VCOM Institutional Policy and Procedure Manual

VCOM Policy and Procedure

Policy #R006

1. T HE O FFICE OF R ESEARCH A DMINISTRATION The Office of Research Administration (ORA) promotes and facilitates scholarly activity at VCOM by supporting and administering all extramural and intramural activities. In support of the College’s mission, the ORA’s main responsibilities are grant preparation and processing, award negotiation, project administration and financial stewardship. Principal Investigators are assisted in the preparation and submission of grant, contract and cooperative agreement proposals. To that end, all grants, contracts and cooperative agreements representing College obligations must be authorized through ORA. The ORA is responsible for conducting negotiations, receiving and processing awards and other contractual modifications, administering the contracts and grants after award and insuring an orderly close-out of expired contracts and grants. In addition, the ORA is charged with actively pursuing grant funding for educational, training and outreach programs for the College and the community, as well as maintaining financial and administrative reports on the College’s research programs. The ORA is responsible for the pre-award phase of funding proposals and for post-award requests that involve sponsor contact. For example, the ORA:  Counsels investigators and administrative staff regarding proposal preparation and interpretation of guidelines, policies and regulations.  Negotiates/mediates with funding agencies and subcontractors to reach agreements satisfactory to sponsor, faculty and VCOM.  Reviews, approves and corrects proposals to comply with VCOM and sponsor policies, and verifies resource commitments, budget accuracy and faculty appointments.  Reviews final award documents and revisions to existing awards to assure that the agreements conform to the negotiated proposals.  Assists in budget preparation and reviews the budget to ensure that the proper fringe benefits and other costs are included.  Facilitates administrative reviews and obtains required signatures.  Assists in the submission of the grant including providing the necessary copies, binding and mailing the submission.  Maintains pre-award proposal files and provides management information regarding pending and awarded grants and contracts, as well as federal budget and administrative rule changes. For further information on institutional policies and guidelines, faculty should consult the following documents:  VCOM Faculty Handbook  VCOM policies and procedures for sponsored research (see http://www.vcom.vt.edu/ora/ORApp.html)  VCOM Institutional Review Board guidelines and policy (see ADDRESS HERE)  VCOM Institutional Environmental and Biosafety Committee policies (see ADDRESS HERE)  Virginia Tech Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee guidelines and policies (http://www.researchcompliance.vt.edu/iacuc/; note you must enter your VT PID to access policy pages) 1.1. Administrative Approval Overview The process of putting together a grant for sponsored activity has become increasingly complex over the years. This is due in large part to a rapidly expanding body of state and federal rules and regulations. Only the Director of Research Administration, the Provost, Dean and Executive Vice President and the President can commit VCOM to a grant or contract. Any matching funds or other commitments included in the grant must be accounted for, properly budgeted, and approved by VCOM.

Office of Research Administration Grants Administration Policies and Procedures

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