Post-Award

PINS is an electronic system used to track proposal data and to verify approvals from all faculty and administrators involved in submitting a particular proposal. The use of the PINS system is a required part of the submission process for all proposals submitted by all University faculty. 

RADAR is a database for monitoring and recording all submitted proposals and award actions, plus, Pre-Award Request and Internal Distributions. Also, this system provides standardized reports and users can run queries on sponsored activity.

The PMR Module has been created within the Financial System to help streamline the Project Modification process. This new module will provide a more efficient and relatively easy method for campus users to submit and track Project Modifications. The PMR module will provide multiple College approval functionalities, along with enhanced transparency during the life of a request.

If you submit Release Time 120 days outside of the intended time frame, then you must submit it along with the Out of Compliance Justification Form. If we do not receive it along with the Release Time Form, we will NOT approve/process the release time. An example of this would be when release time is for the period of August 16 through September 30, and we receive it in February to process.

• Summer Salary: When you are preparing and submitting your summer salary through the Additional Compensation System, leave is not applicable to 9-month employees outside of the contract period.  Summer pay should only be paid for the actual time (or percentage) worked.
• Tutorial: Administrative Summer Salary tutorial must be completed for any administrators who will be entering/approving summer salary. There is a Faculty Summer Salary tutorial that must be completed by any faculty member who is to receive summer salary in May, June, July, or August.
• There should be funds in the Summer Salary Budget Line either in the original proposal or through post-award PMR action. There should also be a balance left after subtracting any paid summer salary.
• There should be funds in the overall Salary Budget Line and the overall project.
• If you are requesting for May, the dates of the ledger five being used should fall within the dates being requested —the same for June, July, and August.
• If you are paying summer salary to a P.I., who is not the lead P.I., make sure that person is a Co-P.I. listed on the award or named somewhere in the budget/justification or proposal narrative.

• The new form includes a checklist to ensure that the form is completed correctly and that an adequate justification and all supporting documentation are obtained before submitting the form for approval. The Justification Form and the Checklist must be completed for all over 90-day payroll redistributions that include a sponsored research project SL-5. It is not required for other sub-ledgers.
• The college will send the form back that do not adhere to the following:
  • The Retro 90 Form should be completed when you are attempting to affect salaries on a ledger five project either in a negative or positive manner, and you are going back 90 days before the actual occurrence.
  • For Grads and Temps, the department HR person/designee can complete the reallocation. Be sure to list the reall number on the completed retro 90-day form and send it along with copies of the realls.
  • For EPA/SPA salaries, release time, or summer salary, you will need to send the completed retro 90-day form along with the appropriate SDC (salary distribution change).
  • If a Grad or Temp, COE-ORA will then send the information to C&G with a cc to the person who prepared the form.
  • If EPA/SPA, RT, or SS, COE-ORA will give the information to our HR, who will enter the information. COE-ORA will then send to C&G with a cc to the person who prepared the form.
  • Prepare the form in its entirety with a detailed technical justification: Why the form is being prepared; why is this over 90 days; and what is being done to prevent this from happening again in the future?
    • If the college sees the same justifications (cookie cutter) being used or see that your corrective actions have not been put into place, the actions will be returned.
    • At times there is a legitimate reason that the award was late to arrive or negotiations took a while (this will be verified by the College)
  • Make sure and list the redistribution number on the form before going to the next step.
  • Send the form and any supporting documentation (SDC forms or REALL), including the redistribution form directly to Pat Hayes (phayes@ncsu.edu) plus carbon copy Laurinda Perez (laurinda_perez@ncsu.edu).
  • Pat/Laurinda will review the information and either approve or reject it back to you. If approved, Pat will secure Dean’s signature and forward it directly to The Office of Contracts and Grants (C&G). Pat will make a copy for your records as well.
  • Do not send directly to C&G or the Dean. Not following the above will only delay the proper and timely processing of the action(s).

Cost sharing is the portion of project costs not reimbursed by the sponsor and maybe in the form of cash or in-kind contributions. Cost-sharing is most commonly required under federal grants and becomes a binding commitment once an award is made. The college/department is responsible for tracking and documenting the cost-share amounts throughout the life of the project.

The After the Fact Cost Sharing Memo is the method that should be used to document cost-sharing situations that cannot be documented within the University’s official effort reporting system (TEARS). The college/department/business unit is responsible for identifying the circumstance in which cost-shared effort must be documented on the After the Fact Cost Sharing Memo and is responsible for completing the memo. Completed memos should then be sent to the Office of Contracts and Grants (C&G).

The Office of Contracts and Grants has two After The Fact Cost Sharing Memos:

• The Regular Monthly After the Fact Cost Sharing Documentation Memo (PDF) allows reporting of cost-shared effort for an employee after the Fiscal Year has been closed in the TEARS system. If for any reason you come across cost-shared effort that has not been entered on an employee with an existing effort report, you can still enter that cost-shared effort up until the point in time that we archive the effort reports for that fiscal year — typically done the following January. If the effort report has already been certified, it will need to be re-certified after adding the cost-sharing.
• If you discover a cost-shared effort for the fiscal year and an effort report was not generated for that employee, please contact the University TEARS Coordinator immediately to have an effort report created for that employee. An effort report can only be created if the survey period has not been closed. This will record the cost-sharing in our system rather than leave a paper trail within our file. While the deadline for certification may have passed, it is still important that we make every effort to get these effort reports certified. If the survey period is closed and an employee needs to certify their report, a hard copy should be printed, signed, kept in the college, and a copy sent to C&G. In addition, if the effort reporting period is closed, and an effort report needs to be corrected, print a hard copy, manually make the corrections have the employee (or someone who has first-hand knowledge of the employee’s effort) re-sign the hard copy, keep the hard copy in your file and send a copy to C&G. We believe this shows due diligence on our part and would be looked upon favorably in an audit situation.
• The Non-TEARS After the Fact Cost Sharing Documentation Memo (PDF) should be used for reporting:
  • Bi-Weekly Employees
  • Summer Effort
  • Supplemental Pay
  • Cost-sharing from one Ledger 5 to another Ledger 5

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, your first point of contact is your College TEARS Coordinator. The College TEARS Coordinator will contact the University TEARS Coordinator as needed.

The Federal Checklist is simply a guideline; the award document must be read in full, as it may contain project-specific guidelines.