Perkins Grant Budget Management

Once your grant account is set up and signature authorities are in place, you may begin processing the appropriate expenditures for the grant program. No expenditures will be approved prior to the proper processing of the Award Letter and grant account setup.

Most important: Know your budget!! The Grants and Contracts Manager has set up your budget with line items per the CSN Object codes and the approved budget. It is imperative that you know what is budgeted and allowable in each line item and that you process your purchase orders and requests using the appropriate codes.

All expenditure requests must be signed at the department level and forwarded to the  Resource Development Department for review and approval. Resource Development staff will check the request with the budget for appropriate and allowable expenditures prior to referring them to Business Services for payment. Contact the Resource Development Department if you project any budget changes. If you think there is a need to change the budget you must contact the Resource Development Department to discuss the change. You cannot overspend a line item in the approved budget without approval. Any budget changes require approval of the NV Department of Education.

Monthly budget expenditure reports are available through the Resource Development Department. You may request a copy to review for accuracy of expenditures and to track progress regarding expenditures.

Expenditures

1. Total Perkins grant expenditures are again limited to 25% before October 1. Due to the encumbrance of grant-funded salaries, programs will be unable to expend funds before October 1, with few exceptions. Curriculum development expenditures are not limited and the process should begin immediately. Paperwork requesting expenditures should be processed for receipt by the Office of Resource Development by October 1 to ensure that activities begin in the Fall semester. All equipment should be expended by November 30th.

2. All expenditure requests must follow the established CSN Policies and Procedures. Consult the Administrative Manual and/or the CSN Document Preparation guide for the appropriate procedures. See the attached Procurement Policy and Equipment definitions, as there have been some changes this year.

3. All expenditure requests must be approved and signed by the Director of Resource Development. Send all purchasing documents, signed by the Project Director to Resource Development, Cheyenne campus, Z2A.

4. Expenditures must be in line with the budgeted line items. Line items in the approved budget may not be overspent without prior approval and budget revision. Consult with the Director of Resource Development if any budget changes are needed.

5. All direct costs of the grant should be recovered to the fullest extent possible.

Equipment:

1. Equipment necessary to carry out grant activities should be included in the funding request and be part of the approved budget. Equipment is defined by CSN policy as having an acquisition cost of $2,000 or more unless the granting agency defines equipment as having a lesser value. State of Nevada Perkins grants definition of equipment has changed this year. Equipment for Perkins grants is now defined as $2,000 or more acquisition cost. However, there is a new line item of Items of Value defined as items with an acquisition cost of $1,000 to $1,999, which also must be inventoried.

2. Purchase of equipment under grant funds must follow CSN equipment purchasing policies including competitive vendor bids for items or individual vendor purchases of $25,000 or more, and two quotes for items over $50,000. In the case of computers and technology related hardware and software, the Communications Services Department must be consulted for commodity approval.

3. Equipment purchased through grant funds can only be used for grant activities and must be inventoried as grant equipment. It is imperative that all grant-funded Equipment and Items of Value be delivered to the Receiving department to ensure proper inventory and asset tagging. DO NOT pick up any grant-funded equipment directly from the vendor.

4. The granting agency and program must be identified on the equipment. Perkins funded equipment must have a Perkins grant sticker visible on the item. Contact Resource Development if you have equipment items not appropriately identified with a Perkins tag.

5. Equipment purchased through grant funds must be inventoried annually. Any movement, or theft or plans to salvage grant funded equipment must first be reported to the Resource Development office before any action is taken, as in some instances it requires prior approval from the NV Department of Education. It is imperative that a Property Movement form is recorded and copied to the Resource Development office when any grant-funded equipment is moved from its original location.

6. Extensive efforts to secure equipment from theft is imperative. If a theft should occur, a security or police report MUST be recorded and copied to the Resource Development Department, and it must be reported to the NV Department of Education. If the Department of Education should conclude that appropriate security measures were not in place, it can require the College to replace the equipment at its own cost. Further, if you don’t have the equipment, then the program is not fulfilling its stated objectives.

7. It is the Project Director’s responsibility to document matching funds and resources if required. Expenditures used for match are subject to the same allowability and restrictions as grant funds. In-kind match for one program cannot be used to match any other program.

Reporting and Administration

1. Each Granting Agency requires reports on activities and outcomes at specified intervals during the grant period. These include narrative reports detailing accomplishments, evaluation reports and financial reports. The CSN Resource Development Department will require internal reporting on all grant programs on at least a quarterly basis. Format for those reports will list the specific objectives in the Statement of Work and report the outcomes of those objectives and activities.

2. The Resource Development Department will usually compile the data reported by the Project Director for the required Granting Agency Reports. The format and timelines for reports will be discussed in the technical assistance provided at program startup.

3. Project Directors should maintain a database of information on program activities, and participant files, that will substantiate all activities and outcomes of the program’s operation.

4. Time Accountability Reports must be maintained for any grant-funded staff working less than full time on the grant project. These reports should be completed monthly and maintained in the program files with a copy forwarded to the Resource Development Department.

5. The Resource Development Department will conduct regular internal monitoring of program operations and records to provide technical assistance to the Project Director and staff in meeting the goals and objectives of the grant program.