Subawards are initiated in one of two ways:

1. inclusion in the original proposal ,or
2. added post-award.

Inclusion of a Subaward in a Proposal

A subaward record is created when a subaward organization is added to a proposal budget.  

If the organization does not auto-fill when you begin typing the name, use the Sponsor Entity Request[NLD1]  form to have the organization added to the UTMB entity database. Similarly, if the Subaward PI does not auto-fill when you begin typing the name, use the Add New Sponsor Contact form to have the individual added to the sponsor record.

Addition of a Subaward to a Funded Award

Adding a subaward to a funded award is treated as a Modification. This is initiated through Grants & Contracts Accounting (GCA) as the award budget will require modifications to support the subaward funds. Contact the GCA analyst assigned to your department to initiate a post-award subaward.

Regardless of how the subaward is initiated, OSP requires the following documents:

• Statement of Intent to Establish a Consortium – Money FROM UTMB signed by both institutions
• Email contact for the subawardee sponsored programs office
• Categorical budget and budget justification
• Statement of Work

NOTE: These documents should be obtained and included in the proposal development record prior to submission, for subawards that are part of the original submission. They should be obtained and added to the proposal tracking record when working with GCA on a post-award subaward.   

When a Notice of Award is received for a grant that includes a subaward, the department must submit a Subaward Request using the form in the InfoEd subawards module. This initiates the subaward agreement creation process, culminating in UTMB issuing a fully executed agreement (FEA) with purchase order (PO) to the subawardee.

For step-by-step instructions on requesting and processing an outgoing subaward, see our training guides.  

• While subaward agreement preparation is underway, departments should:
• Verify the Principal Investigator (PI) is on the PS ePRO Requester Table
• Verify the Consortium is registered in Payment works with a legal address that matches their SAM.gov registration
• Verify the completion of the Signature Authorization Form for this Project
• If applicable, verify the Consortium has an updated registration in SAM

Details on these tasks can be found in the Checklist for New SubAwards

Delays

Subaward processing is targeted to take 50 or fewer business days. Strong partnerships and good communication between OSP and the department can reduce or eliminate many of these. Certain delays occur when steps outside of OSP’s control take longer than projected:

• Department/PI review and approval – targeted to require 5 business days; reminders are sent every two weeks when department does not respond.
• Subawardee review and approval - targeted to require 10 business days; reminders are sent every two weeks when department does not respond.
• Purchase order processing: targeted to require 7 business days; Research Administration will follow up regarding missing/incomplete/incorrect items:
  • Signature Authorization Form not yet completed for each project
  • Department is working with the subawardee on the Payment Works account
  • Department needs to review and approve the PO Requisition on their PeopleSoft list

Other delays occur when:

• The subrecipient needs help understanding the PO Checklist items
• A foreign sub presents translation, export control, and/or technical issues
• IP language/questions of ownership must be approved by the Office of Technology Transfer (OTT)
• An MOU is needed for vertebrate animal research for institutions (especially foreign) that do not have assurances in place
• Human Subject use language needs to be reviewed by UTMB Legal Affairs
• Consortium package is missing one or more required documents
• Compliance Approvals are pending
• Revised/Categorical Budget is needed
• OSP is consulting with other UTMB Offices

Once negations conclude and all parties agree, the agreement is fully executed (“FEA”). The contracts analyst submits a Purchase Order (PO) worksheet to the Research Administration (RA) team along with the fully executed subcontract/amendment. Once the requisition generates the PO, RA sends it to the contracts analyst. The FEA + PO is then sent to the subawardee as well as the UTMB PI and departmental research administrators. 

Grants and Contracts Accounting (GCA) is the central office for the administration of all aspects of  award management functions, such as assisting with sponsor regulations, billing and accounts receivable, financial status reports, award closeout and account reconciliation.

Subaward amendments provide additional funds associated with a new budget year on a UTMB prime award. These can be requested by the department using the Amendment Request Form.

Subaward modifications are used for any other changes to a subaward, such as additional mid-year funding, no-cost extensions, and early termination. Modification requests must be submitted by a GCA analyst.

Work with your GCA analyst to determine the needed modifications and identify the required documentation.