Maryland Governor’s Grants Office Higher Ed ConferenceJackie Eberts, Panelist-Process for Handling Gr FunctionsOffice of Graduate Studies & Research

www.salisbury.edu/jleberts@salisbury.edu410-543-6066

• Located on the Eastern Shore of MD about 30 miles from Ocean City, MD;• Founded in 1925 as a Normal School;• Previously known as Salisbury State College, Salisbury State University;• SU is one of twelve institutions making up the University System of

Maryland (UMCP is the flagship) + 2 System wide Learning Ctrs;• SU currently has about 8600+ student body, with several master’s level

programs and one PhD. program in Nursing (begins fall-2012);• SU is considered a ‘PUI’ (predominately undergraduate institution-for

teaching); and• 15th year SU ranked as a ‘top 10’ public comprehensive in the North by

U.S. News & World Report, currently ranked #9 for America’s Best Colleges: 2012 Edition, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance ranks SU as one of its 2012, 100 Best Values in Public Colleges plus several other ratings not mentioned.

Grant/Contract Evolution:• 1989: Received lst award (no grant’s office; general acct. office received

the new assignment);• 1990: PT Post-award Office established; reported to VP

Finance/Administration;• 1991: PT Pre-award office (1 PT faculty) reporting to Academic Affairs;• 1994: Hired our lst FT Dir. GSP for Pre-award;• 2006: Pre/Post co-located in suite of offices to enhance communications;• 2010: Pre/Post Grants merged into Office of Graduate Studies & Research

under Academic Affairs and; Post –award Dir. maintains dotted line relationship to VP-Administration/Finance for financial compliance and;

• 2012: Grants Office is growing & we are researching ways to enhance office technology since we do most of our processes manually.

Grant/Contract Information:• Grant/contract award volume has increased from $100k to approx. $11

million per year (average) since 1989;• SU currently averages about 75 new accounts per year + about 5-10 sub-

awards and ;• SU utilizes a centralized grant/contract support model. All proposals are routed through pre-award office.

– Dir./Dean/VP Admin-Fin./Provost does review/sign-off of all proposed budgets.– All project paperwork (to expend funds) is processed through post-award office.– SU does not have any official departmental grant management currently.– The Post –award manages projects with PI and also completes budget checks on each

transaction.– Dir. randomly samples transactions to provide a pre-audit of expenses/compliance.– Post-award office maintains shadow systems and completes monthly reconciliations (to

university financials), all financial reports/billings, and grant closeouts.

Grant/Contract Process & Procedures:• Pre-award completes proposal prep, internal signoffs and submission;• Pre-award handles IRB and IACUC;• Post-award completes (at award inception) account setups, manages all

projects, works with HR for new grant hires, prepares all fiscal reports/draws cash and prepares billings, reconciles accounts monthly, completes required closeout processes on all projects, monitors for financial compliance and completes other special surveys/reports as required;

• Grants Office (pre/post) normally works one-on-one with PI’s;• Grants Office offers basic grant/contract ‘101’ training seminars & limited

research training modules and;• All transactions are processed through GSR-Post-award.

As a Grant/Contract Professional remember to:• Educate yourself and others as much as possible on grant/contract

administrative regulations, allowable costs, and A-133 audit requirements;

• Join as many professional organizations as possible (extra benefit is networking) and take advantage of training opportunities as they arise;

• Understand each of your grant/contract terms & conditions(including flow-down requirements when using sub-awards);

• Learn each federal agency’s basic requirements and acronyms to understand the ‘grant/contract lingo’ and;

• Read your agreements carefully since all grants/contractscome with compliance requirements or ‘baggage.’

Jackie Eberts, Office of Graduate Studies & Research

jleberts@salisbury.edu410-543-6066

Thank you!