Virtual Financial Management Conference - Tuesday Sessions

The presentation involves a review of both governmental and nongovernmental donors. Rules and regulations differ for each donor and the government generally has more stringent rules than other donors. The main goal is for the organization to have internal controls and systems that allow the grant management personnel to meet all donor requirements. We will look at allowable costs, how to communicate with international partners on projects, and how to resolve conflicts during the grant lifecycle. We will also look at both key aspects to be included in proposal budgets to avoid miscommunication as invoices and reports are submitted. A review of the importance of deliverables during the grant cycle.  We will also look at communication is it affects time differences and language barriers and how to overcome such barriers, setting up check-in meetings at the start of projects, during projects, and at the end of a project for a debrief.

Content level: Intermediate 

Learning objectives:

1. Accelerated progress towards grants and awards management within different financial schools of disciplines.
2. Enhance capacity building in local project areas by equipping project personnel with grant and award management skills.

Track: Grant Accounting 

Speaker(s): Catherine Mukopfa, Senior Financial Analyst, Task Force for Global Health

Assets purchased with federal funding can sometimes be an overlooked area in research administration. However, mismanagement of government property can have negative consequences on the research portfolio of an institution. As the steward of equipment purchased with federal funding, it is imperative for the institution to have a compliant asset management system in place that will demonstrate adequate controls over safeguarding of equipment throughout their life cycle.

Content level: Basic

Learning objectives:

1. Understanding the procurement thresholds of government properties: government furnished property (GFP), contractor acquired property (CAP) and fabricated/constructed equipment. Describe the purchasing process of equipment and how to account for them.
2. Bridging the communication gap that exists between departments and central offices to increase their understanding of the role and responsibility of each party throughout the equipment’s life cycle from purchasing to reporting and Audit, and elaborate on the Policies and Regulations that govern property management and describe the acquisition process and safeguarding of an asset within the institution.
   

Track: Non-Financial Post-Award 

Financial Management Certificate: Property/Equipment/Procurement Standards

Prerequisites: Understanding of Uniform Guidance 2CFR200 Subpart D and Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 45, and FAR 52.245-1.

Speaker(s): Sybile Bayiha, Sr. Manager Compliance & Data Analysis, University of Maryland

Research administration is a challenging and ever-changing field. Those who excel in it often find themselves promoted until they eventually cross over into management, where they face new challenges like balancing staff workloads, employee morale, and ensuring that the trains run on time, finances are in order and grants get out the door. Without leadership training, these responsibilities can get overwhelming, and new managers aren’t sure where to start. There’s great news, in that there are a number of transferrable skills when going from managing grants to managing people, and in this session, you will identify your management brand to set strong expectations with your staff, how to manage workloads, and techniques to avoid some common manager mistakes so that your teams run as effectively as your grant portfolio.

Content level: Basic

Learning objectives:

1. Identify and leverage their unique management style to set clear expectations and foster a productive, positive work environment for their teams.
2. Apply practical strategies for managing team workloads effectively while avoiding common pitfalls that new managers face, ensuring both staff well-being and grant success. 

Track: Financial Leadership 

Speaker(s): Minessa Konecky, Research Administrator, Minessa Ink; Saira Valley, Principal Consultant

At some point, every higher education institution (HEI) or organization receiving grant funding will be audited by the sponsor. Therefore, grantee organizations must prepare for those audits.

This session will:
• demystify the audit process from the audit planning to the reporting and,
• identify common areas of compliance vulnerability and,
• suggest efficient ways to mitigate risk.

Content level: Intermediate

Learning objectives:

1. Discuss how to best prepare for audit at your institution. 
2. Identify risk and review efficient ways to mitigate those risks. 

Track: Advanced Finance Topics 

Financial Management Certificate: Post-Award Financial Management 

Speaker(s): Sam Mombou, Director of Sponsored Programs, University of Nebraska Lincoln

During this session we will present why projections are valuable to help guide decision making and identifying when there are issues. We will also review when projections will most likely be needed during a project's lifecycle. Finally we will complete a detailed demo on how to develop projections.

Content level: Basic

Learning objectives:

1. Understanding the most frequent instances projections will be needed.
2. Review how to discuss projections with your PI. 

Track: Grant Accounting

Financial Management Certificate: Elective

Speaker(s): Ruth Halsey, Associate Department Administrator, University of Michigan 

This session will focus on the workflows surrounding PI transfers both into and out of institutions. There are many moving pieces that need to be tackled when PIs change institutions and often the PI transfer planning needs to begin well in advance. All angles of PI transfers will be considered. Diverse participation is encouraged from departmental, central and leadership administration. Topics to be considered: 1. PIs submitting proposals before they come into the new institution 2. PIs bringing students/research staff in when they transfer 3. Transferring grants in 4. Onboarding PIs 5. Off-boarding PIs 6. Departing PIs and spending institutional money 7. Transferring grants out 8. Transferring students/research staff out 9. Remaining students and other staff after PI departure 10. The politics of PI transfers.

Content level: Intermediate 

Learning objectives:

1. Welcome new PIs to their institutions and assist them with their grants and staff transfers.
2. Assist PIs departing from their current institutions and set them up for success in their new institutions.

Track: Department Administration Finance

Speaker(s): Rady Rogers, Associate Director for Research Administration and Finance, Harvard University; Artisha Wright, Grants Management Specialist, National Institutes of Health 

We've all heard the stereotypes. Boomers are out of touch, Gen Z are lazy, Millennials are entitled, and Gen X are cynical. If we lead people based on these assumptions, however, it's a recipe for disaster. In this interactive session based on cutting edge research done by the presenter, attendees will learn what generations mean, why they're important, and what to do about the differences between them in your workplace that often feel insurmountable. 

Content level: Intermediate

Learning objectives:

1. Identify the importance of generations for workspace cohesion. 
2. Take away at least three immediately implementable tasks to improve workspace cohesion. 

Track: Financial Leadership

Speaker(s): Kristen Donnelly, Founder, Abbey Research 

Per Federal requirements, Uniform Guidance (UG) is updated periodically. This session will review the changes proposed in October 2023. It will either dive into the final changes, if they have been announced, or will dive into the proposed changes and the COGR response to those changes.

Content level: Basic

Learning objectives:

1. Review the outline of proposed changes for the UG. 
2. Discuss and identify how these changes may affect your institution.

Track: Advanced Finance Topics

Financial Management Certificate: Internal Controls

Speaker(s): Ann Holmes, Assistant Dean, University of Maryland; Rebecca Hunsaker, Executive Director of Research Management, University of Maryland

As recipients of sponsored research funding, universities and institutes of higher education have an obligation to ensure that all expenditures incurred on behalf of a given award benefit that award. From the individual PI to the department administrator to central administration, there are many parties within an institution which have responsibility for monitoring and reporting on expenditures. A proper monitoring program begins with a training program that educates the research community about spending on sponsored awards. In addition to training strategies, other key elements that will be discussed include: roles and responsibilities related to financial grants management, the different types of reports that can be used to manage awards and track research activity, the world of RPA (robotics process automation) and how that has been implemented in post award management, the value of our PI Articles and other outreach efforts, working with internal and external auditors, and miscellaneous thoughts related to award management.

Content level: Intermediate

Learning objectives:

1. Understand the types of expenditures (both direct and indirect) that institutes of higher education incur to support research.
2. Learn the key areas of focus for expenditure management and strategies that can be used to monitor spending.

Track: Grant Accounting 

Financial Management Certificate: Post-Award Financial Management 

Speaker(s): Joshua Rosenberg, Senior Director, Grants and Contracts Accounting, Georgia Institute of Technology

This session will provide an overview of F&A rates that includes the preparation of F&A rates proposal, submission and negotiation, and application of negotiated F&A rates from Pre-Award to Post-Award/Audit.

Content level: Basic

Learning objectives:

1. Gain a general understanding of how F&A rates are prepared and determined/finalized.
   
2. Learn more about how the negotiated rates are utilized from pre-award to post-award. Recent F&A audit hot topics will be discussed.

Track: Grant Accounting 

Financial Management Certificate: Facilities and Administrative Costs 

Speaker(s): Jennifer Mitchell, Higher Ed Consulting Manager, Huron Consulting Group; Kathy Mustea, Grant and Contract Manager, DCRI, Duke University 

If an MD-PhD research physician gets a new grant, do you let them reduce their clinical time to accommodate the grant? What about the patients? Do you let them stop teaching a class to accommodate the grant’s effort requirements? What about the students? Should you have even let them apply for the grant in the first place? What about the faculty? What’s more important: our research mission or our clinical mission or our education mission? Who’s right and who’s wrong or what’s more valuable? You need the indirects to pay your big fat salary, but there are other priorities too. Too often, leaders are faced with these dilemmas. This session will discuss the real-life decisions of managing and balancing these priorities at high levels. Come join your counterparts as we discuss and explore options to avoid cutting the student in half.

Content level: Advanced 

Learning objectives:

1. Effectively determine the appropriate balance between competing priorities. 
2. Support the institutional mission, while also supporting departmental priorities. 

Track: Non-Financial Post-Award 

Recommendations on establishing effective Governance, Program Management, Financial Integration and Program Requirements to successfully position your institution for success in managing large scale awards in a complicated funding environment.

Content level: Intermediate 

Learning objectives:

1. Develop understanding of importance of clear Governance and Program Management within multi-center awards.
2. Challenge traditional thinking of role of financial management within clinical trials. 

Track: Financial Leadership

Speaker(s): Jake Schreiber, Associate Principal, The Chartis Group; Carmel Egan, Director Hazelwood Green Program, University of Pittsburgh

In this session, participants will gain the skills to navigate the intricate realm of allowable costs associated with sponsored awards. Sponsored projects, regardless of their funding source—be it government agencies, private organizations, or foundations—adhere to distinct guidelines governing fund utilization. Employing the framework of allowability, participants will engage in case studies focused on allowable costs, enabling them to discern the conditions under which various expenditures are considered permissible.

Content level: Advanced 

Learning objectives:

1. Learn about the regulations that govern allowable costs.
2. Discuss and apply cost allowability using the allowable cost framework. 

Track: Advanced Finance Topics

Speaker(s): Simone Barnhill, Consulting Manager, Huron Consulting Group; Roseann Luongo, Consulting Director, Huron Consulting Group