Contract & Grant Certificate Program

The Sponsored Projects Training for Administrators in Research (STAR) program is a comprehensive certificated training program developed by the UCSB Office of Research to meet UCSB’s research administration needs. The program’s goals are to improve campus understanding of regulations, policies, and procedures; to strengthen internal controls; and to provide staff members with access to key resources and contacts when they need help.

The program is designed for employees with duties and responsibilities related to contract and grant administration. Participants are welcome to take one or several courses in areas of particular interest to them—or they may opt to earn a certificate in the STAR program.

The certificate program offers 11 required courses. This year the courses are provided in one series, offered from September through June.  To earn a certificate, you must take all 11 classes.  Staff members who wish to earn a STAR Program Certificate must complete the coursework in one or two years from the date they begin the course series.

1. Overview of Contract and Grant Administration (2 hours)
This introductory course provides an overview of the administration of sponsored projects at UCSB and lays the foundation for later courses. Topics covered are campus research rankings, the Office of Research infrastructure and role, shared responsibilities, the general legal principles and policies that guide research activities, resources to help locate and secure extramural funding, and tools, such as the Office of Research website.

Offered: Thursday, September 3, 2009; 9:00am-11:00am
Instructors: Nancy Lewis, Cora Diaz, Carla Whitacre
Location: Marine Science Building Auditorium (MSB 1302)

2. Cost Principles and Cost Accounting Standards (3 hours)
This course covers the primary federal regulation governing what costs may be included in proposal budgets and charged to contracts and grants: OMB Circulars A-21 and A-110.

Offered: Thursday, October 8, 2009; 9:00am-12:00noon
Instructors: Connie Feeley & Nancy Lewis
Location: Marine Science Building Auditorium (MSB 1302)

3. Introduction to Proposal Submission (3 hours)
This course provides basic instruction on preparing a proposal, securing the appropriate approvals, and submitting to the funding agency. Topics covered are eligibility to serve as principal investigator, types of proposals, interpreting sponsor guidelines, completing sponsor application forms and internal forms, including appropriate use of various research titles and pay rates for employees, and proposal revisions.  This course will also include how to access the ORBiT Data Base.  ORBiT is the online contract and grant database used to submit and track proposals and awards.

Offered: Thursday, November 5, 2009; 9:00am-12noon
Instructors: Cara Egan-Williams, Kevin Stewart, Hilda Vasquez, Brett Fortier, Michele Crawford
Location: Marine Science Building Auditorium (MSB 1302)

4. Proposal Budget Preparation (2 ½ hours lecture, 2 hours lab)
This course provides an in-depth exploration of the components of a proposal budget, including salary and benefit costs, equipment, participant support, supplies, and indirect cost calculation. This course will also include interactive exercises for preparation of proposal budgets and Academic Titles. Course consists of lecture and two lab sessions.

Offered: Thursday, November 12, 2009; 9:00am-11:30am
Lecture Location: Marine Science Building Auditorium (MSB 1302)
Lab 1: Friday, November 13, 2009; 9:00am-11:00am; Location: Mesa Lab-Phelps Hall 1525

Lab 2:  Friday, November 13, 2009; 1:00pm-3:00pm; Location:  Mesa Lab-Phelps Hall 1525
Instructors: George Hopwood, Stephanie May, Elizabeth Jensen, Kathy Upton

5. Business Contracts and Subawards (3 hours)
This course focuses on how to determine the difference between subawards and business contracts, the process for establishing both types of agreements. Sponsored Projects will cover the process of how to propose, establish, maintain, modify and close a subaward. Business Services will present on topics pertinent to planning conferences and events, business contracts, personal service agreement, facility use permits, and university insurance requirements.

Offered: Thursday, December 3, 2009; 9:00am-12noon
Instructors: Lynne Van Der Kamp, Daniela Gallardo, Kimberly Tapia, Giulia Brofferio
Location: Marine Science Building Auditorium (MSB 1302)

6. Negotiation and Acceptance of Awards and Gifts (3 hours)

This course provides insight into some of the problematic provisions in research awards, and also gives an overview of the various actions and issues that arise during the period between the submission of a proposal and the award of a contract or grant, and covers the roles of the key players of the University and the Sponsors. Denial and withdrawal of proposals, pre-award costs, revised budgets, requests for approvals to spend (RAS), content of award terms, campus award processing, and the UCSB award synopsis are all topics explored in this course. Identifying the differences between gifts and grants will also be discussed.

Offered: Thursday, January 14, 2010; 9:00am–12noon
Instructors: Cara Egan-Williams, Kevin Stewart, Elizabeth Streeper, Barbara Kane
Location: Marine Science Building Auditorium (MSB 1302)

7. Post-Award Administration (3 hours)
This course addresses several aspects of post-award administration and will include presentations from selected campus representatives. Topics are award set-up, department responsibilities, obtaining campus approvals for post-award actions, travel, equipment management, reporting requirements, and closeout.

Offered: Thursday, February 4, 2010; 9:00am-12noon
Instructors: Vaughn Boyle, Giulia Brofferio, Nan Capelle
Location: Marine Science Building Auditorium (MSB 1302)

8. Financial Management (3 hours)
This course addresses the financial aspects of administering an extramural award. Financial topics reviewed are cost transfers, re-budgeting, direct costing, overdrafts and balances, close-out procedures and reports, and Personnel Activity Reporting.

Offered: Thursday, March 4, 2010; 9:00am-12noon
Instructors: Connie Feeley
Location: Marine Science Building Auditorium (MSB 1302)

9. Research Administration and Compliance I (3 hours)
This course addresses the research administration compliance environment, including federal and state conflict-of-interest regulations, conflict of commitment, significant compliance risks in research administration, insider tips/preparing for an audit, the UC Whistleblower Policy, and real-life examples of university research compliance issues. 

Offered: Thursday, April 15, 2010; 9:00am-12noon
Instructor: Sam Hartline & Nancy Lewis
Location: Marine Science Building Auditorium (MSB 1302)

10. Research Compliance II (2 hours)
This course focuses on ethical issues and conflicts of interest that often arise for researchers. Topics include scientific misconduct, research ethics, federal and state conflict-of-interest regulations, conflict of commitment, objectivity in research, export control regulations, human subjects, animal subjects, and stem cell use in research.

Offered: Thursday, May 6, 2010; 9:00am-11:00am
Instructors: Karen Hanson, Kathy Graham, Bruce Hanley
Location: Marine Science Building Auditorium (MSB 1302)

11. Working with Industry and Intellectual Property (3 hours)
This course focuses on the unique challenges of working with the industrial sector and the tools available at the University to facilitate that work. Topics covered are research agreements, gifts, material transfer agreements, confidentiality agreements, consulting, basic intellectual property, and related UC policies. This course will also provide an opportunity to take a more in-depth look at intellectual property. The course will cover the basic principles of intellectual property as well as the characteristics of patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets. The course will also provide an overview of the technology transfer process at UCSB.

Offered: Thursday, June 3, 2010; 9:00-12noon
Instructors: Jill Boltz, Sherylle Mills Englander, Carol Wyzinski
Location: Marine Science Building Auditorium (MSB 1302)