Overview
The University of Washington executed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Seattle Children’s Research Institute (SCRI) in 2012 to manage staff assignments (SA) for UW staff working onsite at SCRI. In April 2020, a working group consisting of Grant & Contract Accounting (GCA), Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP), and School of Medicine (SOM) began meeting regularly to streamline and improve the staff assignment (SA) process. Effective 7/1/2021, certain functions will transfer to Grant and Contract Accounting (GCA).
This web page has the most up-to-date information regarding SCRI staff assignment administration. For questions or concerns related to SCRI budgets, please email Albert Lo (loa2@uw.edu) and Saamir Choudhary (saamirc@uw.edu). You may also reach out to the SCRI contacts listed at the top of your Staff Assignment forms for any issues related to pre-award administration and missing payments.
Pre-Award
Each UW department is allowed one budget number per biennium to manage all SCRI staff assignments. A new eGC1 is required for each biennium. When requesting a new staff assignment, please use the updated Staff Assignment Agreement Form.
Budget Setup
Once OSP sends a funding action to GCA, GCA will assign and set up a budget number in the UW financial system. Staff assignments are considered cost reimbursable, so carryover of an unspent balance between budgets is not allowed. GCA will set up the budget numbers so that the award and revenue will increase as checks from SCRI are applied. Awards are allowed only 4% indirect cost rate.
When the department managing the SA receives notification that the budget number has been set up in the financial system, the department will need to attach copies of all staff assignment agreements to the budget in Grant Tracker. The department will also need to attach all future modifications for each staff assignment to the budget in Grant Tracker. Having copies of agreements and modifications will allow GCA to reconcile payments for tuition and other costs.
Invoicing Tuition and Other Costs
Per the MOU, SCRI will self-initiate monthly payments to the UW GCA lockbox for salary, benefits, and indirect costs. GCA will send invoices to SCRI on a quarterly basis for tuition and other costs incurred on the budget.
Checks and Payments
SCRI will send checks to the GCA lockbox at:
University of Washington
Grant & Contract Accounting
12455 Collections Drive
Chicago, IL 60693-0001
Please allow two weeks for checks to post to your budget. A check disbursement detail file will be posted each month to the UW SCRI SharePoint site (link opens in new tab) to assist with reconciling payments.
Closeout
At the end of the biennium, budget deficits are expected to be resolved within 120 days of budget expiration as per the UW deficit policy, GIM 2, and GIM 39. Here are some tips on how to manage deficits:
- Follow up on outstanding salary and benefits checks with SCRI
- Make sure only allowable expenditures have posted to your budget number
- Ensure that all payments have been applied to the appropriate budget number
- Transfer any deficits to a nonfederal budget number
GCA will refund excess cash back to SCRI. We recommend quarterly reconciliation of your budget to ensure a timely closeout.
Responsibilities
Campus units, including School of Medicine’s ABC Shared Services team, will still be responsible for reconciling their SCRI budgets on a regular basis. This includes:
- Ensure that expenditures posted to your budget match the award amount
- Ensure that budgets are being reimbursed correctly according to the award amounts:
- GCA will post monthly check disbursement details in the SCRI SharePoint site (link opens in new tab)
- Attach all staff assignment agreements and modifications to the budget in Grant Tracker. This will allow GCA to post payments to the correct budgets.
- Submit an eGC1 for the next biennium. The Office of Research website has eGC1 instructions for SCRI staff assignments.
GCA responsibilities
- Invoice SCRI for tuition and other costs as listed on the staff assignment agreement
- Apply payments to staff assignment budgets utilizing SCRI back-up documentation
- Follow up on aged receivables for tuition and other costs
SCRI Contacts
For any matters & questions that are SCRI specific and is not answered above, feel free to reach out to the appropriate SCRI center contacts listed here.