Frequently Asked Questions

The Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP) is available to assist you with the fiscal and administrative management of your award.  Upon official notification of a grant award, ORSP will schedule an award orientation with you and will review the university’s spending rules and related procedures.   Current awardees can also contact post award staff if they need assistance with a specific issue or would like help tracking expenses or go over a spending plan.  

Contact Information for your designated Post-Award Specialist can be found on our Post Award page 

Please forward the notification and related documents to csuebawards@csueastbay.edu.   The responsible Pre-Award Specialist will work with you to confirm information, process the required approvals, and set up your account so that you can begin to spend your grant.

Grant Agreements/Contracts must name California State University, East Bay Foundation, Inc. as the awardee institution.  The agreement/contract is signed by our Authorized Organizational Representative (AOR), Chandra Khan, Ph.D., Associate Vice President for Research and Sponsored Programs.  Please forward the notification and related documents to csuebawards@csueastbay.edu.   The responsible Pre-Award Specialist will work with you to confirm information, process the required approvals, and set up your account so that you can begin to spend your grant.

"California State University, East Bay Foundation, Inc". should be listed as the official grant applicant and award recipient.  PI's do not receive the funds directly.   The funds are awarded to the CSUEB Foundation and must go through a formal grant/contract approval process.  Once approved, a W-fund account chartfield is established and the PI will be authorized to spend the grant in accordance with federal/state/local laws, sponsor terms and conditions, and campus policies and procedures.   

Our institution requires an official grant notification and/or a fully-executed contract before spending can occur. Some sponsors allow pre-award spending, but CSUEB and CSUEB Foundatin will require a letter of intent to award from the sponsor and approval from the appropriate college dean, ORSP, and other campus officials before pre-award spending is authorized.   Any un-authorized spending prior to receiving authorization will be the responsibility of the PI and their department/college.

For student hires, please send to orsp@csueastbay.edu the following information:  student first and last name, student email address, student NetID, student ID number (on BayCard), hourly rate, and start/end date of employment.  Students must compete a sign in process with Payroll before working.

For part time/full time staff hires, contact your assigned post-award specialist (contact info on ORSP Post Award page) and confirm allowability and budget for the hire.  You will also need to work with your department/college hiring manager to create a position description and work with your dept/college HR representative for this staff hire.  HR will provide information about recruiting and hiring, classification review, and payroll-related issues. ORSP can provide guidance on charging the grants but typically this means submitting an ORSP FTE Form, available as an AdobeSign workflow.

For faculty-related re-assigned time and additional employment, complete the following forms to confirm/provide the necessary info, and ORSP will route the appropriate forms for approvals.

• Faculty Assigned Time Request Form (Online Google Form; for full time faculty)
  
  
• Faculty Additional Compensation Request for AY and/or Summer (Online Google Form; for full time faculty)

Once the PI has completed the official orientation meeting for the new award, the PI can usually begin spending activity on their grant. All expenditures on a project must correspond to the approved award budget.

Initiating an expenditure of funds normally depends on what is being purchased and what method is the best for making the purchase. For low-dollar purchases of products, the Procurement Card (P-Card) can be used if you provide the P-Card holder with your grant chartfield string (Consult with your Dept/College to identify your department’s Pro Card holder).

For contractual services or larger-dollar, complex purchases of products, theft-sensitive items, and computers and software, the Procurement Office will need to be involved. Contact your Post-Award Specialist for guidance.  Completion of a Purchase Request Form will initate the process.

Refer to the ORSP Forms Library for links to commonly used forms.

You can delegate fiscal authority to someone involved in your project to approve grant-related expenses, provided that there is reasonable justification to do so.  A CSU East Bay Delegation of Fiscal Authority form will need to be completed with signatures from both the PI and the individual granted this delegation.  The named Principal Investigator will continue to assume full-responsibility of the grant. Please note that no delegation shall be made to any individual whose level of responsibility within the University is lower than the level of someone who reasonably could be expected to understand and act in respect to the fiscal authority being delegated.  Therefore, fiscal authority can be delegated only to those who also can be a Principal Investigator (PI), as outlined here:

PI Status

PI’s may request appropriate individuals to be included in the report distribution list, including co-investigators, grant-paid personnel, department staff, and other university employee.  It is expected that those copied will assist with the review of expenditures to ensure accuracy and spending is on track.

These reports include a summary and detailed report final expenses from the previous month.   If personnel are included in the budet, a labor expenditure report is also included that details the individuals who have been compensated and their effort on the grant.  Note that the reports do not include pending or in-process expenditures.

PI’s are expected to review the reports to notify ORSP if there are discrepencies.   Please schedule to meet with the appropriate ORSP Staff Member if you need assistance with a post-award issue or need help with an updated budget or projecting expenses: 

Post Award

PI’s should contact their designated ORSP Post Award contact for up to date reports.  PI's can access the Common Financial System Data Warehouse to see the financial information about their fund at any time.  In order to receive access, you must first complete Data Warehouse training. Contact orsp@csueastbay.edu to find out how to sign up for the next training session.

Post-award modifications or amendments to the grant, such as a no-cost extension, reduction in PI’s effort, change in PI or Co-Principal Investigators, significant budget changes, or significant change in the scope of work, usually require sponsor approval. You are responsible for notifying ORSP to coordinate sponsor approval. Internal campus approvals may also required via an Amendment Approval Form. Contact appropriate post-award personnel to coordinate grant amendments:  

PI’s are responsible for submitting technical/programmatic reports or progress reports. You may coordinate and/or receive assistance with financial information from ORSP, who will need to review and ensure the information is accurate.  In instances where both technical and financial reports are submitted together, ORSP will prepare and/or authorize financial information to be released to the sponsor. Contact your assigned Post-Award Specialist for assistance.

A copy of all technical/progress reports should be forwarded to orsp@csueastbay.edu to comply with sponsor/campus record retention requirements.

You will receive a 60-day and 30-day notice from ORSP as your award nears its end date. Your project administrator will also receive this notice and review your award’s financial position to determine what actions are necessary from a financial perspective.

Once you are within 3 months of your project end date, please coordinate with the appropriate post-award personnel to prepare final expenditures or to arrange an extension if a no-cost extension is appropriate.

While some time extensions do not require sponsor approval, most do require sponsor notification.  In cases where an internal records need to modify the grant end date, an amendment approval form may be sufficient to resolve the extension approval.

Note that if an extension will not apply and a spend down plan is put in place, sponsors may not permit certain equipment or supply purchases.  Please ensure that sponsor and program guidelines are followed. PI’s are responsible for completing any technical or final programmatic reports required by your sponsor. A copy of these reports should be forwarded to ORSP.

Awards through California State University, East Bay Foundation are subject to the following:

• All federal, state, and local laws. Awards are also subject to University policies and procedures.
• The grantor’s award agreement, which will specify the grant terms and conditions.  
• The sponsor and specific grant program/solicitation may have additional regulations and policies that may be included as part of the award requirements.

If a conflict or issue exists between university policies and the stated laws and/or grantor’s guidelines, an exception to campus policies may be granted with the appropriate university approvals.   It may be necessary for ORSP to include other CSUEB units/divisions (Procurement, Academic affairs, Accounting and Finance, etc.) in the negotiation to ensure the appropriate processes are in place.

Financial expenditure reports are prepared and distributed every month to all Principal Investigators, and will include expenditures that have posted in the previous month, the total expenditures to date, as well as the balance remaining.

Compliance with laws, regulations, and policies assodiated with a grant award is a shared responsibility between ORSP, the Principal Investigator, the PI’s Department and College, and other appropriate University units.

Principal Investigators are required to attend an award orientation conducted by ORSP staff, where specific policies and processes will be addressed, discussed and questions can be answered.   PI's are responsible for ensuring that all technical/programmatic requirements and objectives of the funded project are met, including securing approvals for research with human subjects, animals, hazardous/biohazardous materials, and compliance with other regulatory requirements.