CPH Investigator Pre-Award Toolkit

The following resources summarize some of the information CPH researchers find most useful when preparing and submitting sponsored project proposals. If you cannot find what are looking for on this page, please contact the CPH Research Office.

• UGA Sponsored Projects Administration: Frequently Used Information
  Research proposals are submitted in the name of the University Research Foundation, Inc. (UGARF) with the University of Georgia as the Primary performing site. SPA’s Frequently Used Information page provides information on Fringe Benefit Rates, Indirect Cost Rates and institutional information.
• Grants Portal
  The UGA Grants Portal provides a single solution for the handling of all proposal and award processes on campus. The portal is UGA’s method to submit federal proposals through grants.gov.
• Credit Allocation – Transmittal
  • Academic Credit
    A value equivalent to the intellectual contribution of key personnel involved on a sponsored project. Stated as a percentage, each individual making an intellectual contribution to a project as an internal PI or Co-PI can distribute his/her credit among one or more non-center or institute units. Academic credit percentages will total 100% for each given project. The academic credit allocations: (1) are specified in the Credit Information for each GeaR OVPR eResearch Portal Proposal; (2) are used to determine the award percent credit on investigator funding reports; and (3) also appear in the UGA Faculty Activity Repository (FAR). Center and institute units may not be given academic credit even if they are academic/degree granting.  Academic units are not required to have a Budgetary Unit Code to receive academic credit.
  • Center and Institutional Credit (C&I Credit)
    A value equivalent to the contribution of centers and institutes involved on a sponsored project. Stated as a percentage, each individual making an intellectual contribution to a project as an internal PI or Co-PI may distribute credit among one or more center or institute units. C&I Credit percentages are optional, but, if used, will total 100% for a given project. The C&I Credit allocations are specified in the Credit Information in each GeaR OVPR eResearch Portal Proposal. Center and institute units may not be given academic credit even if they are academic/degree granting.  Centers and Institutes are not required to have a Budgetary Unit Code to receive C&I Credit.
  • Budgetary Unit
    Each unit at UGA that may have accounts assigned to it must have a unique three-digit designator, called the Budgetary Unit Code (BUC). BUCs are assigned to units by UGA Accounting.  Units with BUCs include colleges, schools, departments, centers, institutes and other administrative offices. When the financial account for the award is created, the Management Unit’s BUC will be utilized as the unit number for the primary account.  BUCs are also used to indicate units that share F&A return.
• Indirect Costs (IDC) (F&A or Overhead)
  Costs which are necessary to support research and other sponsored projects, but which cannot be readily or easily assigned to individual projects. These include costs related to facilities operations (utilities, maintenance, security, etc.), university and department libraries, departmental administration, and general administration, like OSP and C&G. UGA recovers F&A costs by applying a percentage rate to the direct cost expenditures charged to sponsored project accounts.
• FY 2021-2022 Graduate Assistantship Rates
  For full-time position funded up to a maximum of 50%.
  • Masters: $54,500
  • Doctoral: $58,900
• Research (Tuition) Incentive Assistantships (RAIS)
  • Voluntary Tuition Incentive Program for Research or Training Grants: This program’s goal is to increase the number of assistantships offered for graduate students. For each graduate assistant (GRA) who receives full time, in-state graduate tuition from a Sponsored Programs administered research/training grant or external contract, 1.555 times the university’s base tuition rate will be returned to the department of the principal investigator to cover an assistantship for another doctoral student.
• Facilities and Resources Statement (updated August 2021)
• CPH Budget Templates
  
  • With salary cap
  • Without salary cap
• UGA Subcontract Eligibility
  A subcontractor (Institution/Organization) must be registered as an Organization Application at grants.gov by following the following steps:
  1. Obtain a DUNS number
  2. Register with SAM
  Please note, a DUNS number is need first in order to register in SAM. For more information, visit https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/organization-registration.html.
• Limited Submission
  For certain grant and award opportunities, funding agencies place limits on the number of proposals, applications, or letters of intent that any one university may submit. Click here for more information about Limited Submission Opportunities.

This section is under development. Please contact your Departmental Business Manager to initiate any current post-award needs –

• Faculty Academic Research Buyout
  Procedure used by faculty to decrease their teaching appointment to increase their research commitment on a sponsored project. Requires approval of department head and dean. Please use the Faculty Release Worksheet to calculate research buyout.
• Pending Award
  An institutionally approved account that is established in advance of official notification of grant funding or execution of a contract, when the PI is reasonably confident that funding will be awarded and when the specific project start date is assured. This process allows a sponsored project account to be established effective on the anticipated start date. Should the award not be forthcoming, the PI and his/her department or unit agrees to assume responsibility for any expenditures made on the account.
  Use the Administrative Action Request Form (AARF) at the UGA Sponsored Projects Guide website for a pending award request. FAQ at can be found here.
• Pre-Award
  An institutionally approved account that allows recipients to begin sponsored program spending prior to the receipt of an actual federal award. Pre-award authority provides UGA or UGARF the option of not having to wait for the actual receipt of an award, which may be released later than expected for a variety of reasons. All pre-award costs are incurred at the recipient’s risk (i.e., the federal awarding agency is under no obligation to reimburse such costs if the recipient does not receive an award or if the award is less than anticipated and inadequate to cover such costs).
  Use the Administrative Action Request Form (AARF) for a pending award request. FAQ at can be found here.
• No-Cost Extension
  A no-cost extension (NCE) extends the end date of a project without additional funding. NCEs may be necessary in order to allow the PI time to complete the work of the project. Use the Internal College of Public Health NCE Request Form to make an NCE request.
• Residual Balance
  For any unexpended funds remaining in a restricted account at the end of a project period, a form must be submitted in order to have access to the remaining funds. Additional information about this policy can be via the SPA website.
• Prior Approval Request
  The Principal Investigators (PI) of a Federally-sponsored project is required to report major deviations as outlined below from budget and program plans. The PI should work with the CPH Research Office and SPA to request prior approvals from Federal awarding agencies for any of the following program or budget-related reasons:
  • Change in the scope or the objectives of the project or program.
  • Change in the PI and/or key personnel (the definition of key personnel may vary by sponsoring agency) or in project effort (absence for more than three months or a 25% reduction in time devoted to the project).
  • Transfer of funds allotted for trainee expenses (direct payment to trainees: stipend, tuition, fees) to other categories of expense.
  • Subawards, transfers or subcontracting a substantive portion of work, unless described in the application and funded in the approved award.
  • Budgeting of pre-award costs to be incurred more than 90 days prior to award.
  • Other expenses, if not waived by a particular agency in the notice of award (i.e., foreign travel, carry forward of funds from one budget period to the next, re-budgeting of trainee allowances or participant costs, alterations and renovations in excess of $25,000, adjustment of cost sharing commitment).

The CPH Research Office will assist PIs and business managers with questions related to  how to effectively manage the finances of sponsored program awards by providing guidelines and procedures for attaining prior approvals when applicable. We will also assist with review of the award terms and conditions to determine to what extent prior approval by the sponsor are required, and will coordinate with the office of Sponsored Projects Administration (SPA).

Effective December 1, 2013, all grant application materials must be submitted to the CPH Research Office five or more business days prior to the agency’s submission deadline.

Additionally, all proposals must be complete (i.e., no sections or important documents can be missing).   As such, if your proposal is due Friday November 15th at 5 p.m., your fully-completed proposal must be submitted to the CPH Research Office by 5 p.m. on November 8th.   This provides our office with five full business days to conduct all pre-award activities.  It is incumbent upon all PIs and their staffs to adhere to this policy; no exceptions to this policy are likely to be granted.   Many schools and colleges of public health require PIs to submit their completed grant applications to their research office 10 or 14 days in advance of the submission deadline.  Our new grant submission policy will permit our research office to closely attend to your grant submission needs and provide PIs with adequate time to prepare and submit their applications.

Please click here for CPH submission policy guidelines.

The CPH Research Office can help connect CPH researchers into funding opportunities available at the University as well as externally. Connect with us or check out the resources below.

• Pivot
  A subscription database of more than 25,000 funding opportunities from numerous sponsors across all disciplines.  Pivot also enables researchers to identify potential research partners inside or outside UGA.
• Philanthropy News Digest – Requests for Proposals
  The PND is a service of the Foundation Center, a national non-profit service organization that is a leading authority on organized philanthropy. It connects non-profits and the grant makers supporting them with tools they can use for proposing and receiving gifts and grants. It produces the Foundation Directory, an online funding search product that is hosted in the GALILEO menus of the University Libraries.
• Foundation Directory Online Professional
  The online professional version of this highly touted search product developed by the Foundation Center contains information on more than 100,000 grant makers and 2.4 million grants.  Funding prospects can be easily searched by name, location, field of interest, etc.
• Grants.gov
  Maintained by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Grants.gov provides a common website for federal agencies to post discretionary funding opportunities and for grantees to find and apply to them.
• UGA Office of Research – Research Announcements
  The UGA Office for Research is an excellent source for RFPs, Scholarships, Awards, and a variety of other funding opportunities.

For general inquiries, please email the CPH Research Office at [email protected].

Charles A. Easley, IV
Associate Dean of Research
Associate Professor of Environmental Health Science
104B Rhodes Hall, Health Sciences Campus
Phone: 706-542-1155
[email protected]

Erika Schwabe
Assistant Director
104C Rhodes Hall, Health Sciences Campus
Phone: 706-542-9766
[email protected]

Rebecca Kiel Bacon
Grants Coordinator III
104A Rhodes Hall, Health Sciences Campus
Phone: 706-542-3894
[email protected]

Adrian Crabtree
Post Award Financial Manager
104E Rhodes Hall, Health Sciences Campus
University of Georgia
Athens, GA 30602
[email protected]
Phone:  706.542.7200
Fax:  706.542.6730

Deanna Whiddon
Post Award Financial Manager
104D Rhodes Hall, Health Sciences Campus
University of Georgia
Athens, GA 30602
[email protected]
Phone:  706.542.3007
Fax:  706.542.6730

Click here to find the contact information for your UGA Sponsored Projects Administration (SPA) Team Representative.