Effective Date: |
March 1, 2018 |
Function: |
Office of Sponsored Program Services |
Contact: |
All SUNY campus sponsored program activities are administered through The Research Foundation (RF) and so no formal, third-party subcontract is required to legally bind other SUNY campuses. Nonetheless, these multi-campus collaboration efforts do require an address and acknowledgement of core sponsor documents, regulatory requirements, detailed scope of work, deliverables, budget and reporting requirements as expected with typical subrecipient activity. Thorough communication and sharing information between RF campus locations is necessary to set expectations and make the responsibilities of each site involved clear.
This document outlines the background, considerations and best practices for the establishment and management of subaward activity across multiple RF SUNY campus locations.
If your purpose is not to establish a subrecipient-type relationship with one or more SUNY entities, an internal award may be most appropriate. For more information refer to Allocating Part of an Award to Another Campus or Department within SUNY.
When a sponsored program collaboration between/among SUNY campus locations is anticipated, the prime awardee campus ("Lead Location") will share the sponsor solicitation with, and request relevant documents from-- the potential collaborating campus ("Collaborator Location") for submission to the sponsor during the proposal stage. At minimum documentation from the Collaborator Location should, include:
All proposal data from a Collaborating Location must be sanctioned and authorized in writing by the Collaborator Location’s Sponsored Programs Office.
Once the Lead Location receives an award they must submit the resulting award document and flow down pertinent award specifics, including sponsor terms and conditions, to the Collaborator Location.
To formalize such understandings and responsibilities an Intercampus Letter Agreement (ILA) must be executed between the Lead and each Collaborator Location. The ILA is intended to clarify roles and responsibilities of the Lead Location and Collaborator Location, and provide any sponsor specific information to the Collaborating Location.
The ILA is created and routed by the Lead Location Sponsored Programs Office. The document must be signed by an authorized official at each RF SUNY location. For centralized campus locations the document does not require the signature of RF Central Office.
The ILA may be edited to meet the needs of the Lead Location but, at a minimum, should include the following:
The Intercampus Letter Agreement Template can be found on the RF Internal Website, under Sponsored Program Mgt, Agreements, Agreement Templates.
It is the responsibility of the Lead Location to have the Oracle account/subproject, including cost share award/tasks if applicable, established and provide a Project Abstract to the Collaborator Location’s authorized official.
For centralized Lead Locations, a copy of the ILA should be provided to your RFCO Sponsored Programs Account Establishment (AE) contact. The AE contact will establish the subproject for the Collaborator Location using the information provided in the Intercampus Letter Agreement and send a RF Project Abstract to the Collaborating Locations authorized official (either centralized or decentralized).
Note: Best practice for establishing a subproject at a Collaborator Location, for both centralized and decentralized locations, is to always attach a copy of the Intercampus Letter Agreement to the sub-project in Oracle.
If At Risk activity is necessary the Collaborating Location should connect with the Lead Location official. The Lead Location is responsible for establishing an At Risk award and the Collaborating Location’s subproject and task(s). As per the RF’s Responsibility for Losses Policy, the Collaborating Location is responsible for their location’s expenditures against the award.
For more information refer to Create a Project for an Award that Crosses Locations - Process Help (R12).
The Lead Location can only:
The Collaborator Location can only:
Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA) Reporting: Since the purpose of the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act is to enforce disclosure and transparency of federal funding the Lead Location should submit FFATA information for intercampus collaboration into FSRS.gov, when applicable. FSRS.gov will use the Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number of the Collaborator Location to feed into the USASpending.gov database, this will allow the general public to see how and where funding is allocated. If the Lead Location is a centralized campus location the FFATA report is done at RF Central Office. If the Lead location is decentralized it is the campus responsibility to ensure the FFATA reporting is completed.
Each Operating Location can opt to charge F & A on the applicable expenditures of subprojects when they are a Lead Location in accordance with sponsor policies and procedures and the approved budget. Charging F&A as a Lead Location is a campus decision but needs to be treated consistently. The Collaborator Location is allowed to charge F&A on their full budget amount, as appropriate as well.
For awards using the Modified Total Direct Cost (MTDC) base, F&A can generally be charged on the first $25,000 of the subproject.
The appropriate Oracle budget line for charging F&A on subawards to another SUNY school is FAC_Override_SUNYSUB_F&A.
Oracle Grants Module
Grant Sum by Project/Task Report
Project Summary Inquiry Form
Report Center
Award Project Task Tab (APT)
Grants Expenditure Detail for Specified Award or Project Query
Reports in both the Oracle Grants Module or the Report Center can be scheduled and notifications can be sent to user with a link to the report or the report attached for easy monitoring.
For more information refer to: Adjust Burden Cost (F&A, Agency Fees, and Fringe Benefits) - Process Help (R12).
Impact on F&A rate proposal:
There is no impact on the F&A rate proposal for the collaborating location. The expenditures will be included in the normal course of the F&A rate proposal process.
For the lead location using an MTDC base, subaward amounts up to $25k per collaborating subaward will need to be imputed and added to the MTDC base when developing the F&A rate proposal.
Subproject F & A Rate
The F&A rate of the collaborating campus should be used on a subproject. This is done by inputting the F&A rate on the task level using the rate/structure override field.
It is the responsibility of the Lead Location to coordinate submission of all reporting requirements to the sponsor.
Note: Best practice for ensuring reporting requirements are satisfied is to specify types of reports and due dates in the Intercampus Letter Agreement.
When required to submit the closeout/finalization information to the Lead Location, the Collaborator Location will verify in writing that all expenditures have posted, encumbrances have cleared, purchase orders have been closed and cost share has been entered, if applicable.
Lead Location- the prime awardee campus.
Collaborator Location- RFSUNY Campus receiving part of the prime award directly from the Lead Location.
Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act
Create a Project for an Award that Crosses Locations - Process Help (R12)
Adjust Burden Cost (F&A, Agency Fees, and Fringe Benefits) - Process Help (R12)
Date |
Summary of Change |
MArch 1, 2018 |
This document was created to provide the process for establishing and managing subaward activity across multiple RF SUNY campus locations. This document will supersede the obsolete "Awards with Projects at Multiple SUNY Campus Locations". |
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