Re: Signature Authority Joyce McAlexander 02 Feb 1998 14:04 EST
The Sponsored Programs Office at our institution is responsible for the post-award administration. This includes monitoring, reporting and transaction review. All paperwork regarding expenditures towards a grant runs through our office prior to submitting to the Business Office for processing. The types of transactions that either originate from our office or involve review include: Personnel and Consultants, Purchasing (including equipment) and Accounts Payable, Travel, and Subcontracting. It's true, at times, that we're not always the most popular with the faculty, but many appreciate the assistance. Joyce McAlexander Sponsored Programs Dept Cal Poly State University Foundation San Luis Obispo, CA 93407 Phone: (805) 756-5730 Fax: (805) 756-5588 E-mail: xxxxxx@calpoly.edu ---------- From: resadm-l[SMTP:xxxxxx@health.state.ny.us] Sent: Friday, January 30, 1998 6:05 PM To: Multiple recipients of list RESADM-L Subject: Re: Signature Authority These kinds of transactions are not approved by anyone else at our institution. We don't have the staff, nor does the Controller's office, to do this kind of checking on every little transaction on our grants. We are a small institution--so there's no such thing as departmental administration for grants and contracts here. To compound our problems, our fiscal system has never been programmed to flag transactions that will push a major line item--or even the bottom line--into the red, so these things just get entered. The result: We (Sponsored Programs) end up troubleshooting lots of these cases and our grants accountant ends up moving expenditures around -- and we have a lot of last minute rebudgeting going on. This situation makes me reather nervous, especially as our volume continues to grow (we're at $4 million now), but the fiscal side of the house doesn't seem terribly concerned. At my previous institution, staff in the grants accounting office checked every hire form, purchase requisition, and travel request and signed off before final processing. If there weren't enough funds in the correct line, the PI would be informed and would have to rebudget before the transaction would go through. It took longer--some PIs got pretty ugly about the "red tape" at times, but, of course these were the ones who were notorious for being great researchers but poor money managers. IMHO, someone who understands that major line items and the bottom line should never go significantly in the red needs to have the responsibility for checking and approving these requests before they get to Human Resources, Procurement, or Accounts payable. I would be interested in a summary of responses--getting our fiscal system to flag problem transactions is something that we eventually will need to request, and every little bit of "ammunition" from other institutions helps! <<<<>>>><<<<>>>><<<<>>>><<<<>>>><<<<>>>><<<<>>>> Barbara H. Gray Telephone: 803-953-5673 Director of Sponsored Programs Fax: 803-953-6577 College of Charleston email: xxxxxx@cofc.edu Charleston, SC 29424 http://www.cofc.edu/~osp (Location: 407G Bell Building) <<<<>>>><<<<>>>><<<<>>>><<<<>>>><<<<>>>><<<<>>>>