The following questions were submitted during the March 9 award verification webinar, Considerations for Adapting the Award Verification Tool to Local Business Practices. For those who were unable to attend the live session, review presentation materials (PDF) and a session recording via Microsoft Stream (UCSF login required).
If you have additional questions, email [email protected].
Roles and Access
If the RSA can view all data does that mean they can review the project and the award?
Award and project information can be viewed by all users granted access to the Award Verification Tool. In the Award Verification Tool, the term "review" specifically refers to the action PIs and Program Managers can take to record their completion of a formal review step. RSAs do not have the ability to record a formal review. Refer to the Award Verification Tool User Guides for additional details.
Who will be granted the Viewer role in the Award Verification Tool?
All MyReports users who are granted the Financial reporting role will have access to view all data in the Award Verification Tool. Read more on the About Award Verification page.
Are we able to assign Program Managers by Dept. ID instead of per project?
Program Managers can only be assigned in RAS at the award level. See the job aid, Adding a Program Manager to an Award in the Research Administration System (RAS).
Will Effort Reporting Coordinators be given the Viewer role in the Award Verification Tool?
Employees assigned the Effort Reporting Coordinator role for the previous Effort Reporting System will only have access to the Award Verification Tool if they have one of the following:
- Assignments in the Research Administration System (RAS): Award PI, Project PI, Multi-PI, Program Manager or RSA
- MyReports Financial reporting role
Read more on the About Award Verification page.
Award Verification Procedure and Timing
Will the tool select certain awards each quarter that need verification or do we need to verify each award each quarter?
Each active sponsored award must be verified at least quarterly (every three months). Awards that have ended will be flagged for verification if expense activity is posted to the award since the last time verification was completed. The Quarterly Award Verification Due and Final Verification Pending sections at the top of the Award Verification dashboard will alert you to all sponsored awards where verification is due.
Do we only need to use the Award Verification tool quarterly and not monthly?
Research teams may decide to verify all awards in the same month each quarter or to spread out verification activities by verifying a subset of awards each month. The minimum requirement is that each sponsored award is verified at least quarterly (every three months).
Will June closing data be available in time for July verification, or will the verification deadline be extended if an award is on a quarterly cycle ending in June?
Further information about verification timing during year-end activities will be provided closer to fiscal year-end.
Will PIs with privately funded awards (and no federal awards) also use the new Award Verification Tool?
Yes. All PIs designated as the Award Owner (Award PI) of any sponsored award will be required to verify their awards at least quarterly.
Will ZSFG Affiliation Agreements under fund 4200 required to be verified using the Award Verification Tool?
Yes, every sponsored award will require at a minimum award verification at least quarterly (every 3 months).
Will award verification be required for non-Federal Graduate Student extramural fellowship awards where the student is the PI?
Yes. Anyone designated as the Award Owner (Award PI) of any sponsored award within the Research Administration System (RAS) will be required to verify their awards at least quarterly. This includes fellows of all levels who are considered the recipient of a sponsored award and were subsequently identified as the PI.
People are saying that the Award Verification Tool will not be useful for non-sponsored awards. Why?
The main purpose of the Award Verification tool is for Award PIs to verify sponsored awards. While there is no system requirement to take action, non-sponsored data is provided so a PI can evaluate their entire portfolio of funds. PIs have the option to formally record their review of each non-sponsored project using the Review feature.
General Ledger Verification
Will the new award verification procedure replace General Ledger verification?
No. General Ledger verification and award verification are separate key controls that complement each other. The General Ledger Verification Tool takes a risk-based approach to identify individual transactions for verification based on defined business rules. General Ledger verification should be completed prior to award verification by the Award PI. PIs can confirm the results of General Ledger verification in the Award Verification Tool prior to completing award verification.
Is it possible to select specific projects in the General Ledger Verification Tool when verifying transactions?
Yes. The General Ledger Verification Tool provides a separate tab to view transactions by Award, Project, or PI. See the job aid, Using the General Ledger (GL) Verification Tool for Verifiers, for details.
Reports
Can the Award Verification system be used to view detailed transactions instead of running the Transaction Detail report in MyReports?
Yes. The Award Verification Tool includes the ability to launch the MyReports Transaction Detail Report with simplified parameters to make it easy for users to analyze transaction details. Users can also launch the Payroll Detail by Month Report. Reports will run in a separate browser tab/window. In order to run a report, users must also have access to MyReports.
Is there a plan to create a report that one can run by an RSA’s portfolio?
The Award Verification dashboard is designed to be viewed for a single PI or Program Manager. RSAs can run the Verification Status Report to see the verification status for all awards within their assigned PIs' portfolios. The report expands to display all projects under each award. By clicking an award or project name, you can access additional details for further review.
To prepare for go-live, is there a report that departments can run that lists all active awards, related PIs, RSAs and Program Managers?
The Research Administration System (RAS) offers several reports and queries to identify awards and projects. Read more on the Award Verification Get Ready page.
Additional Resources
Is there a webinar or additional resources specifically for PIs?
The award verification webinar series is appropriate for all audiences, including Principal Investigators. This series is designed to help with the transition to the new procedure and to complement training on the use of the Award Verification Tool. As PIs schedules may not permit joining the live webinars, session recordings are available on the Award Verification page of the Controller's Office website. Also available are training materials tailored to how PIs will use the Award Verification Tool.
What support options will be available during go-live?
The Contracts and Grants Accounting unit will support the new award verification procedure and use of the Award Verification Tool. Questions directed to [email protected] will generate a ServiceNow ticket for support. Further support options will be shared at go-live.