Financial and Post-Award Administration

Time: 9:00am to 5:00pm

Content level: Basic

This workshop examines key issues to budget development, review and monitoring and explores a research administrator's role in service to the sponsor, institution and investigator. Special attention will be paid to assessing project costs, including personnel, consultants, equipment, supplies, travel, subcontracts, total direct costs, income, facilities and administrative costs (F&A) modified total direct costs (MTDC) vs. salary and wage base and cost sharing. In addition sponsor guidelines, institutional polices and the financial precepts of 2 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 200 (Uniform Guidance) will be covered. "Why do we have to do this?" and "Where are the guidelines that say that?" are key questions that will be answered.

Learning objectives:

1. Identify core costs related compliance expectations associated with federal funding.
2. Support proposal and award management activities consistent with federal regulations.

Prerequisites: None

Speaker(s):

Erin Bailey, Chief Financial Officer, CTSA, University of Buffalo; Timothy Schailey, MS, Director, Research Administration, Thomas Jefferson University

Time: 9:30am to 10:45am

Content level: Basic

Faculty come into our University regularly, and many expect to transfer awards from their prior Institution. This presentation will focus on the many responsibilities and duties that face the Department Administrator to achieve a successful faculty transfer, with input from the Central Administration office. This session will provide a checklist of specific duties and "best practices" that will facilitate a seamless transition, and considerations for bringing on new or more senior faculty. The presentation will also provide case studies and real-life scenarios so that the participants can dialogue on these "what would you do now" or "how would you handle this" cases/situations.

Learning objectives:

1. Better understand what is needed and what he/she needs to do when Investigators are transferring into their University.
2. Distinguish the particular challenges of on-boarding junior versus senior faculty.

Prerequisites: None

Speaker(s):

William Hoffman, MAS, Research Administrator, University of Maryland, Baltimore School of Dentistry, Office of the Dean; Karen Sack, Administrator, Department of Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Science, University of Maryland, Baltimore, School of Medicine; Janet Simons, MBA, Director, Research Policy, University of Maryland, Baltimore ORD Sponsored Programs Administration Compose Word documents and convert them to HTML easily for free with this online tool. Please leave this message unchanged or subscribe now for a htmlg.com membership.

Time: 11:00am to 12:15pm

Content level: Basic

Every university should have policies in place to manage all funds consistent with federal, state, and local laws, and with the specific terms and conditions of any gift, grant or contracts. This workshop will discuss the classification of external funding as a gift or sponsored award, including the relationship to Administrative Requirements Cost Principles and Audit Requirements for US Federal Awards. It will also help you answer the following questions: What internal controls exist for Foundations? Does our University have a gift policy? Who has the final word on gift vs sponsored funding?

Learning objectives:

1. Participants will critique real life case studies to demonstrate knowledge gained.
2. Participants will gain the ability differentiate between the terms gift and sponsored agreements.

Prerequisites: None

Speaker(s):

Denise Clark, Associate Vice President for Research, University of Maryland; Ann Holmes, Assistant Dean, College of Behavioral and Social Sciences, University of Maryland

Time: 2:15pm to 3:30pm

Content level: Basic

Almost every research institution must engage in the process of negotiating federal indirect rates. Non-profits face unique challenges under the Uniform Guidance in preparing, submitting and negotiating indirect rates. As we go through this process, many of us often wonder if we have done everything we can do within the constraints of federal regulations in order to maximize our institution’s negotiated indirect rate and resulting indirect cost recovery. In this session, we will discuss strategies that may be employed to maximize indirect cost recovery, both in the preparation of your indirect rate proposal as well as during the subsequent rate negotiation and budgeting of indirect costs on grants and contracts. Participants will be encouraged to share their experiences concerning the indirect rate process.

Learning objectives:

1. Identify what an indirect cost rate is, its importance and the various types of costs recovered through the indirect rate.
2. Explore different types of rates and how they impact recovery and understand the process for preparing, submitting and negotiating the rate under the Uniform Guidance.

Prerequisites: None

Speaker(s):

Alex Weekes, CPA, Principal, ML Weekes & Company, PC The online instant HTML converter tools make a great resource that will help you a lot in your work.

Time: 3:45pm to 5:00pm

Content level: Basic

Where do you start if e.g. the DCED awards your department $3M per year to internally fund widget research? Do you have a budget template ready to go? Will the submission be electronic? Who is even invited to submit? How is cost-share collected? What does the accounting look like? These are just a few of the questions that ultimately come up when a department is asked to effectively manage an internal call, whether the funding be internal, state, industry or federal. We will discuss a cradle to grave process to ensure that all aspects of the program have been managed, whether it is writing an RFP (request for proposal), communicating the terms and conditions to your audience, developing an internal submission process, tracking cost-share or just managing it on a daily basis. Come with your own processes too! I hope to learn from you as well.

Learning objectives:

1. Understand how to put together an internal call at a departmental level.
2. Understand programmatic intricacies of this type of award.

Prerequisites: None

Speaker(s):

Rhonda Moyer, MPM, Director, Finance & Administration, Carnegie Mellon University, College of Engineering

Time:  9:15am to 10:30am

Content level: Basic

Colleges and universities receiving direct federal awards are typically required to have a federally negotiated facilities and administrative (“F&A”) cost rate in order to receive reimbursement for indirect costs. For most people, however, the process of preparing, submitting, and negotiating the F&A rate proposal under the Uniform Guidance can appear overly technical and painfully detailed. This session is intended for anyone who is new to the F&A process or would simply like to better understand the basic requirements, inputs and objectives that make up this calculation. Discussion session will include a high-level perspective regarding how the regulations, financial and other data inputs, and submission and negotiation processes work together and will provide practical insight into the application of the F&A rate to the organization’s awards. Participants are encouraged to share their role in as well as their experience with the indirect rate process at their institution.

Learning objectives:

1. Identify what an F&A rate is, its importance and the various types of costs recovered through the F&A rate.
2. Explore different types of rates and how they impact recovery and understand the process for preparing, submitting and negotiating the rate under the Uniform Guidance.

Prerequisites: None

Speaker(s):

Alex Weekes, CPA, Principal, ML Weekes & Company, PC The free online CSS minimizer and beutifier will compress the style files for your websites in seconds.

Time:  10:45am to 12:00pm

Content level: Basic

We all know that grant awards never quite go according to plan and significant changes are often needed for a project to remain viable after the initial award is made. Some changes definitely require prior approval while others definitely do not, but in many cases the need for NIH prior approval is a definite maybe! This session will address NIH post award prior approval requirements for recipients and explain when you need to contact NIH staff. The presenter will discuss the specific actions that require prior approval and what materials recipients should provide for NIH to review and respond to the request in a timely and efficient manner.

Learning objectives:

1. Attendees will be able to identify what actions require prior approval from NIH.
2. Attendees will know what items NIH needs to review and respond to prior approval requests.

Prerequisites: None

Speaker(s):

Erik Edgerton, Deputy Chief Grants Management Officer, National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases

Time: 3:15pm to 4:30pm

Content level: Intermediate

This session will discuss issues and tricks related to managing grants from within a department; not a central office. Whether your institution has a central office or not, there are certain things that are just different when you are working on submitting and managing grants from within a department. The session will cover finding funding sources, pre-award submissions and post-award management of grants. The session will also identify additional ways to provide ongoing support for investigators; including trainees, fellows, associates, staff and faculty researchers.

Learning objectives:

1. Know the differences and similarities between working in a department versus a central office.
2. Learn how to support researchers within a department.

Prerequisites: None

Speaker(s):

Kevin Titus, MBA, Business Director, Cincinnati Children's Hospital

Time: 9:15am to 10:30am

Content level: Basic

Close-out does not need to be difficult. Review of roles and responsibilities of each key stakeholder during the close out process. Learn some effective steps to take prior to grant end date to be successful.

Learning objectives:

1. Utilize tools for a successful closeout whether they are in a department or centralized office.
2. Understand roles and responsibilities during the process of closing out a grant.

Prerequisites: None

Speaker(s):

Jason Claes, MBA, MSM, GRCRA, Assistant Director, Research Accounting, University of Cincinnati

Time: 10:45am to 12:00pm

Content level: Intermediate

This round table will bring together research administrators from different organization types to discuss how they're managing the Uniform Guidance Procurement regulations that went into effect for many institutions this past year. Speakers will share their policies and tools for implementation. Participants will be encouraged to share their institution's approach to managing these new rules and ask any questions they may have about these new and complex regulations.

Learning objectives:

1. Describe the procurement requirements set for under Uniform Guidance 2 CFR 200.
2. Understand different strategies for managing these requirements within your organization.

Prerequisites: None

Speaker(s):

Dara Little, MPA, CRA, Assistant Vice President for Research and Sponsored Program, Northern Illinois University; Mary Beth Rudofski, Point Consulting