Award Management

The University of Florida is committed to supporting efficient and compliant award management. It is a shared responsibility of the PI, department, college and core offices to ensure that each award is set up in UFIRST in a manner to best support understanding of award conditions and University policies, meet sponsor expectations for deliverables and prior approvals, and meet financial controls and reporting requirements of the sponsor.

Award Management Tools and Topics

Tools:

UFIRST: All sponsored awards are set up using UFIRST. All changes to those awards including addition of funds or reallocation of funds between UF projects, change in dates, or change in personnel or commitments of key personnel are initiated through a UFIRST Award Modification.
myinvestiGator: “Online banking” for grants. Find your current budget, balance, line by line transactions and effort/pay data for all your sponsored projects.
Enterprise Analytics: Financial, effort, proposal, award, and project reports customizable for transactional reconciliations and local grants management. Additional information can be found here.
Deposit Log: List of all fund payments received and in process deposits by date and project.

Additional topics:

Award Terms and Conditions

Each award has unique terms and conditions and the best way to manage an award is to thoroughly understand the requirements for each. Begin management of each award by reading the Official and Supporting Documents attached to the award in UFIRST. Make note of any commitments or restrictions that will impact the management of the award (i.e., foreign travel restrictions, rebudgeting restrictions, unallowable costs, etc.). Remember, University policies and State of Florida laws may be more restrictive than the terms provided by the sponsor. The most restrictive terms and conditions will apply.

All federally sponsored grants and cooperative agreements must follow 2 CFR 200, otherwise known as Uniform Guidance or the UG. Since these awards make up the majority of sponsored funds, their rules provide the fundamental basis for most sponsored programs requirements and internal control systems at UF.

Federal Grant and Cooperative Agreement Hierarchy Pyramid

This pyramid represents the order of precedence of federal regulations for grants and cooperative agreements. The order starts from the top of the pyramid – the specific terms included in the award itself – and flows down through 2 CRF 200 to University Policies and Board of Governors Regulations at the base of the pyramid.

To determine applicable regulations, review the award documents first for guidance and direction. If the award is silent, move down the pyramid level by level until the information is located.

For example, to understand if pre-award spending is allowable on an NIH award:

First, review the notice of award.
If silent, move to the program solicitation.
If again silent, move to the NIH GPS, which indicates pre-award costs are “Allowable. A recipient may, at its own risk and without NIH prior approval, incur obligations and expenditures to cover costs up to 90 days before the beginning date of the initial budget period of a new or renewal award if such costs: are necessary to conduct the project, and would be allowable under the grant, if awarded, without NIH prior approval.”

Keep in mind, because UF is a state agency, State Statutes and Public Laws also apply to all sponsored programs. For example, the notice of award or sponsor terms may allow for travel costs at GSA rates, but State Statutes impose a lower limit on expenses, therefore we must follow the lower limit.

Sponsor Award Guidance

Award guidance documents for some of UF’s most common sponsors are listed below:

For specific questions regarding any terms and conditions, please contact ufawards@ufl.edu.

Prior Approvals

A Notice of Award or fully executed funding document is considered a binding agreement between the sponsor and UF. The ability to modify the award is governed by the terms and conditions of the award. There are often times in the life of an award when plans change. Many changes require the sponsor’s prior written approval or modification of the award document before they can be implemented. Some sponsors have waived certain prior approval requirements. This waiver may be found in the award itself, the solicitation, or the sponsor’s terms (see the Federal Grant and Cooperative Agreement Hierarchy Pyramid). This waiver does not lessen UF’s responsibility to ensure the change is appropriate and supported. The sponsor is essentially delegating responsibility to UF to approve the change. Prior approvals delegated to UF must still be entered as award mods and routed for DSP review. Prior to requesting a change, review the Notice of Award and applicable terms and conditions to understand any sponsor or award-specific requirements for prior approvals.

Requests for award changes must be routed through UFIRST via an award modification.

The following are examples of changes that typically require sponsor prior approval:

Budget changes:
- Carryover from one budget period to another
- Changes to approved cost sharing
- Inclusion of costs that require prior approval in accordance with 2 CFR 200 Subpart E
- Pre-award expenditures
- Rebudgeting of funds
- Transfer of funds budgeted for participant support to another category
Period of Performance changes:
- Early Terminations
- No Cost Extensions
Personnel changes:
- Changes in PI or other key personnel, including changes in effort commitments
- Disengagement from a project for more than 3 months or a 25% reduction in time devoted to the project by the approved PI
Programmatic changes:
- Change of scope or objectives
- Issuing a fixed price subaward
- Subawarding, transferring, or contracting out any work under a Federal award

* Please note this list is not exhaustive and there may be sponsor specific restrictions not included here. When in doubt, contact ufawards@ufl.edu.

Individual federal agencies have the authority to waive certain prior approval requirements. This waiver may be found in the award itself, the solicitation, or the sponsor’s terms (see the Federal Grant and Cooperative Agreement Hierarchy Pyramid). This waiver does not lessen the recipient’s (UF’s) responsibility to ensure the change is appropriate and supported. The federal sponsor is essentially delegating responsibility to the recipient to approve the change. Prior approvals delegated to UF must still be entered as award mods and routed for DSP review.

Federal Wide Research Terms and Conditions

Prior to October 1, 2024, the Research Terms and Conditions (RTCs) were used by some federal agencies to modify or clarify 2 CFR 200 terms. The RTCs were intended to reduce administrative burden by clarifying federal requirements and/or waiving select prior approval requirements.

References to the RTCs may still be present on awards issued before October 1, 2024. If applicable to your award, information on agency implementation of the RTCs, including Agency Specific Requirements and a Prior Approval Matrix, may be found on the NSF website.

The RTCs are not applicable to awards or modifications issued on or after October 1, 2024.

Other Award Management Policies and Procedures

Sponsor-Funded Prohibited Conduct Review & Notification Protocol

Sponsor-Funded Prohibited Conduct Review & Notification Protocol

NASA China Restrictions

NASA has long-standing restrictions in its awards related to China. See: https://www.nasa.gov/offices/ocfo/gpc/regulations_and_guidance

“In accordance with Public Law 113-235, Division B, Title V, Section 532, NASA is prohibited from funding any work that involves the bilateral participation, collaboration, or coordination with China or any Chinese-owned company or entity, at the prime recipient level or at any subrecipient level, whether funded or performed under a no-exchange-of funds basis. Accordingly, proposals shall not include bilateral participation, collaboration, or coordination with China or any Chinese-owned company or entity, whether funded or performed under a no-exchange-of-funds basis. Proposals involving bilateral participation, collaboration, or coordination in any way with China or any Chinese-owned company, whether funded or performed under a no-exchange-of-funds basis, will be ineligible for award.”

“China or Chinese-owned Company” means the People’s Republic of China (PRC), any company owned by the PRC, or any company incorporated under the laws of the PRC. Chinese universities and other similar institutions are considered to be incorporated under the laws of the PRC and, therefore, the funding restrictions apply to grants and cooperative agreements that include bilateral participation, collaboration, or coordination with Chinese universities.

These regulations have been in place since 2012. More information is available from NASA at: https://science.nasa.gov/researchers/sara/faqs/prc-faq-roses

Resources

UF Policies & Procedures
Prior Approval Request Templates
Grants Toolkits
Sponsored Programs Training Courses

Last updated 2/24/25

Award Management

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