First steps — receiving notice of grant award
Foundations and the federal government all differ in who will receive notice of your grant award, so please confirm that OSP has received notice when you do.
Similarly, sometimes we are notified prior to your receiving notification. We will communicate with you as soon as we receive notice of the award. Likewise, you will need to forward any communication you receive from the sponsor regarding your award. This is important as we must have all documentation associated with your award in your grant file.
Grant agreement, contract, memorandum of understanding (MOU)
The Office of Sponsored Programs should receive your grant agreement or contract soon after your notice of grant award. Should you receive these documents please forward to OSP@spu.edu for processing. OSP is responsible to review the terms and conditions of the grant agreement to ensure that the award matches the application proposal.
The director of OSP has University-delegated signature authority and will sign on behalf of SPU. Faculty members (i.e., principal investigators), deans, and chairs cannot sign grant agreements as the award is made to SPU on your behalf.
Based on their operating principles, granting agencies may send the agreement to different offices (to you, OSP, your school, or even the president) or require the provost or president to sign agreements. In any event, OSP will manage collecting the signatures and submitting the grant agreement documents on your behalf. OSP will copy the documentation for your file.
Acknowledging your award
OSP will transmit your signed grant agreement. If your funding agency is a foundation, OSP will also write an email/note thanking the sponsor for its support. We also strongly encourage you to write a note of thanks to the foundation. In some cases the President’s Office will send an acknowledgement to the funding agency.
Setting up your grant account
OSP will send a copy of the grant award or agreement to the PI. We will work with Finance to assign a restricted fund (budget)
number and communicate that number to you, your School’s appropriate budget manager.
Even if SPU has not received grant payments, once the grant agreement is signed and a budget number has been assigned, you may start to spend funds.
Note: It will typically take one to two business weeks to receive a budget number for your grant.
Spending your funds
As the PI, you will need to work closely with your School’s budget manager to spend funds specifically budgeted for in the application (direct costs).
- Spending may begin:
- as of the budget period start date found in the grant award notice or grant agreement (OSP Post Award Academic Grant and Fellowship Guidelines Spring, 2015).
- after OSP has assigned a restricted fund number,
- after you receive a copy of your approved IRB protocol - be sure to share that with OSP.
- Work with your budget manager to make purchases, submit receipts, receive advances and reimbursements, etc.
- Track all of your own grant expenditures. School or department budget managers usually send PIs monthly financial reports of grant activity. You can also request information (a “data-dump”) of expenses running through the fund at any time from your budget manager or from OSP.
Course release
- PIs will work with their department chair to manage their course release.
- The PI’s budget manager will take care of the logistics for overload or adjunct professors.
Receiving your funds
There are multiple ways that agencies disperse funds. Some send checks with the grant agreement or at a specified date. If an agency mails a check, it should be made out to Seattle Pacific University and directed to:
Wagane Diadhiou
Financial Affairs Office
Seattle Pacific University
3307 Third Ave W., Suite 103
Seattle, WA 98119-1957
Federal government grant payments are made on a reimbursement basis. Subsequently, SPU does not receive grant funds until they have been spent. Every quarter the finance office initiates requests funds from the granting agency for each award.
- Note: SPU may receive notice that NSF or NIH has “released funds” for a specific grant award. This does not mean funds are being transferred but that those specified funds are now available for SPU to draw down. Reimbursement of the total “released funds” may actually take months.
Qualified departments will have their F&A cost recovery funds (indirects) directly deposited into their appropriate accounts by the controller. This usually occurs on a quarterly basis.
Report Writing
You are responsible to write all interim and final reports required by your agency, meeting specified deadlines based on the terms and conditions of the award.
- Federal agencies and most private sponsors notify the PI that a report is due. Please send this notification to OSP@spu.edu.
- Sponsors’ websites provide detailed report guidelines and required forms.
- OSP will prepare the financial report. Be sure to share all reporting documents provided by the Agency.
- The Director of the Office of Sponsored Programs must review and approve all financial reports before submission.
- OSP or the PI may submit reports depending on the policy of each granting agency.
Submitting Changes or Revisions to Your Grant
Events or problems may require changes in the project. PIs should discuss these with the sponsor. Minor changes (i.e., different travel plans, purchase of equipment other than that included in an approved budget, etc.) may not require approval. Major changes, such as a change in PI, usually do. Contact OSP anytime you make a change to your grant.
Closing your grant
Reminder: If you are planning to request a no-cost extension, please be sure to make the request 45 days prior to the grant expiration (i.e., end of the grant budget period).
Check your award’s terms and conditions for closing requirements.
- Your sponsor’s websites will provide details and required forms.
- SPU requires closeout of sponsored projects and programs in accordance with federal regulations, the specific sponsor policies, and the terms of the award within the time frame required by the sponsor.
- For federal grants SPU must submit a final federal financial report (FFR), final technical report, and final invention statement and certification within 90 days of the grant expiration.
- Failure to submit timely and accurate final reports may affect future funding for the University or awards with the same PI.
If you leave SPU
If you are currently working on a grant and plan to leave SPU for another institution please contact OSP as soon as possible. Check your sponsor’s policies and procedures and work with OSP to determine if or how the grant will transfer to your new institution. In most cases the grant can be transferred without problems, but early planning is essential since the process can be lengthy.
Audits
SPU undergoes a federal audit each spring or summer during which grants are randomly selected for review. If your grant is selected for audit, OSP will notify you and provide the Finance Office with all requested documentation. Among other things, auditors check whether or not reports have been submitted on time.