Procedure Library

NSF Change of Existing Subaward Institution

Purpose

To clarify the steps needed when the University has an active outgoing subaward and the subrecipient institution is changing. Most commonly, this happens when the subaward PI transfers from one institution to another. 

Applicability

NSF requires that no portion of an activity be subawarded or transferred to another organization without prior written NSF Authoriization.

As state in the PAPPG 23-1, if the subaward organization is changed, after an award is made, prior approval of the new subaward organization must be obtained from the cognizant NSF Grants and Agreements Officer. 

Instructions

PI's should inform their Sponsored Projects Officer of the change in subrecipient institution as soon as possible and work with their admin, if available, to complete the following steps.

eAward:

1. PI's, or their admin, should initiate a "Subaward Modification Setup Request" in eAward for the current subaward. 
   
   
   1. Once you have selected the subaward, under be sure to select and complete the following:
      
      The PI will want to determine, with the subrecipient PI, the amount to be issued for the new subaward. This amount will also be used for the budgets required in the NSF prior approval request.
      
      This will effectively terminate the subaward agreement. However, the subrecipient will still have time, as outlined in the subaward, to submit a final invoice.
   2. The SPO will review this request and the Contracts Administrator will draft a unilateral subaward modification reducing the existing subrecipients authorized funding and revising the end date. 
   3. As part of the standard subaward process, OSP will work to revise the purchase order to reflect the revised amount and end date.
2. PI's, or their admin, should initiate a "New Subaward Setup" request in eAward:
   
   
   1. OSP encourages close coordination with their SPO so that, while the University of Utah is obtaining NSF formal approval, the new subrecipient can use this time to complete and certify the Subrecipient Information needed to draft the new subaward.
   2. If NSF approval is still pending when the Subrecipient Information is certified, the SPO can use the time to draft the subaward (with the Contract Administrator) but OSP will need to iconHOLD the fully executed version until OSP has received NSF prior approval.  

Research.gov & Fastlane:

Please be aware that NSF Other Authorized User (OAU), unlike with proposals, cannot be given permissions to edit these post-award requests. Therefore,  SPO's should expect to perform more manual entry when working on this type of requests. 

1. PI's will start the NSF approval process by preparing a new Notification/Request in Research.gov and clicking 'Prepare New'. 
   
2. They will be asked the following questions and redirected to Fastlane:
   
   1. Step 1: Select type of change -  'Other'
   2. Step 2: Select notification/request 'Subawarding, Transferring or Contracting Out Part of an NSF Award'
      
   3. Step 3: Navigate to Fastlane, enter award number and click 'Prepare new'.
3. Once in Fasltane, the PI will select the corresponding award number from the drop-down lisk and click 'Prepare New':
   
4. Per the NSF PAPPG 23-1, the PI will need to upload & submit the following:
   1. Description of Work to be Performed - a clear description of the work to be performed by the new subrecipient. This can be the same SOW as originally proposed, or as attached in the subaward, but with any references to the exiting institution replaced with the new institution. 
   2. Budgets (Including Budget Justifications)
      1. a separate University of Utah budget and budget justification in NSF format
         1. The University of Utah budget should reflect the awarded F&A rate
      2. a separate Subrecipient budget and budget justification in NSF format, using the new institution's federally negotiated F&A rate
         1. The new subrecipient should use that institutions federally negotiated F&A rate for the budgeted timeframe. 
   3. Justification for Subrecipient - see template.
   4. Other Supplementary Docs - if applicable. 
      1. if funding is requested to support a postdoctoral researcher, and the original proposal did not include a mentoring plan, then the request must include the requisite mentoring plan as described in chapter II.C.2.j. The plan must be uploaded under "Mentoring Plan" in the Supplementary Documentation section of Research.gov
5. Once the request is complete, the PI will need to route the request to the SPO/AOR for review and submission. 
6. Please allow 4-12 weeks for NSF processing. Once a determination is made, the Status in Fastlane will be updated. 
   1. If the request is declined, it's likely that the request was submitted incorrectly or was incomplete. The status in Fastlane will show as 'Rejected by PO'. If the SPO or PI is unclear why it was rejected, please contact Laurel.
   2. If the request is approved, the status will be updated to 'Approved by Grants Official' and a new modification will be issued formally authorizing the new subrecipient:
      
7. The NSF approval should be uploaded into the eAward subaward transaction. icon At this time, the SPO can proceed with the issuing of the new outgoing subaward and its purchase order.
8. Once the process is complete, the eAward transaction status in eAward will be marked 'Completed'.

Related Policies and Procedures

• Grant Life Cycle > Manage Your Award
• Grant Life Cycle > Manage Your Award > Expanded Authority Actions