Sponsored Projects Procedures

Award Receipt & Set-up

Research, Sponsored Projects  |  Approved October 9, 2015

Purpose

Process a sponsored award to begin charging project expenses.

Applicability

Investigators who receive new sponsored funding, and their administrators. The document containing the terms of award may range from a letter agreement to a multi-page contract and may be received in hard copy or electronically. A discrete account (chartstring) in eUMB financials, commonly called the Project ID, is set up to track expenditures charged to the award. 

For additional information on award receipt, award negotiation, and Project ID set-up, see the Sponsored Programs Administration (SPA) website on Award Receipt and Set-up.

Instructions

1. New sponsored awards are reviewed and accepted by SPA or by the Center for Clinical Trials and Corporate Contracts (CCT).
2. SPA and CCT negotiate the wording of an award when needed for acceptance by the University of Maryland Baltimore (UMB). Award terms must be consistent with UMB’s obligations under State of Maryland law as well as University System of Maryland policies.
   • CCT reviews and negotiates corporate-funded research and clinical trial agreements.
   • SPA reviews and negotiates all other sponsored awards.
3. In order for an investigator to expend funds on an award, a Project ID for that award is set up in eUMB Financials. The Project ID allows UMB to track and report on award-related expenses.
   1. Every award must be associated with an approved proposal in Kuali Research.
      1. See Submit a Proposal Overview procedure.
      2. The proposal should be routed before submission to the sponsor. If the proposal was not routed earlier, it must be routed before a Project ID can be set up.
   2. Sponsored Programs Accounting and Compliance (SPAC) receives all awards, either from SPA or directly from the sponsor.
   3. SPAC reviews the financial terms of award and sets up the Project ID in eUMB Financials. Sometimes more than one Project ID is set up for one award.
      1. More than one Project ID may be set up if multiple departments or schools are collaborating on the project funded by the award.
      2. A companion Project ID is required for tracking over-salary-cap amounts or cost sharing. The department is responsible for requesting a companion Project ID when required.
   4. The investigator and department are notified via email of the Project ID number(s) and other key data.
   5. The department is responsible for reviewing the Project ID and chartstring data, which includes award-related information. The department must notify SPAC and SPA of any concerns or corrections before any expenses are charged to the Project ID. The following data must be reviewed:
      • Activity type (such as research or instruction).
      • Owner department code.
      • Sponsor type (such as federal or state).
      • Cost basis (Standard billing based on actual expenses or Deliverable billing based on completion of milestones or deliverables).
      • Award and budget period dates.
      • Award amount and facilities and administrative cost rate.
   6. When all data is resolved, normal business processes can begin. Charges may begin to be processed for payroll and other approved expenses.