Sponsored Projects

Sponsored projects are awards received from external organizations to support research. Effective financial management of these projects helps ensure that sponsored funds are administered in accordance with applicable sponsor requirements and University policy

Contact & Support

For research questions or requests, email [email protected] with the appropriate subject based on the nature of your request:

  • Project Setup / Budget / Subawards
  • Sponsor Financial Reporting
  • Effort Reporting
  • Financial Reports / CU / SPFR
  • Compliance / Audit

Key elements of a sponsored project include Direct Costs and Indirect Costs, both of which require ongoing monitoring throughout the life of the project.

All expenses charged to sponsored projects must be allowable, reasonable, and allocable in accordance with Uniform Guidance and University policy. Departments are responsible for ensuring that expenses charged to sponsored projects are consistent with the approved project budget in ARC and comply with applicable sponsor and University requirements.

University policy requires cost transfers to sponsored projects to be completed within 90 days of the original expense date.

For additional guidance, please refer to the Sponsored Projects Cost Transfers Policy

Short-term overruns may be permitted on projects where the budget is expected to increase as additional funds are received.

Otherwise, project overruns should be cleared to non-sponsored funding sources within 60 days.

For additional guidance, please refer to the Cost Overruns on Sponsored Projects Policy

Effort reporting is the process used to certify the actual time and effort that faculty, staff, and students devote to federally and privately funded research projects. The process helps ensure that salary charges to sponsored projects accurately reflect the work performed.

Effort reporting is a compliance requirement for federal and private sponsored projects and requires individuals to regularly certify that their reported effort is accurate.

Accurate and timely effort certification ensures that sponsored project salary charges reflect the work performed and comply with sponsor and University requirements.

Tracking Effort
The University payroll system tracks the effort individuals devote to sponsored projects and other activities.

Certification Periods
Effort is certified during designated periods, such as quarterly or by semester, with the process finalized at the end of each fiscal year.

PI Certification
The Principal Investigator (PI) certifies their own effort and, as applicable, the effort of students and staff working on the project.

Self-Certifiers
Designated self-certifiers are responsible for certifying their own effort.