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Office of Sponsored Awards Management

Roles & Responsibilities

All proposals submitted on behalf of the University of South Carolina or South Carolina Research Foundation must comply with the requirements of the sponsoring agency, the university and government regulations.  USC requires internal approval for proposals, supplemental funding, progress reports with budgets, pre-proposals with budgets or other sponsored projects through USCeRA, the university’s electronic research administration system.  

The Office of Sponsored Awards Management (SAM) is the central administrative office responsible for submitting proposals and accepting awards on behalf of USC or SCRF.  Awards are made to the institute; therefore, PI’s and administrative staff are not permitted to accept awards, negotiate, or execute contracts.  SAM is committed to assuring the timely submission of complete and accurate proposals, as well as ensuring the terms and conditions related to any award is acceptable.

Roles and Responsibilities Matrix

Each major step in the sponsored award life cycle is listed on a separate line in the left-most column of the matrix. The cells in the second through fifth columns show responsibility for each step, by role:

  • Column 2: The Office of Sponsored Awards Management (SAM)
  • Column 3: Principal Investigator (PI)
  • Column 4: The Division/Unit Administrator (the business manager or other research administrator residing in a department, college, or other academic unit)

In each column, letters are used to indicate the responsibility level for each role:

  • P indicates a Primary Responsibility: The responsibility for a step resides primarily with the role denoted with a P.
  • S indicates a Supporting Responsibility: When an S appears, it denotes supporting or secondary responsibility for a given step.
  • G indicates a Guidance Responsibility: When G appears in a cell, the corresponding role/column will provide guidance and advice for the step, as needed.


Pre-Award Activities

Activity/Step SAM PI Division/Unit Administrator Notes
Develop proposal documentation and budget G P S  
Prepare proposal package using sponsor guidelines and forms G P S  
Create and submit proposal through USCeRA for administrative review and approval   P S  USCeRA submission should include all required documentation upladed appropriately. SAM must receive departmentally approved proposals at least 3 business days before they are due to funding agency.
Review proposal package to ensure compliance with sponsor guidelines and UofSC policies  P S  S  
Submit final, approved proposal to funding agency P S   If electronic proposal, SAM approves and submits in sponsor's e-submission system. If hard copy requiring signature, SAM will return signed proposal for submission to sponsor.

 

Office of Sponsored Awards Management

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