Award acceptance:
Only GCSU’s authorizing officials, the President or the Provost, can formally accept a grant or sponsored project. Award notices from federal agencies are usually directed to the authorizing official, with a copy to the Principal Investigator/Project Director (PI/PD). With the exception of the President or her designee, no one is authorized to accept any funds or sign any contract, thereby legally binding the university to the terms and conditions of the grant or contractual document. Once an award notice is received, OGSP will coordinate the acceptance and signature process.
PLEASE NOTE: PI/PD, department chairpersons, and deans are not authorized to sign award documents on behalf of the university. All original official award documents, if received by the PI/PD, should be forwarded immediately to OGSP for processing. OGSP will consult with a PI/PD if the award differs from the submitted proposal, so that the award may be accepted, modified through negotiation with the sponsor, or rejected.
Award Negotiation:
In some cases, an award may be issued by the agency after a series of negotiations that may involve revisions to the scope of the project, period of performance, and/or proposed budget. OGSP, working with Legal Affairs, is the authorized agent for negotiating such revisions. If revisions are necessary, OGSP will not make any changes to the project or scope without the consent of the PI/PD. The acceptance of a revised scope of work, period of performance or budget is a judgment that only the PI/PD can make; it is not a judgment or condition that may be unilaterally imposed by the granting agency.
If the agency requires the submission of a revised work plan or budget, this must be prepared by the PI/PD with assistance from OGSP and submitted for institutional endorsement prior to forwarding the revisions to the agency. Revisions, either programmatic or budgetary, which represent substantial changes to the original proposal must be reviewed and approved by OGSP and GCSU administration in the same manner as a new proposal.
If the grant agency contacts the PI/PD about revisions, please contact OGSP for guidance and the appropriate documents to use.
OGSP Account Establishment:
Establishing an account for an award involves both the Office of Grants & Sponsored Projects and Financial Services. Upon receipt of an official award, OGSP staff will prepare a sponsored project fact sheet (SPFS), an internal form used to communicate essential award and budget details necessary for an account and send a memo requesting a project account number from Financial Services. Copies will be distributed to the PI/PD, department chair, dean, and other administrative offices. These documents will outline any pertinent award information, including the budget, and any cost-sharing obligations. To protect the PI/PD and the university, expenditures should not be incurred against a sponsored project until OGSP has received and processed the original award notification from the sponsor and a project account number has been assigned.