If your proposal has been selected for funding, your institution/organization will enter into a Subaward Agreement with Montana State University (MSU), the Western Region Host Institution. Within a couple of weeks of notification from Western SARE that your proposal has been selected for funding, you will receive a follow up email from the Western SARE Fiscal Manager with instructions for initiating the subaward process*.
*Please note: if you requested a later start date (late summer/early fall), please expect this email early summer as we work to initiate those awards with a spring start date first.
Remember: any entity receiving Federal Funds in any amount is required by the Federal Government to obtain a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) from the System for Award Management (SAM). If you have not already applied for your UEI, follow these directions.
The Western SARE Fiscal Manager will request, at a minimum, the following documents:
- Subrecipient Commitment Form – completed and signed; this is typically completed and signed by the grant recipient’s Authorized Official.
- Scope of Work(SOW) for the project – The SOW is a one-page summary that concisely identifies and outlines the work to be performed under this agreement (the tasks/objectives). The SOW should also include your proposed project deliverables (e.g., publications, presentation of research findings, outreach activities, materials, etc.) and corresponding timeline for accomplishing your objectives and deliverables. You are encouraged to use the relevant portions of text from your proposal to compose the SOW. At the top of the SOW document, it is helpful to include the following details: PI name, institution name, project title and Western SARE Project number.
Additional documents that may be requested include:
- Revised budget and justification, typically for one or more of the following reasons:
- Errors in the proposal budget were found, e.g., incorrect IDC calculation
- Insufficient budget detail was provided in the proposal budget
- A proposed expense is not allowable and must therefore be re-budgeted
- The PI notifies Western SARE of changes that need to be made to the proposal budget, e.g., shifting funds from one budget category to another. Significant changes require Western SARE Regional Coordinator approval; minor revisions are typically okay.
- IRB/IACUC approvals, if applicable, and not provided at time of proposal submission.
- Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification, e.g. W-9 form. MSU is required to report all payments to the IRS, this includes payments made via a subaward agreement. If your organization has never received funds from MSU or it has been several years, Western SARE will request a taxpayer identification form.
The above documentation is reviewed and then forwarded with a formal request to initiate your subaward to MSU’s Subaward Coordinator in the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP).
Once approved for opening, the MSU Subaward Manager drafts the Subaward Agreement. The draft agreement is sent via email to all contacts listed on Attachment 3 of the Subaward Agreement. The agreement should be signed by the Subrecipient’s Authorized Official and returned to the MSU Subaward Manager.
MSU’s Authorized Official then signs the agreement. A digital copy of the fully executed Subaward Agreement is returned to all subrecipient contacts and Western SARE. The subrecipient institution may begin invoicing MSU for project expenditures. Details and requirements for invoicing are outlined in the Subaward Agreement as well as below (see Western Invoicing Procedures).
In general, once the Subrecipient PI/Institution has provided the Western SARE Fiscal Manager with ALL the required documentation, the fully executed Subaward Agreement should be in place within four-to-eight weeks.