ACCEPT AWARD & SET UP ACCOUNTS
- Award document is received and routed through Research Portal
- OSP reviews Terms and Conditions, confirms PI acceptance
- OSP negotiates any unacceptable terms
- P.I./administrator provides a compliant budget for account setup
- OSP checks for compliance protocols/approvals (PI may submit Request for Release of Funds Prior to IRB Approval for awards that require IRB approval, or Request for Release of Funds Prior to IACUC Approval for awards that require IACUC approval if needed)
- Confirmation management plan if Significant Financial Interest (SFI) identified
- Cost-sharing accounts established if needed
- Financial account established by OSP, creating "Speedtype"
- Notice of Accepted Award (Green Sheet) sent to the P.I. and administrators
Just-in-Time Information
NIH (through its grants management specialists), and occasionally other sponsors, will request evidence of compliance approvals prior to issuing an award. Depending on the sponsor and the project, the agency will be requesting evidence of CITI certification, IRB and/or IACUC approval and current “Other Support” for all key personnel.
The information needs to be prepared by the PI with departmental assistance and forwarded to OSP for submission to the agency.
NIH also sends automated requests for just-in-time information for all applications scoring 40 or less, usually within fifteen days of the scoring. Upon receipt of this request, a review of how close the score is to the sponsor's "payline" should help the PI decide if initiating the protocol reviews for any relevant compliance areas is worthwhile.
Green Sheet Information
Green Sheets provide summaries of Award terms and conditions that require active monitoring and provide records of actions taken on an award by Georgia State.
Once an award has been accepted, its budget verified and all compliance areas approved, a Green Sheet will be distributed to the PI/PD and department administrator(s). Green Sheets will also be generated and distributed for post-award actions that affect budgets and periods of performance.
If an award notice is received, PIs may submit a Request for Release of Funds Prior to IRB Approval for awards that require IRB approval, or a Request for Release of Funds Prior to IACUC Approval for awards that require IACUC approval. This form should be completed and submitted to OSP for approval.
Negotiation of grant agreements occurs between the sponsor and OSP officers if OSP determines that the award document contains conditions that conflict with important interests of the University. Generally, terms are negotiated to meet the following goals of the university:
- Maintaining control of its work and work product;
- Ensuring its compliance with appropriate legal requirements;
- Minimizing its risk of liability in the performance of its activities.
OSP views each of these negotiations as a collaborative process with the sponsor seeking determination of the interests we share to overcome what appear to be issues of division, as a series of communications in which we explore, determine, and state our real needs, recognizing that “positions” (often stated as the specific terms in an agreement) are often artificial statements which can obscure each of our real interests.
The Standard Terms and Conditions desired within sponsored research awards at Georgia State are stated in the Research Agreement which Georgia State encourages sponsors to use as an agreement template. These terms are designed to promote the university’s research enterprise by limiting the university’s risk to actions under its control, by protecting its fundamental knowledge-driven mission and by ensuring its ability to meet its legal and social obligations. These principles determine Georgia State’s needs in the negotiation of its agreements with all sponsors, many of whom use their own agreement templates.
Following are some of the areas in which negotiation typically occurs with the position usually taken by Georgia State:
The Parties to the Agreement
Replacement of Personnel
Conduct of the Project
Costs and Payments
Intellectual Property
Background IP
Ownership of Intellectual Property
Licenses to Intellectual Property
Royalty agreements
Publications
Warranty Disclaimer and Limitation of Liability
Indemnification
Termination
Project Reports
Financial Reports
An advance account permits spending prior to and in anticipation of an official Notice of Award. Usually, advance accounts should not be utilized more than 90 days prior to the anticipated start date of a project, recognizing the expanded authority for such spending permitted on most federal awards.
Only in rare circumstances, requiring approval of the OSP Director can advance accounts be used to fund subcontracts.
The department must assume financial responsibility if the sponsor fails to fund the award or disallows any of the advance expenditures, providing a guarantee account for all such unfunded expenditures.
An advance project number may be requested using the Advance Account form in the Research Portal. The form must include the approval of the PI/PD and an individual authorized to commit expenditures on the guarantee account (usually a department chair or chair’s designee).
Included on this form is a statement of assurance that commits the department to reimburse project accounts in the event that the expected sponsor authorization is not provided.
Billing types refer to the process by which Georgia State will receive payment from sponsors; contract types define broad budgetary restrictions established by sponsors. There are two of each type and they can be easily confused.
- Billing Type: Cost Reimbursement requires Georgia State to provide the sponsor with an invoice detailing actual costs on the project for which reimbursement is requested.
- Billing Type: Fixed Payment requires Georgia State to request from the sponsor payments established by a calendar cycle or by the realization of project milestones. Fixed payment billing types may require that Georgia State maintain accurate cost records and refund to the sponsor any funds not actually expended on the project.
- Contract Type: Cost Reimbursable will provide reimbursement to Georgia State for only allowable expenses that are properly allocated to the project. There are never residual funds available at the conclusion of a cost reimbursable contract type award.
- Contract Type: Fixed Price will reimburse Georgia State upon the completion and delivery of specific services/items to the sponsor, regardless of the actual cost to the University of providing those deliverables. Unexpended funds at the project’s conclusion may be transferred to a residual account in accordance with the appropriate Georgia State and School/Department policies.
- Based on information in the budget approved by the sponsoring agency, OSP staff record critical award information into the financial accounting system to allow proper processing and tracking of project accounting data. In all, there are 35 characters in this chartfield information for each award, but the information includes a unique five-digit project number or speedtype (i.e. BLC05) that is easier to remember. Upon entering the speedtype, the system will translate and automatically fill in the predefined chartfields. Speed types and speed charts information can be found on the Finance and Administration webpages at Spectrum Chart of Accounts.
- OSP staff will request from local administrators budget information for account setup that meets two primary purposes: compliance with the sponsor’s requirements and PI access to the funds for all allowable expenditure activities. Critically, to ensure timely staff payment, payroll lines need to be created for each personnel type deployed on the project. Depending on the award terms, the account lines will be set up to control at either the full budget amount or the amount on each budget line.
- Because most sponsors allow fairly broad rebudgeting authority, Spectrum budgets are rarely established to control spending on each budget line, thus allowing those individual lines—although not the full budget—to be overspent. Spectrum is used to ensure compliance with award terms; detailed tracking of sponsored budgets is dependent on separate Excel worksheets, which also provide forecasting ability and tracking of unencumbered obligations, and need to be reconciled monthly against the actual spending posted in Spectrum.
Related links:
Investigators will need to obtain compliance approvals from the appropriate organizations based on the type of sponsored research activities. OSP checks for compliance protocol approvals prior to releasing sponsored award funds. If an award notice is received, PIs may submit a Request for Release of Funds Prior to IRB Approval for awards that require IRB approval, or a Request for Release of Funds Prior to IACUC Approval for awards that require IACUC approval.
The foundation of all scientific and research endeavors is the integrity of the process. To ensure that Georgia State University faculty, students, and staff meet the highest levels of research integrity, this Office provides ongoing support to ensure the proper treatment of human and animal subjects, address lab and biosafety issues, radiation and environmental safety, provides support for export control regulations, addresses conflicts of interest and commitment, and the ethical conduct and reporting of research.
Find Training
Find Files
Administrator Resources
For general questions, comments, or suggestions, please contact:
Comfort Brownell, Assistant Vice President for Research, OSP
(404) 413-3550
[email protected]
Not sure who to contact? Email:
[email protected]
Tony Burnett, Research Financial Specialist
[email protected] 404-413-3564
Casey Brinsfield, Sponsored Programs Specialist
[email protected] 404-413-3671
Ryan Eastwood, Costs Analyst
[email protected], 404-413-3999
Cynthia Houston, Administrative Assistant
[email protected] 404-413-3502
PRE-AWARD
Katie Pope, Director
[email protected], 404-413-3543
Tulani Murphy, Associate Director
[email protected], 404-413-3571
VACANT, Associate Director
404-413-3501
Alicia Chapman, Sponsored Projects Officer
[email protected]
Lawrence Mkondya, Sponsored Programs Officer, Senior
[email protected], 404-413-3509
Nikcole Moore, Sponsored Programs Officer
[email protected], 404-413-3633
Kenya Parmes, Sponsored Programs Officer
[email protected], 404-413-3575
Charles Robinson, Sponsored Programs Officer, Senior
[email protected], 404-413-3527
POST-AWARD
VACANT, Director
404-413-3604
Rita Alexander, Associate Director
[email protected], 404-413-3523
VACANT, Associate Financial Officer, Senior
404-413-3521
Curtis Bonner, Research Financial Officer, Senior
[email protected], 404-413-3534
Melinda Dixon, Research Financial Officer
[email protected], 404-413-3526
Yolanda Jenkins, Research Financial Officer
[email protected], 404-413-3533
Jocelyn Peterson, Research Financial Officer, Senior
[email protected], 404-413-3520
Kendria Swift, Research Financial Specialist, Senior
[email protected], 404-413-3519
VACANT, Research Financial Officer
404-413-6675
Jordan Wilks, Research Financial Officer, Senior
[email protected], 404-413-3634
Jennifer Wagnac, Research Financial Officer
[email protected]
College of Arts and Sciences
Not sure who to contact? [email protected]
VACANT, Director of Research Administration Services
404-413-5486
Pre-Award for all departments:
- Erika Clark, Assistant Director
[email protected], 404-413-5258 - Pamela Stitt, GCO II
[email protected], 404-413-6214 - Jo-Ann Lawrence, GCO II
[email protected], 404-413-6416 - VACANT, GCO II
Post-Award: TEAM A
- Stacey Harrell, Assistant Director (Communication, Physics & Astronomy, Computer Science,Anthropology, Applied Linguistics/ESL, English, Sociology, Philosophy, Political Science, Religious Studies, Sociology, Global Studies Inst.)
[email protected], 404-413-5608 - Anita Rittendale, GCO II
[email protected], 404-413-5550 - Wanda Page, GCO II (Geosciences, Math & Stats, CHARA)
[email protected], 404-413-5021 - Raquel Lowe, GCO II (African American Studies, Middle East Inst, CMII, History, Modern & Classical Languages, Regents Center for Learning Disorders, Women’s Institute)
[email protected], 404-413-6624
Post-Award: TEAM B
- VACANT, Assistant Director (Neuroscience, Gerontology)
[email protected], 404-413-5472 - Kristesha Harris, GCO II (Biology, Language Research Center)
[email protected], 404-413-6243 - Melinda Dixon, GCO II (Chemistry)
[email protected], 404-413-5072 - FreSandra Blackburn, GCO II (Psychology)
[email protected], 404-413-6412
Administrative (All departments)
- Margie Pye, GCO I
[email protected] - Rannisha Tanksley, GCO I
[email protected]
Perimeter College
- Glenn Pfeifer, Res. Development Specialist
[email protected], 678-891-2528 - Mary Elizabeth Boucebci, GCO II (Pre-Award)
[email protected], 678-891-2526 - Len Conner, GCO II (Post-Award)
[email protected], 678-891-2529 - Felicia Clayton, Business Manager
[email protected], 678-891-2377
School of Public Health
- Not sure who to contact? [email protected]
- Selena McBride, Director, Office of Research & Sponsored Projects
[email protected], 404-413-1348
Pre-Award:
- Monica Hollman, GCO III, Health Policy and Behavioral Sciences and Population Health Sciences
[email protected], 404-413-9313
Post-Award:
- Melissa Duncan, GCO III, Health Policy and Behavioral Sciences
[email protected], 404-413-2348 - Traci Streeter-Sherrell, GCO II, Population Health Sciences
[email protected], 404-413-1797
Mark Chaffin Center for Healthy Development:
- Juarndai Lei Gagnon, Director of Grants, Contracts & Finance
[email protected], 404-413-1343 - Katy Spinks, Project Coordinator, Pre-Award for all departments except Center for Leadership in Disability (CLD)
[email protected] 404-413-1493 - Benetta Behnzukeh, GCO III, Pre- and Post-Award for Center for Leadership in Disability (CLD)
[email protected] 404-413-1286 - Molly Chung, GCO III, Pre- and Post-Award for Center for Leadership in Disability (CLD)
[email protected] 404-413-1425
University-Level Research Centers
- Kay Gilstrap, Associate Director
[email protected], 404-413-6638 - LaToya Brown, GCO III
[email protected] - Florence Bauchau, GCO III
[email protected], 404-413-3608 - Dara Jones, GCO III
[email protected], 404-413-3577 - VACANT, GCO II
- Milan Berhane, Business Manager III
[email protected], 404-413-3522 - Izaura Garrison, GCO III
Center for Behavioral Neuroscience, Pre-Award
[email protected], 404-413-6631
Andrew Young School of Public Studies
- Dean's Office
Denise Jenkins, College Financial Officer, [email protected], 404-413-0006
Kemoy Briscoe-Morris, [email protected] - Criminal Justice & Criminology
Alex Domaleski, [email protected] - Cybersecurity
Alex Domaleski, [email protected] - Economics
Cara Dominick, [email protected] - Experimental Economics
Cara Dominick, [email protected]
S.J. Henderson, [email protected] - Georgia Policy Labs
Tyler Rogers ( Pre-Award), [email protected]
Bailey Watts (Post-Award), [email protected] - Health Policy Center
Alex Domaleski, [email protected]
Ashley Jones (Pre-Award), [email protected]
Annette Pope (Pre-Award), [email protected], 404-413-0304
Cindy Clark (Post-Award), [email protected], 404-413-0303
Lannda Oden (Post-Award), [email protected], 404-413-0329
U'Kisha Prince (Post-Award), [email protected] - International Center for Public Policy
Paul Benson, [email protected], 404-413-0235 - Public Finance Cluster
Gautam Bose, [email protected] - Public Mgmt & Policy
Elsa Gebremedhin, [email protected], 404-413-0115 - Social Work
Cara Dominick, [email protected]
Cheryl King, [email protected], 404-413-1051
Pamela Sharpe, [email protected], 404-413-1172 - Urban Studies Institute
Kemoy Briscoe-Morris, [email protected]
Byrdine F. Lewis College of Nursing & Health Professions
- Lynn Rhodes, GCO III (Pre- and Post-Award)
[email protected], 404-413-1086 - Kevette Woolfalk, Business Manager II (Pre- and Post-Award for Project Healthy Grandparents)
[email protected], 404-413-1202
College of the Arts
- VACANT, Film Media, Theater
- Thomas McConnell, School of Music
[email protected] - Candiss Addison, Art & Design
[email protected]
College of Education and Human Development
- Jaiwan Harris, Director, Office of Research & Sponsored Programs
[email protected], 404-413-0265
Pre-Award:
- Stacy Ringo, GCO II (Adult Res. Literacy Ctr, After School Allstars, Learning Sciences, Child Dev Ctr, K&H, Urban Child Studies Ctr)
[email protected], 404-413-8452 - Mi’Yata Johnson-Foreman, Res. Associate II (Crim Ctr, Ctr Eval Res Services, CPS, EPS, Deans' office)
[email protected], 404-413-8211 - Jacqueline Ferrell, GCO II (ECE, CSD, MSE, Dean's office)
[email protected], 404-413-8296
Post-Award:
- Leigh Floyd, GCO II (Adult Res. Literacy Ctr, Learning Sciences)
[email protected] - Shaila Philpot, GCO II (After School Allstars, Ctr Eval Res Services, Child Dev Ctr, CSD, MSE, Urban Child Studies Ctr)
[email protected], 404-413-8096 - Letitia Williams, GCO II (Dean's office, Crim Ctr, EPS, K&H, MSE)
[email protected], 404-413-8092 - Autumn Eberhart, Fiscal Grants Specialist (Counseling and Psychological Services)
[email protected] - Toya Hampton, Fiscal Grants Specialist (Counseling and Psychological Services)
[email protected] - Jamaal Madison, GCO I (ECE)
[email protected], 404-413-0141
College of Law
- Mignon Jackson, College Finance Officer (Pre- and Post-Award)
[email protected], 404-413-9096
Robinson College of Business
- Laura Villo, Associate Director, Sponsored Research Development (Pre- and Post-Award)
404-413-7353 - Tameka Hudson, Business Manager, Institute for Insight
[email protected], 404-413-7849
Institute for BioMedical Sciences
- David Freydkin, GCO III (Pre- and Post-Award)
[email protected] - Cynthia Willingham, GCO III (Pre- and Post-Award)
[email protected] - Nancy Feng, GCO III (Pre-Award)
[email protected]