Alert 65

TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE GRANTS MANAGEMENT

Grants:

1. When submitting a grant please notify the Office of Research Administration of the planned submission, over three (3) weeks before the deadline date.
2. Please monitor your Research Foundation web reports monthly to ensure you are spending your funds in a timely manner, and aware of the ending date.
3. Please keep track of and pay invoices as you receive them.

Grant compliance:

1. Conflict of Interest (COI), Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR), and CUNY Significant Financial Interest (SFI) Disclosure Form should be completed before any new/renewal grant submissions. These are Federal mandates that are non-negotiable. Y our compliance will determine whether your grant will be submitted.

Personnel:

1. New employees must be onboarded before their employment start date. New Appointees cannot be hired retroactively.
2. Timesheet Submission
   1. As per the Research Foundation of CUNY policy , all employees should create and submit their own timesheets to ensure payment the following week.
   2. The principal investigator (PI) or designated person must approve the employee timesheets to ensure accuracy . Timesheets are due every other Monday per the RF Payroll Calendar. Please refer to the link provided https://www.rfcuny.org/rfwebsite/electronic-tools/calendar/.
   3. The employee and principal investigator (PI) should monitor the vacation (Annual Leave) and Sick Leave of the employee.
3. Annual Leave
   1. Employees must take all accrued annual leave prior to their appointment end date.
   2. In rare cases where the appointment ends with an annual leave balance, a payout will be processed, with the charge being made to the grant.
4. Unscheduled Holidays
   1. Full-time employees receive 4 unscheduled holidays per fiscal year, 7/1-6/30.
   2. If unscheduled holidays are not taken during the fiscal year they were earned, they will be forfeited. There is no payout of unscheduled holidays.

Release Time:

If your grant award includes release time, please let the Office of Research Administration know which semester(s) to bill. If a course release is involved , that must be worked out with your Department Chair or Dean.

Summary Salary:

Three (3) months maximum is allowed from all combined CUNY sources per year.

Consultants:

1. No one on the CUNY payroll, Research Foundation payroll, or Hunter Foundation payroll may be paid via the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) or Independent Contractor Agreement (ICA) mechanism. The U.S. Internal Revenue Service’s position is that once someone is an employee of any CUNY-related entity, there can be no other means of payment. The penalties to both individuals and organizations can be severe.
2. Persons engaged through the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) or Independent Contractor Agreement (ICA)payment mechanism are not employees of the Research Foundation.

Employee & Consultant: DO NOT pay anyone out of your own pocket, as this would be breaking numerous U.S. Internal Revenue Service regulations. Reimbursement is not allowed if you pay someone out of your own pocket under any circumstances.

Travel:

1. All flights must be booked using the lowest available fare in economy class on U.S. Flag air carriers, per the Fly America Act, or on a European Union carrier per the U.S.-EU Open Skies Agreement or on a Swiss, Australian, or Japanese carrier, as permitted under separate government agreements.
2. Tickets issued with a foreign carrier’s call letters and flight number, even if the flight is operated by a U.S. carrier, are not reimbursed.
3. Boarding passes must be kept as they are required during the reimbursement process. If using an airline app please screenshot your boarding passes because they are not saved/ stored after some time.
4. All travel expenses should be submitted within 30 days of return.
5. Please refer to the Office of Research Administration alert 32 or call us at (212)772-4020 for guidelines on foreign travel.

Reminder

For additional questions or more information, please contact the office at resadmin@hunter.cuny.edu or at 212-772-4020.