Award Management

R&GE provides technical assistance to faculty and staff in managing their sponsored program award, referred to as post-award administration. Both faculty and staff are responsible for sponsored project management. We support departments by providing funding and spending reports, guidance on critical purchasing, effort certification, and oversight of the financial health of the CFAES sponsored projects portfolio. Additionally, faculty should work with their deptartment-level grants specialist and fiscal officer/cost center manager to develop and mange spending plans. 

It's important to validate that awarded funds are used effectively and as intended by the sponsor. Some important things to keep in mind while reviewing your award are:

• Review your award’s terms and conditions. The award notification often has details on what kinds of budget items are not allowable. This can be found in Workday by searching for your AWD-######.
• Ensure that costs are consistent with the project schedule and are incurred between the start and stop dates of the project. Confirm the availability of project funds while avoiding overspending, which may result in deficits and restrict future expenditures.
• On a monthly basis, review your sponsored project account summary in case there are errors in your budget, encumbrances, or expenditures.
• Verify that change requests, corrections, and cost transfers are being completed in a timely manner.
• Maintain detailed records of award transactions and events in case it needs to be revisited at a later date, or the project is audited.

The principal investigator (PI) has primary responsibility for accomplishing the technical goals of the project, while also complying with the financial and administrative policies and regulations associated with the award.

To carry out their responsibilities effectively, principal investigators will want to work with their department-level grants specialist and fiscal officer/cost center manager on spending plans. 

For questions, please contact Shannon Hollis.69@osu.edu, Grants and Contracts Management Senior Analyst.

Below are key resources to support effective award management throughout the project lifecycle.

• Project Initiation
• Subawards/Subcontracts
  • Workday: How to initiate or change a supplier contract (aka Subaward)
• Requesting a Preliminary Project Number
• Project Performance
• Procurement (Purchases)
• Financial Statements
• No-Cost Extensions (NCE)
• Project Closeout
• Workday: Discovery Theme Guidance, Costing Allocations and epa-005  
• PI Portal Tip Sheet

Sponsored Projects Subcontracts/Subawards

A subcontract is a component of a sponsored project where another university, company, or organization (known as the sub-recipient) performs and is responsible for a portion of the technical work.

Please note that when a project is awarded, a subcontract is not automatically established. It requires additional steps including contract negotiations.

To request a new subcontract/supplier contract or to modify an existing one, log into Workday.

Subcontracts are always awarded to an organization or institution, not individuals. Ohio State project employees cannot have financial interests in any organization receiving a subcontract. (See Conflict of Interest for more information.)

If an individual not affiliated with an organization is contributing to the project, they must be paid as a consultant rather than through a subcontract.

You can also find additional information on outgoing subawards with the Office of Sponsored Programs' Subcontracts page.

Important questions to consider:

• Do we have the subcontract’s letter of intent (LOI) and statement of work (SOW)?

• If applicable, do we have the subcontract’s current Institutional Rate Agreement (includes F&A and fringe rates & agency)?

• Do we have the subcontract’s budget and budget justification? Does their period of performance match OSU’s?

Learn More

Requesting a Preliminary Project Number for a New Sponsored Award

A principal investigator can request with Chair approval (signature) that a preliminary project number be set up by the Sponsored Program Officer in the PI Portal. This allows for spending on the award, prior to the final sponsored agreement being received from the sponsor.

In the event the anticipated sponsored agreement is not received, or sponsor payment is insufficient to cover expenditures incurred, any unrecovered or unallowable expenditures will be transferred to the department.

Complete the OGC-005 form and forward to your Sponsored Program Officer to establish a preliminary project.

View OGC-005 Form

Project Performance

Prior to undertaking the responsibility of a sponsored project, it is important that the principal investigators understand the administrative requirements of the award.

• It can be useful for principal investigators, especially those who have never managed a sponsored project, and their staff to meet with the sponsored program officer to discuss the administrative aspects of the award.

Meeting Sponsor Requirements

The Office of Sponsored Program’s procedures and systems are designed to help principal investigators understand and comply with a variety of sponsor rules and regulations in a consistent manner.

• Sponsor requirements are documented either in the award agreement itself or in the sponsor’s policy documents, many of which are available on sponsors’ web pages.
• Sponsored program officers can provide additional guidance, copies of award documents, and details of sponsor rules and regulations.

Managing Expenditures

All sponsored projects are restricted funds. Thus, all charges must be:

• reasonable, allowable, and allocable to the project
• in accordance with program plans and objectives
• clearly required for the project
• consistent with the budget established for the project (in total, by category, or by line item, depending on sponsor requirements)
• incurred within the project period of performance
• in accordance with sponsor regulations, university policy, and Office of Sponsored Programs procedures for implementing those regulations and policies

Any deviations from the above require justification and/or additional sponsor approval. Sponsored program officers can provide information and advice on what may or may not be charged to a sponsored project and they can assist in seeking required approvals.