FAQs

Research and Grant FAQ’s

Answers:

Who do I call when I have a question?
First, contact your department Chair and support staff. If they are unable to help, contact the college grants support specialist (Judi Garris/328-9608) or the Associate Dean for Research and Finance. The College of Technology and Computer Science research contacts outside of the college are: Rick Smiley, Office of Sponsored Programs (328-9539), who is responsible for TECS pre-award and contracting issues, and Barbara Revelle, Office of Grants and Contracts (328-9534), who is responsible for TECS grants accounting, invoices, and closeouts.

How do I see/get access to my Banner account?
Please refer to the banner setup Documentation Banner Setup(.doc)

What are the rules on spending my grant funds?
The rules on spending your grant funds are determined by the funding agency or organization. Federal guidelines can be reviewed by looking at circular A-21, which has general federal rules on grants. Pay close attention to section J as it has spending rules. Foundations and corporations that award funds for projects or research may have very stringent or very lenient rules. Please meet with your college management team or the Office of Grants and Contracts at your project start-up if you have questions on how you can spend your funds and read your award documents. A good general rule for any sponsored program is that you can spend it like any operating fund, as long as all the items were included in the original grant budget and approved by the funding agency. All charges made to grant funds are processed just like any other operating charges and normal state hiring, purchasing, and travel regulations all apply. Please be sure to inform your support staff if an item is to be charged to a grant so that they will use the correct account number.

How do I make sure items are being charged to my grant appropriately?
Make sure you check your grant account on Banner on a regular basis. If you click on the expenditure transaction line you will get detail for each line that will tell you what has been charged to the account. If requested charges are not showing on the Banner account, inform your support staff and Chair immediately. If needed, contact the campus Accounting Technician in the Office of Grants and Contracts for assistance. Remember that all charges to sponsored projects must be charged directly when incurred.

What is Time and Effort and why do I have to do it?
Time and effort reporting is required by sponsoring agencies to assure that investigators or program directors are spending the appropriate amount of time on their sponsored project. This is a requirement for managing sponsored programs and must be done in a timely manner. Without verified time and effort reports, investigators and Departments may be liable for any personnel funds used on a sponsored program

How do I do my Time and Effort report?
The process at ECU is actually very simple and involves only a few short steps. After your personnel actions are processed to place individuals onto your sponsored program, the current ECU Payroll system feeds data to the Office of Grants and Contract Time and Effort Reporting Administrator. These figures are then sent to a pre-reviewer in your department to assure the numbers are correct. If any changes need to be made, the time and effort pre-reviewer can assist. The corrected numbers are then sent to investigator who verifies that the agreed upon amount of time has actually been spent on the sponsored project. Please be aware that the faculty investigator does not need to be concerned with the dollars attached to effort. The investigator should report actual effort regardless of the dollars assigned. The figures are then certified at the college level and forwarded to Grants and Contracts for verification. East Carolina University uses the Maximus system for time and effort reporting. The system can be accessed at the following location: https://ers.ecu.edu/GenericERS/custom/index.jsp. E-mails will be sent to all personnel on a quarterly basis indicating when time and effort reports need to be certified. Your username and password for ERS is the same as your username and password for your ECU Pirate mail Account. It is also the investigators responsibility to assure all Graduate Assistants, Fellows, and student hourly employees complete their reports.

What do I do if my Time and Effort isn't being pre-reviewed?
Contact the Judi Garris and let her know that pre-review is not occurring.

What if my budget isn't loaded correctly or I need to change it?
Determine what changes need to be made to your budget which meets your needs and falls within the rules and regulations of the sponsor. When these are complete, contact your Grants and Contracts accounting personnel and inform them of the necessary changes. Make sure to copy appropriate department personnel and the college office on any major changes.

How do I get a student hourly GA onto my grant?
Talk to your Chair and identify the students that you want to hire. Keep in mind that there are limits to the amount of hours some students can work and that there are additional requirements for GA’s to hold teaching responsibilities. Once you have identified the students you wish to hire, you will need to meet with them and complete all the university required paperwork to hire a GA (see Personnel Handbook). All students must be processed into the payroll system before they start to work on your project.

  • Identify who in your unit is responsible for assisting with student worker processing. This is usually a unit administrative assistant.
  • Have the student fill out the I-9, which is kept at the department level, W-4 and NC-4, which will be sent to payroll. Graduate assistants must also fill out the direct deposit form and a confidentiality form. The GA and faculty member must complete and sign the GA contract. The GA contract is available at http://www.research2.ecu.edu/Gradschool/Documents/assistantship%20contract.doc.

Once you have completed the paperwork, you will need to submit the packet to the department support staff, who will assist with the hiring process. After your GA is hired, if your unit requires GAs to keep timesheets, the unit administrative assistant can provide you with information on how to access and file the electronic timesheets.

How do I charge travel to my grant?
Travel is processed exactly the same way you normally would charge travel but use the grant FOAP numbers. Here are the steps:

  • Get permission to travel from your chair for all travel, your Chair and Dean’s Office for out-of-state travel, and Chair, Dean’s Office and Provost’s Office for international travel. Use this form for approval and estimation of costs: Banner Travel Authorization/Reimbursement For Travel Form
  • Keep all of your receipts while you travel. If traveling by air use your units Procard for plane tickets and registration and remind your support person to charge to the grant.
  • If using ground transportation you can choose to use a state car or your personal vehicle. Federal mileage rates will only be paid if a state vehicle is requested and unavailable.
  • Keep your boarding passes and used tickets for your flights.
  • Get an itemized receipt from your hotel that shows as fully paid. Procards cannot currently be used for hotels or meals so you’ll have to pay this yourself and get reimbursed.
  • The travel Office website has current state rates for reimbursement. Reimbursement Rates(.html)
    If your travel will cost more than the posted rates your Chair and Dean’s Office must sign to approve the overage.
  • Immediately upon returning, complete the travel form or give it to your unit support person to complete (check to see who does this in your unit). The appropriate unit administrator(s) will need to sign and the form will go to the Travel Office for processing. Travel over 30 days old cannot be reimbursed without a written justification.
  • Reimbursement will be issued by the Travel Office.

How do I buy supplies and /or equipment on my grant?
Purchases on sponsored programs are completed the same way as any state purchase. You must follow the same rules and regulations that exist for state funds. Keep in mind that on federal grants the definition for equipment is any item over $5,000, while the state definition is any item over $500. This may cause some issues with your accounting that you’ll need to track. Be sure to check to see if the item you want is on state contract at the Materials Management website at: Purchasing(.html)

Procards can also be used to buy supplies (but not equipment), and can be very useful. Your unit administrative support person should have a Procard and can order supplies for you. Please make sure that the support person charges the appropriate grant account when using the Procard.

Equipment needs to be ordered through the PORT system (purchase order and requisition tracking system), and may need to go out for competitive bid. You will need to identify the specifications of the item you need and you should contact Materials Management as soon as possible. The bid process can be lengthy, so please plan some extra time for this process.

What if my grant is not being spent as quickly as I thought?
You may want to ask the sponsoring agency to re-budget or extend your project. Many federal programs will allow for extensions (called no-cost extensions), that can give you extra time to finish a project. These should be used sparingly and cannot be used principally to utilize unspent grant funds. Extensions are managed through the Sponsored Programs Office.

What if there is a major change of project personnel on my project?
Most sponsoring agencies require notification if a major change in personnel occurs. This usually involves the changing of a principal investigator, but may also involve changing consultants or partner agencies and/or organizations. Inform the college office who will assist you in notifying OSP and the Grants and Contracts Office if a major change in personnel occurs. Arrange to inform the sponsoring agency by phone with follow-up in writing. The program manager at the funding agency will be able to tell you the agency rules for a major change in project personnel.

What if there is a major change of the program or research on my grant?
Talk to the program officer at the funding agency if a major change in the sponsored project or research needs to occur. Keep in mind that changing the scope of the agreement may require the return of the funds and the cancellation of the project or research. Good communication with the sponsoring agencies program staff is highly recommended at all times so that minor or major changes may be discussed and/or requested.

What do I do to extend my project period?
Many agencies give ECU the responsibility for doing what are called “no cost extensions.” These are extensions in the project period, often from 1-12 months, that are used to complete the project or research, but ask for no additional funding. These extensions and any extensions that require permission can be requested through Sponsored Programs (pre-award services). Please request your extension at least 30 days before the end of your grant.

How do I get my academic year salary paid from a grant and what happens to the funds?
If the Grant Buyout forms are completed properly the salary release dollars can be returned to the department for use at your Chairperson’s discretion. The following policy list how the funds can be utilized: Salary Offset Policy revised 11-06-06(.doc). Be aware that all released salary dollars must be used to support the research mission at ECU and they cannot be returned to the investigators as extra salary unless specifically approved by the sponsor.

How do I get my summer salary paid from a grant?
Summer salary paid by sponsored programs for faculty is encouraged. Summer salary however, creates a requirement for faculty to work during the summer and may not be appropriate for all projects. Summer salaries must be included in the grant budget to be paid to the investigator. For investigators or directors who have summer salary in the grant budget, they must notify their department Chair and support personnel as soon as practical to allow for appropriate processing. Under no circumstances can a nine-month faculty member receive over 133% of their base salary wholly or partially on grant funds.

What is Facilities and Administrative cost (also called indirect and F&A)?
F&A, or indirect charges, are part of the budget of every grant or contract when allowed. The related rates of recovery are negotiated between East Carolina University and the federal government and are used to support the administrative and infrastructure costs of the sponsored project. F&A are real costs to the university and each investigator should do their utmost to assure that F&A is captured where allowable.

Where does the F&A go?
F&A is used to support the research support infrastructure at the central university level. It is also used to offset the costs of building and maintaining faculty lab space, equipment, and staff support. Some F&A may also be used to assist new or existing faculty in starting new research projects. Part of the F&A is returned to the college (30%), to further support their efforts in the research arena.

What is a grant closeout and what do I need to do?
Grant closeout is the procedure of reviewing expenditures and grant management activities before the grant end date has passed to assure that all expenditures have been charged to the appropriate budget and that any mistakes in charges can be removed from your sponsored project. This is also the time to assess whether the project has met the proposed timeline or whether an extension may be in order.

A complete and thorough grant closeout is essential to good grants management. This is your opportunity to assure all expenditures have been processed and charged appropriately before a final fiscal report is sent to your funding agency. Closeouts can occur at the department or college level or can be arranged with your appropriate Grants and Contracts staff member. Feel free to call the college office to arrange a meeting if you would like them to help you assess and closeout your project.

As a reminder, grant final fiscal reports will be completed and submitted by the Grants and Contracts Office after a closeout review has been completed. A final project report also needs to be completed and submitted by the investigator.

What are “rolling over” funds?
If funds for a sponsored project are under spent in any given project year, some agencies allow the investigator to “roll over” the funds remaining into the next project year. This is not allowed by every agency and the investigator should contact the sponsor or Grants and Contracts to find out if this is an allowable procedure. If funds are rolled over they should be used during the next fiscal year for items contained in the original budget. Any significant deviation from the original budget will need to be approved through the sponsoring agency.

What do I need to do for partners in other departments or colleges at ECU?
Other partners at ECU, (individual investigators, administrative units, and/or other departments/colleges) need to be informed when a grant award is received. Never assume that because the project has started the appropriate actions have occurred for your partners. The investigator is responsible for assuring all partners receive the appropriate notice that an award has been made and can contact the Grants and Contracts Office if they would like account or budget information sent to the partner. Be sure to check your account on a regular basis to assure any partners have process the correct paperwork or are charging correctly to the grant account.

It is the partners’ responsibility to assure that the appropriate personnel actions occur for their portion of the grant budget. If multiple partners are to be allowed direct access to the grant account, the Grants and Contracts Office should be informed and access will be arranged.

What do I need to do for external university partners?
External partners can sometimes have expenses paid directly, but most often are set up in the budget as a sub-award. Work directly with the Office of Sponsored Programs to set up sub-contracts with partner agencies. Make sure that any sub-awards are included in your original budget with appropriate direct and indirect costs. If the external partner has agreed to work on the grant as a consultant prior to the grant being submitted, and it has been approved by the funding agency, a consulting agreement will need to be signed and processed through Materials Management.

What do I need to do if I want to pay research subjects?
The first step to paying research subjects is to assure your program has completed a thorough review by the ECU Institutional Review Board. Payments to research subjects should be limited in size and frequency of use. Please be aware that research incentives should be limited so as to not create any undue influence on the research subject.

After approval by the ECU IRB, the sponsoring agency must specifically approve research incentives for them to be paid from sponsored program funds. You need to include research participant stipends in your grant proposal. If research incentives have been approved, please see the following policy for procedures and policy on their use: Gift Certificate Purchase Policies and Forms

When do I need to turn in program reports and do I need to do anything regarding financial reports?
Program reports, whether annual or final, are the responsibility of the investigator and must be sent to the sponsor in a timely manner. Annual fiscal reports, if required, should be requested from the appropriate staff accountant at the Office of Grants and Contracts. The Grants and Contracts Office will prepare and submit annual and/or final fiscal reports for your grant or sponsored program.

What are the rules on paying overloads or overtime on grant funds or salary release dollars?
Overloads or overtime on sponsored projects are not allowed unless specifically pre-approved by the funding agency, and your Chair, Dean, Provost, and Chancellor. Under federal definition, no salaried employee is allowed to charge overload/overtime pay to a sponsored project unless the activity is deemed as completely separate from their normal job duties and is performed outside of their regular scheduled duties. As salaried employees (which include all non-SPA teaching and support positions) have no pre-determined work schedule and are considered professional level staff, grant activity on the weekend or during the evening cannot be considered “overtime”.

Grant or sponsored activities during the summer may be paid in addition to regular salary for those on a 9-month contract to a maximum of 133% of base (9-month) salary. As stated above, under no circumstances can summer salary exceed 133% when fully or partially supported by external funds. The summer shall consist of a maximum of 3-months salary for 9-month faculty. Each month may be calculated as 1/9th of base salary not including any stipends or additional form of payment.