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Guidance Document for PIs

This guidance document is designed to assist the PI in the expenditures and correct reporting protocols of the grant. All questions should be directed to:

Eric Nedelman
(nedelman@sciences.sdsu.edu)
CSUPERB
San Diego State University
5500 Campanile Dr.
San Diego, CA  92182-1230
Office Phone: 619-594-2822
Fax:  619-594-5291

 

GRANT CORRESPONDENCE

The CSUPERB office will refer to a grant by its title. Please use the correct and full grant title in all correspondence and reports. Please also note that all correspondence is sent only to the PI. It is the responsibility of the PI to forward copies of the correspondence to any secondary investigators. If there is a change in investigator, the PI is required to inform the CSUPERB office of this change.

TRANSFER OF FUNDS

Grant funds will be transferred after the signing of the State budget for the fiscal year of the grant and is contingent on the full State funding of the CSUPERB budget. A PI's campus may be able to assist in making purchases or paying personnel prior to the funds reaching the campus, since the fiscal officer in the Dean's office has been informed of pending grants. Please note that the funds for this grant are State funds and should be spent within State accounts and regulations. Payment of indirect to campus foundations is not permissible. If funds need to be expended after June 30 of the fiscal year of the grant, the PI and the PI's campus are responsible for carrying over the necessary funds into the following fiscal year.


REPORTING RESPONSIBILITIES

Three reports are required of the PI. Adherence to the reporting objectives and deadlines is crucial for assessing and, ultimately, determining the success of our grant programs. The requested information will help CSUPERB justify expenditures and to continue to offer and expand these valuable programs to those CSU faculty and students involved in biotechnology research and programmatic development. PIs who are delinquent in their reports will jeopardize future funding of grants for all investigators on the grant. CSUPERB reserves the right to request additional information regarding grants at any time.The report forms are completed online. (These forms can also be accessed from the CSUPERB Home Page by selecting Report Forms from the drop down menu under the Grants Programs tab at the top of the home page.) The three required reports are listed below. Deadlines for each are listed on the Report Forms page:

1) Progress Report - This form is designed to give the CSUPERB office feedback on progress as well as problems encountered in the administration, distribution or expenditure of the funding prior to the end of the fiscal year.

2) Final Report - Review this report form prior to beginning the project in order to adequately track the information relevant to the scientific, personnel and budgetary impacts of the project. Besides the online form, a customized copy of the budget page will be sent to the PI for verification of or corrections to actual spending and actual match.

3) Scientific Audit (Long-term Impact Survey) - This report allows sufficient time to track publications, patents, and other successes that have occurred since the final report was filed.

Please note that in addition to these reports, for projects that involve student research, the PI is expected to encourage their students to present (a) poster(s) at CSUPERB's Annual CSU Biotechnology Symposium.


BUDGET CONSIDERATIONS

The PI will be responsible for all spending. It is the responsibility of the PI to be aware of both the restrictions found in the award letter and the budget restrictions of CSUPERB granting programs listed below:

Salaries:  Faculty salaries have a maximum of $5000,including fringe, for academic year assigned time or summer salary. Funding of faculty salaries for more than a TOTAL of $5000 (for an extended time or for multiple faculty) is highly unusual and must be strongly justified.

Student salaries have a maximum rate of $15/hr graduate student or $12/hr undergraduate student for the academic year or summer. (Please consult your campus for the current going rate.)


Travel:  
Travel to professional meetings will not be covered by these funds.  Apply to CSUPERB's Travel Grants Program to cover these costs.
Changes in Budget Items Requiring a Formal Request: Substantial changes in the budget must be approved by the CSUPERB office prior to the change. Formal requests for substantial changes must by made by hard copy letter on school letterhead signed by the principal investigator. The letter should include dollar amounts of requested changes, names of all personnel involved in salary changes, if known, and dollar amounts of any changes in matching funds. Additional documentation, in the form of a letter from the chair or dean may be requested if applicable to the budget request. Electronic requests will not be processed.

Changes requiring approval are:
a) Moving money into faculty salaries or out of student salaries.
b) Moving money into new, not requested or unapproved line items or categories*
c) Changes greater than 25% of an item within a category*
d) Changes greater than 25% from one funded category to another funded category*

*The five budget categories are: 1. Salaries,  2. Equipment,  3. Supplies/Materials,  4. Travel,  5. Other.

Requests to purchase any item that was unapproved for funding in the grant review will not be considered without strong supporting justification. In addition, laptop computers are not to be purchased with CSUPERB funds unless specifically requested in the proposal and approved by the review panel.

All unspent funds are to be transferred back to CSUPERB. All questions regarding spending should be directed to the CSUPERB office prior to making any changes to the grant.

 

EXTENSIONS

Investigators who would like to request an extension or change in the dates of their grant period should contact the CSUPERB Director of Research for JV and Faculty Student Collaborative Seed Grants or the CSUPERB Director of Education for programmatic grants. An email providing a justification and the new ending date will usually suffice but additional information will be requested when necessary.