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MANAGING THE GRANT (Post-Award
Procedures)
Getting an Account:
When a grant has been approved by the agency and the
Grants Office has been notified, the Budget and Grants office will do the
following;
- Assign a College account number to the grant, and
if applicable, a separate account for the PI's percentage of indirect costs
The PI will be notified of these numbers in writing.
Hiring New Staff:
A request to fill a staff position for a term longer
than eight weeks during the academic year must be submitted to the appropriate
senior administrator before the hiring process can begin. The position,
regardless of funding source, must be approved by the members of the senior
staff before the position can be advertised. For faculty members their appropriate
senior staff officer is the Dean of Faculty.
When the senior staff has approved the position for
hire the hiring process can begin. The PI should contact the Office of Human
Resources for the proper forms. It is that Office's responsibility to see
that all College hiring and affirmative action policies are followed.
In the case where grant funds are being used to hire
a replacement teacher the appointment of that replacement must be coordinated
with the office of the Dean of Faculty. The Dean's office will determine
the appropriate salary level for the replacement.
Payment of Salaries:
Payment of work under a grant, either to the PI or
to other staff, should normally be paid over the period the work is being
performed. The College will not pay salaries to individuals before they
begin work.
Salary payments are initiated by filling out a Personnel
Action Form. This needs to be done for all people paid from a grant,
including the PI. The form should be completed and forwarded to the office
of the Dean of Faculty for signature. The vital information on the form
is name, social security number, salary amount, payment schedule, position
number, and grant account to be charged.
For a salary to be paid in the monthly payroll cycle
the form needs to be in the Office of Human Resources no later than the
first Friday of the month. New employees cannot be paid until all of their
tax and I-9 documents are completed.
Purchasing Office:
Mount Holyoke College is a tax-exempt organization.
Any items that are purchased through the College Purchasing Office for the
exempt purposes of the College, including grants, will be exempt from Massachusetts
sales taxes. The Purchasing Office will assist if you wish to get price
quotes on equipment or supplies. Please refer to their website (http://www.mtholyoke.edu/offices/fs/purchasing/index.shtml)
for current information on the variety of ways you may purchase items, including
purchase orders and credit cards.
Procurement:
On projects that are funded in whole or in part by
with monies from the federal government there are procurement standards
set for by the Office of Management and Budget Circular A-110 Attachment
O that must be followed. Compliance with these standards will ensure that
the institutions procedures are acceptable to the federal government. Also
note that the federal government maintains a database of vendors by agency
that are barred from doing business with the various government agencies
at this website: http://epls.arnet.gov/.
The PI is responsible for making sure that the vendors they do business
with are not debarred.
One of the major requirements of OMB Circular A-110
Attachment O is that any equipment whose unit cost is greater than $10,000
must go through a competitive bidding process before it can be purchased.
The only exception to this rule is if the equipment can only be provided
by a single source. The College Purchasing Office can assist in the bidding
process.
Travel
Normally, the College's
Travel and Entertainment Policy (accessible from Mount Holyoke computers
at http://www.mtholyoke.edu/offices/fs/restricted/travel/index.shtml)
applies to the use of grant funds used in travel. However, the PI needs
to also become aware of additional restrictions that may apply when using
grant funds, especially federal funds, such as per diem limits and nonreimbursement
of alcohol. Please consult with the Director of Sponsored Research if unsure
of which policy governs travel and entertainment when using grant funds.
American Express Corporate Cards
For the convenience of frequent travelers and to simplify
travel expense reporting, the College has an agreement with American
Express
to provide an American Express Corporate Card to continuing faculty and
staff who incur reimbursable travel expenses. The card is to be used
only
for travel expenses incurred in connection with official Mount Holyoke
business.
The traveler should charge virtually every business
travel expense to this card; i.e., airline tickets, hotels, car rentals,
meals and other travel expenses. As soon as possible after return from
travel, the cardholder should submit a Travel & Entertainment Expense
Report form to the Accounts Payable Office for reimbursement of expenses.
The Accounts
Payable Office will promptly process the request and will issue a check
to the traveler, so the traveler should receive reimbursement of expenses
before the charge appears on the American Express bill.
American Express will send a bill to the individual
cardholder for expenses charged to the card on a monthly basis and payment
is due upon receipt. The College will not reimburse late fees assessed
as a result of late payment by the cardholder.
If an account is not paid within 30 days, American
Express will notify the cardholder and the College that the account
is delinquent.
If the cardholder does not make payment within 60 days of the billing date,
charge privileges will be suspended until full payment has been received
and credited to the account.
Individuals should contact the Office of Financial
Services (ext. 2354) for further information.
Additional information on the American Express Corporate
Card is available in the College's Travel and Entertainment Policy Manual.
GRANT REPORTING
Technical Reporting
The PI is responsible for assuring that all reporting
required by a funding source are prepared and filed on time. Copies of Technical,
Progress and Final Reports should be forwarded to the Grant Accountant at
the time they are filed with the agency. Also, copies of title pages from
any publication where the granting agency is recognized should be sent to
the Grant Accountant. Granting agencies specify certain information concerning
the grant to be included on such title pages.
Financial Reporting
In addition to completion reports, most sponsors require
a final financial report. The final "Report of Expenditures" is
prepared by the Grant Accountant and submitted in a timely manner. Often
the report will go to the Principal Investigator to be included with the
final Project Report.
INDIRECT COSTS
All federal granting agencies and most other agencies
allow the College to recoup indirect costs associated with a grant. Indirect
costs are real costs, which, because of their nature, can not be practicably
charged directly to a grant. Examples of these indirect costs are expenses
associated with the provision and maintenance of laboratory and office space,
grant administration cost, libraries and regular staff support.
The indirect cost rate is negotiated every three years
with the federal agencies. The College completes standard forms from which
the percentages for on-campus and off-campus rates are derived. Current
rates may be obtained from the Grant Accountant or the Director of Sponsored
Research. Note that there is no overhead budgeted for grants from
private foundations.
Principal Investigator's Share of Indirect Costs:
For any grant award that funds indirect costs, it is
College policy to allow 25% of the indirect costs collected to be available
to the PI for further research or scholarly work. These dollars are set
up in a separate account and are allocated at the completion of each quarter.
Expenditures charged to the PI' s indirect cost account
are at the discretion of the PI, and do not need to be approved prior to
their being incurred. However, such funds must be used for expenses
clearly related to research or scholarly work. If a PI is in doubt as
to whether an item constitutes research-related expenses, please consult
in advance with the Office of Sponsored Research or Dean of Faculty.
GRANT TERMINATION OR SUSPENSION
In the event a PI is notified that a grant has been terminated or suspended
the agency will at that time provide the PI with procedures that need to be
followed. The PI should not initiate any new charges against that grant.
PROPERTY MANAGEMENT STANDARDS
Office of Management and Budget Circular A-110 Attachment
N provides standards for property management that must be followed for all
property that is purchased, in whole or in part, with federal funds. The
federal government defines non-expendable personal property as tangible
property having a useful life of more than one year and an acquisition cost
of $300 or more per unit. For all items defined by the federal government
as non-expendable personal property there are specific information requirements
that must be met. The PI is responsible for keeping records relating to
these standards.
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