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Pre-Award Project (Ledger 5) Request Process

The purpose of this communication is to provide guidance to College of Natural Resources (CNR) faculty about the steps to be followed in order to request a Pre-Award account.

Occasionally it may be necessary to establish a project ID (5-account number) before a sponsored agreement is finalized by NCSU.  When assured that a sponsored agreement is reasonably expected to materialize, NCSU allows a Pre-Award project number to be established so that the Principal Investigator (PI) can begin the process of recruiting project staff, ordering equipment and supplies, and undertake other similar activities to prepare for the start of the project.

It is important to note that in the event the University is unable to successfully negotiate and execute an agreement, the Department/Unit will bear sole financial responsibility for costs incurred on the Pre-award account.

 For this reason, and to limit financial risk to the Department, College, and University, it is CNR policy to limit Pre-Award requests to 25% of the Year 01 budget amount.

CNR Pre-Award Account Request process

PI Responsibilities

  1. Initiate the Pre-Award request via email, including the following:
  • Relevant e-mail or other correspondence received from the sponsor indicating that funding is expected
  • Budget submitted to the sponsor
  • Department Head approval and acknowledgment of financial risk (can be done via email)
  1. Forward request to preaward_cnr@ncsu.edu who will coordinate the request with SPARCS

College Research Office Responsibilities

  1. Review request for completeness and accuracy
  2. Identify the pending project in RADAR and from the “Proposal” section of the project select the “Request a Preaward Account” function
  3. Complete the fields for contact phone number, the spending cap, and the OUC of the unit responsible for un-reimbursed expenditures
  4. Upload all correspondence received from PI indicating funding is forthcoming
  5. Supply the e-mail addresses of all those you wish to notify including the principal investigator, the CNR research office and the departmental accountant.
  6. Submit request to SPARCS and cc faculty member making the request

Sponsored Programs (SPARCS) Office Responsibilities

  1. Review the pre-award request form and correspondence for completeness and accuracy.
  2. If documentation and level of financial risk to NCSU is acceptable, SPARCS will process the pre-award action in RADAR and forward the necessary package to Contracts & Grants for review and account set up.

Please allow up to 5 business days after SPARCS approval for account set up.