• INE
• Business Office
• Grants

Grants

The INE Grant Management team oversees all project transactions once a grant is awarded to UAF.

The  team works collaboratively to support the wide range of principal investigators, departments, and funding agencies that make up the Institute of Northern Engineering’s diverse and dynamic research portfolio.

Each member of the team is a Certified Research Administrator, ensuring a strong foundation in research administration best practices.

Bios

Crystal Mailloux is a Sr. Grant Manager and Certified Research Administrator at the University of Alaska Institute of Northern Engineering. She has supported post-award research administration since 2008, managing funding from federal, state, and private sponsors. A lifelong Alaskan, Crystal enjoys traveling and exploring new places with her family.

Wenyue (Judy) Guo is a Grant Manager and Certified Research Administrator at the University of Alaska Institute of Northern Engineering. Since joining in October 2023, Judy has leveraged her strong background in both scientific research and research administration to support the INE community. She quickly earned her CRA qualification to further her knowledge in the field. Currently, she oversees about 50 projects for 10-15 researchers. She enjoys spending time with friends and family.

Paula Kennedy is a Grant Manager and Certified Research Administrator at the University of Alaska Institute of Northern Engineering. She has been with UAF for over four years. She has called Alaska home for more than 25, having lived in Juneau, Cordova, Nome and currently Fairbanks. She loves finding new places to explore whenever she travels.

Post Award Grant Management
Frequently Asked Questions

GENERAL

Who is my post-award grant manager?

Post-award managers are assigned a departmental portfolio based on their assigned Principal Investigators. You can find your post-award manager on this list , however, we are all cross trained and willing to help whenever we can.

UAF ACRONYM LIST

OGCA: Office of Grants and Contracts

INE: Institute of Northern Engineering

CEM: College of Engineering and Mines

NCE: No Cost Extension 

AOR: Authorized Organizational Representative

NEW AWARD INFO

How do I know if I’ve received an award?

You will receive notification from the sponsoring agency, OGCA or your post-award grant manager. Please forward a copy of your new award to your grant manager for verification and processing.

Who is the official signer for grants and contracts (or Authorized Organizational Representative) who will need to sign your award?

There is one signing official for the University with the Office of Grants and Contracts Administration. The OGCA AOR for UAF is currently Brent Davis.

How long does it take to set up my award?

Once the budget is entered by your grant manager, OGCA will key your fund and notify your grant manager, who will in turn notify you. This generally takes 5-7 working days.

BUDGET INFO

How do I hire someone to work on my grant?

Once your grant is set up in the university system you can submit a hiring request through Human Resources. You should work with your grant manager on the details of the hire, which will include start and end dates, employee classification and compensation rates, and what is allowable for your project.

How do I spend money on my grant?

Anytime you would like to spend UAF funds through INE you MUST submit a Purchase Request. This will initiate the request to our fiscal and procurement team, and determine how it will be purchased (example: credit card, purchase order, etc.).

My grant has a subaward in it, what are the next steps to get it issued?

Please work with your grant manager. The first step is to submit a Purchase Request with the required documentation (Subaward scope of work, budget, budget justification.) Your grant manager may do this for you with your written approval and will complete the required Cost Reimbursement Template for subawards and facilitate the paperwork with Procurement, OGCA and the subawardee.

Can I move expenses onto or off of my award? How can I move them?

UAF’s Cost Transfer Policy allows for appropriate cost transfers to correct posting or bookkeeping errors, to reallocate resources or to transfer preaward costs in accordance with 2CFR.200. Cost transfers must be done as soon as possible after the original transaction and within 60 days of that transaction. Your grant manager can help you facilitate this.

Can someone assist with revising my grant budget?

Some budget revisions require sponsor approval before they can be revised and updated in our system. Please work with your grant manager to determine if sponsor approval is required for your budget update/adjustment.

How do I know how much money I have left on my grant?

There are several resources available for PIs to view grant balances. Your grant manager maintains a projection workbook for you containing all of your active projects. It will be sent to you via email once per month. Periodic meetings to review the workbook are recommended to update projections, discuss changes to project timelines and needs, and to anticipate any sponsor requests. Q-menu is also an online tool that is available to PIs to get current fund balances. Special access is required to use Qmenu and Qmenu does not contain any projected spending on the fund. New banner 9 finance section available

I need to reduce my effort on an award, how do I do that?

Different sponsors have different requirements for changes in PI effort, you may not be able to reduce effort without prior approval from the sponsor. In advance of the reduction, your post-award grant manager can assist in the preparation and submission of a formal prior approval request if needed.

CLOSEOUT INFO

What happens during grant closeout?

The grant closeout period requires engagement from the principal investigator, and post-award OGCA office and departmental grant managers. During the closeout period, UAF liquidates remaining financial obligations under the grant, processes and closes out subaward invoices, and prepares required financial reports. PIs should finalize program documents, complete required technical reports, and work with your Grant Manager to confirm that all final expenses have posted to the award. Your grant manager will be in touch with any additional, sponsored-required close out documents.

What happens if I have an unexpected balance at the end of the project?

Depending on the type of award, funds will either be returned to the sponsor or the balance may be forfeited. Extra funds available are not a sufficient justification for a no-cost extension request. There should be an explanation as to why there are remaining funds.

What happens if my project is not going to be completed at the end of the project period?

As soon as you anticipate needing extra time for your project work, please contact your grant manager to apply for a no cost extension (NCE). Sponsors generally require 30-60 days notice to extend a project period of performance. In addition, different types of awards, even within the same sponsor, may require different levels of approvals for no cost extensions.

OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION

What is a prior approval request and how do I know if I need to submit one?

Some sponsors require a formal request and sponsor approval for specific types of grant changes. Examples may include: no cost extensions, budget carryover, scope of work changes, PI reduction in effort or PI changes. Your post-award grant manager can assist in determining the necessity of a prior approval request and helping develop the prior approval content for submission to the sponsor.

What are allowable and unallowable costs?

Allowable costs are expenses that can be paid by your sponsored project.

A cost is allowable if:

• The cost is allocable.This means your project directly benefits from the expense and costs for goods, services, and salaries are appropriate to the benefits received by the project.
• The cost is reasonable. The expenses are what a prudent person may pay.
• The cost is allowable. This means the expense is permitted by sponsor and UAF regulations.

Unallowable costs are expenses that are not permitted on sponsored projects. Expenses may be unallowable due to sponsor policy, UAF policy, or both.

Examples include:

• Alcohol: all alcohol must be purchased using local funds
• Fundraising: sponsored projects funds can not be used for fundraising purposes
• Entertainment and public relations costs

If you’re not sure if your cost is allowable or unallowable, please reach out to your post-award grant manager before the expense is incurred.

MATCH INFO

How do I track or process required cost share on a grant?

The PI, departmental administrative staff, and OGCA share responsibility for tracking, reporting and certifying cost-shared expenses. Detailed information can be found in the UAF cost share policy. If you have further questions about cost share, please contact your grant manager.

TRAINING

Principal Investigator Certification & Training Requirements

Grant managers are responsible for monitoring PI certification and training requirements.

PIs are required to complete the following compliance trainings:

• Responsible Conduct in Research (RCR) Training (every four years)
  Combination online CITI training module followed by UAF live, via Zoom or through Canvas.
• Research Security (RST) Training (recommended annually)
  Currently done through the NSF portal.
• Malign Foreign Talent Recruitment Program (MFTRP) Certification (annually)
  Certify through NSF, Research.gov

Project Changes & Approvals Needed

During project implementation, PIs may need to make changes to their project from the proposal submission. Depending on the sponsor, UAF may need to solicit prior approval before these project changes can take place. Please reach out to your post-award grant manager as soon as possible to ensure the required sponsor approvals are in place before changes are made.

Some common changes that may require sponsor prior approval include:

• Change in PI or change in PI effort
• Movement of available funds across budget lines (Rebudget)
• Purchase of non-budgeted items or specialized equipment
• Change in scope of work
• New sub-award or consultant, not listed in the proposal
• New travel plans or foreign travel
• No cost extension