Pre- and post-award services at Case Western Reserve University are supported by two offices located within the Office of Research Administration (ORA):
- The Office of Pre-Award Services and Agreements (PASA), and
- The Office of Post-Award Services and Financial Compliance (PASC).
Together, PASA and PASC serve as a central resource for the coordination and management of externally funded research, sponsored projects and other agreements that facilitate research activities.
Part of the Office of Research and Technology Management (ORTM), PASA and PASC are comprehensive in scope and mission, handling both pre-award and post-award services. The offices have primary responsibility for assuring Case Western Reserve University's financial compliance with the regulations of a range of funding agencies throughout the lifecycle of a research project.
Pre-Award Services and Agreements
The Office of Pre-Award Services and Agreements (PASA) is dedicated to supporting the proposal development and submission activities of CWRU's research faculty and supports the process throughout the research lifecycle.
Pre-award specialists are assigned to each CWRU school or department to serve as a primary point-of-contact and to help facilitate the overall grant process while balancing the need for institutional and sponsor regulatory compliance. We are here to help you in the following areas:
- Proposal approval and review: Pre-award staff confirm the proposal has received all necessary internal approvals. Staff will review the proposal to ensure it meets sponsor and institutional technical guidelines and requirements, and conforms to all applicable regulations. Learn more about proposal approval and review.
- Proposal authorization: Pre-award staff serve as authorized institutional officials on behalf of the university. They must sign, certify and submit proposal applications—and other related proposal documents—to sponsors. Read more about proposal authorization.
- Award negotiation, acceptance and set-up: PASA reviews and negotiates terms and conditions prior to the acceptance and set-up of award accounts. Learn about the steps for award acceptance and setup.
- Establish, amend, and execute outgoing subawards: Technical preparation of subaward agreements between CWRU and subrecipient institutions.
- Review and submission of progress reports: PASA reviews and submits progress reports to ensure they are complete and aligned with sponsor requirements.
- Communicate with sponsors: PASA reviews and submits changes in awards that require sponsor approval, such as key personnel, principal investigator and budget changes.
- Review and execute non-financial agreements: ORTM is also charged with the review and execution of certain research-related non-financial agreements such as Data Use Agreements (DUAs), Material Transfer Agreements (MTAs), and certain Non-Disclosure Agreements. See how the DUA/MTA Unit of PASA can help with your agreements.
Get in Touch
Please review the Contract Responsibility Chart for the appropriate point-of-contact.
Please contact the person listed for your identified cohort for proposal submissions (as early as possible) for questions. Depending on deadline volume, you may be transferred to another pre-award administrator, but the person below should be your first point-of-contact.
Post-Award Services and Financial Compliance
The Post-Award Services and Financial Compliance (PASC) unit of the Office of Research Administration in ORTM supports the research mission of the university by providing customer service and support to the research community for compliance services and post-award activities related to grants, contracts and other types of sponsored projects. PASC is committed to provide timely, accurate, and courteous assistance to our faculty, staff, external sponsors and other university personnel.
After the university receives and executes a sponsored award, our post-award services unit will keep principal investigators and staff up to date and ensure compliance with guidelines and regulations. PASC performs monthly financial reviews, provides reports, and oversees any financial adjustments, corrections, or transfers. The post-award services unit is also responsible for invoicing and collections to ensure sponsored project revenue is collected and allocated to the appropriate awards. We can also meet with faculty and administrative staff to answer questions and assist in financial planning and forecasting.
Post-award specialists within PASC are assigned to each CWRU school/department to serve as a primary point-of-contact and to help facilitate the overall grant management process while balancing the need for institutional and sponsor regulatory compliance. We are here to help you in the following areas:
Financial Compliance
Our Financial Compliance Team manages institutional audits, project compliance and individual employees’ compliance.
This includes:
- Subrecipient monitoring
- Effort reporting
- Expense monitoring
- Monitoring of key personnel restrictions
- Project non-financial closeouts
- Adding sponsors
- Cash advances
- Coordinating and responding to audit requests including CWRU’s single audit
- FFATA (Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act) Reporting
- Approving wire transfers
- Approving advance accounts
Sponsored Projects Accounting (SPA)
The post-award Sponsored Projects Accounting (SPA) team members are assigned specific departments to assist in managing the financial aspect of your awards. This includes:
- Invoicing of prime and flow through sponsors
- Account monitoring
- Financial reporting
- Project financial close-outs/Federal Financial Report (FFRs)
- Salary and non-salary adjustment approvals
- Review of late cost transfers
Cash Management Team
Cash Management (CM) division of the Office of Research Administration is responsible for timely and accurate execution of cash in accordance with university internal controls, federal, state, local, funder’s policies, procedures, and deadlines, as well as GAAP accounting standards. Responsibilities includes:
- Management of sponsored project revenue
- Preparing and submitting letter of credit (LOC) cash drawdowns
- Check deposits for sponsored projects
- Reconciling payments received
- Ensuring timely receipt of funds owed to the university
- Monthly analysis of sponsored project revenue and expenses
Get in Touch
Each department has a dedicated post-award grants accountant. To find your who works with your department, review the post-award department assignments.