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The following  provides institutional requirements for individuals who may serve as a PI on an externally sponsored project at Elon. Exceptions to this policy may only be made with the prior approval of the Provost’s Office.

Administered internally, the �þ��� Internal Audit Office is a resource that allows all �þ��� faculty and staff to report workplace concerns dealing with moral, legal, and ethical standards in financial integrity or compliance.

Grants with indirect costs requested will be allocated to the project director(s), dean(s), and department chairs(s) as outlined in the .

�ճ���� assesses the risks and potential benefits of the research investigation, ascertains the appropriateness of the methods used to gain participant consent, and protects the rights and welfare of human participants.

�ճ���� describes �þ���’s commitment to providing an environment that supports the creation of intellectual property by faculty, staff, and students in the course of their research, �þ���, and learning activities. As a matter of principle and practice, the University encourages all members of the Elon community to publish without restriction the outcome of these activities in order to share openly and fully their findings and knowledge with colleagues and the public.

 describes �þ���’s policies regarding conflicts of interest in relation to sponsored projects. These policies ensure faculty and staff maintain credibility and integrity, preserving public trust in the university’s sponsored activities. These policies also meet certification requirements for funding agencies such as the NSF and PHS. If a conflict of interest arises, you must complete and submit the Disclosure Form and Questionnaire within 30 days to the Office of Sponsored Programs.

Outlines a plan to comply with the America COMPETES Act, which requires institutions to provide training and oversight on ethical research practices for students and researchers involved in NSF and NIH funded research projects submitted after January 4, 2010. PIs should identify students hired for these projects, notify the Office of Sponsored Programs within a week, ensure they complete Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) training, and submit the completed RCRT form within 60 days of employment.

 describes �þ���’s policy and procedures related to misconduct in scientific research. The purpose of this policy is to promote academic practices that prevent misconduct in research and to maintain standards to ensure ethical conduct of research and detection including appropriate handling of abuse of these standards. This policy is also the basis for specific certifications required by various federal agencies from those seeking external grant support.

As part of our ongoing efforts to ensure compliance with grant guidelines and audit requirements, please be advised that effective immediately, all grant-related travel and meal receipts must include the following documentation:

• An itemized hotel bill that includes the traveler’s name, hotel location, check-in and check-out dates, and a breakdown of charges (e.g., lodging, meals, parking).
• An itemized restaurant receipt is also required when meals are charged to the hotel room.
• An itemized and summary receipt showing the tip amount for all meal expenses (this can be handwritten).
• Name(s) of the individual(s) who traveled or incurred the expenses.
• Details of the expense (e.g., meals, lodging, transportation).
• Relationship to the grant (e.g., PI, Co-PI, student, collaborator, etc.);
• Purpose of the expense in relation to the grant activity (e.g., working lunch to discuss project milestones, student recruitment, conference networking, etc.)

This information should be either written directly on the receipt, included in an attached note, or entered as a comment in WORKS for each transaction. This level of detail is essential for audit readiness, accurate reporting and to maintain transparency and accountability under the terms of the grant.

Please note that Missing Receipt Affidavits are not an acceptable method for documenting grant expenditures. Any expenses submitted without proper receipts and documentation will be reallocated to your department or discretionary funds.

�ճ���� outlines how to assess whether subrecipients can properly handle federal funds. �þ��� must comply with the requirements of OMB federal regulation 2 CFR part 200, as well as with university policies and sponsor requirements. As the Prime Recipient, the University remains responsible for the management of funds and must comply with subrecipient monitoring requirements.

It is important that all persons involved in sponsored research/grants at Elon understand the . Exports are regulated by several federal agencies. While the conduct, products, and results of fundamental research are generally excluded from federal export or “deemed export” controls, there may be some activities that would not be excluded and would require an export license. These laws impact research, foreign travel and the transfer of technology and information to certain countries. The laws also impose severe criminal and civil fines for noncompliance.

The grant record retention policy follows the Record Retention Policy under �þ���’s Office of Business, Finance & Technology. The policy states the retention period is the term of the grant award plus 7 years. The award letter should be used to determine the end date of the term of the grant.

Student workers must be paid hourly. �þ��� are eligible to work up to 20 hours per week when classes are in session.

�þ��� may be paid with a stipend only as “participants” participating in a grant sponsored program. This needs to be approved by OSP prior to making any determinations.

Gift cards purchased with external funds must meet AAR, including this information:

• Date Purchased
• Purchased By
• Type/Vendor
• Amount
• Card Serial #
• Issued/Returned
• Issued By
• Purpose/Visit
• Recipient Name/Study ID
• Recipient Signature (if using a name)

If the total participation incentive is greater than $75 total over the full study a social security number will be required for payment.

Gift Cards

To advance science and improve human health, NIH makes the peer-reviewed articles it funds publicly available on PubMed Central. The requires scientists to submit final peer-reviewed journal manuscripts that arise from NIH funds to PubMed Central immediately upon acceptance for publication.

The library is available to help you across the entire research and publishing lifecycle. If you are getting started on a project, the library can help with topic development, finding and reviewing literature (including enhanced reviews like systematic reviews and meta-analyses), and reference management. When you’re ready to publish, we can help identify potential venues for your work, understand author rights and open publishing, and navigate APCs with our transformative agreements. Once your work is published, the library can enhance your research impact measurement and visualization projects, among many more services and tools for faculty, staff, and students.

This policy clarifies when individuals working on sponsored projects must be hired as employees rather than through contracts, vendors, or subawards. The policy is intended to ensure compliance with sponsor requirements, institutional research integrity standards, and University employment and conduct policies.

For more general information, see 

For help with deciding how to classify individuals, see 

To support strong financial stewardship, regulatory compliance, and effective grant management, the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) has implemented a policy requiring all externally funded sponsored awards to maintain a designated backup account code.

Sponsored projects operate under strict sponsor, federal, and institutional guidelines governing how funds may be used. In some cases, expenses initially charged to a grant may later be determined to be unallowable, insufficiently documented, or outside the project’s authorized period. When this occurs, institutions must ensure these costs are promptly and appropriately transferred off the sponsored account.

The backup account requirement establishes a clear, proactive framework for managing these situations. By identifying an alternative funding source at the outset of an award, the university reduces administrative delays, ensures compliance with Uniform Guidance cost principles, and provides transparency and accountability across all stakeholders.

This policy applies to all Principal Investigators (PIs), department leadership, and budget managers responsible for sponsored projects and reflects the university’s commitment to responsible financial management of externally funded activities.