GRANTS AND CONTRACTS PROCEDURES MANUAL

GRANTS AND CONTRACTS PROCEDURES MANUAL AN ADMINISTRATION GUIDE FOR FACULTY AND STAFF Grant Principal Investigators 2006

TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Contents...i Preface...ii Introduction... 1 Responsibilities of the Principal Investigator... 1 Administrative Offices... 1 KCTCS Sponsored Projects Administration (SPA) Office... 2 KCTCS Sponsored Projects Accounting... 2 Business Office... 2 Purchasing... 2 Payroll... 3 Human Resources... 3 Printing Services... 4 Records and Admissions... 4 Physical Plant... 4 Policy and Procedure for Approval of Projects... 5 Setting up a Sponsored Project/Grant... 6 Reporting and Close-out of a Sponsored Project Grant... 7 How to Access and View Grant Budget... 8 Flow Chart on Identification, Proposal Development and Submission... 19 Flow Chart of Award Notification, Acceptance Process and Reporting... 20 References and Acknowledgements... 21 i

PREFACE In the past several years there has been an increasing involvement in federal and private funding for community college programs. MCTC faculty and staff working in concert with grant writers and its foundation have gotten several large new Federal grants, one of which helped fund half of its first major endowment. Since MCTC operates a decentralized grant administration program, the intent of this manual is to facilitate the process of searching for, securing, and managing external grant funds to support College objectives and programs. The primary purpose of this Procedures Manual is to provide information and familiarize the Principal Investigator with the following: 1. The administration and fiscal responsibilities of Principal Investigators. 2. Services provided by the College to the Principal Investigators to insure effective management of contracts and grants. Guidelines established by granting agencies and the myriad of forms to be completed can be complicated and frustrating. The staff in the KCTCS Grant and Contract office are available to assist faculty and staff members with the technical aspects of proposal writing and project management. It is imperative that the MCTC Budget Office be notified of all grant awards and kept informed of any budget changes within a current grant. Additionally when multiple year grants are involved, a new payroll authorization from must be completed for the new fiscal year, unless the grant is on a federal calendar year (October 1-September 30). Appropriate record keeping will be a necessary part of the management of the project. Since grant administration is decentralized at MCTC, it is imperative that the grant Principal Investigator (PI) obtain an assistant with grant resources who is capable of accessing the PeopleSoft financial system and helping to track payments and balances, unless the PI is able and willing to do this function himself/herself. The Principal Investigator is responsible for managing the project, interpreting the financial reports, in submitting final reports, and in other matters related to the finances of the grant or contract. If expense reimbursements are disallowed due to conditions of the grant, or over the budget, the college operating budget has to pick up the costs which can cause financial stress and shortages. If any of the staff in the College can assist you in the implementation, management, and termination of your project, please contact them directly and promptly. ii

ADMINISTRATION OF GRANTS/CONTRACTS INTRODUCTION This manual is intended to assist you in the administration of your grant or contract. Our goal is to minimize the time you must divert from the mainstream of your project while complying with contractual, regulatory, and statutory provisions. While information and assistance is primarily available from the KCTCS Chancellor s Office of Sponsored Projects and Contracts (POC: Dr. Keith Stephens) and KCTCS Sponsored Projects Accounting (POC: Terri Scales) other College administrative offices are also available to assist Principal Investigators. The responsibilities of the Principal Investigator and the several College offices are described in this section of the Procedures Manual. Responsibilities of the Principal Investigator You, the Principal Investigator, are the most important administrator of your grant. You initiate or approve all changes to the grant or contract and check the monthly expenditure reports from your administrative assistant to determine their accuracy and completeness. Your grant's budget, established through Dr. Stephens and Terri Scales at the KCTCS main office in Versailles, is similar to a bank account opened in your name. You may draw from it during the life of the grant project. You are responsible for your "account". You will want to get the most mileage out of your available funds, within the constraints prescribed by the funding source and KCTCS Through personal contact you will have with the KCTCS staff prior to activation of your project and the specifics of the grant/contract award notice, you will receive information on the special aspects of your grant/contract. For your project to function efficiently, the College has established procedures to be used in the administration of your project. The professional and ultimate responsibility for the accuracy and effective project management i.e., project activities, budget control, fiscal reports, etc., rests with you, the Principal Investigator. Review thoroughly the KCTCS Business Procedure 3.9, on Sponsored Projects Accounting for Grants and Contracts, which can be found on the KCTCS website at the following link: http://www.kctcs.edu/businessservices/buspro/3.9%20grants%20and%20contracts.doc Administrative Offices In the course of directing your program, you will work with several College offices including, but not limited to, the functional area Chief Officer, the Business Office, Purchasing, Payroll, Human Resources, Printing Services, Physical Plant, etc. Each of the administrative areas that you will contact is service-oriented and interested in helping you to carry out your project with a minimum of time spent on administrative details. To that end, we solicit your comments and recommendations as an invaluable guide to growth and development of federal and state sponsored activities at the College. 1

1. KCTCS Sponsored Projects Administration (SPA) Office The KCTCS SPA office will act as the intermediary with the granting agency for all budgetary or contractual negotiations for formal College grants/contracts. The Project Director/Coordinator/Principal Investigator will allocate the allowable expenditures in light of contractual agreements and underlying sponsor policies, but must work within College policy(ies). All contacts with the funding agency will be made through or with the prior knowledge or assistance of the KCTCS SPA office. 2. KCTCS Sponsored Projects Accounting Once the award letter is received, the KCTCS grants and contracts accountant issues a grant account number. An internal approval form must be completed in order to set up the account. The KCTCS SPA office needs to be notified of the award and provided a copy of the award notification in order to facilitate this process. Any change in the grant budget requires a KCTCS grant revision form to be completed and submitted to the KCTCS grants and contracts accountant. The KCTCS SPA office can assist you in this process. Many renewal proposals require the reporting of expenditures up to the time of the preparation of the renewal, together with estimates of expenditures for the remainder of the program year. The KCTCS SPA office can provide you interim information regarding cumulative expenditures. Certification of expenditure accuracy will also be provided, if required. All grant/contract fiscal reports must be verified by the KCTCS SPA office prior to forwarding to funding agency. 3. Business Office The Business Office is the final approving authority for expenditures and Only determines if there is sufficient budget to warrant expenditure. Expenditures for supplies and payroll can only be approved in accordance with terms and conditions of the contract and with College policy so the Principal Investigator needs to be thoroughly familiar with those restrictions and insure compliance. Procurement for personnel services outside the normal payroll system must first be given individual review through Purchasing channels because of a higher degree of audit accountability required in these areas. 4. Purchasing The primary function of Purchasing is to organize and administer all phases of procurement, including leasing, for all departments of the College. This operation serves all externally sponsored activities in accordance with applicable Kentucky statutes, Council on Postsecondary and KCTCS rules, policies, and good business practice. Obligations against grant or contract funds are processed in Purchasing as if State appropriate funds are being expended. Therefore, KCTCS regulations and College 2

Purchasing procurement policies and procedures apply when commodities and/or services are contracted for using grant or contract funds. It should be noted that only the Business Office has been delegated the authority to purchase and/or lease supplies, equipment, and services which are to be used in the normal operation of the College. No other department or person is authorized to make purchases or leases for the College. Purchases made by any individual not assigned or approved by the Business Office are considered unauthorized and the individual entering into such an agreement may incur a personal obligation to the vendor. Subject to exceptions to bidding requirements provided by Kentucky law and KCTCS rules, at least three (3) bids or proposals, or written quotations shall be requested for purchases, between $10,000 and $20,000. All purchases over $20,000 will be obtained by sealed bids. If possible, at least one quotation shall be requested from a local minority vendor. College divisions, upon receiving contracts or grants, are urged immediately to contact the Business Office and discuss their supply, equipment and service needs. An understanding of purchasing policies and procedures will help you expedite the handling of your requirements. 5. Payroll All paychecks at the College are issued through the Payroll Office. The payroll process is put into motion when the originating department releases a Payroll Authorization Form through the Human Resources office. The Payroll Authorization Form lists all approved personnel (students, faculty, and staff) on the project. When this process is not followed, checks are delayed or not issued and the grant or contract budget will not reflect proper balances. 6. Human Resources Office (Personnel) Grant personnel (Fund 12) are personnel employed in a federally funded, state funded or special program. Grant and contract projects are temporary in nature and the employees paid from these funds are not guaranteed positions at the College if the program is terminated or the funds available for the program are reduced. The College shall adhere to the established classification plan and salary schedule for appointments, promotions, salary adjustments, reclassifications, and terminations for grant personnel. Exceptions to standard procedures must be recommended by the Human Resources officer, approved by the President or his/her designee, and documented fully in the personnel files of the individual employee concerned. All new and/or vacant positions must be approved and advertised in accordance with established College standards. All full-time grant personnel shall be entitled to fringe benefits as provided by the College and KCTCS policy. 3

It is the policy of the Maysville Community & Technical College that no citizen of the United States or any other person within the jurisdiction thereof shall, on the grounds of race, color, national origin, religion, gender, marital status, age, veterans status or being physically challenged, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination or sexual harassment in employment or any activity of Maysville Community & Technical College. The Human Resources Office will be available to assist with all personnel issues. 7. Printing Services Printing services has a large variety of ways to assist in your paperwork. Services can be accessed with properly executed request forms. 8. Records and Admissions The Principal Investigator should check to arrange admission and registration of participants in grant courses or workshops, as appropriate. 9. Physical Plant If facilities need to be identified, secured or constructed, this should be discussed in detail with the Chief Finance and Facilities Officer prior to submitting the proposal. If special services or facilities are to be rented or leased, this should be discussed in detail with the Chief Finance and Facilities Officer prior to submitting the proposal. 4

POLICY AND PROCEDURE FOR APPROVAL OF PROJECTS All proposals for sponsored projects, including fixed-price program support projects and written memoranda of agreements, must include a complete budget reflecting full costs of the project when submitted. The Principal Investigator, by signing the Internal Approval Form (IAF), certifies that the budget represents the best estimate of full costs, including all salaries of faculty and staff applicable to the project, fringe benefits, full indirect costs, facilities requirements, supplies, equipment, etc. All costs not to be reimbursed by the sponsor shall be clearly indicated together with the internal sources of funds to cover these. Any costs determined disallowed (including services performed after the end date, and items received after the end date) will be the college s responsibility to pay from other college resources Department heads, their functional area chief officer, the chief business officer, and college president/chief executive officer, shall also certify on the IAF form that they have reviewed and approved the proposal, including the full cost budget and sources of internal funds as required to cover unreimbursed costs. Awards or agreements for grants and contracts with matching requirements; those involving special competitive situations wherein the KCTCS makes significant concessions in cost sharing; and those involving significant contributions of space and equipment; or obligations to continue a program beyond the extramural funding period must be approved by the KCTCS Chancellor. All other awards or agreements for grants and contracts that do not provide for reimbursement of full costs of the sponsored project may be accepted and approved by the Director of Office of Sponsored Projects and Contracts (OSPC). Acceptance Upon receipt of contractual documents for grants and contracts, the Office of Sponsored Projects and Contracts (OSPC) staff shall review the terms of the contract and compare them with the proposal originally submitted. The contract then shall be reviewed with the Principal Investigator and the appropriate KCTCS administrator(s), at which time any unusual requirements shall be discussed and specific contract requirements brought to their attention. After this review, any changes shall be negotiated with the sponsor. Significant changes in scope of work, budget, or KCTCS costs shall require the concurrence of those who initially reviewed and approved the proposal under this policy 5

SETTING UP A SPONSORED PROJECT/GRANT After Award Notification Once written notification of the grant award has been received, the Principal Investigator must complete and sign an Internal Approval Form (GC2). The Principal Investigator then forwards the completed GC2 form, along with a copy of the contract or award notice, to their College s Grants and Contracts Office. If their College does not have a Grants & Contracts Office, they will send this information to the College s Business Office. After obtaining the remaining necessary College signatures, the original GC2 and backup documentation must be sent to the KCTCS Office of Sponsored Projects. After the KCTCS Office of Sponsored Projects Accounting receives the completed GC2 and sponsor documents, they will create a Fund 12 chart string and budget in the PeopleSoft General Ledger system. All sponsored project/grants will be assigned a unique grant number beginning with the letters GRT (i.e. GRT42434). A Project/grant Budget Status Report (KGC-8040) will be sent to the Project Manager, College Business Affairs Officer, and other appropriate personnel by e-mail as notification of the new GRT budget string. This will be the account string the Project Manager, Grant Staff and College business and payroll personnel will use for all expenditures related to the new project/grant. This account string should be kept where it can be easily accessed. Here are some important tips related to account set-up: The Sponsor s budget expenditure categories may differ from KCTCS categories, so it is important to use care when dealing with budgetary information. Contact your College Business Office or Sponsored Projects Accounting if you need assistance in completing the budget information of the GC2. Once the College receives the project/grant chart string information from Sponsored Projects Accounting, the Project Manager needs to immediately contact their College Human Resource (HR) or Payroll Office to get the personnel that will be working on the project assigned to this new chart string in the PeopleSoft HR System. The HR/Payroll Office will need to know the name of each person, the amount of effort (either hours or percentage of time), the date they will start working on the project/grant and what activities they will be performing. The full Fund 12 chart string should be recorded on all appropriate documents to ensure the proper grant account is charged for expenses. In the event a budget revision is needed after the project/grant budget string is established in PeopleSoft, a Budget Revision Form (GC1) must be completed, signed and submitted with backup documentation of authorization to the KCTCS Sponsored Projects Office. KY Wins and Career Pathways Projects KY Wins guidelines and forms can be found on DocuShare at this web site: http://unity.kctcs.edu/docushare/dsweb/view/collection-1172 6

REPORTING AND CLOSE-OUT OF SPONSORED PROJECT/GRANTS Reporting The reporting requirements for grants and contracts are usually specified in the Sponsor s award letter/agreement. These specifications consist of type of reporting form, frequency and type of reports, including financial reports, management reports, progress reports, and invention disclosures required. The Principal Investigator and their functional area Chief Officer are responsible for meeting all technical and programmatic reporting requirements. The Office of Sponsored Projects Accounting is generally responsible for submitting financial reports and invoices. KCTCS considers timely reporting essential to the proper stewardship of sponsored funds. Payment for final project expenses may be delayed if reports are not submitted in a timely manner. Pending proposals may not receive favorable consideration. Some sponsors will withhold future awards to individual faculty delinquent in reporting requirements. Others may withhold awards to all KCTCS Colleges anticipating funding from that same sponsor. Therefore, the Office of Sponsored Projects Accounting will inform the Chancellor s Office, who will contact the College of any delinquent reporting. Final Technical Reports The Principal Investigator and their functional area Chief Officer are responsible for final technical reports. Sponsors that require their own forms for final technical reports may provide them in the application packages, with the award documents, or on-line via the internet. The Office of Sponsored Projects Accounting, with the help of the Chancellor s Office, will follow up with the Principal Investigator to ensure that the final technical report is submitted. Final Financial Reports The Office Sponsored Projects Accounting usually prepares final financial reports. Final reports require that all expenditures have been processed and personnel and other on-going charges moved to other appropriate accounts. Closeout The Office of Sponsored Projects Accounting will assist the Principal Investigator and their Chief Officer with closing sponsored project/grants by ensuring the timely submission of required final reports. Sponsors require different reports at closeout. As a rule, federal sponsors require financial, invention and technical reports. Property reports may also be required. Generally, reports are due 30 to 90 days from the expiration date of the sponsored project/grant. Record Retention Maintaining adequate records on sponsored programs activities is a federal requirement. Even non-federal sponsors have very specific guidelines about the retention of records. All awardees are required to be aware of and meet the requirements of their sponsors as required by the KCTCS Business Procedure Policy 1.8. The Office of Sponsored Projects Accounting recommends the Colleges keep their sponsored project records for five (5) years after the end date of the project/grant, or after all matters pertaining to the project/grant are resolved. 7

You can access your grant account information in Peoplesoft by requesting a userid code and following the instructions shown below: Budget Overview Inquiry The Budget Overview inquiry allows you to verify one or multiple chartfield strings budgeted amount, the recognized revenue amount, unrecognized revenue amount, and the collected revenue to date. It is a good tool to verify that the revenue from an invoice has been recorded to the revenue estimate budget. This inquiry replaces the Analyze Controlled Budgets inquiry in the previous version of PeopleSoft. To view this inquiry, follow these steps: 1. From the Menu Pagelet on the left of the Home page, click on the Commitment Control link. 2. Click the Budgets Overview link under the Review Budget Activities folder. 3. Click the Add a New Value page tab. The first time you run an inquiry, you will need to create a name for it. Once you have created a name, then you can use the Find an Existing Value page to use the same inquiry name. 8

4. Enter an Inquiry Name and click the Add button. You may want to give each inquiry a unique name that is relevant to the type of inquiry that you are running. 5. Complete the Criteria page fields according to these instructions: Enter your business unit number in the Business Unit field. The Ledger Group/Set field will default. Do not change. Enter the appropriate the Ledger Group field and press tab. Other fields on the page will appear after the tab key is pressed. o Select Budgets to review expenses and overall budget activity. o Select Revenue to review revenue budgets and activity. o Select Project/Grant to review grant budgetary activity. 9

Select a Type of Calendar. One will default in based upon the Ledger Group that was selected. You may choose to change the default. o If you select Detail Accounting Period or Summary Accounting Period you can identify the specific accounting period(s) that you wish to view. Available periods will be 1 through 12 with July representing 1 as the first month of the fiscal year. o If you select either Detail Budget Period or Detail Accounting Period, you will be able to drill down to the transaction details by chartfield string. The From Budget Period and To Budget Period fields will default and the Select checkboxes will default as checked based upon the Ledger Group selected. If you are looking at Revenue, then you will have the option to view all periods or just the current budget year. You can change the defaults if necessary. The Include Adjustment Period(s) checkboxes will default checked. Do not change. The Include Closing Adjustments checkboxes will default as not checked. Do not change. The Chartfield From Value and Chartfield To fields will default with a % symbol. You can leave the default or enter a specific value or a range for each of the Account, Department, Fund, Class, Program and Project fields to narrow your search. 10

o If you leave the default of the % symbol, your search will pull back all possible values for that particular chartfield code. o If you want to enter one specific value for any chartfield code, enter that value in the Chartfield From Value column. You do not need to enter a value in the Chartfield To column. o If you want to enter a range, you can enter values in the Chartfield From Value and the Chartfield To columns for that chartfield code. o If you enter an Account code or a range you will have to use the roll-up account codes (0508, 0402, etc.). The Budget Status checkboxes will default as checked. Do not change. Click the Search button at the top of the page. If you receive the following message, your request exceeds the current setting for the maximum number of rows. The totals that will be displayed will only reflect the number of rows that were retrieved. If you do receive this message, click the OK button. 11

Increase the Max Rows value to a number high enough to bring back all data rows. Click the Search button to bring back the additional rows. If you receive the same message, you have not increased the Max Rows high enough. Increase the number and try again. 6. Review the Ledger Totals that are based upon the total of all chartfield combinations that fit the search criteria. 7. Use the scroll bar on the right to scroll down and view each chartfield combination that fit your search criteria. 12

8. Each row will display on overview of the budget for that particular chartfield string. The columns displayed will vary based upon the ledger group that was selected. Review the columns as necessary. If you want to download the results of the inquiry into Excel, just click on the Download icon within the Row Counter area to the right of the Budget Overview Results header. 9. Click the Show Budget Details icon to view details of a particular chartfield string. 10. Click on the View Related Links icon next to dollar figure to start to drill down to the transaction level. 13

11. Click on the Drill to Activity Log to drill down to the transaction level. 12. Check the Display open (pre-encumbrances, encumbrances, etc.) checkbox to limit your list to only open transactions. 14

13. Click on the Line Amount page tab to view the dollar amount for each transaction. 14. Click on the Drill Down icon to view the details of the transaction. 15

15. If you want to drill down even further, you can click on the link to the source of the transaction (purchase order, journal, requisition, etc.). 16. Once you are finished viewing this information, click the OK button to return to the list of transactions on the Activity Log. 17. Once you are finished viewing the transactions, click on the OK button to return to the Budget Details page. 16

18. Scroll down and click on the OK button to return the list of chartfield combinations within the Budgets Overview inquiry results. 19 Click the Show Budget Transaction Types button for a row to view any transfers or adjustments that have been made for a chartfield string. 20. You can click on any active dollar figure link (for example, 4,549.85 in the screen shot above) in a column to view the same Activity Log that you saw by drilling down through the Show Budget Details icon at the end of the row. 21. Make sure that you use the row counter controls at the top of the list to 17

view the additional data rows. 22. Click the Return to Criteria link. 23. Click the Home link to return to the home page when finished. 18

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References and Acknowledgments: 1. KCTCS Administrative Policies and Procedures, Section 7, Independent Foundations, Grants, Contracts, and Related Policies 2. KCTCS Business Procedures 3.9, Administering Grants and Contracts for Sponsored Projects 3. Information shared by Terri Scales, Chief of KCTCS Sponsored Project Accounting 4. Information shared by Dr. H. Steve Freeman, Dean of Institutional Planning, Research, and Effectiveness, West Kentucky Community and Technical College 21