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Roles & Responsibilities Overview
The Medical College of Georgia (MCG) solicits and accepts contracts and
grants for research, training, and public service projects from a variety of
federal and non-federal sponsors (including industrial and commercial concerns,
universities, governments, private foundations, and other organizations). With
the acceptance of extramurally funded awards, MCG agrees not only to provide
technical or scientific expertise, but also to manage each award in conformance
with various fiscal and administrative regulations. Responsibility for managing
these grants and contracts is necessarily shared throughout the MCG environment.
The terms and conditions applicable to grants and contracts vary extensively.
However, there is a requirement common to all awards: The Principal Investigator
and/or staff is responsible for the technical, administrative, and fiscal
management of the project, including responsibility for any applicable
subcontracts. In addition, the Department Chair or Center/Institute Director,
Dean, and the Office of Grants and Contracts pre-award and post-award offices
share in various aspects of proposal and award management activities. These
responsibilities are discussed below, and summarized in the
table and matrix
that follow the discussion.
Responsibilities of Principal Investigators, Chairs/Directors
and Deans
The Principal Investigator (PI) and/or Department Manager, Project
Coordinator is the individual with responsibility for the technical,
administrative, and fiscal management of a project, including any applicable
subcontracts. As a practical matter, it is often necessary and appropriate to
rely on staff members for assistance in carrying out much of this
responsibility. The PI and/or staff must:
- Be knowledgeable, at the proposal stage, about appropriate agency and MCG
guidelines and restrictions relative to the conduct of research, training, and
public service programs, and be willing to adhere to such guidelines and
restrictions.
- Conduct the work supported by the grant or contract in a timely and
professional manner.
- Comply with the specific terms and conditions of each award as stated in
the grant or contract documents and with all administrative requirements, as
set forth in various sponsoring agency and MCG policy statements, concerning
issues such as charging of costs, publication, patents, equipment screening,
proprietary data, consultants, human subjects, animal subjects, computing
equipment, recombinant DNA, cost sharing/matching, or regulated substances;
- Assure that expenditures made prior to the receipt of a fully executed
contract or grant award are incurred only after obtaining specific authorized
approval, that expenditures do not exceed the total amount of funds awarded,
and that specific budget category expenditure limits are adhered to.
- Maintain budgetary control through the use of departmental bookkeeping and
cost control systems and monthly reconciliation.
- Certify that all costs charged to each grant or contract specifically
benefit the project being charged by reviewing and approving certifications of
effort [effort reporting policy, policy on
salary charges to extramural awards] expended by employees, staff employee
time sheets (e.g., PAR forms), payments of vendor invoices for goods and
services, check requests (non-payroll), travel reimbursements, requisitions to
and acceptance of charges from campus service units, and similar charges to
the project. If it becomes necessary to make after-the-fact adjustments [link
to cost-transfer policy] in the allocation of certified costs, the PI or other
knowledgeable person must provide full justification and documentation of the
costs being transferred.
- Comply with the reporting requirements of each grant and contract which
may include periodic progress reports, annual reports of project
accomplishments, reports of inventions, reports of publications generated,
reports of major items of equipment acquired, cost sharing/matching reports,
and financial reports. Although the post-award office is responsible for the
preparation and submission of reports of expenditures, the PI must assure that
all financial transactions, including cost sharing and matching, are properly
recorded and/or documented in a timely manner so that the reports of
expenditures can be submitted promptly.
- Review the subsidiary general ledger monthly and upon expiration of the
grant or contract, and make adjustments as may be necessary to assure that the
general ledger is cleared of any expenses not applicable to the award. Such
adjustments may include transferring outstanding liens, transferring items of
expense not allowable under that particular grant or contract, and
transferring overdrafts to other permissible fund sources.
- Ensure that any subcontractors comply with the terms and conditions of
each award as stated in the grant and contract documents and with all
administrative requirements, as set forth in various sponsoring agency
statements.
The Department Chair or Center/Institute Director is
responsible for reviewing proposals submitted by departmental faculty members,
particularly to determine:
- The eligibility of the individual designated as Principal
Investigator/Project Director or Co-Principal Investigator.
- The appropriateness of the time commitments made by faculty members.
- Whether space will be available for the proposed project.
- That cost sharing and/or matching fund commitments set forth in the
proposal are reasonable, can be met, and are approved [link to cost sharing
policy].
- That, where appropriate, equipment screening [link to equipment
procurement] procedures have been followed.
- That the proposed project is consistent with the educational and
professional objectives of the school or college.
Once an award is accepted, the Department Chair or his delegate has
continuing responsibilities for the conduct of the project which include:
- Reviewing and approving financial transactions related to personnel, the
purchase of equipment, re-budgeting of funds, or the retention of consultants
for consistency with project purposes and the terms and conditions of the
award; and
- Identifying appropriate unrestricted fund sources at the departmental
level to cover overdrafts and/or disallowances that PIs are not able to cover
with funds under their jurisdiction.
Deans are accountable for all funds administered by units under
their authority as well as for the coordination of all programmatic elements
within their school or college. This includes:
- Reviewing all proposals to assure that the proposed project is consistent
with the educational and professional objectives of the school or college.
- Endorsing requests for Facilities & Administrative cost rates (formerly
indirect costs) at less than full recovery.
- Approving cost sharing and/or matching fund commitments contained in
proposals [cost sharing policy and cost
sharing form].
- Identifying appropriate unrestricted fund sources to cover overdrafts
and/or disallowances that Department Chairs within the school or college have
not been able to cover with funds under their jurisdiction [cost-transfer policy].
Responsibilities of Office of Grants and Contracts, Vice
President for Research
Office of Grants and Contracts – Pre-award Office [Pre-Award Staff] is responsible for:
- Reviewing and approving all proposals for research, training, and public
service programs prior to submission to external agencies by the respective
MCG departments.
- Negotiating and recommending execution of contracts and acceptance of
grant awards that are consistent with MCG policy and that contain terms and
conditions acceptable to MCG.
- Determining that a funding agency has made a binding commitment and
expenditures are authorized under a grant or contract prior to its acceptance
and/or execution.
- Informing appropriate campus personnel of the requirements and obligations
imposed by the grant or contract, including the interpretation of award terms
and conditions.
- Approving and officially transmitting requests for budget, effort, and/or
period of performance revisions requiring pre-approvals by the funding agency
when recommended by the appropriate Vice President.
- Negotiating and recommending resolution of programmatic and financial
discrepancies and disagreements that may arise between MCG and external
funding agencies.
Office of Grants and Contracts – Post-award Office [Post-Award Staff] is responsible for:
- Maintaining records of expenditures for grant and contract funded projects
(e.g., general ledger).
- Reviewing transfers of payroll and non-payroll expenditures for
conformance to agency and MCG policies and procedures;
- Managing the accounts receivable process, including invoicing, letter of
credit and collections.
- Preparing and submitting reports of expenditures to funding agencies and
assisting in the close out of contracts and grants.
- Closing out grant and contract accounts by transferring overdrafts and
unallowable expenditures.
- Coordinating responses to audit reports and/or recommendations of
disallowance of expenditures under grant and contract awards.
- Providing assistance to departments which are experiencing difficulties in
the management of grant and contract funds.
The Vice President for Research has general oversight
responsibility for policy issues associated with extramurally-funded research
programs. Included is the responsibility for:
- Approving exceptions to PI eligibility.
- Coordinating compliance with federal and other research regulations in
matters such as human subjects, animal welfare, and biohazards.
- Resolving disputes which arise concerning scientific propriety or academic
policy.
Summary Table
Matrix
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