget
Research Project Management
- Post financial transactions
- Monitor financial reports including cost share requirements
- Process necessary changes to payroll
- Monitor effort certification reporting
- Conduct subrecipient monitoring including approval of subcontractor invoices
- Approve final invoice and close out documentation
The department head is an academic leader with programmatic, managerial, and fiscal responsibilities for a designated area, such as a department, division, school or center. The department head reports to a dean. Responsibilities include:
Proposals
- Approve cost sharing requests and F&A reduction requests
- Review regulatory compliance and conflict of interest
- Review and approve cost share (as needed)
- Review and approve proposal
Awards & Contracts
- Review and approve advance account request
Research Project Management
- Approve final invoice and final technical reports
Deans are academic leaders who have programmatic, managerial and fiscal responsibilities for a college or school. The dean’s office, the administrative center for a school or college, may include one or more Associate Deans, who report to the Dean, as well as administrative staff. Responsibilities include:
Proposals
- Approve cost sharing requests and F&A reduction requests
- Coordinate research space arrangements
- Review conflict of interest
- Review proposed cost share and mandatory cost share
- Review and approve proposal
Awards & Contracts
- Review and approve advance account request
Division of Research Administration
The Division of Research Administration is the only institutional unit at UT able to submit proposals to external entities for financial support in the form of a contract, grant, or agreement, and legally able to commit the University in the event an award is made. DRA also handles the post-award accounting functions of externally funded projects. They are responsible for all financial compliance, invoicing, collections, and serve as primary point of contact for external audits. Responsibilities include:
- Confirm proposal meets all sponsor requirements
- Confirm budgets comply with sponsor and fiscal policies
- Review for research compliance needs
- Facilitate terms and conditions review as required
- Facilitate required conflict of interest reviews
- Review documentation needs for external party collaborations
- Confirm and make required certifications
- Provide official institutional approval and submit proposal
- Accept sponsor notification of award or contract
- Review terms & conditions
- Negotiate terms & conditions
- Approve award terms & conditions
- Confirm that regulatory requirements have been met
- Modify and confirm award budget
- Prepare award documents
- Ensure that cost share is documented (if applicable)
- Establish advance account
- Monitor advance account
- Ensure that cost sharing is documented (if applicable)
- Establish account number in IRIS
- Notify PI of account number
- Review and approve changes to project and/or send these changes to sponsor for approval
- Review and approve rebudget requests and/or send these changes to sponsor for approval
- Review and approve no cost time extension requests and/or send these changes to sponsor for approval
- Coordinate resolution of issues on oversight reports
- Approve or forward to sponsor prior approvals for changes to project
- Review and approve incoming MTAs and non-disclosure agreements
- Identify program income
- Prepare, negotiate, and sign subcontracts/subawards
- Subrecipient monitoring
- Ensure that all technical reports have been submitted to sponsor
- Ensure that all final invention reports have been submitted to sponsor
- Use financial reports to monitor and oversee expenditures
- Audit expenditures
- Identify program income
- Identify use and reportability of program income
- Monitor program income levels
- Prepare and submit the invoice or financial report
- Receive and deposit payments from sponsors
- Produce and record a letter of credit draw request (federal awards)
- Monitor and pursue the collections of overdue payments from sponsors
- Maintain the effort certification database and reporting system
- Resolve problems or follow up on certifications not submitted
- Ensure all appropriate expenditures have been posted to accounts
- Prepare and approve final financial invoice/report
- Resolve issues related to unreconciled accounts
- Ensure that all financial reports have been submitted to sponsor
- Close award account(s) in financial accounting system
- Maintain official project documents for sponsored projects