Roles & Responsibilities
Principal Investigators
- Transmit award notifications and award agreements to ORS as soon as they are received
- Implement corrective action required if the award from the sponsor is not supported by an approved myGRANT proposal development record or is otherwise without official UH sponsorship
- Provide a revised budget if the award amount and/or performance period differ from the proposal
- Provide information and/or approval as requested by ORS
- Obtain all necessary compliance approvals
- Maintain up-to-date conflict of interest disclosures and obtain an approved management plan, if required
Fiscal Administrators
- Assist the PI with any required budget revisions
- Provide information as requested by ORS
Chancellor / Dean / Director/ Chairperson
- Coordinate corrective action required if the award from the sponsor is not supported by an approved myGRANT proposal development record or is otherwise without official UH sponsorship
- Provide information and/or approval as requested by ORS
Office of Research Services
- Ensure each award received has a corresponding myGRANT proposal development record and appropriate institutional approvals (e.g., compliance protocols, conflict of interest management plan)
- As the UH authorized organizational representative:
- Be responsible for final institutional review of all business, financial and legal matters pertaining to extramural award agreements
- Negotiate award terms & conditions on UH’s behalf
- Coordinate budget revisions or sponsor requests relating to award negotiation
- Accept and acknowledge grant awards on behalf of UH
- Coordinate proper execution of award agreements which require legally binding signatures on behalf of UH
- Provide technical advice regarding applicable UH policies & procedures, governmental rules and regulations, and sponsor requirements
- Distribute copies of fully executed award agreements to the sponsor, PI and FA, as appropriate
- Report all external awards to the UH Board of Regents on a monthly basis
Process
Extramural awards are made to UH as an institution, and not to PIs as individuals. ORS is the authorized organizational representative for UH, assigned to:
- Conduct a comprehensive review of extramural awards to ensure they are not in conflict with UH policy, or any governmental laws, rules or regulations;
- Confirm that all required institutional approvals are in place; and
- Formally accept extramural awards on behalf of UH.
Forward award notification or agreement to ORS
Sponsors will normally send the official award notification or agreement directly to ORS. Any official award notification or agreement received by the PI or department should be immediately forwarded to ORS.
See Administrative Procedure AP 12.401.
Prepare myGRANT PD and route for workflow approval
Once the official award notification or agreement has been received, ORS will review it to ensure that it is in response to a UH-approved proposal. If the award is not supported by an approved myGRANT proposal development record (PD), or is otherwise without official UH sponsorship, ORS will contact the PI to request corrective action. If a myGRANT PD is required, the PI should follow the applicable lifecycle steps for Proposal Development and/or Proposal Submission.
Award review and negotiation will commence following receipt of a fully approved myGRANT PD.
Prepare and submit revised budget to ORS
If the project period and/or award amount in the award differs from the proposal, the PI, with FA assistance, should prepare and submit a revised budget upon request from ORS.
Obtain approved compliance protocols or exemptions
ORS will not release award funds until all approved protocols or exemptions are provided by the PI. Approved compliance protocols (or exemptions) are required as follows:
| If project activities involve: | Approved protocol/exemption required from: |
| Human subjects | Human Studies Program / Institutional Review Board (HSP/IRB) |
| Vertebrate animals and/or their by-products | Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) |
Use of shipment of any of the following:
|
Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) |
| Compressed gas diving | University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa: Environmental Health and Safety Office University of Hawai‘i at Hilo: Environmental Health and Safety Office |
| Radioactive Material | Environmental Health and Safety Office |
Obtain approved COI management plan
If the PI has identified a Significant Financial Interest (SFI) or other conflict of interest which requires a management plan, the PI should work with the Office of Research Compliance (ORC) to obtain an approved management plan. If a management plan is required, ORS will not formally accept the award until an approved management plan is provided by the PI.
Contact ORC at coi@hawaii.edu or (808) 956-9596 for management plan assistance.
Request advance account
The purpose of advance accounts is to ensure the timely start-up or uninterrupted continuation of extramural projects before applicable award documents are fully executed.
A PI may make a request for advance account to ORS if, after careful consideration, they make a determination that an advance account is essential to the start up or continuation of their award, and UH, through ORS, has received a written funding commitment from the sponsor, including a preliminary start and end date and approved budget. The PI’s dean/director’s approval of an advance account request constitutes their acceptance of the risk of covering any unreimbursed costs incurred prior to execution of the formal award.
More information on the advance account process may be found in AP 12.405 and the ORS webpage here.
ORS
The next steps in this process are taken by ORS as follows:
Negotiation of terms and conditions
If award terms and conditions are not acceptable or are in conflict with UH policy, or governmental laws, rules or regulations, ORS shall negotiate changes with the sponsor. Sponsor agreement of the changes shall be a condition for award acceptance by ORS on behalf of UH.
Delays in award acceptance may result if:
- Award terms and conditions contain indemnity provisions which require approval from the UH Board of Regents; the Governor of the State of Hawaiʻi; or the UH President through delegated authority;
- Award provisions require review by and/or approval from other UH offices, e.g., Office of General Counsel, Office of Export Control, or Office of Technology Transfer; and/or
- ORS has difficulty reaching agreement with sponsor on troublesome clauses.
Formal award acceptance
Grants / Unilateral Awards
ORS will accept and acknowledge grants and unilateral awards (UH signature not required) on behalf of UH according to the sponsor’s acceptance procedures (e.g., electronic acknowledgment in sponsor system). If a unilateral award is of a type that UH would customarily sign under UH procedure, ORS may send either a signed copy or an acknowledgment letter to the sponsor to document formal acceptance of the award.
Contracts / Bilateral Awards
Once award terms and conditions are approved for formal acceptance, ORS will coordinate the execution of all agreements which require legally binding signatures on behalf of UH. If the award amount is less than $5 million, the agreement will be signed by the ORS Director. If the award amount is $5 million or more, the agreement will be signed by the UH President.
If the award is conditionally accepted (i.e., ORS signs before the sponsor), ORS will forward the UH-signed copy of the award agreement to the sponsor for acceptance and execution, and will follow up with the sponsor until the fully executed agreement is received.
Once the award is fully executed, ORS will document formal acceptance in myGRANT and make sure that the sponsor, PI and FA all receive a copy of the fully-executed award. Notice of formal award acceptance is also sent from ORS Contracts & Grants to ORS Accounting.
Resources
Award Status Inquiries
Award Status Search (log in with UH username)
Approval of Indemnification Clauses
The table below reflects the statutory requirements for indemnification approval relating to the indicated types of awards.
| Type of award | Hawaiʻi Revised Statutes |
| Research | Section 304A-110 |
| Federal | Section 29-15.5 |
| County | Section 46-71.5 |
Advance Accounts (Pending Award Acceptance)
Procedure
Forms
ORS Form 1 – Request for Advance Account Approval & Instructions
This form is used for both advance account creation and extension requests
Policies & Procedures
| RP 8.201 | Contracts and Official Documents |
| RP 12.211 | Ethical Guidelines in the Conduct of Technology Transfer Activities |
| EP 8.200 | Policy on Contracts and Signing Authority |
| EP 12.102 | Authority to Sign and Execute Extramural Research and Training Contracts/Grants, Agreements and Contract Assignments and Releases |
| EP 12.214 | Conflicts of Interest and Commitment |
| AP 12.304 | Procedures for Disclosing and Addressing Conflicts of Interest Related with Extramurally-Funded Activities |
| AP 12.401 | Procedures for the Preparation and Submission of Proposals to External Sponsors and the Review / Approval Requirements |
| AP 12.405 | Advance Funding Accounts for Externally Financed Programs and Activities |