Below are some of the most frequently
asked questions and answers pertaining to post-award issues.
I just signed a
contract with my funding agency. Is that okay?
No, the authorized
University signatory is the Provost. The Office of Institutional Partnership and Sponsored Research (IPSR) is responsible for obtaining the
Provost’s signature.
I have received the
final signed copy of my contract or award letter from the sponsoring
agency. Can I spend from my grant now?
You must first be sure that IPSR receives a copy of
the final agreement. They will make sure the contract is in
compliance with University of Hartford policies and procedures, help
the Principal Investigator (PI) prepare a budget, and forward the
materials to Financial Accounting Services (FAS) to set-up the new
grant fund in Banner. Once the grant has been established in Banner
and assigned a fund number (to reference on all financial
documents), the PI can start spending against the grant.
A check just came in the mail from my
funding agency. What now?
Please hand-deliver it
directly to Financial Accounting Services, Financial and Administrative Services Building (FASB). Also, please be sure that the grant fund number is somewhere
on the top portion of the check. The grant fund number determines
where the check is deposited. FAS will make a copy of it for the
grant file and deposit it into your account.
The department
administrative assistant is working on this grant. How will he/she
be paid?
Was it included in the
approved budget by the sponsoring agency that this type of work
would be paid for with grant funds? If so, you must fill out a
salary roster indicating the grant fund number so that he/she is
paid from the correct account.
I don’t think I’ll have
my final report done by the sponsoring agency’s due date. Can I send
it in late?
No, you must receive a
written extension from the sponsoring agency and provide a copy to
the IPSR and the
Financial Accounting Services Department.
My project will not be
completed by the ending date. Can I ask for an extension?
Yes. All extension requests should go
through IPSR. The IPSR office will help you to
request an extension.
I am paying a consultant
to do work for my project. How do I accomplish this?
First, make sure your
consultant is truly a consultant. There are specific IRS
criteria that must be met. Consulting work must have been
approved in the budget originally sent to the sponsoring agency.
Once approved, we will need a completed W-9 form and an original
invoice from the consultant attached to an order for check/purchase
order. W-9 forms may be obtained from the Internal
Revenue Service website at
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw9.pdf.
I realized I
over-budgeted in my consultant expense category and would like to
transfer budget money to cover supplies. What should I do?
Review the grant agreement for budget
restrictions/parameters. In some grant agreements, a budget
revision can be made internally without permission from the funding
agency. In other cases, budget revisions may require the written approval
of the funding agency. If the grant agreement requires that budget
revisions be approved by the funding agency, the Senior Financial
Accountant in FAS and the Office of Institutional Partnership and Sponsored Research (IPSR)
will need
documentation of the approval.
Why can’t I spend
the grant the way I feel will benefit the contract, agency, or
University of Hartford?
Please note that a
grant is not a gift. It does not actually become the
University of Hartford’s money until it is spent in accordance with
the awarded proposal or contract specifications. For this
reason, each grant must be deposited in its own fund.
This allows the University to monitor the granted funds and assure that they
are spent properly.
