CGA Department Organization

Contract and Grant Administration (CGA) is a unit dedicated to superior post-award administration. Its mission is to support MSU's research and creative endeavors by providing timely, accurate, and courteous assistance to faculty and support staff with the financial and contractual administration of their grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts. CGA is also the designated point of contact for external sponsored program audits.

If you have any general postaward questions, please email help@cga.msu.edu.

The manager of the Awards group is Stacy Salisbury who can be reached at (517) 355-5040 or salisbury@cga.msu.edu.

The Awards Group takes new awards from OSP and turns them into active accounts for use by PIs. The goal of the Awards group is to setup the project account within 5 business days of receipt of the completed award packet. This group also adds account specific notes that are helpful to the PI, departmental administrators, and for the CGA Audit and Compliance Group (which approves expenditure transactions). This group also processes amendments to existing accounts, submits prior-approval requests to agencies, notifies PIs and their administrators about any updates and changes to their accounts and operates the Effort Reporting system. Specific duties include:

• Account number assignment.
• Review of terms and conditions and creates account specific notes.
• No Cost Extension Requests.
• Account amendments.
• Checks for required certifications, i.e. IRB, Animal Use, COI, and ECC.
• Reviews and submits required prior approvals to agencies (i.e. PI changes, budget revisions, no-cost extensions).
• Effort Reporting system operations and questions.

If you are unsure of the correct group in CGA to contact, please contact the Awards Group for a member of our office to assist you.

The manager of the Audit and Compliance Group is Tyler Neal, who can be reached at (517) 355-5040 or nealtyle@cga.msu.edu

The Audit and Compliance Group reviews expenditures on Restricted Sponsored Projects (61- or RC-accounts), processes subawards and related amendments MSU awards to other organizations, and monitors subawardees for 2 CFR 200 (Uniform Guidance) compliance. The expenditures come in many forms, such as an GEC, DV, DI, Personnel Form, Subcontract Payment, PO, or direct bill. The group reviews the documentation to determine risk, allowability and compliance with the more restrictive of the award terms and conditions, or MSU policy. They also review Personal Service Contracts and Cost Share Agreements associated with restricted accounts. The Audit and Compliance Group has daily contact with departments regarding proper expense processing and required documentation. The goal of the Audit and Compliance Group is to provide feedback to the transaction initiator within 3 business days. Specific duties include:

• Processes expenses that require CGA approval.
• Cost Redistributions and Payroll transfers > 60 days, Fellowship forms.
• International and Non-MSU domestic Travel Disbursements and travel advance reconciliations.
• Domestic and Non-Resident Alien Personal Services Contracts.
• Subcontract payments.
• Other documents: GEC, DV, DI, Transfer of Funds, PO.
• Reviews award terms and conditions to answer specific allowability questions.
• Prepares non-profit subawards using FDP templates (when MSU's prime participates in FDP).
• Maintains audit information and debarment certifications for subawardees.

The manager of the Reports group is Kasey Schiellerd who can be reached at (517) 355-5040 or marsh229@cga.msu.edu.

The Reports Group is responsible for financial reports, monitoring cost share requirement, account closeout and archiving. The goal of the Reports group is to complete all financial reports within the agency prescribed time frame. Specific duties include:

• Prepares invoices and financial reports for Cost Reimbursable and Fixed Price accounts.
• Monitors cost share.
• Prepares closeout documents (i.e. Patent Reports, Property Reports).
• Prepares expense estimates.
• Coordinates archiving.
• Service center billing rate review.
• Technical Reporting requiring an authorized signature (e.g. ezFed) for invoiced accounts.

The manager of the group is Andrew Cascaddan who can be reached at (517) 355-5040 or cascadda@cga.msu.edu.

The group manages the inflow of cash for sponsored project accounts and costing projects. The goal of the Cash Management and Costing group is to collect all the cash that has been promised by the funding agency and to provide timely and sound advice for costing questions. Specific duties include:

• Letter of Credit draws and related agency reporting.
• Invoicing, deposits, and accounts receivable follow-up.
• Financial Reporting and Closeout for Letter of Credit accounts.
• Calculation and negotiation of MSU's Facilities and Administrative rate (F&A), sometimes referred to as the overhead or indirect cost rate.
• Technical Reporting requiring an authorized signature (e.g. RPPR) for LOC accounts.