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I’m Pre-Award, but is it Really Just Pre-Award?

“I’m Pre-Award, but is it really just Pre-Award?” Lorrie Robins and Betty Morgan from Duke University posed this question at the recent SRAI Joint Section Meeting in Louisville, Kentucky. The pair used their experiences to examine the line between pre-award and post-award work and to share ways to build a bridge between the two. For those of you who weren’t able to attend Lorrie’s and Betty’s presentation, here is a recap.

“I’m just pre-award!” is a statement often heard when pre-award and post-award are separate entities at the department or central levels of an institution. Actually, these areas of research administration are tied together, and it’s important for us to build a bridge between the two to make sure both parts are working well together, and nothing falls between the cracks.

Before we can build that bridge, we have to know what pre-award is.  Pre-Award involves anything that facilitates a proposal’s creation and submission prior to an award being received. 

That definition is pretty broad, and each institution may have their own ideas about the scope and duties that fall within their pre-award term. Still, most of us can agree on the basics of pre-award responsibilities such as finding funding opportunities, beginning the grant lifecycle, proposal development, creating budgets and budget justifications, reviewing and submitting applications, managing representations and certifications, submitting Just-in-Time materials, and handling award negotiations.

On the other side is post-award. Some of the responsibilities that could fall within post-award include initiating the project, managing finances, managing effort and payroll, ensuring compliance, procurement, invoicing sponsors, award modifications, and project close out.

At first glance, the responsibilities in pre- and post- may look very different, but are they? Pre-Award and post-award both have some level of responsibly for quite a few pieces of the funding process. First, and possibly most important, both reduce the administrative burden for the PI. Pre- and post- are also both responsible, in some capacity, for budgets, compliance, cost sharing, data collection, due diligence, terms and conditions, program guidelines, and institutional and sponsor policies, SOPs, and guidelines.

So why can it feel like there are so many pain points between pre-award and post-award? First of all, while post-award generally has a fairly long timeline for their work, pre-award is generally facing short turnarounds. This can cause differing stressors that could lead to communication breakdowns. Also, there are sometimes unanticipated issues that appear for post-award that may have been overlooked or not forecasted for by pre-award. Without a united front between the two groups, these issues and others can create artificial boundaries between what are really two parts of a whole.

How can we work to build that bridge between pre-award and post-award, so we don’t go over the cliff? Communication is key. Some possibilities include having both the post and pre representatives included in meetings or emails to the PI during the proposal stage, including post during the proposal development stage for a second set of eyes, and having a “hand-off” meeting when the proposal moves to the award stage. It could also be helpful to do some process mapping to identify delays and determine if it makes sense to move a task between teams and to work together to identify and eliminate any artificial boundaries between the groups.

Some other ideas include frequent inter-team meetings, so the groups can learn from each other and help anticipate needs. Similarly, cross training allows both groups to have a greater understanding of what everyone does and possibly even provide backup. Using project management software, shared drives, and even chat lines can also help improve the connection between pre-award and post-award.

No matter what side of the divide you are on, improving communication and understanding between all involved will help build that bridge between pre-award and post-award and create more success for your institution. 

Authored by

Lorrie Robbins, CRA, Assistant Director, Grants & Contracts
Duke University

Betty Morgan, Grants and Contracts Manager
Duke University

Compiled by Carol Volker, CRA, Pre-Award Associate, Sponsored Programs
Virginia Tech