Manage Award
Fundamental information, resources, and tools you will need to manage your award after it has been awarded.
Policies
No-Cost Extensions
If you cannot complete your project aims within the specified project period, many sponsors provide the provision of a no-cost extension. A no-cost extension extends the period over which expenditures of previously awarded funds may occur.
Not all projects provide a no-cost extension option, therefore, please contact your OSP Representative if you are uncertain. Further, different sponsors have different procedures for implementing a no-cost extension.
Please contact your OSP Representative to initiate the process.
Rebudgeting
There is wide variability among projects regarding a PI’s ability to rebudget without prior sponsor approval. If prior sponsor approval is required, please route all revised budgets through your OSP Representative.
Your OSP Representative will work with you and the project sponsor to obtain and document approved budget revisions.
Change in Scope
A change in scope almost always requires prior sponsor approval, unless special permission is given within the award agreement. Any modification of project aims or deliverables constitutes a scope change. Frequently, budget changes cause changes in project scope, so OSP or C & G will likely raise the question in such a situation.
Please work with your OSP Representative to secure and document the necessary sponsor approvals.
PI Transfer
If a UGA PI transfers to another institution, OSP requires a letter signed by the PI and the Department Chair authorizing the transfer of any awards. This letter must include a list of current awards and pending proposals, agency name, grant or proposal number, agency contact name, address, phone number, e-mail address, and amount of current budget period for any award. This letter should also include any relevant information on award cost sharing and/or subcontracts.
The University of Georgia will then authorize the relinquishment of the award and the funds are returned to the sponsor. Next, the sponsor will transfer the award to the PI's new institution and the new institution will assume administration. The general process is similar for all grant transfers, but agency-specific instructions and requirements must be considered. Issues related to equipment purchased on an award should first be addressed to department heads, as equipment is considered property of the State of Georgia.
PI Change
If a PI can’t or won’t continue in this role for a funded project, prior approval will be required from the sponsor before another PI can be substituted.
Please work with your OSP Representative to obtain and document approval for a change in PI. OSP will then initiate the status change within the UGA project accounting system.
Budgetary Carry-forward
If a project is incrementally funded (typically one year at a time), it is generally the case that the funds from a previous increment can be utilized within all subsequent increment periods.
However, this is not universal. Some project increments are mandated to be discrete units, tracked and accounted for separately. The funds from these previous increments will not be available during successive increments. In these cases it is sometimes possible to acquire approval for carry-forward, to allow one or more increments to remain available for more than one funding period.
Please work with your OSP Representative to request, document, and process these carry-forward requests.
CASB Exceptions
Occasionally, under very special circumstances, costs that are typically considered indirect costs may be treated as direct costs. Examples of these types of costs include project administration, computers, telecommunications (i.e., cell phone or monthly phone line changes), etc. The regulations governing when these indirect cost items may be charged as a direct cost as very rigorous.
CASB Exceptions, also known as OMB A-21 Exceptions, refer to the direct changing of costs typically considered indirect costs. Justification and approval of these cost types are typically handled during the proposal budget development stage. However, unexpected project changes may occur post-award; these will require a post-award CASB Exception approval.
Please review the CASB Administrative Exception Policy and the CASB Non-administrative Exception Policy for more information. If you feel that your specific costs meet these conditions, in order to obtain approval to charge an indirect cost as a direct cost, complete the CASB Exception Approval Form and return it to your OSP Representative.
Progress Reports
Project sponsors typically require that interim and final progress reports be submitted to them on a specific schedule. This reporting schedule is typically defined within the project's award documents. The PI is responsible for adhering to this reporting schedule and maintaining records of all reports.
To assure compliance with sponsor requirements, OSP requires evidence on file that the final progress report was submitted to the sponsor; see OSP Policy for Maintaining Final Reports for Funded Projects (Word).