Assisting Principal Investigators

Grant Management Policies

Please review the following policies. If you have questions, please do not hesitate to contact the post-award team.

Residual Balances in Fixed-Price Contracts

Effective Feb. 24, 2014, the procedure for transferring remaining project balances in fixed-price contracts was incorporated into the Residual Balances in Fixed Price Contracts Policy. 
Remaining balances greater than 10 percent of the total direct award require VPR approval prior to transfer. Full policy information can be found in the Research Policy Manual (PDF).

Export Controls/International Travel

Clemson policy states that travel “outside the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Canada or Puerto Rico meets the definition of foreign travel and requires approval prior to departure.” 
U.S. Export Control regulations do apply to Canada; therefore, employees who travel to Canada must complete a foreign travel request form and receive approval from the Export Control office. 


Domestic and International Travel

Domestic and international travel requests must be submitted via Concur prior to travel arrangements being made. Concur workflow will route the travel request for the appropriate approvals.

• University travel policy and procedure information

For Fund 20 projects, be sure to provide a brief explanation of the benefit the travel being requested will provide to the project being charged.

Remaining Budget Balances at Project End

Be wary of processing corrections near or after the project end date. This could give the appearance of “zeroing out” remaining budget balances. If corrections after the project end date are necessary, be sure to provide an adequate explanation. The College of Science post-award office intends to notify principal investigators three months prior to end date.

Participant Support

Uniform administrative requirements, cost principles and audit requirements for federal awards defines participant support costs as direct costs for items such as stipends or subsistence allowances, travel allowances and registration fees paid to or on behalf of participants or trainees (but not employees) in connection with conferences, or training projects. Participant-support costs are made in connection with conferences or training projects and are exempt from facilities and administration (indirect) costs. Sponsor guidelines typically dictate when participant support should be included in the project budget. Human subjects are not considered trainees, although they may sometimes be referred to as participants. Research incentives paid to human subjects are not exempt from facilities and administration (indirect) costs.

A participant is not:

• A Clemson University employee.
• A student or project staff member receiving compensation directly or indirectly from the sponsored project.
• A recipient of compensation from any other federal government source while participating in the project.
• The same as a research subject receiving incentive payments.