Managing Your Award

Financial Management

Cameron Butler manages all post-award financial activities and will provide you with a fund number for your award. Please contact him to discuss financial matters related to your award. 

Cameron Butler

Controller

Phone: 616.395.7810
Fax: 616.395.7140
Email: butler@hope.edu
 

Need help with managing your award? 

The Office of Sponsored Research and Programs (OSRP) and Business Services provides support to Principal Investigators/Project Directors in managing your sponsored programs. 

Do you need assistance with:

Annual and Final Project Reports?

Contact the Office of Sponsored Research and Programs (sponsoredresearch@hope.edu). 

OSRP can assist you with proofing annual and final project reports prior to submission to the sponsor. In some cases, sponsors request specific information regarding time and effort performed on the project. Requesting a review by OSRP prior to submission can alleviate the potential for errors during the reporting process. 

Changes in your Project Budget?

Contact the Office of Sponsored Research and Programs (sponsoredresearch@hope.edu).  

OSRP provides support in managing changes in your project budget.  In some cases, project budget modifications will require the prior approval of the sponsor before implementation. 

To initiate this process, please complete a Budget Modification Request Form and send it to the Office of Sponsored Research and Programs (sponsoredresearch@hope.edu). 

Changes in your Project Plan?

Contact the Office of Sponsored Research and Programs (sponsoredresearch@hope.edu). 

OSRP can assist you if your original project scope has changed. Sponsors typically require additional details, such as a revised work plan and project budget, upon notification of a change in the original project scope of work.  

Completing Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) Training?

Contact your Department Chair. 

Two federal agencies — the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health — require Hope College to provide training to undergraduate students engaged in funded research projects on the responsible and ethical conduct of research (RCR). Both agencies consider RCR training critical to the preparation of future scientists and engineers.  

RCR training is handled on a department-by-department basis at Hope College. The RCR plans for various departments are available through the Provost's Office.

Completing Time and Effort Reporting?

Contact the Office of Sponsored Research and Programs (sponsoredresearch@hope.edu). 

Faculty and staff involved in sponsored programs are required to report and certify the time spent on funded projects. This certification confirms to the sponsor that the personnel have worked the stated amount of time on their project, fulfilling a condition of the award.  

The Office of Sponsored Research and Programs will work with investigators to complete their Time and Effort Reports. If you have questions related to the Time and Effort Reporting process or if your sponsor has requested a copy of your Time and Effort Report, please contact the Office of Sponsored Research and Programs (sponsoredresearch@hope.edu).  

Completing your Financial Conflict of Interest Reporting?

Contact the Office of Sponsored Research and Programs (sponsoredresearch@hope.edu). 

Principal investigators seeking federal funds will be required to disclose their financial conflicts of interest annually in accordance with Hope College's Financial Conflict of Interest Policy and federal regulations. Disclosures will occur during the proposal preparation and submission process, the award acceptance process and/or during the annual notification of incremental funding (for multi-year projects). Investigators must disclose at least annually, even if there are no changes to their financial conflicts of interest. 

However, a principal investigator must disclose a new financial conflict of interest when it occurs — even if it is outside the annual reporting cycle. Principal investigators must complete an Annual Financial Conflict of Interest Form anytime they have a new financial conflict of interest to disclose.  

Determining if an Expense is Allowable, Reasonable, and Allocable to your Project?

Contact Cameron Butler, Controller (butler@hope.edu).

All expenses charged to sponsored programs must be allowable, reasonable, and allocable:

• Allowable: All costs must be reasonable and necessary for the performance of the sponsored program, be consistent with Hope College's policies and procedures and whether the project is federal or non-federal, be afforded consistent treatment, and be incurred during the approved budget period.  
• Reasonable: A cost is considered reasonable if, in its nature and amount, does not exceed that which would be incurred by a prudent person at the time the cost is incurred. Costs should be generally recognized as reasonable and necessary for the performance of the sponsored program.
• Allocable: Costs must be allocable to a particular sponsored program if the goods or services are chargeable or assignable to that sponsored program in accordance with the benefits received. Benefits to both a sponsored program and other work at Hope College must be proportionally charged that may be estimated using reasonable methods. 

If you have a question as to whether your expense satisfies all three requirements, please contact Cameron Butler (butler@hope.edu). 

If an expense is not allowable, reasonable, or allocable to your sponsored program, the expense must be transferred off your fund code. Options for transfers include:

• Using a PI's discretionary fund
• Using a PI's Professional Development Fund
• Using a PI's Indirect Cost Return fund
• Using a department or division's non-sponsored program fund code
• Reimbursing the fund with personal funds

Please contact Cameron Butler (butler@hope.edu) to discuss which option is the best for the transfer — it may depend on the expense, when it was incurred, and whether it is eligible for reimbursement from a non-sponsored program fund code.

Determining Requirements under Export Control Regulations?

Contact the Office of Sponsored Research and Programs (sponsoredresearch@hope.edu). 

Federal law regulates the export of certain technologies, software and hardware to parties located outside of the United States. These restrictions typically relate to items that are related to national security, economic competitiveness, foreign policies and the creation of weapons of mass destruction. Export controls govern transactions regardless of source of funding — projects funded by internal or external funds are governed by these regulations. 

There are three sets of federal agencies and regulations governing these transactions:

• The Department of State, through the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) 
• Department of Commerce, through the Export Administration Regulations (EAR)
• Department of Treasury, through the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) 

Export control regulations are an institutional compliance issue, in that Hope College must comply with these regulations through the conduct of its business (for example, by issuing a subaward to a sanctioned party). However, researchers may also have personal liabilities as a result of their conduct associated with export control regulations (for example, bringing sensitive electronic files on a laptop to a foreign country).    

Establishing and Managing Subawards?

Contact the Office of Sponsored Research and Programs (sponsoredresearch@hope.edu). 

Participation of another institution/organization in the design and conduct of research are typically handled through subawards, an agreement between the prime award recipient and the subrecipient to carry out a portion of the project.  

Principal investigators with subawards should contact the Office of Sponsored Research and Programs (sponsoredresearch@hope.edu), if they encounter any issues with subrecipients carrying out their scope of work. 

Navigating Hope College's Expense and Resource Stewardship Policy?

Contact Cameron Butler, Controller (butler@hope.edu).

The financial management of sponsored programs is subject to the Hope College Expense and Resource Stewardship Policy. In the event of conflicting requirements, the more restrictive requirement would apply. 

Reporting Fraud or Abuse through the Whistleblower Policy?

Contact Human Resources (hr@hope.edu).

As a recipient of federal funds, Hope College has a Whistleblower Policy to alert institutional officials of allegations of misconduct or violations of federal and state laws and regulations, sponsor regulations and institutional policies. While institutional processes and safeguards are intended to prevent such abuses, Hope College relies on its employees to report potential fraud and abuse.  

To initiate the process, visit the Office of Human Resources in the Anderson-Werkman Center.  

Reporting Intellectual Property Resulting from your Project?

Contact the Office of Sponsored Research and Programs (sponsoredresearch@hope.edu). 

Inventions and patents arising from externally-funded sponsored projects may have specific ownership and/or reporting requirements in accordance with federal law, sponsor policy and the Hope College Copyright and Intellectual Property Policy.

Faculty and staff seeking to report an invention should utilize the Hope College Invention Disclosure Form. Please note that you must be logged into your Hope College email account in order to access the form. Once complete, a representative of OSRP will contact you to confirm receipt and discuss next steps.

Please contact the Office of Sponsored Research and Programs (sponsoredresearch@hope.edu), if you have questions related to intellectual property reporting on externally-sponsored research.  

Reporting Research Misconduct?

Contact the Office of Sponsored Research and Programs (sponsoredresearch@hope.edu). 

Hope College expects all faculty, staff and students to maintain the highest standards of conduct in pursuing research activities. As a result, Hope College has established a Research Misconduct Policy to identify the general types of research misconduct and to establish procedures for handling research misconduct claims.

Additionally, sponsors may have additional research misconduct terms and conditions within their awards. Please review your award terms and conditions for sponsor-specific award terms and conditions.

Submitting Research with Human Subjects and Animals Study Protocols?

For research with human subjects, contact Brian Rider (rider@hope.edu), Chair of the Hope College Human Subject Review Board.

For research with animals, please contact Thomas Groves (groves@hope.edu), Chair of the Hope College Animal Care and Use Committee. 

Projects which involve research with human subjects and animals will require documentation from the appropriate institutional committee (Human Subjects Review Board or Animal Care and Use Committee) that the protocol associated with the project has been reviewed and approved. In addition, some sponsors will also require that we provide the approval letter prior to issuance of an award.  

For projects involving delayed onset studies, please contact the Office of Sponsored Research and Programs (sponsoredresearch@hope.edu), to discuss how to proceed with award acceptance and account set-up. OSRP will also follow-up with principal investigators to obtain renewal documents for research protocols during active research projects. 

Understanding the Public Access Requirements of your Award?

Contact the Office of Sponsored Research and Programs (sponsoredresearch@hope.edu). 

Several sponsors require investigators to comply with specific public access requirements, including the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health. Additionally, Data Management Plans submitted during the proposal phase also may dictate additional access requirements for your award. 

During award acceptance, the Office of Sponsored Research and Programs will carefully review your award documents to ensure you understand the terms and conditions of your award, including public access requirements. If you have questions regarding public access requirements, please contact the Office of Sponsored Research and Programs (sponsoredresearch@hope.edu) to discuss.