LSA RAAG Meeting Presentation Physics Department Research Administrator Procedures Overview October 19, 2011 Prepared by: Shelly Baczkowski, Barb Hibbard, Heidi Madias, Alex Thebaud and Tina Wells

1 Business Office Landscape The Physics Business Office consists of 7.5 FTEs. Over 80 Directors are supported under a total of 441 individual project grants. Sponsored programs total 195. Non-sponsored programs total 246. Director assignment is by Physics field. Approximately 80 proposals are submitted each year, or ~7 per month. Recurring sponsors: NSF, DoE, DoD and NASA. Average budget for a single grant is $283K; however budget can range from $6K to over $15.0m for an individual project. Procurement orders are processed centrally. Average number of orders per month total 277.

2 Department Administrative Organization

3 Proposal Submission Process Advanced faculty notification of proposal submission to assigned Grant Administrator. Preliminary review of program solicitation, highlighting oddities for submission. Follow deadlines as closely as possible. Typical notification is 30 days prior. Partner closely with faculty during development. Prepare budget, justification, review faculty effort, determine cost share, conflicts of interest, etc. Sponsor submission sites: Fastlane, Proposal Central, N-Spires. Proposals are approved by the Associate Chair for Research, Key Ad, or Business Manager.

4 Project Award Notification Once the grant/contract is awarded… Reconcile budget awarded against budget proposed. Process 7471 to allocate budget by expense category and/or sub awards. Create hardcopy file and include any special notes. Contact Contract Administration with sub contract information. Add to active reconciling list.

5 Financial Management of Project/Grant Processing of staff and student appointments. Set up through Physics Student Services or HR offices. Grant Administrator receives appointment paperwork for budget check and approval for new appointments. Appointment changes are submitted to appropriate office and electronically approved by Grant Administrator through M- Pathways DBE transaction page. For summer salary appointments a UDC is done at time of appointment approval in February/March.

6 Financial Management of Project/Grant Continued Monthly reconciling process. eReconciliation is used to reconcile all sponsored and non- sponsored projects. eRecon SOA Dtl Report. eRecon Payroll Report. M Reports PBSR. Receipts/supporting documentation. Journal entries/UDC’s. Journal entries are prepared by each Grant Administrator and submitted by the assigned journal uploader for the department. Journal entries over $10K are approved by the Business Manager. UDC’s are prepared for large purchases that will not hit immediately or if needed for projection purposes.

7 Financial Management of Project/Grant Continued Monthly financial reporting. PowerPoint slide deck is prepared for each Director and includes sponsored and non-sponsored projects. Variance analysis is completed on expense categories +/- 20% to determine action needed. Report is used as a communication and documentation tool for Director and Grant Administrator. Compare HR source documentation with recognized salary costs on slide spreadsheet to ensure accuracy. Additional reporting and forecasting. Prepare FDP forms, annual A-21 reports and yearly renewals. Prepare adhoc projections as necessary or at Directors request.

8 Centralized purchasing. Orders over $3K and all computer purchases are approved by Grant Administrator prior to placing order. A flagged short code list is maintained and updated monthly. Fabrication expense code. Low balance under $3K. Project closing. Financial Management of Project/Grant Continued

9 Closing out the project. Approximately 6 months before project end date discuss spending plan with Director. Appointments, purchases, NCTX, etc. If need be, partner with Property Control to have equipment tagged. Complete FSR using a +/-$500 threshold. Request final technical report from Director, complete the eRPM closing authorization and final inventory forms. Prepare hard copy files. After projects are closed, hard copy files are bundled and marked with “termination” and “destroy” dates. Files archived to basement during annual file clean out in August. Project/Grant Closeout

10 Highlights of Business Office Standard Operating Procedures Zero tolerance for “parking” expenditures. No contest on FSRs < $500. No shadow system for reconciliation. Financial reporting packages are by Director, or Department operating activity, and submitted no later than the last business day of the month. Deficit review for all accounts is produced quarterly. Procurement is centralized and budget authorization takes place prior to purchase. Bi-weekly Business Office meeting and 1:1s every 6 weeks. Annual file clean-out.