Roles and Responsibilities for Sponsored Project Management

Procedure Date: May 2019
Revision: 1
Last Review: June 2022

Determining who is responsible for the different sponsored project activities can be unclear. The tables below break out the key areas of sponsored project activities (pre-award, award receipt and post-award) and indicate who has the primary and secondary responsibility for each activity.

Pre-Award Activities, Roles and Responsibilities
Step Activity Principal Investigator Department College Sponsored Projects
1. Identify sponsored project funding opportunities Primary Responsibility n/a n/a n/a
2. Understand proposal solicitation guidelines Primary Responsibility Primary Responsibility Secondary Responsibility Secondary Responsibility
3. Understand University and Sponsored Projects policies, procedures and guidelines as related to sponsored projects Primary Responsibility Primary Responsibility Primary Responsibility Primary Responsibility
4. Develop proposal budget Primary Responsibility Primary Responsibility Secondary Responsibility Secondary Responsibility
5. Develop technical proposal content Primary Responsibility n/a Secondary Responsibility n/a
6. Complete required internal forms and collect form approvals Primary Responsibility n/a Secondary Responsibility n/a
7. Collect subrecipient proposal materials and completed, signed Subrecipient Proposal Assurance (SP-Sub-1)form Primary Responsibility n/a Secondary Responsibility n/a
8. Prepare proposal in InfoEd for submission Primary Responsibility Secondary Responsibility Secondary Responsibility n/a
9. Provide InfoEd assistance n/a Secondary Responsibility Secondary Responsibility Primary Responsibility
10. Provide internal approval of sponsored project proposal Primary Responsibility Primary Responsibility Primary Responsibility Primary Responsibility
11. Review proposal for accuracy and compliance with assurances and University and sponsor guidelines and policies Secondary Responsibility Secondary Responsibility Secondary Responsibility Primary Responsibility
12. Approve proposal for submission on behalf of University n/a n/a n/a Primary Responsibility
13. Submit proposal to sponsor Secondary Responsibility n/a n/a Primary Responsibility
14. Retain proposal documents Secondary Responsibility n/a n/a Primary Responsibility
15. Track proposal status after submission Primary Responsibility n/a Secondary Responsibility n/a

Award Receipt Activities, Roles and Responsibilities
Step Activity Principal Investigator Department College Sponsored Projects
1. Provide principal investigator (PI) with copy of award n/a n/a n/a Primary Responsibility
2. Verify award scope of work and budget Primary Responsibility n/a n/a n/a
3. Review award terms and conditions Primary Responsibility n/a n/a Primary Responsibility
4. Negotiate changes to award terms and conditions when necessary n/a n/a n/a Primary Responsibility
5. Sign and accept award on behalf of institution n/a n/a n/a Primary Responsibility
6. Except for standard form federal grants and contracts and NSHE purchase orders, awards > $3 million and/or > than five years duration, prepare award for chancellor signature n/a n/a n/a Primary Responsibility
7. Regulatory compliance: IRB, IACUC, COI, FCOI, RCR, export controls and other mandatory trainings as necessary Primary Responsibility n/a n/a Primary Responsibility
8. Enter award into Workday n/a n/a n/a Primary Responsibility
9. Set up award spending account n/a n/a n/a Primary Responsibility
10. Notification of Award (via Workday) to PI, department and college n/a n/a n/a Primary Responsibility

Post-Award Activities, Roles and Responsibilities
Step Activity Principal Investigator Department College Sponsored Projects
1. Initiate and establish subawards to subrecipients Secondary Responsibility n/a n/a Primary Responsibility
2. General project management Primary Responsibility n/a n/a n/a
3. Monitor project expenses, reconcile monthly statements and general fiscal management Primary Responsibility n/a n/a Primary Responsibility
4. Invoice sponsor for project expenses and perform electronic drawdown of federal funds n/a n/a n/a Primary Responsibility
5. Effort reporting Primary Responsibility Secondary Responsibility Secondary Responsibility Primary Responsibility
6. Pre-review and approve subrecipient invoices Primary Responsibility n/a n/a Secondary Responsibility
7. Arrange payment of approved subrecipient invoices n/a n/a n/a Primary Responsibility
8. Prepare and submit programmatic/scientific progress reports to sponsor and to Sponsored Projects Primary Responsibility n/a n/a Secondary Responsibility
9. Review and confirm cost share reports (if applicable) Primary Responsibility n/a n/a Primary Responsibility
10. Initiate and process accounting adjustments Primary Responsibility Primary Responsibility n/a n/a
11. Review and approve accounting adjustments n/a n/a Secondary Responsibility Primary Responsibility
12. Initiate request for project modifications Primary Responsibility Secondary Responsibility n/a Primary Responsibility
13. Submit project financial reports to sponsor n/a n/a n/a Primary Responsibility
14. Perform project closeout Primary Responsibility n/a n/a Primary Responsibility
15. Address sponsor audits Primary Responsibility Secondary Responsibility Secondary Responsibility Primary Responsibility