天美传媒

The Award Negotiation and Acceptance step of the award set-up stage of the grant lifecycle involves reviewing the terms and conditions of a grant or contract to ensure compliance with university policies and sponsor requirements. Research & Sponsored Programs works with the sponsor, other UMB officials and the key personnel on the award to address and resolve any issues before formally accepting the award on behalf of the university.

UMass Boston receives a wide variety of awards which can include grants, contracts and subcontracts, cooperative agreements and fellowship awards. Awards can only be negotiated and accepted by an Authorized Organizational Representative (AOR) in Research & Sponsored Programs and executed by a university Signing Official (SO). Awards are generally made to the institution (UMass Boston) and not an individual, so investigators are not authorized to negotiate, accept or execute an award on behalf of UMass Boston.

• University Signing Authority
• Research & Sponsored Programs Contacts & Team Assignments
• Research & Sponsored Programs Role & Responsibilities Matrix 

In the event that you need to begin work, but the sponsor has not finalized your award paperwork, we can create an “at-risk” account for you.

An at-risk or advance account setup allows researchers to initiate an award set-up after a notice of sponsor’s intent to make a funding recommendation, during award negotiations and before an official award is fully executed.

At-risk accounts enables timely project startup while ensuring compliance with university and sponsor policies, with the understanding that the department or unit assumes financial responsibility if funding is not received. The at-risk account follows all the expected terms and conditions of the pending award including period of performance, pending award amount, allowable budget categories and relevant compliance requirements. Once a formal award has been made, the at-risk account is reconciled to the final awards terms and conditions.

Please note that a full proposal package is still required to have been submitted in our Kuali system, though, we only need the addition of a completed “at-risk” form to create this financial account.

Should you need to use an “at-risk” account, please be careful to ensure that any spending is included in your final award’s period of performance. i.e. Don’t start work on January 1st if your award start date will be March 1st. Make sure that start date is backdated or allows preaward spending. If not, any expenses that ultimately fall out of period will need to be written off to your department RTF.

Finally, in the unlikely event that your award is not funded, any expenses posted to this account will be written off to your department RTF.

Use the Advance Account (At Risk) form on the Forms, Policies & Processes page of the ORSP Website.

Related Policy, see the Deficit Procedure under Award Closeout in the Award Management section of the Forms, Policies & Procedures page.

Let’s Assemble Your Project Team

Once you’ve received the official setup email with your account information, it’s time to assemble your team.

If you’re working with existing faculty (and yourself!), you will need to complete Buyout forms with your Department Research Administrator.

Hiring for new staff is managed through the Human Resources Department: .

Hiring for graduate assistants is coordinated through the Graduate Studies Office.

Hiring for undergraduate students is coordinated through the Student Employment Office.

Let’s Assemble Your Collaborators

External collaborators, such as subrecipients and contractors, are managed through our Research & Sponsored Programs Subaward team. Please work with your Department Research Administrator to have any needed collaborators set up.

The following forms can be accessed through the Subrecipient Monitoring section of the Forms, Policies & Processes page.

• Subrecipient Monitoring Policy and Procedure
• Subrecipient vs. Contractor Classification Guidance Document

Additional Resources and Guidance:

• UPST Form
  • Guidance in determining an independent contractor from an employee
• Statement of Work Template and Guidance

Let’s Assemble Your Resources

Procurement of goods and services, other than subrecipients and contractors, are done through our procurement system, BuyWays. This system is managed by our Unified Procurement Services Team (UPST). Please work with your department support staff to have these items put through.

At Risk Account Request Form

SUMMIT Reporting

• SUMMIT System and Training
• Systems Access Request

Human Resources

UPST

• Systems Access Request