LSA RAAG Meeting Presentation Physics Department Research Administrator Procedures Overview

1. 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

2. 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.

3. Department Administrative Organization

4. 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. Communication

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. Financial Management of Project/Grant Continued • 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.

10. Project/Grant Closeout • 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.

11. 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.