Reminder: Procedure Change for Processing Sponsored Project PETs [07/16/07]
This reminder is a reprint of a previous direct-email communication sent to Human Resource Professionals and others who assist Principal Investigators in generating PETs.
As of the morning of June 29th there is a change in the procedure for processing Personnel Expenditure Transfers (PETs) on sponsored projects.
PETs are cost transfers, and project sponsors require that all cost transfers be appropriately justified. To facilitate compliance with this requirement, the PET panel has been modified to require that two questions be answered before the panel can be 'saved' in the HR system. See sample panel screen shot here.
The questions are:
- Why was this expense originally charged to the chartfield from which it is now being transferred?
- Why should this charge be transferred to the proposed receiving sponsored project?
The PET panel provides space for up to 256 characters to answer each question (drop down list boxes of possible responses do not pass audit). After the PET is saved, it is electronically forwarded to the PI for justification approval.
Please note that the process for greater than 90 day PETs is unchanged. Costs incurred more than 90 days before the transfer date still require that a fully signed paper form be sent to the Research Foundation for review and processing.
Thank you for helping to improve the PET process. Please see special notice below regarding unacceptable practices.
As a reminder, the UniversityÕs financial code of ethics and various federal regulations make the following practices unacceptable when charging costs to a sponsored project:
- Transferring payroll expenditures to a project simply to use up an un-obligated balance.
- Charging salaries for personnel who did not work on the project, or whose work did not directly benefit the project.
- Transferring personnel costs to move an overrun from one sponsored project to another.
- Falsifying an expenditure transfer justification.
- Applying a unit "tax" to projects to distribute clerical and administrative expenses.
- Rotating charges among projects to utilize available balances.
- Charging an expense exclusively to a single award when the expense clearly has supported other activities.
Any employee who witnesses or becomes aware of another individual improperly handling University funds, assets, or financial records, even if that individual is of a higher rank or is a direct supervisor, is required to report the improper activity directly to senior management in the unit, to the Department of Internal Audit, or to the UniversityÕs anonymous reporting line, which can be accessed at:
- Phone: 866-294-9350.
- Web: www.ohio-state.ethicspoint.com
