Subawards to Another Institution

WESTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY
Proposals that Include Subawards from WKU or WKURF to Other Institutions or Agencies

WKU encourages collaborations between its faculty members and faculty members at other institutions. Often, proposals submitted to sponsors by WKU or WKURF include references to investigators at other institutions. These proposals promise the Sponsor that, if an award is made based on the WKURF proposal, the WKU PI will collaborate with an investigator at the other institution.

To be sure that the other institution can comply with the promises made in the Prime Proposal, WKURF must have in hand a written proposal from the proposed Subrecipient Institution. This offer must include a statement of work that includes a timeline, short biosketches of personnel involved in the research/work, a description of any deliverables or results expected/promised, and a proposed budget -- including the Subcontractor's (Subgrantee's, Subrecipient's, Subawardee's) applicable facilities and administrative costs.

The WKU Principal Investigator is responsible for securing the following support documents from the proposed collaborating institution before a Subaward (Subgrant, Subagreement, Subcontract) can be included in a proposal from WKURF or WKU to an external sponsor:

1. A work plan from the institution to which the Subaward will be issued. This work plan should address ONLY the work that will be done at the Subrecipient institution. It should include the collaborating PI's name, a timeline, short biosketches of personnel involved in the research/work, and a description of any deliverables or results expected/promised. It should be labeled "Attachment 1." This should be prepared as a Microsoft Word document and submitted via e-mail through the Subrecipient PI's sponsored programs office to the WKU PI and to proposal.development@wku.edu.
2. A separate budget and budget justification that covers in detail ONLY the work to be done at the Subrecipient institution. This budget should show amounts requested from WKURF, as well as any cost share promised by the Subrecipient institution, and should include applicable F&A costs. It should include the same budget categories as the prime proposal budget and should conform with the prime sponsor's guidelines. It should be labeled "Attachment 2." This should be prepared as an Excel document and submitted via e-mail through the Subrecipient PI's sponsored programs office to the WKU PI and to proposal.development@wku.edu.
3. A completed Key Personnel form (updated 24 July 2007 and available from the OSP) that identifies the responsible administrative personnel. The WKU PI should add his or her information to the form before forwarding it to the proposed subgrantee. This is already labeled "Attachment 3." It is a Microsoft Word file. It, too, should be submitted through the Subrecipient PI's sponsored programs office to the WKU PI and to proposal.development@wku.edu.
4. The three attachments must be accompanied by a cover letter stating intent to participate if the project is funded and signed by the Subrecipient's Institutional Authorized Official. This letter should state that the documents are being submitted in support of the proposal being submitted by [the WKU PI] to [the Prime Sponsor] for [the Proposal Title] due on [the Deadline Date]. This letter certifies that the collaborating institution agrees to cooperate in the project by doing what the work plan states, for the amount requested in the budget (including cost share, if any), under the direction of the PI listed in the Key Personnel form. The three attachments should be submitted in electronic form to the WKU PI and to the WKU Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP).
   In lieu of a cover letter, the WKURF Subagreement Proposal Cover Sheet may be completed and signed by the appropriate institutional official. Both the WKURF Subagreement Proposal Cover Sheet and a Sample Proposal Cover Letter are available on the OSP Web site at http://www.wku.edu/Dept/Support/SponsPrg/grants/pols/subs_out.htm The signed cover letter and/or the signed Proposal Cover Sheet may be faxed to the WKU OSP at 270-745-4211, or converted to .PDF and e-mailed with the other electronic documents to the WKU PI and to proposal.development@wku.edu. It is not necessary to submit both a cover letter and a cover sheet. One or the other is all that is necessary.

The PI at the proposed subgrantee institution is not authorized to submit a proposal directly to WKU on behalf of his or her institution. All these attachments must be collected from the office authorized to submit proposals on behalf of the Subrecipient organization/institution before the proposal for the Prime Award is submitted by WKURF to the Prime sponsor. They must be in hand before the WKURF budget is completed (i.e., at least a week before the day the proposal must be submitted by WKURF to the Prime Sponsor).

These exact documents will usually not be included in the WKURF proposal to the Prime Sponsor. They will remain in the WKURF proposal file until WKURF receives notice that the Prime Award has been granted. The WKU PI may incorporate the description of the work that will be performed at the collaborating institution into the main project description. The amount the Subrecipient Institution requests for its budget will be included in the Prime Proposal budget in a line for Subawards.

The three attachments will be used if the Prime Sponsor grants an Award to WKURF. Once the Prime Award is made to WKURF and an index number has been assigned, the WKU PI will request that a Subaward be issued to the collaborating institution. That Subaward will include the three attachments that were submitted at the proposal stage, plus any other attachments that need to be included in the Subaward. It is possible that by the time the prime grant is awarded, the WKU PI might need to collect updated information from the subgrantee institution.

In the WKURF proposal to the Prime Sponsor, the first $25,000 of each subaward must be included in the modified direct cost total on which F&A costs are calculated. In the technical section of the WKURF Prime Proposal, the WKU PI should include a statement concerning the need for a Subcontract (or Subgrant or Subaward) and the method(s) used to select the Subcontractor (Subgrantee, Subrecipient, Subawardee).

Subawards are different from vendor contracts issued from a grant award. To learn more about vendor contracts, visit the WKU Purchasing Office Web site at http://www.wku.edu/Dept/Support/FinAdmin/Purchasing.htm.

Any questions about Subawards (or Subgrants, or Subcontracts, or Subagreements) from WKURF to another institution or organization should be directed to the Office of Sponsored Programs, telephone 745-4652, e-mail proposal.development@wku.edu

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Last update made July 24, 2007.
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