Accounting and Safeguarding of Assets

40.11         Administration of Sponsored Programs                               Issued: September 1, 1998
                                                                                                             Updated: June 1, 2000
                                                                                                             Updated: September 14, 2000

1.    Grant and Contract Administration

        The administration activities of the Foundation will be broken into two categories:

        1.1    Research Foundation Awards

                Responsibilities of the Foundation and the University are distributed as follows:  

Research Foundation

Prairie View A&M University

        1.2   University Awards

                Responsibilities of the Foundation and the University are distributed as follows:    

Office of Sponsored Programs
(Contracted Services with Research Foundation)

Prairie View A&M University

       
        2.    Grant and Contract Proposals

               2.1    The Pre-Award Services Section of the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) handles
                        all proposals submitted by the University, except for those submitted through the 
                        Prairie View A&M Research Foundation

               2.2    When a Principal Investigator (PI) notifies the OSP Pre-Award Section of their
                          intention to submit a proposal, they will be asked a series of standard questions
                          pertinent to the proposals process.  Generally, the following information will be
                          needed:

                          *    A copy of the letter of intent to submit the proposal
                          *    Sponsor and program for the proposal
                          *    Preliminary budget information
                          *    Monthly insurance rates for all personnel listed on budget
                          *    Period of performance dates
                          *    Routing text (rough draft or summary of text)
                          *    For NSF proposals, if use of FastLane (electronic submission of proposals) is 
                                required or preferred
                          *    Proposal due date

                           When a proposal is scheduled with OSP, it will be given a PVAMU proposal number
                           and will be added to the daily schedule for monitoring.

                2.3      The Compliance Office in the Office of Research and Development maintains records on
                            human subjects, animal subjects, recombinant DNA, and conflict of interest.
                            Forms must be submitted for University approval prior to the routing of the proposal.
                            A copy of this information if filed in OSP.  Call 857-2056 for additional information.

                2.4       As the Proposal Administrator works on the budget, the PI will be contracted by                             telephone fax, or email and asked for comments and/or approval of the budget.  Once the PI approves the budget and submits a routing text, the Proposal Administrator will prepare a package to be routed on campus for all required signature approvals, as per Administrative Procedures Manual 2.03 - Approval of Grant and Contract Proposals. Generally, forty-eight (48) hours will be required for the routing process.

                2.5       Approvals of the grant and contract proposals are required as follows:         

              
               2.5    The completed proposal, included the final text, should be forwarded to the Proposal
                        Administrator at least thirty-six (36) hours prior to the mail deadline.  When the Proposal
                        Administrator received the final text, the proposal is organized and formatted to meet 
                        sponsor guidelines.  The final text and other related forms can also be accepted in an
                        electronic version as an email attachment, or copied to a computer diskette.  The final
                        quality check of the proposal is made and it is reproduced using the latest technology
                         for quality copies.  The original copy of the final proposal is mailed.

               2.6    Copies of the approved proposal are prepared and distributed to the researcher and 
                         other signature authorities within approximately one week after submission to the sponsor.

                2.7    Principal Investigators can assist with the proposal processing by doing the following:

                         *    If the technical portion of a proposal is still being written, submit the budget
                              to OSP to initiate processing of the proposal.
                         *    When initiating a proposal, be available for questions or designate someone in your
                              office as a contact.
                         *    When making changes to a proposal, call or send the changes to the Proposal
                              Administrator so that the changes can be incorporated in the final copy without
                              delay.
                         *    Be cognizant of the fact that proposal processing time will be longer during the
                              last week of the month because many sponsor deadlines occur at the first of 
                              the month.
                          *   Provides a 3 1/2" diskette containing the proposal text with the final printed copy    
                          *   Allow five working days for complete processing of a proposal.   This five day
                              period includes the day you first notify OSP of your intent to submit a proposal,
                              preparation of the budget, the routing (approval) process on campus, final quality
                              check, and mailing the proposal to the sponsor.

3.    Procedures Related to University Awards

        3.1   Grant and Contract Award Signatures

                All grant and contract awards requiring University signature of acceptance of terms will
                be signed by the President. The grant or contract will be submitted to the Office of
                Finance and Administration for review and coordination of required General Counsel
                review and for signature by the President. Standard processing time for signatures will
                be as follows:

    a    If General Counsel review is required - 2 weeks
    b.    If General Counsel review is not required - 48 hours

        3.2   Grant and Contract Accounts

                OSP will initiate the establishment of account for each grant and contract award by
                completing the University's Account Create Form.  OSP will specify the budget pool
                parameters desired for the account.  This form is submitted to the Controller for 
                approval and then processed by the General Accounting Office.  Standard processing
                time of an account create request will be 24 hours.

        3.3   Grant and Contract Budgets

                OSP will initiate the establishment of an operating budget for each grant and contract
                award  after the requested account has been established and the grant or contract
                document has been signed.  The request will be initiated using the University's Budget
                Transfer Form and will be supported by a copy of the grant or contract.  The request
                will be submitted to the Controller for approval.  Standard  processing time of a budget
                request will be 48 hours.

        3.4   Payroll

                Payments to employees are initiated via a Form 500 or Payroll Adjustment Form. All
                Form 500s or Payroll Adjustments on grant or contract accounts must be approved by
                the Foundation, in addition to the offices noted on these forms, to ensure allowability
                on the grant or contract.

        3.5   Purchase Requisitions

                All purchases of goods and services from outside vendors on University accounts must
                be initiated by a Purchase Requisition by the requesting department. All Purchase
                Requisitions on grant or contract accounts must be approved by the Foundation to
                ensure allowability on the grant or contract. Upon approval by the Foundation, the
                Purchase Requisition is forwarded to the Purchasing Office for normal University
                processing.

        3.6   Interdepartmental Orders

                All purchases of goods and services from University departments on University
                accounts must be initiated by a Purchase Requisition by the requesting department. All
                Purchase Requisitions on grant or contract accounts must be approved by the
                Foundation to ensure allowability on the grant or contract. Upon approval by the
                Foundation, the Purchase Requisition will be submitted to the Budget Office for
                encumbering and then forwarded to appropriate service department for processing.

        3.7   Scholarships

                All scholarships are initiated using a Scholarship/Grant Authorization form. All
                Scholarship/Grant Authorization forms on grant or contract accounts must be
                approved by the Foundation to ensure allowability on the grant or contract. Upon
                approval by the Foundation, the form is forwarded to the Student Financial Aid
                Office for processing.

        3.8   Invoice Payment

                Vendors are instructed on the University's Purchase Order form to forward invoices to
                the Accounts Payable Office. Invoices received are matched with the receiving report
                and purchase order before processing of payment. If the receiving report is not
                present, the applicable department is requested to verify that the goods or services
                were received and approve the invoice for payment.

        3.9   Financial Reports

                All required financial reports on grants and contracts will be prepared by the
                Foundation and submitted to the Controller for approval prior to submission to the
                granting agency. Standard processing time for the financial reports will be 24 hours.

    3.10     Reimbursements

                Reimbursement draw downs on letters of credit will be made on a bi-weekly basis.
                Reimbursements that are not on letter of credit will be submitted on a monthly basis
                to the granting agency. OSP will prepare/initiate all reimbursement drawdown and billing
                requests.  The Treasury Services Office will process the drawdown requests electronically,
                and initiate the posting of the appropriate accounting entries for these transactions.  OSP
                will mail the reimbursement billing requests.

4.    Procedures Related to Cost Sharing and Matching

        4.1    When a grant or contract award involving University cost sharing or matching is received, the
                 applicable administrative office (OSP or Prairie View A&M Research Foundation) will submit
                 a request to the Fiscal Office to establish a support account for the cost sharing or matching activity.

        4.2    After the support account has been established, the administrative office will prepare and submit
                 to the Fiscal Office a budget transfer form for the transfer of funds from the funding account to
                 the support account.

        4.3     If the cost sharing or matching commitments involve salaries, the administrative office will notify
                  the Principal Investigator to prepare and route through the normal approval chain a Form 500 to
                  transfer the requisition percent of salaries to the support account.  In preparing the Form 500,                   the Principal Investigator will indicate in the justification section the allocation of time to the related grant or contract.

        4.4    Upon completion of the above steps, the Principal Investigator will be allowed to begin spending
                  on their grant or contract award.

Contacts:    Vice President of Research and Development
                  Controller