Before accepting an award on behalf of the University, the Harvard Chan School SPA Office reviews all terms and conditions, regardless of the sponsor, and is responsible for negotiating appropriate remedies. The business process below outlines the steps for notifying SPA that an award notice has been received from a sponsor and is ready for SPA review.
Award Receipt Business Process
- Originally Issued: April 29, 2011
- Last Revised: January 15, 2015
- Responsible Office: Harvard Chan School SPA Office
- PDF version of the Award Receipt Business Process
Reason for the Business Process
An established business process around award receipt ensures that all award notices are received by one central contact - nga@hsph.harvard.edu – and, therefore, are disseminated and uploaded into GMAS in a consistent and timely manner. The risks of not adhering to this process include lost award notices and delay in account set-up. To further minimize delays, please use nga@hsph.harvard.edu for all institutional contact information.
Standards of Service
Any awards received must be forwarded to NGA the same day as received, or if received late in the day, forwarded early the next day. Awards should be logged into GMAS and forwarded to responsible parties the same day or early the next day if received late. Initial review of award for errors and problematic issues should occur within two business days of receipt, in order to be resolved promptly. This time frame does not include negotiation which may take longer.
Process Steps
|
Step |
Role |
Task/Activity |
|
1a |
OPS |
Receives award notice in nga@hsph.harvard.edu e-mail account. |
|
1b |
Any |
Receives award notice in e-mail. Forwards to nga@hsph.harvard.edu. |
|
1c |
Non-SPA |
Receives award notice via hard copy. Scans and e-mails award notice to nga@hsph.harvard.edu. |
|
1d |
SPA |
Receives award notice via hard copy. Gives to Ops staff assigned to monitor NGA e-mail account. Ops staff assigned to monitor NGA e-mail account scans awards notice. |
|
2 |
OPS |
E-mails award to PI, GM, SRA, AD and gmasdoc@camail.harvard.edu, using sample language (see below) as guide. |
|
3 |
OPS |
Logs notice into GMAS and moves e-mail from clipboard to notice repository (an e-mail will be sent from GMAS notifying SRA and AD). |
|
4a |
SRA
|
Reviews award and determines if there are questions or concerns. Resolves. Makes sure Approvals are up to date in GMAS. |
|
4b |
PI/GM |
Reviews award and determines if there are questions or concerns. Contacts SRA to resolve. Sends any outstanding information (account setup, etc.) to SRA. |
|
5 |
SRA/OPS |
Proceeds to Award Setup Business Process. |
Sample language for unilateral review and approval (R&A) e-mail
Subject line: [PI Last Name], [Sponsor Name], [Award Number] received.
We are pleased to forward this award to your office for review and comment. Please contact your SPA representative immediately if you have any questions, concerns or changes. We are simultaneously conducting a review and will contact you if more information or documentation is needed. If the award or agreement is deemed standard, and we do not hear from you within 2 business days, we will proceed with award setup or negotiation.
Your SPA representative, [SRA Name], may be reached at [telephone] or [e-mail address].
Sincerely,
Sponsored Programs Administration