As IBIS is the University of Miami’s award management tool, it supports the award management lifecycle including tracking of changes from the original workplan and budget. Any changes requiring sponsor approval or allowable internally must be routed through IBIS via an award modification request (AMR) for ORA to review. ORA Post Award will assist with identifying whether sponsor approval is required and whether additional information is required to review and process the AMR. If sponsor approval is not required and ORA can approve the change internally, the AMR will be reviewed, with the corresponding updates entered in Workday. If sponsor approval is required, ORA Post Award will facilitate the prior approval request and submit the request to the sponsor.
During a recent poll, our UM department administrators voted largely in favor of reestablishing the use of the Internal Prior Approval Request form (IPAR) to facilitate the process of requesting prior approvals. Accordingly, effective immediately, when submitting a prior approval request through IBIS, please complete and attach the (IPAR) to the AMR record to ensure timely review. The IPAR form is used to support requests such as a first time no-cost extension, pre-award spending, rebudgeting, etc. and allows ORA to ensure the necessary department and college level approvals are obtained prior to submission of the request to ORA for review. Please note, excluding industry clinical trials, the IPAR form must be attached to all requests that are initiated by UM.
Reminder: Award Financial Reporting and Invoicing Deadlines Strictly Enforced as of September 1st, 2023.
Financial reporting, invoicing, and award closeout require effective coordination and collaboration between departmental and central administrators for timely and successful completion. To ensure that ORA has sufficient time to complete and submit financial reports and invoices to the agency prior to the agency deadline, UM has, since long ago, established the department deadlines below. Meeting these deadlines is critical for efficient and compliant award management:
As previously announced in our OVPRS Administrative Update meetings, please remember that as of September 1st, 2023, ORA is strictly enforcing these deadlines and is no longer accepting late reconciliations and expenses after the deadlines. If a department does not submit the necessary reconciliations or forms to ORA by the deadline, ORA will proceed to submit financial reports and invoices to the agency based on ORA’s independent reconciliation and ledger expenditures as of the date of the deadline. ORA will also remove from the grant any expenditures that it deems unallowed during its review and reconciliation of the grant expenditures.
If your department is unable meet a deadline for reasons beyond its control, please request an exception from ORA’s Executive Director of Post Award, Lionel Vera, or ORA’s AVP, Laura Kozma, with reasonable time ahead of the deadline. ORA will work with departments as much as possible to meet these deadlines, and it will consider granting exceptions for circumstances beyond the department’s control. Please note that no other individuals are authorized to grant exceptions.
Please reach out to ORA if you have any questions or concerns, and let ORA know if there is anything it can do to help your department meet these deadlines. By consistently meeting these deadlines and nurturing a culture of collaboration, ORA aims to further improve compliance with agency deadlines, mitigate financial risks consequent to late submissions, and improve the quality and promptness of its research administration services to our UM community.
