The Office of Sponsored
Projects and Research (OSPAR) supports the research mission of the University
of Charleston (UC). The office plays a key role in monitoring the many
compliance and risk areas that are a large part of the conduct of sponsored
research. It also has stewardship, management, and oversight of the
administrative aspects of the research enterprise at UC. The office also works with the Controller’s
office to monitor cash management and cost analysis/financial compliance.
The OSPAR will work to
identify sources of funding for projects identified by investigators using the
University of Charleston Project Outline Form.
The completed form should be submitted to the Director, OSPAR. The OSPAR
may also assist the investigator in writing and editing a grant proposal. Investigators should review the Research Policies Manual
and insure that a grant meets UC and federal guidelines.
OSPAR has two core functional areas:
pre-award and post-award.
Pre-Award
functions
- Assisting faculty in locating funding sources
- Reviewing the proposal for compliance with institutional
and external regulations
- Reviewing the proposal budget for reasonableness,
arithmetic accuracy, and completeness;
- Accepting awards and ensuring they are administered
consistent with sponsor and institutional policies
- Mediating the award process with the sponsor to ensure
university research policies, such as those relating to publication rights and
other intellectual property rights, are adhered to, and that other financial
and programmatic terms and conditions are acceptable to the institution
Post
Award functions
- Monitoring expenses posted to the account for
allowability, allocability, reasonableness, and adherence to university policy
- Reporting to the sponsor on project expenses posted
against budget
- Invoicing the sponsor for expenses posted to the general
ledger or relating to other contractual payment terms
- Collecting income (in the form of checks and wire
transfers) and posting that income to the account
- Monitoring spending against budget, noting certain trends
such as overspending or underspending
- Completing the final financial report
to the sponsor
Grant
Approval Process
All grants and
contracts must undergo a two step approval process. The grant routing forms are shown below. The preliminary approval form is used to
prevent submission of duplicate grants to the same sponsor or foundation.
All grants and contracts requiring federal
compliance, monitoring or reporting must be processed and approved by the
OSPAR. Other grants and contracts are
the province of the Vice President for Development.