Research at the New School

Award Support

+Reporting Deadlines (e.g. Sponsor-required, reports and other Deliverables, IRB extensions)

In general, sponsors require programmatic and/or financial reports during the life-time of the sponsored project. For example, most Federal Awards require an annual programmatic report and Final Programmatic and Outcomes reports due 90-120 days after the end of the award period. Other reports that may be required include IRB (Human Subjects) extensions, XXXX. Instead of required reports, some sponsors ask for specific deliverables, due throughout the lifespan of the award. ORS Post Awards maintains a calendar of these reporting deadlines in the Award Tasks area of MyDay to enable us remind the PI of the sponsor’s expectations and to maintain a “library” of the submitted reports and deliverables.

+Terms and Conditions Clarifications

All awards are accompanied by the sponsor’s Terms and Conditions, which essentially are the Contractual Terms of the award. The T&Cs may be incorporated into the Award Letter or Award Agreement, may be a separate document, and/or could include information posted on the sponsor’s website. PIs are responsible for reviewing the Terms and Conditions to fulfill their contractual obligations. The Terms and Conditions often include prior approval requirements, spending limitations, travel requirements, and requirements for invoicing and reporting. The T&Cs may also identify some expenditures as unallowable. If the sponsored project includes a sub-recipient, these Terms and Conditions flow down to the sub-awardee.

ORS Post Award reviews the Terms and Conditions when we receive the award notice to identify any non-typical and/or unexpected T&C. Both in the Award Summary that is sent to the PI and at the Kickoff Meeting with the PI, Post Award will review the T&Cs. We will also reach out to the sponsor to obtain further information about specific T&C items and, when needed, to negotiate with the sponsor regarding changes or revisions to specific T&C items. At any time during the award period, Post Award is also available to answer any questions that the PI or project team has about the T&Cs.

+Allowable Costs (Direct Costs, Indirect Costs, & Non-Reimbursable Costs)

2 CFR 200, Uniform Guidance ( Subpart E, Cost Principles , Sections 200.400 – 475), the TNS Allowable Cost Guide, and the Terms and Conditions together articulate what are allowable costs for a particular award. Allowable, direct costs are costs charged directly to the sponsored project and are clearly identifiable within the project’s activities and objectives. F&A Costs – also referred to as Indirect Costs and Overhead Costs, are those costs not directly related to a specific sponsored project and are incurred for common or joint objectives (e.g., pens, pencils, and copy paper). A brief overview of generally allowable direct costs, generally allowable F&A costs, and generally unallowable costs offers a brief summary of these costs. However, the Terms and Conditions of the specific award agreement may be more or less restrictive.

+Quarterly Updates and UG Compensation Compliance (Fed Awards Only)

Every quarter, during the life of the award, Post Award completes a Quarterly Update, during which we review spending patterns and burn rates, ensure that reports and other deliverables are up-to-date, and check in with the PI and Budget Director for any updates regarding Scope of Work, budget reallocations, anticipated extensions, and/or other changes relevant to award management. At the same time, these Quarterly Updates also fulfill Uniform Guidance requirements of XXXXX.

Federal awards also require an annual Compensation Compliance, at which time the PI confirms who worked on the project and what percentage of their Institutional Base Salary (IBS) was paid through the federal award. As part of the Quarterly Updates, a Quarterly Compensation Monitoring Report is prepared; PIs have the opportunity to review compensation paid during that quarter and make corrections to the payroll. On an annual basis, PIs sign off on the Compensation Compliance report.

+Sub-recipient Monitoring

Post Award completes an annual review of sub-awardees to confirm that the sub-award is used for authorized purposes, in compliance the subaward agreement and that the subaward performance goals are achieved. Uniform Guidance 2 CFR 200, Section 331 outlines the specific areas of subaward monitoring that we review.

+No Cost Extensions NCEs)

A No-Cost Extension is a sponsor-approved extension to the period of performance beyond the expiration end date of the award. NCEs are sometimes needed by PIs to successfully complete a project and/or to allow for an orderly phase-out of a project. No additional funding is provided by the sponsor. The fact that funds remain unused and unallocated at the expiration of the grant period is not sufficient justification of an NCE request.

Most federal awards waive the requirement (see the Prior Approval Matrix) that PIs obtain prior permission for a single one-year NCE. PIs may self-approve a one-year NCE with the submission of an explanation for the request to the awarding agency.