An award to the College from a funding agency is a document which legally obligates the College. An award may be made simply in the form of a letter issued by an authorized agent of the funder or it may consist of a lengthy contractual document. In some cases, acceptance by the College (and then by the agency) is required before the award is in force, while in other cases no formal acceptance is required.

The President, VP of Administration and Finance, and the Comptroller, acting as Authorized Signatories, are authorized to accept and execute awards on behalf of the College at the recommendation of the Grants Office. The Grants Office will consult with the Grants Coordinator if an award differs from the submitted proposal so that the award may be accepted, modified, or rejected. When an award differs from the grant proposal that has been approved by the President’s Cabinet, the Grants Coordinator must submit the revised award offer to the President’s Cabinet for approval with the modifications. No charges may be incurred against a grant-funded project until such time as the Comptroller has received and processed an original award notification from the sponsor, and an account number has been issued by the Grants Accountant to the Grants Coordinator.

In some cases, an award may be issued by the funding agency after a series of negotiations, which may involve revisions to the scope of the project and/or to the proposed budget. The Grants Office is the authorized agent for conducting and approving such revisions, but no changes to a project or a budget are authorized without the express consent of the Grants Coordinator. Budget changes should also be approved by the Grants Accountant. Faculty researchers are reminded that the acceptance of a revised scope of work or budget is a judgment that only they can make; it is not a judgment or condition that may be unilaterally imposed by the sponsoring agency. If the agency requires the submission of a revised work plan or budget, this must be prepared by the Grants Coordinator and submitted to the appropriate Dean or supervisor and Vice President, then to the Grants Office for President’s Cabinet approval and for forwarding to the agency.

Upon receipt of an official award, the Grants Coordinator will receive an award notification informing them of pertinent award information and of the account number established for this project.