Award Management Roles and Responsibilities

Vadim Fedorov and students in the lab

Effective management of sponsored projects is a shared responsibility among the Principal Investigator and project staff, the responsible academic units, and the Office of Sponsored Programs staff. Each party has specific responsibilities in ensuring that the work is conducted and the funds are used in accordance with all sponsor and university requirements.

Principal Investigator

  • ensuring appropriate technical conduct of the research effort
  • managing project funds within the approved budget
  • complying with all university policies and sponsor terms and conditions pertinent to the award
  • initiating all project-related transactions, including submitting requisitions for all equipment, supplies, and services needed for the project
  • working with department Human Resources staff to ensure personnel appointments are initiated in a timely manner and appropriately updated 
  • completing and submitting on time all required technical reports required by the sponsor

Academic Units (Colleges and Departments)

  • monitoring the fiscal status of the award
  • assisting the principal investigator with personnel appointments and procurement requests and in resolving problems
  • covering any costs incurred beyond the award amount, or any expenditures disallowed by the sponsor or as the result of an audit

Office of Sponsored Programs

Provides accounting, purchasing (through the Grants Shared Services Center, and other administrative services to assist the principal investigators in:

  • managing the financial aspects of their projects
  • obtaining the necessary goods, services, and personnel to conduct the research effort
  • billing sponsors and collecting funds
  • providing required financial reports 
  • responding to sponsor and university audit requests regarding sponsored projects expenditures