Roles & Responsibilities

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Click here (PDF) for the PDF version of the Roles and Responsibilities matrix.

Definitions:

PI – Principal Investigator
Dept – Department
Dean/VP – College / School Dean or VP
OSP-RA – Research Administration
OSP-IC – Industry Contracting

OSP-SPA – Sponsored Projects Accounting
OSP-CAC – Cost Analysis and Compliance
OSP-Ops – Operations
SOMSPO – Sponsored Programs Office in SOM

RCP – Research Compliance Office
OCT -Office of Clinical Trials
IRB – Institutional Review Board in OHRE
IACUC – Institutional Animal Care and Use in OAC

Proposal Preparation

Task	PI	Dept	Dean/VP	OSP-RA	SPO	RCP	OCT	Finance
Initiate intent to submit solicited or unsolicited proposal	x
Communicate proposal deadlines, pre-award process and OSP policies to Principal Investigator (PI)		x
Assist with questions regarding eligibility, allowable costs, and other administrative elements of sponsor guidelines		x	x	x	x	x
Develop technical proposal	x
Develop budget, budget justification and other administrative documents per sponsor guidelines	x	x
Assist PI and research staff and departments with clinical trial budget and project development							x
Identify subcontractors and obtain statement of work, budget, letter of intent, and other required documents	x	x
Identify need for cost sharing funds and obtain documentation for cost share support		x
Evaluate requests for F&A waivers or reductions		x	x
Approve F&A waivers and reductions				x
Coordinate space arrangements identified in the proposal		x	x
Develop a Small Business Plan – Data to be requested from Procurement	x	x		x				x

Proposal Review and Approval

Task	PI	Dept	Dean/VP	OSP-RA	SPO
Determine proposed project fits within academic framework and resources			x
Confirm that proposal meets sponsor requirements (formatting and page limits, etc.)		x		x	x
Review proposal2 before internally routing to OSP or SPO	x	x	x
Route electronic Internal Processing Form (eIPF) in RAMSeS with final application package at least five (5) business days prior to sponsor deadline		x
Verify that cost sharing in proposal is listed and that all commitments have been secured		x	x	x	x
Ensure regulatory compliance (i.e. IRB, IACUC, IBC, etc.) activities are understood and managed appropriately	x			x	x
Provide institutional review and approval of proposal1				x	x
Make revisions and corrections to proposal after institutional review	x	x		x	x
Review and ensure accuracy of the eIPF				x	x

¹ School of Medicine (SOM) proposals are reviewed by Sponsored Programs Office (SPO) and include: NIH grants and cooperative agreements and limited number of foundations. (See list prepared by OSP/SPO)
² Development of proposals sponsored by select foundations may be facilitated by the Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations (CFR)

Proposal Submission and Just in Time Requests

Task	PI	Dept	OSP-RA	SPO
Submits all federal, grants.gov, Cayuse proposals			x	x
Submits proposal central applications	x	x
Discuss and determine submission if sponsor is non-federal, pass-through entity, or other non-for-profit organization	x	x	x	x
Comply with requests from sponsor’s to provide additional information (PI other support, University assurances, etc.)	x	x	x	x

Regulatory Requirements – Conflict of Interest

Task	PI	Dept	OSP-RA	RCP
Know and comply with the University’s Conflict of Interest (COI) policy	x
Completes project specific COI disclosure and COI training prior to award setup (training valid for 4 years)	x
Discloses existence of conflict of interest	x
Develops and submits conflict of interest management plan	x			x
Comply with special conditions placed on project in order to manage, eliminate or reduce conflict	x
Initiates organizational COI statement with Research Compliance Office	x	x	x
Report any changes to financial relationships affecting project	x
Institutional oversight and facilitation of individual and organizational conflict of interest				x

Regulatory Requirements – Human Subjects

Task	PI	Dept	Dean/VP	OSP-RA	IRB
Comply with federal regulations and University policies regarding safety and protection of human subjects	x				x
Prepare and submit protocols for research involving human subjects	x
Review and approve research protocols					x
Perform congruency check between protocol and grant					x
Ensure that protocols are kept current throughout the life of the project as required	x	x	x	x	x

Regulatory Requirements – Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee

Task	PI	Dept	OSP-RA	IACUC
Comply with University policies regarding human care and use of animals	x			x
Prepare and submit protocols for research involving animals	x
Review and approve research protocols				x
Perform congruency check between protocol and grant				x
Ensure that protocols are kept current throughout the life of the project as required	x	x	x	x

Regulatory Requirements – Environmental Health and Safety

Task	PI	Dept
Comply with University and federal environmental health and safety policies applicable to research	x
Comply with safety protocols outlined for radioactive materials	x	x
Comply with safety protocols outlined for hazardous chemical materials	x	x
Comply with safety protocols outlined for biological materials	x	x
Obtain approval from Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC)/EHS Office prior to conducting research using recombinant DNA or infectious disease	x
Ensure that incoming MTA’s involving recombinant DNA or infectious agents receive approval from the (IBC)/EHS Office	x

Processing Financial Guarantees

Task	Dept	OSP-RA
Request a financial guarantee, a.k.a. Letter of Guarantee (LOG), from the proposal module in RAMSeS	x
Expedite and process financial guarantee		x
Monitor financial guarantee and request an extension, if needed	x

Contract/Award Negotiation and Acceptance

Task	PI	Dept	OSP-RA	OSP-IC	OSP-Ops
Receive sponsor notification of award, contract or grant; forward to OSP-RA or OSP-IC, as applicable	x	x			x
Review agreement and provide input re: negotiation to OSP-RA or OSP-IC	x	x
Seeks feedback from Office of University Counsel, Risk Management, and other administrative offices as needed			x	x
Review and negotiate contract terms and conditions with sponsors			x	x
Accept award terms and conditions and execute award on behalf of the University			x	x
Review and negotiate (industry, federal and other party) confidentiality agreements and data use agreements				x

Award Set-up

Task	PI	Dept	OSP-RA	OSP-SPA
Confirm that approvals for regulatory compliance requirements have been met			x
Provide approved compliance acknowledgment waiver to OSP, if applicable	x
Review award budget and modify if necessary, following terms and conditions of the award	x	x	x
Identify technical and financial reporting due dates; identify interim and final invoicing requirements			x
Prepare award setup package and submit to OSP Sponsored Projects Accounting for processing			x
Perform QA on award setup in ConnectCarolina prior to activating contract			x	x
Create award in RAMSeS and generates award in ConnectCarolina with RAMSeS web service				x
Complete award, project, budgets, contract, and bill plan setup in ConnectCarolina; performs QA review				x
Notify PI and department of award setup via automated RAMSeS email; provides chartfield and Project ID(s)				x
Activate the ConnectCarolina contract				x

Subcontracts and Subrecipient Monitoring

Task	PI	Dept	OSP-RA	OSP-SPA	OSP-CAC
Obtain proposal documents from subrecipient during proposal preparation and for award set-up	x	x
Submit request to 4 Subaward Team for subcontract; provide statement of work, budget, letter of intent, etc. to Subaward Team (including when sponsor is private industry)			x
Obtain Subrecipient Form from subrecipient; run Visual Compliance check; ensure COI requirements have been met			x
Perform risk assessment of subaward before issuing a subaward agreement			x		x
Prepare, negotiate, and execute subawards			x
Submit Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA) reports on the governments Federal Subaward Reporting System (FSRS)			x
Oversee technical/progress reports to ensure progress is sufficient	x	x
Review and approve subaward invoices	x	x			x
Subrecipient monitoring – Review Subrecipient Form and Audits			x		x
Subrecipient monitoring – Visual Compliance, Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), Department of State Review			x
Subrecipient monitoring – Performs audits on sample of subrecipient invoices on a quarterly basis and at least one invoice annually for all for-profits					x
Subrecipient monitoring – Subaward burn rate and programmatic impact review (subaward > 50% of prime)	x		x		x
Prepare Small Business Subcontracting Plan			x
Provide Small Business Subcontracting Plan to Sponsor			x
Prepare and Submit Small Business Subcontracting Plan Reports with data and assistance from procurement				x

Project Management

Task	PI	Dept	Dean/VP	OSP-RA	OSP-IC	OSP-SPA	OSP-CAC	OCT
Prepare personnel transactions		x
Initiate non-personnel transactions on project		x
Review and approve personnel transactions (Effort Coordinator) and higher risk non-personnel transactions on project (Pre-Audit Technician)							x
Provide oversight and assist with registration of clinical trial information, and post results as appropriate, in clinicaltrials.gov								x
Communicate with sponsors, CROs and other entities on behalf of the University, researchers and departments on issues related to clinical trials					x			x
Ensure timeliness of subcontract invoices	x	x		x
Initiate all prior approvals (i.e. no cost extensions (NCE), budget revisions, PI changes, etc.) for changes to project	x	x
Approve or forward all prior approval to sponsor (i.e. NCE, budget revisions, PI changes, etc.) for changes to project				x
Perform sampling of allowable costs on high-risk areas during post-audit reviews							x
Perform review of expenditures for allowability and allocability	x	x	x	x		x	x
Monitor and track cost share commitments		x
Verify cost share in accordance with award terms and conditions		x				x
Submit PAATs and cost transfer journals on a timely basis		x
Approve PAATs and cost transfer journals							x
Review financial information and reconcile projects on a monthly basis (monitor posted transactions and reconcile expenses)	x	x

Personnel and Effort Certification

Task	PI	Dept	OSP-CAC
Initiate hiring and appointment process; allocate to project	x	x
Maintain effort certification in eCRT			x
Prepare and distribute effort certification reports			x
Review effort statements prior to individual certification		x
PI (and non-PI personnel) with effort on projects certify their own effort report	x
Review effort certification reports completed by departments			x
Complete necessary adjustments to award charges and/or payroll distribution		x
Ensure accuracy of completed effort certification			x
Resolve problems or follow-up on certifications not submitted		x	x

Invoicing and Billing

Task	PI	Dept	OSP-RA	OSP-SPA
Run pre bill report after month end close for cost reimbursable projects				x
Manage billing of projects that are fixed price installments				x
Notify OS when a fixed price deliverable as been completed and an invoice can be sent	x	x
Complete and submit invoice to sponsors (Projects beginning with 3, 5); track submission of invoice				x
Complete and submit invoice to sponsors (Projects beginning with 4); track submission of invoice		x
Identify program income; notify OSP of any program income on sponsored project	x	x
Create a program income project ID at time of award setup			x	x
Receive program income and send to OSP for deposit		x
Deposit/post program income and increase budget				x
Identify use and reporting requirements of program income			x	x
Monitor program income levels and make award adjustments as necessary		x	x	x

Cash Management and Accounts Receivables

Task	PI	Dept	OSP-SPA	Finance
Forward payments on projects to OSP	x	x
Receive and deposit payments from sponsors			x
Produce and record a letter of credit draw request (federal awards)			x
Annually calculate federal interest on projects and refund accrued interest to government				x
Annually calculate interest on non-federal projects and refund accrued interest to sponsor			x	x
Bank reconciliation for the lockbox and cash monitoring			x
Receive clinical trial payment and send to OSP for deposit		x
Deposit/post clinical trial payment and increase budget			x
Monitor and pursue the collections of overdue payments from sponsors	x	x	x
Manage refund process			x

Preparation and Submission of Technical/Progress Reports

Task	PI	Dept	OSP-RA	SPO
Ensure integrity of all research data	x
Identify the need for submission of progress reports	x	x
Prepare, approve and submit progress reports to sponsor (follow previous responsibilities listed for proposal preparation thru submission)	x	x	x	x
Maintain and track the submission dates of the official copy of the progress report		x

Final Reports and Project Closeout

Task	PI	Dept	Dean/VP	OSP-RA	OSP-SPA	OSP-CAC	OSP-Ops	Finance
Identify early close-out situations	x	x
Ensure all appropriate expenditures/cost transfers have been posted to Project IDs	x	x
Provide backup documentation on expenditures if required by terms and conditions of the awards		x
Determine whether there are unresolved items needed before closeout and communicate to OSP	x	x
Audit expenditure and award activity to verify financial compliance with University and sponsor regulations						x
Ensure allowability, allocability, reasonableness and consistency of treatment of costs	x	x			x	x
Prepare final financial invoice/report					x
Resolve issues related to unreconciled Project IDs, award closeout, expense transactions, and cash		x		x	x
Verify and report cost share to sponsor					x
Ensure that all financial reports have been submitted to the sponsor					x
Submits final progress reports to sponsor	x	x		x
Submit and monitor submission of Final Invention/Patent reports to sponsor	x	x					x
Submits fixed assets/property reports to sponsor		x			x
Assume accountability for overdrafts, deficits, and unallowable costs that occur under project			x
Maintain office project closeout documents for sponsored projects	x	x			x
Submit Small Business Report to sponsor	x	x			x			x

Single Audit and Agency Reviews

Task	PI	Dept	OSP-RA	OSP-SPA	OSP-CAC	SPO	RCP
Comply with Uniform Guidance and sponsor conditions for compliance	x	x	x	x	x	x	x
Participate on sponsor audit or specific program audit	x	x	x	x	x
Coordinate the Single Audit and agency reviews for the University					x
Serves as point of contact and provides support and/or source documentation as requested by auditors					x

Training and Communication

Task	PI	Dept	Dean/VP	OSP-RA	OSP-IC	OSP-SPA	OSP-CAC	OSP-Ops	SPO	RCP	OCT	IRB	IACUC	Finance
Work with offices within OSP to maintain and update OSP web site								x
Work with offices within OSP to onboard new OSP employees								x
Provide ongoing training on business process changes, new regulations, etc. to OSP								x
Lead the organization of OSP’s Annual Research Symposium								x
Work with offices within OSP to centralize all OSP communication to campus								x
Provide ongoing training to department administrators								x

OSP General Inboxes

Task	OSP-RA	OSP-IC	OSP-Ops	SPO
Manage and triage Sponsored Programs inbox (SponsoredPrograms@unc.edu)			x
Manage and triage OSP Help ServiceNow tickets (OSPhelp@unc.edu)			x
Manage and triage OSPBilling inbox (OSPbilling@unc.edu)			x
Mange and triage Subaward inbox (subaward@unc.edu)	x
Manage and triage Industry Contracting inbox (OSPContracting@unc.edu)		x
Mange and triage UNC SOM Sponsored Programs inbox (grants@unc.edu)				x

Month, Quarter and Fiscal Year End Activities

Task	OSP-SPA	Finance
Perform reconciliation – Billed AR Aging = GL AR balances	x
Perform UAR analysis	x
Accrual/Write-off calculation	x
Reconciliation of OSP revenues and expenditures	x
Accrual clean-up of fund balances		x
Calculate Direct Loan balance		x

Research Service Centers (RSC)

Task	Dept	OSP-CAC
Conduct rate reviews for RSCs for compliance with federal guidelines and institutional policies/procedures.		x
Provide training and consultation related to rate setting methodology and financial compliance		x
Submit rate proposal at least every two (2) years to Cost Analysis & Compliance for rate review; update RSC operational plan	x
Management of RSC financials including billings to customers and A/R collections.	x
Monitor fund balance surplus/deficit to ensure adherence to institutional and federal guidelines	x

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