RED is still used for internal distributions when the sponsor is an NCSU sponsor. Chartfield is used to create segments or extend segments funded off a prime that is funded by an external sponsor.

Whenever there is a situation where “NCSU funds NCSU,” such as in SiSoC, FREEDM, CBeRD, CICI, FMMC, etc., we should use PINS or RED for actions such as NCEs, additional funding, or both.

• If a PI submits a new proposal with one of our centers as the funding source (NCSU SiSoC, FREEDM, etc.), it will be processed the same as any other proposal. Once it reaches the College level, we will review and approve it. Once it has been imported into RED and assigned a Record Number, Pat Hayes/Laurinda Perez will log in to RED and make the award via an internal distribution. Please note that, in most cases, any new proposals must be approved by the center’s IAB. Of course, there can always be exceptions, but we will approach them on a case-by-case basis.
• If a PI submits a proposal for additional funding when one of our centers is the funding source, it will be processed the same as any other proposal. Please note in the comments the RED Record Number of the project as well as the funding source RED Record Number. The project requesting additional funding is known as the “Target,” and the funding source is known as the “Source”. Pat Hayes/Laurinda Perez will review, approve, and make the internal award via RED.
• If a PI needs an NCE on a project funded by one of our centers, you will not need to do a PMR. Send Pat Hayes/Laurinda Perez an email stating the “Target” and “Source” projects, the date to extend to, and the justification. COE-ORA will complete the NCE request via RED.
• Any other post-award action on a project funded by one of our centers, such as a budget modification, must be processed through the PMR system.

Just remember that the college should complete an action, such as funding, additional funding, an NCE, or a combination, via RED.

Domestic and foreign travel are common activities that Principal Investigators (PIs) and research staff may undertake during an award. Sponsored travel must be justified, well-documented, in compliance with the sponsor requirements, and must be incurred during the period of the award.

Traveler requirements:

• The traveler must make an effort on the project.
• Travel charges related to the traveler must be paid or cost-shared from the sponsored award.
• Travel costs must be:
  • Allowable: Travel must be allowed under the terms of the award.
  • Allocable: The travel is necessary to fulfill the programmatic objectives of the award, and the travel expense is charged.
  • Reasonable: The travel costs are reasonable and not excessive. Examples of excessive travel costs include stays at luxury hotels, dining at expensive restaurants, and limousine service. The trip must specifically benefit the project.
  • The trip must have prior written approval on file.
  • Funds must be available for travel.
  • If not in the approved budget, agency approval is required.
  • Is foreign travel being charged to a federal award? If so, international travel must comply with the Fly America Act.

Questions referenced when PMR is reviewed:

• Is travel listed or budgeted in the award?
• What is the purpose of the award?
• How does travel relate to the purpose of the award?
• Who (traveler), What (seminar, etc.), Where (location), When (Dates — is the travel within the dates of the award), and why (purpose)?
• Is this “Prior” approval? Has the travel already taken place?
• Is agency approval needed?

Most sponsors allow grantee institutions to incur pre-award costs up to 90 days before the grant award’s start date.

If pre-award costs are not approved in the signed agreement, then agency approval is needed. The pre-award costs must be for the effective and economical conduct of the project and allowable on the project.

The request should include the effective date, a justification, and an explanation of the type of change (payroll will require additional changes).

Questions referenced when PMR is reviewed:

• What are the terms and conditions of the award?
• Is agency approval needed?
• What is the timeframe for pre-award costs (60, 90, etc.)?
• Detail justification (Why? When? etc.).
• What type of cost? If a grad student, include that person’s name.

Note: Accounts originally set up as pre-award (K) are set up by requesting them through RED. Once the official award document is issued by SPARCS and assigned to FM, a review must be conducted to ensure that the costs incurred did not occur before the award document’s official start date. A pre-award account is not the same as requesting pre-award costs (via PMR). If NC State has expanded authority, you still need approval from C&G and SPARCS.

Equipment means tangible personal property (including information technology systems) with a useful life of more than one year and a per-unit acquisition cost of $5,000 or more.

The purchase of capital equipment (equipment with a unit cost of $5000 or more) often requires prior approval by the sponsor if:

• The purchase of capital equipment was not included in the award budget, or
• The PI or PO wishes to purchase capital equipment that is not included in the award budget.

Provide a generalized specification (cost, description) and justify the need for the equipment with the statement of work (why do you need the equipment).

Note: Equipment should not be purchased within the last three months of the project.

These requests must also be approved by the Department Head before being routed to the Office of Contracts and Grants for review and processing.

Questions referenced when PMR is reviewed:

• Technical reason why it is needed (purpose)?
• How does it relate to the original scope of the project?
• What equipment is needed? Is this from a different vendor than originally proposed?
• Is it 100% for the project?
• Cost? Is 100% of the cost being paid from this account or spread among different sources?
• Do we retain the title to the equipment?
• What is the project’s end date?
• Will the equipment be purchased, arrive, and be used before the award’s end date?
• Upload a quote for the amount.
• Is agency approval needed?

Fabricated equipment is defined as an item of equipment that is built or assembled in its original form from individual parts by a PI and/or other sponsored project personnel, an internal shop, or an external shop.

If a fabricated equipment item will have an aggregate cost of less than $5,000, the individual costs for all acquisitions are subject to the relevant F&A rate. If you initially anticipate that the total fabrication will cost more than $5,000 and, as such, exempt the individual components from F&A, but the final product ends up totaling less than $5,000, all component costs will be subject to F&A.

An instance where components are simply connected in a system, such as when individual computers and servers are joined to create a network, does not constitute a fabrication.

Remember: If ownership of the final product is to be transferred to the sponsor, the F&A rate applies to each fabrication component.

For fabricated equipment, be prepared to give the following:

• What is the item to be fabricated?
• Is this part of a current piece of equipment? If so, what is the Asset Management Tag #?
• Will this fabrication produce a single item that costs $5K or more?
• Will the university retain the title?
• Why is the item needed?
• How does this item relate to the original scope of work?
• Provide a detailed description of the item
• What are the components for fabrication, including individual prices?
• Include a diagram, drawing, or picture of the equipment being fabricated
• The time frame for completing the fabrication
• Estimated dollar amount
• Whether the item is a deliverable or not
• Components and individual costs

Fabrications Notes:

• It must be approved by C&G.
• If approved, items under $5,000 can be posted to 55xxx, provided they are not listed below as a “Never Capitalizable” item and are used in the final fabrication. Spare and repair parts cannot be included and must be returned to the supply line.
• Items simply wired together do not count as a Fabrication and will be
  reviewed individually.
• Departments must notify the Capital Asset Group upon completion of a
  Fabrication, with a full listing of all charges included in the final fabrication for a final review, approval, and capitalization (if warranted) of the fabrication into Asset Management.

Never Capitalizable:

• Supplies, consumables, replacement/repair parts
• Modular workstations and cubicle offices
• Warranties
• Maintenance contracts
• Subscription services
• Professional services (Not Installation, Training, or Shipping/Freight)

When a Fabricated Equipment request is approved, and the Approval Email is generated, it is the Fiscal Manager’s responsibility to update the Inventory Indicator attribute. The Fiscal Manager will change the attribute based on whether an inventory is required.

Primary Criteria for Capitalization: Per Asset Management Guidelines

Must qualify under each of the following criteria:

1. Cost Threshold
   • $5,000.00 for a single piece of equipment (1 Computer, 1 Car, 1 RL Recorder)
     • Include additional costs for Shipping/Freight, Installation, and training
   • $100,000 for a single Software License
2. Life Expectancy
   • Two or more years of life (i.e., subscriptions, rentals, leases for less than one year — not capital)
3. Physical Makeup of the item
   • Singular Piece of Functional Equipment/Software
     • Computers, Monitors, Keyboards, and Printers are all separate items
   • C&G Approved Fabrication
     • When parts are purchased to build a single piece of equipment. Ex. Capital Fabrication — Buy tires, an engine, a frame, some axles, etc., to build a car (the pieces used in the final car would be allowed to be capitalized as Fabrication)
     • Ex. Non-Capital Fabrication — Buy three computers and a router, which are then wired together (this is not a Fabrication)

Asset Management: Fabrication Guidance 12/2016

Subrecipients are entities that will contribute to the project’s programmatic portion. Their performance will be measured by whether the project’s objectives are being met. Subrecipients are subject to project compliance.

As the recipient of an award for a sponsored research project, the University may award financial assistance to a subrecipient to facilitate the performance of and payment for specific work to be conducted by the Subrecipient in connection with the sponsored project. A sub-award may be issued by the University as the recipient of a prime award or as the subrecipient of another institution’s prime award.

Therefore, Subrecipients must adhere to the University’s awarded terms and conditions. Subrecipients should provide a detailed budget aligned with NC State’s budget categories (e.g., salary, fringe benefits, travel, equipment, materials and supplies, consultants, indirect costs).  Please note if there is a sponsor restriction on F&A, direct costs, etc., then our Subrecipients must also adhere to said restriction in their budgets.

Subcontract Agreement:

• It must be approved by the sponsor and include:
  • Current CV/Resume
  • Statement of Work
  • Budget Justification (new, supplement, or de-obligation)
• Budget/project dates must fall within the direct sponsor’s range.
• Final reporting and billing are due 30 to 60 days before the direct sponsor’s termination date.

Termination of Subawards: Upon termination of any Subaward issued from NC State to another institution, all financial, technical, property, patent, and other required reports should be received from the Subrecipient along with a statement that it releases NC State from all further claims under the Subaward. The NC State PI should indicate that the Subaward was carried out per the work statement.

Questions referenced when PMR is reviewed:

• Is the subcontract request form completed/signed with the CV, statement of work, and budget attached?
• Is the subcontractor named/budgeted in the award?
• Not named in the award
  • Agency approval needed
  • CV, statement of work, and budget needed
  • Justification (Why, purpose, expertise, etc.)
  • Is a re-budget needed?
• The requested amount is available on the prime subcontract line.
• The amount does not exceed the budgeted amount for that subrecipient
• Is this a modification to the subcontract?
• What is changing in the subcontract?
• De-obligation or an increase in funding for the sub-award?
• If extending, be aware of the Prime end date. A sub-award/subcontract cannot extend past the Prime end date. Also, you may not want the sub to have the same end date as the prime for turnaround times on final reports

The Budget is the financial expression of the project or program as approved during the award process. It is not uncommon for a PI to determine that, for the efficient performance of the project, he/she must re-budget funds from one budget line or category to another.

Some sponsors have delegated this authority to the University to approve such changes or modifications.

Some sponsors require the University to formally submit a budget modification with an explanation of the need and any anticipated impact on the conduct of the work.

The justification should describe:

• How the proposed budget modification will affect the technical purpose or scope of the project;
• Contain a brief explanation of why the proposed budget modification was not planned originally; and
• Why are other budgeted funds now available for this purpose, and what is the intended use of the funds?

A Budget Modification request may be submitted to realign the funds within specific budget categories. This type of modification may require agency approval.

A Budget Modification request may be submitted to move funds within Project Segments. Funds may only be moved to projects mapping to the Same Project Reference.

Questions referenced when PMR is reviewed:

• What is the project term date? Note: C&G does not process re-budgets after the award term.
• Is agency approval needed?
• Is it an allowable budget line (i.e., student aid, equipment, etc)
• Will the project scope change?
• Is a detailed justification provided for each line item change (technical)?
• Is the object/Account Code correct – budget by “DETAILED” account structure

51112 Salary – Graduate Research Assistant
51116 Salary – Summer Faculty Support
51118 Salary – Release Time
51119 Salary – EPA Regular All Other – Post Doc
51219 Salary – SPA Regular Salary (Technician)
51410 Salary – Non-Student Regular Wage
51450 Salary – Student Regular Wage
51899 Fringe Benefits
51950 Honorariums
51990 Contracted Services
52999 Supplies
53110 In-State Travel
53120 Domestic Travel
53130 Foreign Travel
53999 Current Services
54999 Fixed Charges – Service centers w/ approved use rate charge in 4998
55999 Equipment
56575 Graduate Tuition
56961 Undergraduate Tuition
56962 Stipends (No employment obligation)
56980 Subawards
58960 Facilities & Administrative Costs (Indirect)
59950 (8950 inactive) Budget Pool

• Are there enough funds in the budget line to be moved?
• Is F&A being affected? Has it been calculated correctly?
• Will the subcontract line be affected? See sub-award request/modification.
• Is this a request for a segment? Was the prime PI’s approval received and attached?

Excel Spreadsheet calculating F&A adjustment