Post-Award Process

The Grants and Sponsored Projects (GSP) office is the primary contact and liaison with the sponsoring agency on all matters of financial management.

A proposal transitions to award status when a Notice of Grant Award (NGA) or Contract is issued. The Grants and Sponsored Projects (GSP) office is the recipient of the award document.

  • Grant awards provide both standardized and special terms and conditions, but typically do not require official acceptance or endorsement.
  • Contracts will typically require pre-award budget negotiations with the federal sponsor, and endorsement of terms/conditions.

The GSP will promptly provide a copy of the award to the Investigator/Program Director (PI/PD) and schedule an orientation appointment that includes an overview of the grant or contract terms and conditions, practices regarding expenditures, sub-award oversight when applicable, reporting requirements, and other relevant information

Restricted Fund Account

The GSP will request that the Finance Division set up a restricted fund account based upon the approved budgetary line items and corresponding object codes, e.g., personnel, equipment, travel, etc. Once the account is established, personnel allocations and non-personnel transactions can begin.

Receiving Payment from the Federal Government

Federal awards typically use a cost-reimbursement model, i.e., payment is made to the University after actual costs/expenses are incurred.  While the PI/PD and the GSP are primarily responsible for the timely utilization of funds, the Finance Division is ultimately responsible for funds collection in the form of an electronic drawdown.

FDU as Sub-award Recipient

When FDU is a sub-award recipient under a federal award. The GSP and Finance Division will prepare and submit the invoice with payment received in the form of a check or electronic funds transfer.

Refer to the Close-out Process for more detailed information for finalizing all obligations under an award.

[1] The government uses grants and cooperative agreements as a means of assisting researchers in developing research for the public good, whereas it uses contracts as a means of procuring services for the benefit of the government. Grants are much more flexible than contracts but ongoing funding remains subject to progress achieved. Typically in Federal Contracts, changes cannot be made to the scope of work or budget, whereas in grants these changes can usually be made with the University’s approval. Failure to deliver under a Federal Contract can have potential legal or financial consequences to all parties at the University, whereas in the case of a grant typically a final report explaining the outcome may be sufficient..