Faculty members are sometimes awarded internal EVPR funding either as cost share or institutional support for a proposed project. The funds can be awarded in response to a sponsor’s requirement for mandatory cost share, or through a number of programs and funding vehicles including, but not limited to, seed grants, conference support, one-off appeals for support, and early investigator federal award recognition supplements.[GS1]
The following process details the procedure for obtaining EVPR funding, once funding has been approved.
Step 1: Establish the EVPR Commitment in GT-TRACS (Formal Approval of Funding)
Upon verbal agreement/email agreement or notification of an EVPR award, the faculty member should work with their unit financial manager to formalize the funding commitment in GT-TRACS.
The unit financial manager should enter the commitment as follows:
Create a GT-TRACS package.
If the package is for mandatory or (rarely) voluntary cost-share that must be tracked, use the Cost Share Package Type.
If the package is for institutional support, use the “Other” Package Type, and the Institutional Support Sub Package Type.
Enter the financial commitments for all relevant units: schools, colleges, IRIs, EVPR, etc. into GT-TRACS. Each commitment should have only one GT-TRACS record, even if multiple units are involved in the project.
If any of the EVPR-awarded funds have been approved to be issued as GTRC funds (food or entertainment eligible), document the approved amount on the Package Info tab, under comments.
Attach the following documentation:
RFP
Budget
Cost Share Form or Institutional Support Form, as appropriate
Notice of Award, if applicable
Correspondence related to the award that may have taken place prior to the GT-TRACS entry
Submit in GT-TRACS for approval by all contributing units.
Please Note: Fringe, F&A costs, and tuition must be paid at an Institutional level. Therefore, they should be included on the Cost Share or Institutional Support form but deducted from the totals ultimately entered on the “Commitments” tab in GT-TRACS as they are not hard-cash commitments for any unit.
Once all units have approved their commitments in GT-TRACS, the faculty member should work with their financial manager to request funding allocations as necessary.
Step 2: Request Funding Allocation (Request Fund Transfer to Unit Budget)
Please note: Units differ in how their financial managers handle funding allocation requests. Once funds are allocated from the EVPR budget to the unit, they cannot be returned. The unit becomes responsible for managing the funds, even if there is a remaining balance at the end of the fiscal year. Please only request the amount that is needed and will be expended in the fiscal year in which the allocation is requested. Allocation requests can be submitted as often as needed. It is much easier to carry forward an EVPR commitment to a unit for the next fiscal year than it is for a unit to carry forward unspent funding.
The unit financial manager should request funding allocations as follows:
Prior to making the initial funding allocation request, the unit financial manager must return to the GT-TRACS package, confirm full approval, and change the Status of the package to “Awarded” on the package info tab.
The financial manager then enters the allocation request against each contributing unit, under the appropriate budget categories, using the Add/Request Allocation button.
If the EVPR has approved the use of GTRC funds[GS2] (for food, entertainment, etc.) as a portion of the award and the faculty member wishes to request an allocation from these funds, the financial manager must specify the amount of GTRC funding requested in the comment box for the allocation.
The financial manager, for each unit under which an allocation has been requested, must approve their respective unit allocations.
Upon EVPR financial team allocation approval, the funds will be transferred as follows:
State funds will be transferred via the next monthly budget amendment. (The unit financial administrator is responsible for requesting the worktag for all state funds.)
GTRC funding will be transferred via an EVPR-requested worktag in Workday.
Please Note: The last day of the previous month is the last day to request transfers for the upcoming budget amendment (BA). For example: July 31st is the deadline for the August BA. The August BA does not post until month-end close (shows up in September). There is always at least a month between the day funds are requested and the day they show on the Workday ledger.
Step 3: Accept the Transfer of Funds (Gain Access to Expend Funds)
Once the awarded funds have been allocated, the unit financial manager must accept the funds, as follows:
State fund transfers must be approved in oneBudget.
GTRC fund transfers will automatically be available under the EVPR-created worktag in Workday.
The unit financial manager should be tracking fund expenditures using the Expense Budgetary Balance Report (EBBR) in accordance with unit policies and procedures.