Project Management Guidelines

(for omnibus or program development projects; revised April 2004)

The policies, rules and regulations that follow have been established either by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) or by Oregon State University (OSU). In some cases, you will see policies attributed to Oregon Sea Grant, but even those reflect our need to adhere to NOAA and OSU requirements. The point is that you be aware of and follow these conditions. They are not optional.

If you have questions about what any of them mean to you, please call Oregon Sea Grant's Administrative Offices at 541-737-2714. We can either answer your questions ourselves or direct you to the person who can. For more specific contact information, see below.

Transferring Dollars Among Categories

Please note that budget changes are sometimes granted, but it is necessary for the PI to make a formal written request (an email will suffice) and provide clear justifications for the request. Restrictions imposed by NOAA may require prior approval from NOAA as well, so please allow sufficient time for review and response.

Negative Balances

If expenditure creates a negative balance in a budget category, please discuss it immediately with Oregon Sea Grant Fiscal Manager Evelyn Paret (541-737-3209). It is especially important to keep track of your indirect cost balance. You cannot spend in the direct cost categories without matching indirect dollars.

International Travel and Fly America restrictions

All international travel must either be included in your approved proposal budget, or must be approved by Sea Grant before you make travel arrangements. In the latter case, you will need to contact the Sea Grant office to discuss the object of the trip and submit the international travel request form to Sea Grant, who will then forward the form to the appropriate Business Office. Please contact your department accountant or Oregon Sea Grant for Fly America policies and procedures.

Publication Costs

If you included funds for support of project publications those funds will be transferred to Oregon Sea Grant Communications and can be accessed through their office (737-2716) as needed. The funds are still available to you. The reason for the transfer is to allow you to have access to publication funds even after the termination of your project. If you did not include funds for publications (e.g., page charges) we can probably still help you with certain costs for publishing the results of this or other Sea Grant supported projects. Get in touch with us about it when the time comes.

Matching Funds

If you included matching funds in your proposed budget you should maintain in your official records an accounting for the period of your project. And, please remember that matching funds must be from non-federal sources. We will monitor matching costs of OSU projects via FIS.

Project Budget for Second and Succeeding Award Periods

Although Oregon Sea Grant awards multi-year projects, our funds arrive annually. NOAA requires succeeding award periods to submit their requests for funds a minimum of 90 days prior to the new project period. Therefore, about four months prior to the March 1 beginning of the new project year we will ask you for a budget and technical update on your project. At that time you will be able to make certain changes in the budget that you originally proposed. We will send more detailed instructions when the time comes to apply for the next year=s funding.

Allowable Costs

There are federal restrictions on how these grant funds can be used. If you have questions about what are allowable costs, please contact us, check the OSU Research Office web site, or contact the Contracts Office of your institution.

Allowable Changes in the Involvement of Project Personnel

Major changes in personnel structure or project direction must be approved in advance by Oregon Sea Grant, and by NOAA in some instances. Items requiring approval include a change or relocation of principal investigator; sabbatical leaves for senior personnel, substitution of graduate assistants with research associates, and so forth.

Allowable Changes in Project Methodology or Direction

We realize that you are unlikely to be able to conduct the funded research exactly as proposed. However, any major changes in the scope, objectives, approach or methodology for any element of the project also require prior approval. Please allow at least 45 days for adequate discussion and Oregon Sea Grant/NOAA approval before you would need to implement a change. If you are not sure whether or not what you have in mind constitutes a "major" change just call or email Bob Malouf and ask.

Allowable Changes in Project End Date

If necessary, PI's may request a no-cost extension (NCE) of a maximum of one year. NCEs must be requested in writing (mail, fax, or email) at least 45 days prior to the project end date. An annual or status report should be submitted with the request. The primary considerations for the request are the justification for the extension and the proposed use and allocation of unexpended funds.

Project Reporting

Each project is required to submit a technical completion report within 60 days of the project's end date. In addition, there are requests for interim progress reports in a couple of instances. For projects two years or longer in length, you need to submit a brief progress update when requesting your succeeding year's budget. More in-depth annual reports are sought soon after the end of a project year. We will remind you when the various reports are due, and at that time will give you further detail about what is required.

Please note that these reports are required by NOAA, but Oregon Sea Grant has the responsibility of obtaining reports from PIs and submitting them to NOAA. Both Oregon Sea Grant and the individual PIs are evaluated on the basis of productivity, which in turn affects future funding. Without your reports we have little to show for having invested NOAA funds in your project. The point is that you need to do these reports. If you have a problem getting them done let us know. In any case do not just ignore them.

Additional information:

• Questions about project management? Contact us for the answers.
• Things you'll need to know: Publishing Sea Grant-sponsored work
  Available in .pdf or html format.
• Our Faculty and Staff resource pages include other links researchers may find useful