Technical Reports and Other Deliverables

Delinquent reporting can negatively impact payment on individual awards, future funding for the entire University, and can damage the University's reputation. This policy establishes guiding principles to assist with the timely submission of quality technical reports and other deliverables as required by sponsored agreements.

Principal Investigators (PI’s) on sponsored projects are responsible for the management and conduct of sponsored activities. As part of that responsibility, PIs must understand and comply with the Technical Reporting requirements associated with their awards. The PI is responsible for submitting all Technical Reports and/or other deliverables as specified by the sponsor within the timeframe identified in the sponsored agreement.

To facilitate compliance with Technical Reporting and other deliverable requirements, and remedy delinquent submissions, the Office of Contracts and Grants (OCG) subscribes to the following guiding principles:

• OCG will send an email reminder from its Grant Management system at least 15 days before the due date of the report. This email is in addition to the individual sponsor’s email reminder sent to the PIs.
  
  
• Periodically, OCG personnel will inventory available online sponsor systems to ascertain whether overdue Technical Reports exist. If OCG identifies overdue Technical Reports and/or deliverables, OCG will contact the PI and steps will be taken to resolve the delinquency before the sponsor takes punitive action to resolve the matter.
  
  
• If an invoice has been submitted and not paid because of a delinquent Technical Report and/or deliverable, the PI will be notified by email, and the Technical Report and/or deliverable must be submitted for payment to be made. The PI must provide OCG with evidence of timely submission should the information become necessary for collections efforts.
  
  
• If a PI cannot submit a Technical Report by a required due date, s/he should contact the sponsor, before the due date, and copy OCG, requesting an extension. If the PI provides suitable justification, OCG can also contact the sponsor to request an extension on the PIs behalf.
  
  
• In cases where the sponsor rejects the report or deliverable and the PI is not able to resolve the matter by revising and resubmitting the information, the issue should be escalated immediately to the Dean, VP for Research, and an OCG Director for immediate attention.
  
  
• OCG does not require copies of the Technical Report but does request a copy of the transmittal email, dated face page of the Report, or confirmation from the sponsor’s online system as evidence that the report or deliverable is submitted.

Reporting Requirement

Acceptable reports must be timely and answer all of the questions requested by the sponsor. In addition to reporting the research question studied, the methods used to answer the research question, the findings, the conclusions, and providing recommendations, Federal sponsors, require the reporting of the following items:

• List of publications related to the project that acknowledge the sponsor’s contribution
  
  
• The effort of each person paid on the project, which, when audited, corresponds to the university’s certified effort reports.
  
  
• Travel and collaborations that benefited the project, especially international travel charged to the project funds not initially budgeted upfront at the proposal stage.
  
  
• Any updates or changes to foreign components (as defined by NIH) initially reported at proposal submission or during the just-in-time stages of the award.
  
  
• For conference grants and Participant Cost, provide a list of participants and evidence of attendance, such as an attendance log.

Failure to Comply

If the Report and/or deliverable is not submitted by the due date with the information required, and the PI has been nonresponsive to email for one month, the Department Chair, Dean or Director will be copied on reminders so that the department is aware of the noncompliance and can become actively involved in resolving the problem. 

• For awards with multiple-year funding, the next increment of funding will not be released by OCG until the report is submitted and accepted.
  
  
• If the report becomes seriously delinquent (greater than three months overdue), the matter will be escalated to the VP for Research for a resolution.
  
  
• When delinquency results in non-payment for expenses related to the project, the expenses will be reallocated to the departmental Indirect Cost (IDC) cost-center.
  
  
• When the non-payment is due to industry sponsor’s unwillingness to accept the report or deliverable that is based on the outcomes from tasks outlined in the scope of work under the sponsored agreement, the PI must work with the University legal counsel to provide the evidence needed to issue a demand letter and pursue the payment in a court of law if necessary.