Roles and Responsibilities | Office of Research Administration

Submitting proposals, executing awards, conducting research, and administrating sponsored projects involves many different people and units throughout the University of Maryland campus. While there may be some minor variations in processes from Department to Department and College to College, the matrix below outlines the general process and identifies the appropriate party that has primary responsibility for different activities throughout the life cycle of a sponsored award.

(Updated 5/2021)

Roles and Responsibilities	PI	Dept	College	ORA	SPAC	Other(UM Ventures, Procurement, VPR)
Search for Opportunities	X
Provide guidance on funding opportunities		X	X

Roles and Responsibilities	PI	Dept	College	ORA	Other(UM Ventures, Procurement, VPR)
Write technical narrative	X
Identify subcontractors and request budget and workscope materials	X	X
Develop budget	X	X
Identify need for cost sharing funds and obtain documentation for cost share support	X	X	X
Evaluate requests for Indirect Costs waivers or reductions		X	X	X	VPR
Coordinate space arrangements		X	X
Provide guidance on proposal preparation		X	X	X
Complete and ensure accuracy of the Kuali Research information for routing	X	X	X

Roles and Responsibilities	PI	Dept	College	Other(UM Ventures, Procurement, VPR)
Complete compliance forms and discloses compliance issues in Kuali Research and in relevant sections of proposal (Current/Pending, Other Support, etc.): Institutional Review Board, Animal Care and Use, Institutional BioSafety, Dept. of Environmental Safety, Sustainability & Risk, Financial Conflict of Interest Disclosures, Conflict of Interest forms, Disclosures of Other Support in accordance with specific sponsor’s requirements (including Foreign Talent Programs, etc), etc.	X
Reviews and endorses compliance forms as needed		X	X
Institutional oversight and facilitation of compliance issues				VPR
Ensure that protocols and approvals for regulatory compliance requirements are kept current throughout the life of the project as required	X	X

Roles and Responsibilities	PI	Dept	College	ORA
Confirm that proposal meets sponsor requirements (text, margins, font, page limits, current & pending, other support disclosures, etc)	X	X
Review proposal before sending proposal to ORA	X	X	X
Verify that cost sharing in proposal is listed and that all commitments have been secured	X	X	X
Review proposed cost sharing for appropriateness	X	X	X
Programmatic review of proposal electronically certify, sign and process proposal in Kuali Research	X	X	X
Provide institutional review and approval of proposal				X

Roles and Responsibilities	PI	Dept	College	ORA	SPAC	Other(UM Ventures, Procurement, VPR)
Electronic Submission				X – unless deviation is agreed to by ORA
Paper Submission	X – pick up after ORA signoff	X – pick up after ORA signoff

Roles and Responsibilities	PI	Dept	College	ORA	SPAC
Request pre-award or advance account	X	X
Establish pre-award or advance account				X	X
Monitor pre-award or advance account	X	X	X

Roles and Responsibilities	PI	Dept	ORA	SPAC	Other(UM Ventures, Procurement, VPR)
Accept sponsor notification of grant or contract award			X
Review and negotiate terms and conditions for Grants, Contracts, Cooperative Agreements, incoming MTA’s, Equipment Loan Agreements, and other types of sponsored funded and non-funded agreements			X
Provide feedback on nonstandard terms and conditions when applicable	X	X	X	X	UM Ventures
Accept award terms and conditions & execute award on behalf of UM			X

Roles and Responsibilities	PI	Dept	ORA	SPAC
Confirm that protocols and approvals for regulatory compliance requirements are current at the time of initial account set-up	X	X	X
Review award budget	X	X	X
Establish account number in Kuali Research and KFS			X	X

Roles and Responsibilities	PI	Dept	College	ORA	SPAC
Prepare financial transactions		X
Initiate re-budgeting requests	X	X
Obtain sponsor approval of re-budgeting requests, where required		X		X
Initiate no cost extensions	X	X
Submit no cost extension notifications or requests to sponsor as required	X	X		X
Ensure that cost sharing is documented	X	X			X
Initiate purchases via PCard or with Procurement as appropriate	X	X
Review and approve financial transactions	X	X			X
Use financial reports to monitor and oversee expenditures	X	X	X		X
Review and reconcile accounts on a monthly basis	X	X
Coordinate resolution of issues on oversight reports					X
Audit expenditures					X

Roles and Responsibilities	PI	Dept	ORA	SPAC
Identify program income	X	X	X
Invoice program income		X
Receive and deposit program income		X		X
Identify use and reportability of program income		X		X
Monitor program income levels	X	X		X

Roles and Responsibilities	PI	Dept	College	ORA	SPAC	Other(UM Ventures, Procurement, VPR)
Prepare and submit the invoice or financial report		X (occasionally in conjunction w/ SPAC)			X

Roles and Responsibilities	PI	Dept	College	ORA	SPAC	Other(UM Ventures, Procurement, VPR)
Receive and deposit payments from sponsors					X
Produce and record a letter of credit draw request (federal awards)					X
Monitor and pursue the collections of overdue payments from sponsors					X

Roles and Responsibilities	PI	Dept	College	ORA
Initiate prior approvals for changes to project	X	X
Approve or forward to sponsor prior approvals for changes to project				X
Ensure regulatory compliance offices are notified of changes to project	X	X
Update and maintain current and pending support information and disclose to sponsor as appropriate	X	X	X	X (ORA submits when sponsor requires Authorized Official to submit)

Roles and Responsibilities	PI	Dept	ORA	SPAC
Submit Subaward and Subaward Modification Requests to ORA	X	X
Oversee programmatic aspects of subaward	X
Prepare, negotiate, and execute subawards			X
Review and approve subaward invoices	X
Subrecipient monitoring	X	X	X	X

Roles and Responsibilities	PI	Dept	ORA	Other(UM Ventures, Procurement, VPR)
Determine if a Small Business Subcontracting Plan is Needed	X	X	X
Prepare Small Business Subcontracting Plan		X		Procurement
Provide Small Business Subcontracting Plan to Sponsor			X
Prepare and Submit Small Business Subcontracting Plan Reports		Input provided by Dept.		Procurement

Roles and Responsibilities	PI	Dept	ORA
Ensure integrity of all research data	X	X
Prepare and submit technical reports to sponsor	X		X (Only when Required by Sponsor)
Maintain the official copy of the technical report	X	X

Roles and Responsibilities	PI	Dept	College	SPAC
Initiate hiring and appointment process	X	X
Identify and initiate any screenings required (e-Verify, foreign visitor screening)	X	X
Complete necessary adjustments to award charges or and/or payroll distribution		X
Obtain necessary supervisory reviews and approvals		X
Ensure accuracy of completed effort certification	X	X
Resolve problems or follow up on certifications not submitted		X	X	X

Roles and Responsibilities	PI	Dept	ORA	SPAC	Other(UM Ventures, Procurement, VPR)
Identify early close-out situations	X	X	X	X
Ensure all appropriate expenditures have been posted to accounts		X
Prepare final financial invoice/report				X
Resolve issues related to unreconciled accounts		X		X
Ensure that all financial reports have been submitted to sponsor			X	X
Monitor submission of Final Technical Reports to sponsor	X		X
Monitor submission of Final Invention reports to sponsor			X		UM Ventures
Monitor submission of Patent reports to sponsor			X		UM Ventures
Inactivate award account(s) in financial accounting system				X
Maintain official project closeout documents for sponsored projects		X	X	X	UM Ventures

Roles and Responsibilities	PI	Dept	College	ORA	SPAC	Other(UM Ventures, Procurement, VPR)
Coordinate the Single Audit for the University					X
Provide support and/or source documentation as requested by auditors	X	X	X	X	X	UM Ventures, Procurement , and VPR

Roles and Responsibilities	PI	Dept	College	ORA	SPAC	Other(UM Ventures, Procurement, VPR)
Provide training to the research community regarding changes to policies and regulations		X	X	X	X	UM Ventures and VPR

Roles and Responsibilities	PI	Dept	College	ORA	Other(UM Ventures, Procurement, VPR)
Request a waiver from the University’s IP Policy for a specific sponsored project	X	X	X
Review/recommend action on waiver of IP Policy on a specific sponsored project				X	UM Ventures and VPR
Review, Negotiate, and Execute Outgoing MTA’s					UM Ventures
Evaluate commercial viability of University IP					UM Ventures
Disclose IP to UM Ventures, complete Invention Disclosure Forms	X	X
Market, negotiate and enter into license agreements for University IP					UM Ventures
Report Federally funded inventions to government (Bayh-Dole)					UM Ventures
Receive Royalty Income and Process Distribution					UM Ventures
Provide oversight of patent prosecution					UM Ventures

Definitions:

The individual designated by the University, and approved by the Sponsor, who will be responsible for the scientific/technical design, conduct and reporting of a sponsored project.

The unit within a particular college at the University that provides administrative support for sponsored projects.

Colleges (or Schools) house individual departments, grouped by specific disciplines, which provide the overarching financial, supervisory and administrative oversight to its departments.

On behalf of the University, and with the delegation of signature authority on behalf of UM, ORA facilitates the submission of all sponsored projects proposals, negotiates and executes agreements, provides sponsored projects education and communication, and assists faculty, staff, and students in managing projects which are awarded to the University

Sponsored Programs Accounting and Compliance includes three groups: Compliance, the Office of Contract & Grant Accounting (OCGA) and Cost Accounting. Together, these three groups perform the following functions: maintain official UM financial oversight of sponsored project accounts on behalf of the University, invoice sponsors or draw down funds from sponsors, submit financial reports, assist faculty, staff and students in the financial aspects of sponsored awards, prepare the indirect cost proposal and negotiation, primary responsibility for effort reporting and serve as the primary point of contact for auditors.

UM Ventures provides expert guidance, support, and assistance in safeguarding intellectual property, encouraging research, facilitating technological transfer, and promoting collaborative technology transfer and development agreements with industrial partners.

The Department of Procurement and Business Services provides the following services: establishes and administers procurement contracts effectively; procures facilities, goods and services for best value; Delegates procurement authority to promote efficiency; provides value-added physical distribution services; ensures University business is conducted in a fair and open environment, in full compliance with applicable laws and regulations.

The VPR's Office provides oversight and support to ORA, OTC and SPAC, and compliance offices including the Export Compliance Office, develops, implements and provides training on Federal and University research policies and regulations; and leads, facilitates and supports existing and new research initiatives across the campus.